About

Empowering Native Children, Families & Communities

First Nations Development Institute (First Nations) recognizes that Native American youth are the very future of their communities, and that ensuring their well-being is crucial to the prosperity of those communities. That’s why First Nations seeks to empower grassroots organizations that serve Native communities and families, and that’s why we established this website as a “one-stop shopping” mall for socially conscious donors interested in investing in this important work.

NativeGiving.org is a project of First Nations and is supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation under the foundation’s “Catalyzing Community Giving” initiative.  NativeGiving.org is dedicated to strengthening and improving the lives of Native children and families while raising awareness of the needs of the communities we serve.

Consistent with Native American values of sharing and reciprocity, the goal of this unique initiative is to increase giving to philanthropic efforts in Native communities. Right now only three-tenths of one percent of foundation funding goes to Native causes, while Native Americans represent over two percent of the U.S. population. This disparity is compounded by the fact that the Native population has some of the highest rates of poverty, food insecurity, diet-related illness and the poorest educational outcomes.

To address this inequity, First Nations launched this website to leverage its national influence to direct more investments to worthy nonprofits such as those featured on this site. The featured nonprofits have developed successful and innovative projects that promote educated kids, healthy kids and secure families.

In its own grantmaking process, First Nations has vetted each of the participating organizations. In addition to assisting them in raising funds through this site, First Nations is also providing technical assistance to build the management and fundraising expertise of each organization so they can sustain their critical programs for years to come.

Please browse the profiles of these organizations, and then select one or more of them to support. Fully 100 percent of donations received through Nativegiving.org will go toward the selected organization’s mission.

About First Nations Development Institute

For 36 years, using a three-pronged strategy of educating grassroots practitioners, advocating for systemic change, and capitalizing Indian communities, First Nations has been working to restore Native American control and culturally-compatible stewardship of the assets they own – be they land, human potential, cultural heritage or natural resources – and to establish new assets for ensuring the long-term vitality of Native American communities.  First Nations is a national nonprofit organization that serves Native American communities throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.firstnations.org.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans, and internationally in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians

Additional support for the NativeGiving.org project has been generously provided by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.