Spirit Mountain Community Fund

Latest News

Water Quality

The Nestucca, Neskowin and Sand Lakes Watersheds Council (NNWC) is having great success restoring the health of these watersheds, engaging and improving the lives of the people in the watershed communities and strengthening the local economy through its work. These adjacent watersheds are located on the northwest coast of Oregon and cover approximately 217,085 acres (340 square miles). The Neskowin, Nestucca and Sand Lakes Watersheds are named for the ocean bays and estuaries on the Pacific Ocean that go by those same names and are defined by the area of land, lakes and rivers that flow overland or underground to these coastal waters.

The Council has been in existence since 1995, originally as the Nestucca Watershed Council, later adding the Neskowin Watershed (1997), and more recently adding the Sand Lake Watershed (2003). It is a nonprofit organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors chosen from the local communities. The Council is made up of public and private landowners and other interested members of the local community, and it partners with organizations like the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde to improve the quality of the environment, with particular emphasis on salmon habitat. The Council uses a science-based approach in its work but with a heavy dose of common sense added in. The NNWC has had many accomplishments with some of its more recent and most notable successes described below.

Welcome to the Spirit Mountain Community Fund

Improving quality of life through community investments that provide a lasting benefit.

This website will tell you more about who we are, what types of programs we like to support, and how to best use our resources. We have also included links to other funding and grant writing resources to assist you in developing your valuable programs and services.

Spirit Mountain Community Fund donates about $5 million each year to local programs and services that benefit citizens striving for self-sufficiency. Like other funders, Spirit Mountain Community Fund would like to support programs that address the roots of problems rather than focusing on fixing symptoms. We are also very interested in creative solutions—new partnerships and new ways of addressing issues.

Spirit Mountain Community Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. The fund was established as a way for the Tribe to give back to our neighbors and citizens and support our goal to be nurturing and supportive community citizens.

Our mission is:

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde through the Spirit Mountain Community Fund fulfills their Native tradition of potlatch, a ceremony at which good fortune is distributed. The Spirit Mountain Community Fund's focus is to improve the quality of life in Northwest Oregon through community investments that provide lasting benefits consistent with the Tribe's culture and values.

The Spirit Mountain Community Fund is a charitable foundation of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

Upcoming Deadlines

Small Grants:

August 2010 - Review of grants
9/15/2010 - Letter of Inquiry final acceptance date
9/15/2010 - Grant final acceptance date

View the Calendar >

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Large Grants:

10/14/2010 - Letter of Inquiry final acceptance date
October 2010 - Review of grants received by 8/13/2010
11/15/2010 - Grant final acceptance date

View the Calendar >

Recent Grants

Center For Intercultural Organizing
$20,000

Friends of Trees
$25,000

Western States Chiropractic College
$20,000

Children First for Oregon
$40,000

The SMCF 2008 Annual Report has been published. Caution: the PDF file is large (2.33 MB) and may take a few minutes to download. Download the Report.