This week, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust announced its first round of grants providing emergency support related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- In total, Trustees approved $5.4 million in grants to 47 nonprofits. Our primary focus for investments with this round of grants has been in three areas:
- Medical research regarding COVID-19 treatment and testing. ($1.4 million)
- Reinforcing supplies and capacity for front-line healthcare providers, including increased COVID-19 testing capacity. ($2.6 million)
- Contributing to community impact funds managed by the outstanding community foundations of the Pacific Northwest to provide immediate resources to those in need. ($1.4 million)
As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has grown, there has been much discussion within the nonprofit and philanthropic world regarding how funders can best support the organizations serving the wide variety of needs emerging within the communities. Funders across the country and around the world agree – this cannot be “business as usual.” For the Trust, that has taken the following steps:
- Launched an expedited grant process to deliver immediate financial investment to nonprofits to help address the needs raised by the COVID-19 pandemic head on.
- Provided increased flexibility to current grantees who may have projects impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Pairing nonprofits with leadership and development coaches, providing hundreds of hours in no-cost support to help organizations prepare to successfully navigate the challenging path ahead.
- Connecting nonprofits and their leaders with additional resources and guidance at murdocktrust.org/covid19.
