THE BAMFORD FOUNDATION

The purpose of the Bamford Foundation is to improve the quality of life of individuals and to strengthen their communities, primarily in Tacoma, Washington and the South Puget Sound area of the Pacific Northwest.

History: The Bamford Foundation was established in 1990 by Calvin D. Bamford, Jr. and Joanne Bamford with the intent of supporting their home community of Tacoma, Washington. As long-time President of Globe Machine Manufacturing Company, founded in 1917 and located on Tacoma’s tide-flats, Calvin has demonstrated his commitment to give back to the Tacoma community through this foundation and through his membership on boards and in a variety of community organizations. Likewise, Joanne, having moved to the area in 1967 when she married Cal, has led a number of boards and has worked with many charitable organizations in the areas of education, human services and the arts, in order to improve the quality of life of families in Tacoma. The Bamford Foundation embodies the values that Joanne and Calvin instilled in their children and hope to instill in future generations. These values include the importance of family, life-long education, involvement in one's community, and generosity.

Learn more about the work of Globe Machine Manufacturing Company through this presentation:  link

What we support:

Over the past 12 years, the Bamford Foundation has continued to make grants aligned with our four priority giving areas, primarily within greater Tacoma and Pierce County, in the spirit of our founders' mission to improve the quality of life of individuals and families and to strengthen their communities. The foundation supports 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, which include operational funds, capacity building funds, program funds, partnerships, and capital projects that are evidence-based; innovative; that promote equity, diversity, access and inclusion; and that invite individuals and families to use their voices and resources to strengthen their communities. We support efforts that represent collaboration with partners in the greater community for the most impact. The foundation's giving priorities reflect the board's value of the transformative role of lifelong education for individuals, families and communities:

1. Basic Needs (access to food, physical and mental/behavioral health care, housing and shelter, clothing and other basic needs, financial stability): we support organizations that promote self-sufficiency through enabling individuals to meet their basic needs.
2. Early Learning and Parent support: : we promote the healthy development and learning of young children 0-8 though our support of organizations, programs and initiatives/partnerships which improve access to and quality of early learning experiences including child care, support parents and primary caregivers as their children's first teachers, and enhance professional development and support of those who work with and care for young children.
3. Expanded Learning Opportunities: we support access to expanded learning opportunities for all of our community members, but in particular for children and youth preschool- grade 12, which includes participation in education-related programs in arts, cultural understanding and civic engagement; in the areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math); social-emotional learning; environmental education; and learning support programs (supporting different pathways to learning).
4. Access to Postsecondary Education and Job training opportunities:: we support programs, initiatives, and organizations that improve access for people to opportunities in postsecondary education, job training, apprenticeships and career pathways, including programs that support students to complete their degrees, and to identify and reach their educational, career and life goals.

Areas that the Foundation will not support:
- organizations that discriminate on the basis of ethnic origin,
gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
- Individuals (e.g. direct grants or scholarships for individuals)
- Religious or sectarian organizations whose principle activity is for
the benefit of their own members
- Basic Research
- Sponsorship
- Conferences
- Organizations that support violence

Process:

Link to Online Portal: https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=bamford

The Bamford Foundation has now adopted an online grants portal through which organizations may submit a letter of inquiry, and based on approval of the LOI they will be invited to complete a more detailed application on the grants portal. Organizations must create an account and password on the portal in order to be able to submit an LOI.

Timelines: The Bamford foundation meets quarterly for grantmaking board meetings: February, May, August and October/November. LOI and application cycles will be open on the grants portal to align with this schedule. 

Special Note for 2023: In 2023 the foundation has a more limited budget due to increased number and amounts of grants during these past three years of the pandemic; as a result there will only be three grant cycles (no fall quarter) and strategy will focus on leveraging the impact of small (less than 15,000) size grants with both new and existing grant partners.

Please reach out to holly@bamfordfoundation.org with questions. Thank you!

© 2021 Bamford Foundation