Marisla Foundation
/OVERVIEW: Marisla invests in human services and the environment. Past environmental grantmaking includes projects that preserve rainforests, restrict human and wildlife exposure to toxic chemicals, and protect habitats in the American West, Latin America, and southeast Asia. Human services grantmaking prioritizes Southern California women’s physical, mental, and financial health, and focuses on domestic violence, homelessness, substance abuse, and vocational training.
IP TAKE: Marisla is a very accessible funder focused on SoCal. It prioritizes established conservation organizations, but also supports local organizations protecting specific locations. Its human services grants only support southern California, so grantseekers located elsewhere will have to look elsewhere for funding. While it is based in Laguna Beach and prioritizes the West Coast; however, it funds both national and international organizations. Funds here are competitive, since they are few. Its office is also approachable.
PROFILE: Established in 1986, the Marisla Foundation was founded by Anne Getty Earheart, who comes from a line of oil executives—J. Paul Getty, founder of Getty Oil, her grandfather. The private foundation makes grants in two program areas: Environment and Human Services. In addition to the environmental and human services grantmaking programs, Marisla reserves a special interest category to provide support for new and compelling funding opportunities that the Board of Directors come across.
Grants for Environmental and Marine Conservation
Marisla’s environmental program largely supports activities that “promote the conservation of biological diversity and advance sustainable ecosystem management.” It emphasizes marine conservation in western North America, Chile, and the Western Pacific. The program also funds innovative solutions to “health and environmental threats caused by toxic chemicals.”
California receives the glut of Marisla’s grantmaking, but the foundation funds organizations across the globe. Past grantees include the Resources Legacy Fund’s work to preserve the state’s oceans and to implement the Marine Life Protection Act. Marisla funds established organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy or the Resources Legacy Fund, which each receive millions annually for their conservation work. However, it also supports smaller organizations, such as the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Oregon to protect the Rogue River, and Friends of the Los Angeles River for local restoration work. Marisla’s grants to smaller organizations range from $20,000 to $100,000 if their work takes place across Marisla’s areas of geographic focus. That being said, Marisla largely supports U.S.-based organizations. On occasion, Marisla funds international projects. For instance, the Pacific Island country of Palau benefited from a $25,000 Marisla grant to the Palau Conservation Society for its work in the island’s Ngerikiil River watershed. And the Chilean nonprofit Centro Ecoceanos received a $25,000 grant to protect lakes and rivers in Chile. Also, Beto is one of the founders of Oceana, an international marine conservation organization, and Marisla regularly funds this group’s work, too.
Grants for Housing, Community Development, Women and Girls
Marisla’s human services funding has a local geographical focus, in Los Angeles and Orange counties. It seeks to support women’s physical, mental, and financial health. Marisla typically makes these grants to local organizations working in the fields of domestic violence, homelessness, substance abuse, and vocational training. The foundation also regularly contributes millions of dollars to the Orange County Community Foundation for the Marisla Fund.
Important Grant Details:
The foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications; however, it only has the capacity to fund a small number of requests out of the hundreds of proposals it receives each year. Special interests funding is available by invitation only. Marisla appreciates a straightforward and concise approach to its applications. The foundation only accepts online applications within four two-month windows with deadlines in January, April, July and October. Grantseekers must first take an eligibility quiz and can expect application decisions within four months after the deadline.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
