About Us

Who We Are | Our Mission | Our Name | Our Funding Philosophy | Our Funding Strategy | Our Geographic Focus | Our Organization

Who We Are
The Lodestar Foundation, a grantmaking organization, is devoted to leveraging philanthropy by promoting the strategic investment of capital, both human and financial. We envision a civil society in which all individuals recognize that personal fulfillment is attained through civic participation and in which all resources available to nonprofits are utilized with maximum effectiveness and efficiency. We prize innovation and are comfortable investing in creative strategies. In addition to supporting programs and projects, our flexibility allows us to make grants for organizational capacity-building, technical assistance and to provide funds to facilitate active cooperation among nonprofits. Rather than focusing on specific fields of interest like traditional foundations, our goals are to support nonprofits by encouraging philanthropy generally and to serve as a catalyst for change by focusing on reforming process – the way nonprofit business is done

Our Mission
The Lodestar Foundation seeks to maximize the growth and impact of philanthropy through the pursuit of two strategies: (1) to encourage philanthropy, public service and volunteerism; and (2) to encourage and support collaborations, consolidations, mergers and other long-term cooperative activities among nonprofits working in the same area, and to encourage other business practices, in order to increase efficiency and eliminate duplication of efforts.

Our Name
One of the challenges in starting a new enterprise is finding the right name to reflect the essence of the organization. In 1999, as we were forming the foundation, we read through an entire dictionary searching for the perfect name; it was there that we discovered the word “lodestar.” “Lodestar” has two meanings: first, it’s the guiding star that is used as a point of reference for sailors in navigation, and, secondly, and more generally, it is something that serves as a model, inspiration or guiding principle. We subsequently learned that “lodestar” has a third meaning in Arizona history; the “lodestar” was the first shining glint of ore, uncovered by miners, that foreshadowed striking a rich vein of ore in the mine. Applying any of these three definitions, it seems the perfect name for a foundation that was formed to inspire and guide us to find happiness through philanthropy.

Our Funding Philosophy
We are among the very few foundations that focus on process rather than on specific fields of interest. A central feature of our focus on process is encouraging nonprofits to utilize efficient business practices in their operations.

We are interested in building the overall capacity of the nonprofit sector by strengthening organizations that encourage philanthropy, volunteerism and public service in the community. We support nonprofits that have as a primary mission the desire to (a) grow philanthropy, (b) promote and train volunteers, and (c) support, encourage or train citizen engagement in public-service activities.

On the collaboration front, while we applaud all forms of collaborative and cooperative activities by nonprofits, we have chosen a very specific niche in which to fund – we fund only efforts that are intended to lead to long-term collaborative activities of nonprofits working in the same area, that is, nonprofits that otherwise might be considered competitors.Within this niche, we have funded a wide variety of projects, ranging from innovative joint-use facilities to cooperative ventures to new organizational structures such as coalitions and mergers.

Our Funding Strategy
Once we have determined that a prospective grantee fits within the scope of our mission, we fund organizational capacity-building activities as well as specific projects and programs; we will support capital projects only if they directly advance our mission.  Many of our grants are multiyear commitments.

Our grants are designed to leverage Lodestar’s assets to the fullest extent possible. Not only do we try to maximize strategic impact by focusing on projects that support systemic changes in the way nonprofits conduct business, we generally leverage our funds by establishing challenge and matching fund requirements which often are applicable to our grantees and their boards, as well as third parties.

Along with our financial support, we provide substantial technical assistance to our grantees through our own staff and through outside consultants. We work with prospective grantees, often over extended time periods and in incremental funding steps, to help them achieve their goals.

Our Geographic Focus
Lodestar is based in Phoenix, Arizona, and a significant number of our grants fund projects and initiatives of local nonprofits. However, we are opportunity-driven and will consider making grants elsewhere for opportunities that (1) are exceptionally aligned with our mission and strategies, (2) include strong funding partners to participate with us, and (3) are so compelling that they outweigh the difficulties of long-distance funding and oversight. Consequently, we have made grants in other states and in Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and will consider grant opportunities worldwide.

Our Organization
Lodestar was founded in 1999. A federal tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, Lodestar is a support foundation at the Arizona Community Foundation (“ACF”). Our ten-member board of directors is comprised of community leaders and members of the I. Jerome Hirsch family:

Lodestar has a small staff, consisting of a president, Lois Savage; a vice president of programs, Caroline Young; and a grants manager, Bonnie N. Fujii. Our structure is informal. Instead of using formal grant applications, we give feedback to prospective grantees that submit proposals consistent with our mission. If we determine that a proposal fits within the parameters of our mission, then we work with the applicant to develop a detailed proposal for funding consideration. We have the ability to act quickly, without the constraints of grant cycles.