First Federal Community Foundation Grants

The First Federal Community Foundation, established in 2015, focuses on enhancing community life through impactful grants. With over $7.3 million awarded, the foundation prioritizes community support, affordable housing, economic development, and community development in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, Whatcom Counties, and Bellevue, WA. Eligible organizations include 501(c)(3) nonprofits and government units. The foundation aims to benefit marginalized communities and supports projects that foster collaboration and sustainable development.

About First Fed Foundation:
First Fed Foundation (formerly First Federal Community Foundation) is a private 501(c)(3) charitable corporation launched in 2015 with a generous gift of stock and cash valued at nearly $12 million from the parent company of First Fed, when the bank was converted to a publicly traded company. This gift underscored First Fed’s commitment to continue its 100-year tradition of supporting the communities it serves.
Committed to creating broad impact, the Foundation has contributed more than $7.3 million since 2015 to qualified nonprofit, tribal, and government organizations that provide community support, address homelessness and the availability of and access to affordable housing, and deliver economic and community development projects in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Whatcom Counties and Bellevue, Washington.
What are the Foundation’s four funding priorities?
Community Support: We contribute to eligible community and human service organizations that improve the quality of life within the communities we serve. We give priority to programs and projects that build capacity to better serve the broader community, and that benefit low- to moderate-income, disadvantaged and/or marginalized persons or families.
Affordable Housing: We support programs and projects that build upon First Federal’s legacy of improving the availability of affordable workforce housing, and access to decent, safe, and affordable housing for low- and moderate-income, disadvantaged and/or marginalized persons and/or families in the communities we serve.
Economic Development: We fund initiatives that encourage and expand economic development and living-wage job opportunities in the communities we serve, with emphasis on collaborative and public/private initiatives sponsored by local organizations dedicated to economic development.
Community Development: We support capital projects that offer valuable benefits to broad segments of the communities we serve, with emphasis on collaborative and public/private initiatives featuring multiple funding sources. The Foundation appreciates naming rights on capital projects it supports.

Eligibility

Tax-exempt organizations under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), including public charities as described in IRC 509(a)(1)-(4) and 170(b)-(c).Government units, school districts and tribes are also eligible to receive grants from the Foundation.Will the Foundation award grants to fiscal sponsors on behalf of applicants who are not eligible as 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations?Yes, provided the fiscal sponsor meets our eligibility criteria. The grant application must be completed by the fiscal sponsor, who will provide all information required, in addition to including supplemental information on the sponsored applicant and the proposed project or program.Our mission is to improve the quality of life in the communities in which First Federal – the Foundation’s sole donor – maintains full-service branches. As such, the proposals we fund must benefit communities in Clallam, Jefferson, Kitsap and/or Whatcom Counties in Washington state.

Ineligibility

Completed projects.Budget deficits.Debt reduction.General operating expenses.Note: We understand that projects or programs being proposed in a grant, that expand the organization’s capacity to fulfill its mission, may impact operating costs. As such, those operating costs may not be considered ‘general’ in nature, may be eligible for funding, and should be identified in the budget submitted with the grant application so that they may be considered as part of the overall project or program costs.Event sponsorships.Contributions to individuals.Contributions to political or labor organizations, candidates, or causes.Contributions that facilitate religious mission, doctrine, or organization.Proposals that would cause the Foundation to be in violation of its Conflict of Interest Policy.