Marguerite Casey Foundation Boosts Annual Giving to $50M

NEW YORK — The Marguerite Casey Foundation plans to give out at least $500 million in the next decade, speeding its annual payout as officials seek to stimulate more urgent grantmaking across philanthropy — especially given what the foundation terms the sector’s “suffering” under President Donald Trump’s policies.

The White House’s cuts in government funding, attacks on civil society and destruction of diversity programs have led to a “existential crisis,” says the National Council of Nonprofits. But many nonprofit leaders say the response from funders has been insufficient. Where is the kind of emergency funding that was rolled out when the coronavirus pandemic put nonprofits to the test, some ask?

Most private foundations distribute roughly 5% of their assets each year, the minimum allowed by the Internal Revenue Service. There is a fierce debate about whether to increase that contribution cap. The agreement among philanthropies is that anything higher, and foundations risk decreasing their life spans.

The Marguerite Casey Foundation considerably increased donations in 2025, taking the unusual step of tapping its endowment to provide $130 million. That experience verified Carmen Rojas’s suspicions as president and chief executive officer: Her responsibility to provide appropriate funding to the communities they serve is not inconsistent with her responsibility to secure the foundation’s perpetuity.

The White House’s cuts in government funding, attacks on civil society and destruction of diversity programs have led to a “existential crisis,” says the National Council of Nonprofits. But many nonprofit leaders say the response from funders has been insufficient. Where is the kind of emergency funding that was rolled out when the coronavirus pandemic put nonprofits to the test, some ask?

Most private foundations distribute roughly 5% of their assets each year, the minimum allowed by the Internal Revenue Service. There is a fierce debate about whether to increase that contribution cap. The agreement among philanthropies is that anything higher, and foundations risk decreasing their life spans.

The Marguerite Casey Foundation considerably increased donations in 2025, taking the unusual step of tapping its endowment to provide $130 million. That experience verified Carmen Rojas’s suspicions as president and chief executive officer: Her responsibility to provide appropriate funding to the communities they serve is not inconsistent with her responsibility to secure the foundation’s perpetuity.

A very practical lesson is that we can give out more money and last a long period, she told The Associated Press.

Examples of government funding “for everyone” The Seattle-based nonprofit, which was established in 2001 with money from United Parcel Service founder Jim Casey, has a rare model. The funds are by invitation only and will fund one-quarter of the recipients’ budgets for five years.

They extensively finance “community-based organizations” that organize to make sure “government works for everybody,” said Rojas. These include groups working on economic well-being, such as housing and quality jobs, and news outlets, such the advocacy journalism nonprofit More Perfect Union and the National Trust for Local News.

Another portfolio supports trials at the city and state level to make government more responsive to local demands. Recently, the foundation donated $3 million to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s private fund for his universal free child care proposal.

Rojas anticipates providing the same unsolicited assistance to current grantees, and said they will likely find new recipients as the payout grows. The new yearly baseline of $50 million is a 50% uplift over the previous decade’s average, the foundation said. Public tax forms show that the group’s annual donations have varied from $23 million to $57 million since 2019.

It’s part of Rojas’s push toward a more “offensive” model of giving. “The charitable sector often has a ‘defensive posture’ that is about responding to threats,” she said. Gifts – including their support of NYC’s Mayor’s Fund – are meant to tell the public “our government can be delivering more for you.”

“We need to be able to give people, in meaningful ways, the things they need to have a good life,” Rojas added.

A desire to provide more than is legally required Foundation leaders are also making a rhetorical statement.

Many organizations will not give away more than they are legally allowed to, which is the minimal 5%. Trustees don’t dip into their endowments because they have a fiduciary duty to ensure the endowment remains there in perpetuity to fund the philanthropic purpose.

Abigail Disney and other donors have been lobbying recently to raise the legal minimum by a percentage point or so. They say foundations are not just financial institutions. These are tax-exempt social welfare groups with responsibilities to their missions, which some claim are not serviced by traditional philanthropy practices.

The Marguerite Casey Foundation also hopes to be a case study. Daniel Gould, vice president for investments and operations, said the endowment began last year at about $870 million. They recovered the endowment funds invested on last year’s grantmaking push within a year, he said. The endowment, he added, was around $825 million as of April 2026.

In good years for financial markets, which Gould defines as at least 10% investment returns, the historical average for the U.S. stock market, they will give much more.

“Endowments are long-term,” Gould remarked. “That resilience should carry over to more grantmaking.”

They’ve done it with an evolving investing strategy, as well. “More than half of the endowment is run by members of underrepresented racial groups,” said Gould. They’ve also divested from private prisons, unscrupulous lenders, weapons manufacturers, data center developers and other corporations they feel hurt the communities serviced by their nonprofit grantees.

Rojas said philanthropies should employ the full weight of their resources to accomplish their aims.

“If it is our job to be charitable organizations, then we should act charitably, right?” she added. “Either we are charitable organizations, or we are investment firms that do 5% charity work.

Some emergency funding, but nonprofits say they’re struggling The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also gave out rapid response awards last year when the Trump administration cut government research funding. In North Carolina, the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust gave almost $10 million more than usual.

The MacArthur Foundation said in 2025 that it would double its giving for two years, citing the “crisis” produced by the policies of the Trump administration. “The worst effects of the cuts made last year are being felt now,” stated President John Palfrey. The foundation intends to maintain its higher rate of expenditure, which declined around 7% in the past year or $190 million more than projected.

Yet a February study of 380 charities indicated most respondents believe it is harder to obtain foundation donations. The Trump administration’s ending of federal grant programs has NGOs scurrying for additional money in a reduced funding pool. But many organizations are also experiencing a surge in demand for their services following broad reforms to Medicaid and food assistance programs.

Some donors are treading more cautiously after the White House cracked down on “left-wing terrorism,” threatened to remove tax-exempt status for universities and sought to place workers at a criminal justice charity that received congressionally approved funding.

Center for Effective Philanthropy President Phil Buchanan, whose group spearheaded the “State of Nonprofits 2026” research, says it’s not an exaggeration to say NGOs are “under attack.” "Now's the time of great need and increased spending is perfectly reasonable," he added, stressing that the resources are there. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis reports that U.S. foundation assets have more than doubled in real terms over the past quarter century.

“You’re not the guy for everyone,” Buchanan replied. "'But find out who you can step up for.'"

Palfrey writes that recent federal acts are “attacks on the freedom to give.” He notes the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights charity that has been the subject of a Republican-led congressional probe of charges of fraud for its work in monitoring extremist groups, has been indicted by the Department of Justice. Major investment firms have removed SPLC from their listings of NGOs eligible to receive donations from charitable accounts.

“The precedent could have financial consequences for ‘good’ nonprofits with the ‘mere whiff of an investigation,’ ” said Palfrey.

“These are powerful and negative chilling effects on the charitable nonprofit sector,” the president of the MacArthur Foundation said in an interview with AP in May. "And these are ones we should fight against with every ounce of our soul."