The Collins Foundation

What The Collins Foundation does

The Collins Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1947 in Portland, Oregon, that channels investment returns on roughly $240 million of assets under management into grants supporting Oregon-based nonprofit organizations. In 2025 the foundation disbursed $14,778,614 across 275 organizations through three primary grant programs: GO Grants (general operating support, $25,000-$100,000 per award, multi-year up to 3 years), the Black Equity Movement (BEM) for Black-serving and Black-led organizations, and the Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative (OIRFC) alongside Oregon Community Foundation and Meyer Memorial Trust. The foundation's investment portfolio spans private investments, fixed-income, and public equities, with a stated shift toward aligned investments with diverse fund managers and toward communities facing persistent barriers to intergenerational wealth. Grant decisions occur five times per year (February, April, June, August, October), and the Board of Trustees approved an increased spending rate of 10 percent for 2026 in response to federal actions affecting Oregon.

The foundation's core operational technology is a custom grants management system co-designed with Grouptrail, a Portland-based Certified Minority Business Enterprise, and Colmena Consulting, a Baltimore-based producer co-op, emphasizing relationships over transactional compliance. In June 2025 the foundation launched a redesigned website and a reimagined Partnership Alignment Process featuring a six-question Partnership Alignment Screener that replaces traditional Letters of Intent with values-based screening, followed by Eligibility Questionnaire, Legal Information submission, Organization Exploration with a Community Resource Strategist, and Trustee Review. The foundation also operates an extensive Resources library of articles, guides, and toolkits supporting nonprofit equity journeys, plus tutorial video content on YouTube and email outreach via SurveyMonkey forms.

The Collins Foundation serves a hybrid segmentation of nonprofit organizations across multiple use cases—arts and culture, child welfare and development, education, environmental protection, health equity, and community welfare enhancement—and priority personas including Black-led organizations, immigrant and refugee-serving entities, and smaller community organizations with budgets under $500,000. Customer-segment data shows 77% of awarded organizations have community-specific leadership, 90% offer community-specific programming, and 55% operate on budgets smaller than $500,000. Distribution is concentrated entirely within Oregon through direct program channels and collaborative partnerships; there is no commercial pricing model because the foundation does not charge for grants. Leadership includes CEO Carol Cheney, CFO Emilie Cortes, Chief Programs Strategist Jackie Murphy, a Community Resource Team, and a Board of Trustees comprising both family trustees (Truman W. Collins Jr., Cherida Collins Smith, Lee Diane Collins Vest, Ryan Luria) and community trustees (Jaime Arredondo, Kimberlee Pierce Sheng, Latricia Tillman).

Name

The Collins Foundation

Legal name

The Collins Foundation

Website

https://collinsfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Collins Foundation is a Portland-based family foundation, established in 1947, that invests approximately $240 million in assets to award grants to Oregon nonprofit organizations through GO Grants, the Black Equity Movement, and the Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Nonprofit foundation
• General operating grants
• Equity-centered funding
• Trust-based philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: The Collins Foundation manages approximately $240 million in assets under management consisting of private investments, fixed-income and public equities. The foundation uses investment returns to fund grants to Oregon nonprofits.
2. Aligned Investments: Foundation shifted significant portion of investment funds to better align with values and equity commitment, including working with diverse fund managers and investing in communities with persistent barriers to intergenerational wealth.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Collins Foundation is a private Oregon family foundation that awards general operating and program grants to nonprofit organizations across the state. It operates three grant programs—GO Grants, the Black Equity Movement, and the Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative—supported by a values-alignment-based Partnership Alignment Process managed through a co-designed grants management system. In 2025 it awarded approximately $14.78 million across 275 organizations.

Product overview

The Collins Foundation offers a suite of grant programs and a technology-enabled grantmaking process for Oregon nonprofits. The core offerings include three grant programs (GO Grants, Black Equity Movement, and Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative) supported by a proprietary Partnership Alignment Process featuring the Partnership Alignment Screener as the initial screening tool. The foundation operates a co-designed grants management system built with Grouptrail and Colmena Consulting to manage the entire grant workflow from screener through award notification.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GO Grants: General operating grants program for Oregon nonprofits
• Black Equity Movement (BEM)
• Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative

Products and services

• GO Grants
• Black Equity Movement (BEM)
• Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative (OIRFC)
• Partnership Alignment Screener (PAS)
• Partnership Alignment Process

Quantifiable outcome

• 17% award rate demonstrates high standards while maintaining accessible process
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• GrouptrailcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 June 2025Portland-based software company and Certified Minority Business Enterprise that co-designed the foundation's grants management system. Partnered to build a system aligned with foundation values of equity, community, and connection, focusing on relationships rather than transactions and compliance.
• Colmena ConsultingcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 June 2025Baltimore-based producer co-op for consultants and coaches that co-designed the grants management system with Collins. Like Collins, they center relationships in their work and offer people-first service.
• Oregon Community FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipating funder in the Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative, a coordinated and collaborative funding approach supporting nonprofits serving immigrants and refugees. Shares common application form and coordinates efforts to reduce burden on applicants.
• Meyer Memorial TrustflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerParticipating funder in the Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative. Commissioned the 10-year anniversary report on the collaborative's impact. Coordinates with Collins Foundation and Oregon Community Foundation on funding approach.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Meyer Memorial Trust: Oregon-based private foundation and fellow participating funder in the Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative, with a comparable multi-program grantmaking model and asset base focused on equity and Oregon communities.
• Oregon Community Foundation: Oregon's largest community foundation, also a co-funder in the OIRFC with a similar statewide nonprofit grantmaking focus and collaborative funding model.
• The Ford Family Foundation: Oregon-based family foundation with a similar dual focus on rural Oregon communities and statewide equity-aligned grantmaking through multiple programs.
• M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust: Pacific Northwest private foundation with a comparable multi-program grantmaking approach focused on education, scientific research, and community health in Oregon and Washington.

Broad incumbents

• MacArthur Foundation: Large national foundation with overlapping equity and place-based grantmaking programs; comparable in its use of general operating support and multi-year commitments to community-led organizations.
• The Kresge Foundation: National private foundation with a comparable focus on equity, opportunity, and place-based grantmaking through multi-year general operating support to community-led nonprofits.
• The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation: Large national foundation that similarly funds education, environment, and equity initiatives through multi-year general operating grants, serving as a comparable operating-model reference for a mid-sized private foundation.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: National health-focused foundation with a comparable equity-centered grantmaking approach, providing general operating support and multi-year funding to community-led health and human services organizations.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Massive global foundation with deep Pacific Northwest roots; operates across overlapping issue areas (education, equity, community health) but at a much larger scale and broader geographic scope than Collins.
• David and Lucile Packard Foundation: Family foundation with overlapping focus areas (conservation, education, children's health) and a comparable grantmaking model that combines general operating support with multi-year commitments.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheCollinsFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/collins-foundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Collins Foundation