Inatai Foundation Open Invitation

Inatai Foundation's Open Invitation is a single shared application covering several of the foundation's grant funds, letting an organization submit once and be considered across all of them. Two funds anchor the application in both 2026 rounds. The Campaigns, Litigation, Issues and Policy fund, known as CLIP, supports Washington organizations and coalitions running community-led, issue-based campaigns, both active and forthcoming, that can shape policy toward a more just and equitable future. Infrastructure Opportunities supports specific power-building efforts that Washington nonprofits and community leaders have identified as essential, and it is organised into named areas: 501(c)(4) Community Power-Building, which helps an organization that has decided to form a 501(c)(4) take that step and expand into endorsing candidates, advocating for ballot measures, influencing policy and lobbying; Civil Rights, for organizations with a clearly defined strategy responding to discriminatory policies, violence against marginalized groups and threats to democracy in their community; Immigrant Justice, covering safe working conditions, fair wages, access to healthcare, education and economic opportunity, language access, and protection from unjust immigration enforcement; and Wealth and Asset Creation. The third slot in the joint application changed between rounds, which matters for anyone reading the foundation's pages: round one paired CLIP and Infrastructure Opportunities with Transformational Capacity Building, while round two paired them with Safety and Resilience. Inatai is a multiracial 501(c)(4) grantmaking organization working to transform the balance of power to ensure equity and racial justice across Washington and beyond. That structure is materially different from the 501(c)(3) private foundations most grantseekers encounter, and it is what permits the political and advocacy work CLIP funds. As a 501(c)(4) the foundation may fund 501(c)(3) nonprofits, other 501(c)(4)s, other tax-exempt organizations, tribes, and even for-profit entities, provided the funded activity advances social welfare consistent with its purposes. Since 2019 it has built relationships in every county in Washington and granted more than $411 million. Applications run in two rounds a year and the foundation states plainly that it invites organizations both already known to it and entirely new to it, so this is not an invitation-only process. Award notifications go out roughly 90 to 120 days after each round closes.

Check which funds are actually in the joint application before drafting. It changed between round 1 and round 2 of 2026 and the foundation's own pages disagree about it. The 501(c)(4) Community Power-Building grant under Infrastructure Opportunities is genuinely rare: it funds an organization to stand up its own 501(c)(4) so it can endorse candidates and lobby. Almost no 501(c)(3) funder can offer that, and it is worth raising with any customer whose advocacy ambitions outrun their corporate structure. Round 2 closed 8/18/2026 and the next round is expected around March 2027, so this is a relationship-building window rather than a submission one. The twenty priority counties are a real edge for rural and eastern Washington organizations that normally lose to Puget Sound applicants. Do not route capacity-building requests here - Transformational Capacity Building is for current grantees and is closed for the rest of 2026.