McCune Charitable Foundation Grant

The McCune Charitable Foundation Grant supports community-driven initiatives in New Mexico aligned with nine key priorities focused on enhancing local well-being. Funding is available for 501(c)(3) nonprofits, tribal organizations, public schools, and government agencies that foster collaboration across various sectors. The foundation emphasizes community involvement and aims to build sustainable programs addressing economic development, education, health care, and arts engagement, thereby creating lasting impacts in underrepresented communities.

Background
The McCune Charitable Foundation supports community-based work in the State of New Mexico that aligns with our nine Foundation Priorities and their corresponding Leverage Points. The best fit for our funding are organizations that work collaboratively across our priority areas to support community well-being and create long term impact, and whose leadership and expertise come from those who are closest to and most affected by the organization's work.
Capacity Building in the Non-Profit Sector
The McCune Foundation supports initiatives that build operational capacities for non-profits, making expertise in communications, finance, leadership development, organizational development and other areas more broadly available in service of a more structurally equitable and resilient sector
Economic Development & Family Asset Building
A Foundation priority is to create and expand the economic base in New Mexico and to view its grant making through an economic development lens whenever possible, in particular supporting programs and organizations that seek to foster entrepreneurship across sectors. The Foundation also supports programs and initiatives that support and help drive growth in family assets across the diverse communities of the state, enabling a broader base of economic stability for our families.
Education Transformation
The McCune Charitable Foundation holds equity as a core value, and sees equitable access to engaging and culturally relevant education as a key component of thriving, prosperous communities. New Mexico is blessed to be home to diverse cultures, languages, and traditions that make learning and growing up here in the 21st century an experience that is uniquely rooted in place and community. This is an asset that was unfortunately ignored by 20th century models of education, but is beginning to be recognized now.
Leveraging Opportunities in Health Care
After many generations in relationship with the land, vegetation and elements in New Mexico, communities have developed ways to sustain physical and mental health and wellness that often involve uses of medicinal plants, traditional practices and community support. Many of these traditions have endured and been adapted to contemporary contexts as alternatives and complements to modern approaches. Introduction of newer, less healthy diets and practices have taken a toll, however, with many New Mexicans facing challenges that traditional modalities sometimes cannot address.
Local Food Industry Development
Far too often, existing food systems (referring to all the processes, infrastructure and activities related to feeding a community) in the state of New Mexico contribute to poor nutritional outcomes for individuals and families, especially those considered low income. Not only does New Mexico have among the highest obesity and diabetes rates in the nation as a result of these significant shortcomings, the systems in question also contribute little to the state economy, with as much as 80 percent of all money spent on food and nutrition leaving the state, according to the New Mexico State University Extension Service.
Building Links Between Arts and Community Engagement
The arts play a significant role in the culture and history of New Mexico and contribute substantially to the state’s economic and civic livelihoods. The McCune Foundation supports efforts that seek to leverage arts, creative expression, and culturally relevant, transformative experiences for the purpose of inspiring and driving higher levels of community and civic engagement.
Stewardship in Community
Frontline communities include tribal and rural communities, and in urban areas, lower and middle income families and communities of color living in areas that have been negatively impacted by poor infrastructure and industrial practices.
Influencing Planning of Built Environments
Well-conceived built environments provide a key platform for many functions of family and civic life and are fundamentally connected to many factors that contribute to community health. These functions include economic development and higher levels of community and civic engagement, among others. The Foundation supports the development of built environments across the state that seek to take advantage of the role these environments can play to move New Mexican families toward a more prosperous and healthy future.
Strategies for Rural Development
New Mexico is the fifth largest state in the nation in terms of land area and, somewhat conversely, it is the 36th most populous state. This means that New Mexico is largely rural, with 26 out of 33 counties considered “frontier counties” (six or fewer people per square mile). While a majority of the population in the state lives in four urban areas (Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho and Santa Fe), New Mexico maintains a significant population base that honors its rural roots. Among many New Mexico communities, a rural way of life supports a fundamental cultural connection with the landscape of the state and to the values that many families honor and maintain.
Please refer to FAQ for additional guidelines.

Eligibility

The McCune Charitable Foundation is currently funding a portfolio of work structured around Nine (9) Foundation Priorities under Overview.Incoming requests that are in alignment with those priorities will be considered.Grants can be awarded to qualified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, federally recognized Indian tribes, public schools, and governmental agencies.

Ineligibility

The McCune Charitable Foundation is not currently awarding grants for the following:Direct donations or grants to individuals,Direct grants to for-profit institutions,Projects in the area of health addressing and/or providing medical research related to particular diseases or conditions,Projects that exclusively serve religious purposes,Grants to political campaigns, to support political activities or to lobby for or against particular pieces of legislation,Grants for organizations "in crisis" or for debt repayment,Establishment of endowed Chairs or other permanent academic posts,Adoption services or support,Ongoing operating support for well-established charter schools,Film projects,Parochial and private schoolsIndirect costs for Institutions of Higher Education.