The McCune Charitable Foundation is seeking grant applications to enrich the health, education, environment, culture, and spiritual lives of New Mexicans.
Donor Name: McCune Charitable Foundation
State: New Mexico
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: (mm/dd/yyyy) 09/15/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Categories
Cultivate
- The Cultivate grant is intended to provide a basic level of support for: a) innovative, experimental and/or pilot work that requires a relatively low level of funding to get off the ground or test an idea; or b) established organizations or programs that are aligned with Foundation priorities and are working towards increased alignment.
- Focus
- Focus grants provide support to organizations that align closely with Foundation priorities and values and demonstrate shared work as a core approach to their work.
Priorities
- 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 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
- As we face growing disruption due to climate change, it is frontline communities–those who experience the “first and worst” of the consequences of climate change–that will be the primary focus of the Foundation’s support. 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.
Funding Information
- Cultivate
- For Cultivate Grant $15k
- 12 months Grant period
- Focus
- $105,000 ($35,000 for each year of the 3 year grant period).
Eligibility Criteria
The McCune Charitable Foundation accepts online applications for community-based projects in the State of New Mexico related to nine Foundation Priorities. Grants can be awarded to qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, federally-recognized Native American tribes, public schools, and governmental agencies. Grants cannot be made to individuals.
For more information, visit MCF.
