Howard Charitable Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Howard Charitable Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education, arts and culture, housing and community development in a handful of geographic priority areas.
IP TAKE: Although it does not maintain a website, the Howard Charitable Foundation appears to be an accessible source of funding for small- and medium-sized arts and community organizations in geographic priority areas including San Diego County, Minnesota and Montana. Prospective grantseekers may write to the foundation to request an application form. This is not a funder for progressive causes. Contact information is provided below.
Robert Howard’s son William E. Howard, should be watched as giving moves to the next generation. The family also has ties to the Seattle area.
PROFILE: Established in 1999, the Howard Charitable Foundation was founded by the late Robert S. Howard, a newspaper mogul. Howard attended the University of Minnesota, but paused his studies to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War II. According to his obituary, he flew “bombers as a navigator and nose gunner in the South Pacific” and earned a Purple Heart for his service. Completing his studies after the war, he eventually launched Howard Publications and built it into a chain of 19 dailies, including the North County Times and the Blade-Citizen outside of San Diego.
The foundation, which is based in Bonita Springs, Florida, does not maintain a website, which makes it difficult to locate further information on its priority areas and grantmaking strategies. Tax filings suggest the Howard Charitable Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to education, arts and culture, housing and community development. Geographic priorities include Southern California, Montana, Minnesota and Florida.
Grants for Education
A significant portion of Howard’s giving supports education, with grants supporting both K-12 and higher education organizations and schools.
K-12 giving appears to prioritize out-of-school learning opportunities. Grants have gone to organizations including the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation’s educational programs, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oceanside, California and Future Legends, a scholarship and mentoring program in Rancho Santa Fe, California.
Higher education grantees include the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California and the California State Long Beach 49ers Foundation, which provides funding to the Long Beach campus of California State University.
A component of Howard’s giving also prioritizes right-of-center policy organizations. The foundation has directed funds to places like Hoover Institution, Heritage Foundation, and Fund for American Studies, an “educational non-profit that develops future leaders.”
Grants for Arts and Culture
The Howard Charitable Foundation steadily supports small- and medium-sized arts and culture organizations in its areas of geographic priority. Among the foundation’s grant recipients are Montana’s Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre, California’s Oceanside Museum of Art and the Glacier Symphony and Chorale of Kalispell, Montana.
Grants for Housing and Community Development
This funder also makes grants to a range of organizations that work with homeless and vulnerable populations in the areas of housing and human services. One recent grant went to the Brother Benno Foundation of Oceanside, California, which “serves homeless neighbors, working poor and seniors in North County San Diego.” Other grantees include San Diego chapters of the Salvation Army and the United Way and the San Juan Island Community Foundation in Friday Harbor, Washington.
Grants for Health
Howard directed tens of millions to Scripps Health. The foundation has also given millions to Scripps Memorial Hospital. Many of these gifts were in the early 2000s. However, the foundation recently directed a 7-figure gift to Eisenhower Medical Foundation in Rancho Mirage, California near Palm Springs.
Important Grant Details:
The Howard Charitable Foundation generally makes grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000.
Grantmaking is clustered in geographic areas of interest including San Diego County, Montana, Minnesota and, to a lesser extent, Florida and the state of Washington.
Small- and medium-sized organizations number significantly among the Howard’s grantees, especially in the arts.
For additional information about past grants, see the foundation’s tax filings.
This funder accepts proposals for funding, but applicants must first write to the foundation to request an application form at the address provided below.
For general inquiries, use the contact information provided below.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
CONTACT:
Howard Charitable Foundation
26350 Woodlyn Dr.
Bonita Springs, FL 34134-5632
(206) 535-7977
