The Murdock Trust Supports Camp Renovations in British Columbia

Established in 1975, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust focuses on enriching and expanding communities across Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Alaska. One of the entities that the Murdock Trust has supported through a grant is Young Life’s Malibu Club, which serves the needs of Princess Louisa Inlet, British Columbia, campers.

Originally constructed as a 1940s resort that attracted elite Hollywood guests, the Malibu Club was acquired by Young Life in 1954 and converted into a camp facility. With the locale accessible only by float plane and boat, Malibu provides a caring and accepting environment for teens as they take part in activities such as sailing, cycling, and horseback riding.

One of the buildings initially constructed at the Malibu Club, the Nootka dorm required extensive renovation to bring it up to code and make it suitable for campers. The Murdock Trust was proud to assist financially in improving the experience of youth as they explored the outdoors.

Murdock Trust Grant Helps Modernize Oregon Symphony’s Ticketing System

Since its establishment in 1975, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has significantly improved the lives of those living in the Pacific Northwest. The Murdock Trust is committed to the continuous support of community programs that promote idea-sharing and purposeful stewardship among the region’s inhabitants.

One of the earliest recipients of the Murdock Trust’s grants in 1976, the Oregon Symphony used its first grant award to help its orchestra tour several schools in the Portland metropolitan area and perform in front of approximately 42,000 students. Since then, the Oregon Symphony’s popularity has increased, necessitating assistance with the modernization of its website and ticketing system.

The Murdock Trust has answered this call with a more recent grant that will support the Oregon Symphony’s efforts to enhance its website and implement a digital ticketing system that will enable viewers to browse the schedule of events, plan their visits, and purchase tickets conveniently. This high-tech initiative will also help Symphony personnel to save time and focus their energy on practicing their repertoire and bringing their music and creativity to local schools and organizations.

Murdock Trust's Program Director Announces Retirement

For more than 40 years, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has supported projects of significance throughout the Pacific Northwest in areas, such as education, science research, and arts and culture. At its most recent quarterly meeting, Murdock Trust's program director, Jan Kennedy Ferguson, announced her retirement.

Ferguson served as the trust's program director for 20 years, during which time she facilitated more than 600 grants worth a combined $105 million, which equates to roughly 10 percent of the trust's overall grantmaking since its creation in 1975. During her time with the trust, Ferguson championed programs benefiting women's health and rural communities. Also, according to executive director Steve Moore, Ferguson served as a role model and leader for everyone involved with the Washington-based trust.

Among others, Ferguson's nonprofit expertise led to the distribution of grants to the Ruby Valley Hospital, Union Gospel Mission, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and the Riverstone Health Foundation. Kim Newman, who has been affiliated with the foundation for eight years through its Partners in Science program, has been hired to replace Ferguson as program director.

Murdock Trust Grant Supports Research at Portland State University

A nonprofit organization created to fund arts, culture, scientific research, health and human services and education projects throughout the Pacific Northwest, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust is led by trustees Jeff Grubb, John Castles, and Jeff Pinneo. In regard to education, Murdock Trust has supported numerous institutions, including Portland State University (PSU). 

With its grant funding, PSU purchased a high-performance computing cluster to further its computation-intensive research regarding the effects of transportation chokes and pollutants on regional and global atmosphere quality. Utilizing data obtained from their studies, researchers at the school's Center for Climate and Aerosol Research hope to create changes that will help reduce pollutants while, at the same time, allow for the continued efficient movement of goods and people. 

The computer, named Gaia in honor of the Greek goddess of Earth, helped the school's research team more effectively analyze methane emissions in Earth's atmosphere that were collected from the Olympic Peninsula as far back as the 1970s. A subsequent study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and highlighted a significant increase in methane emissions between 2000 and 2009 compared to the prior two decades.

LCA of Central Oregon Receives $152,000 Grant from the Murdock Trust

Based in Vancouver, Washington, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust focuses on providing grant opportunities and enrichment programs to communities throughout the northwestern United States and Alaska. Recently, the Murdock Trust allocated a grant of $152,000 to Central Oregon’s Latino Community Association (LCA) in the city of Bend.

LCA is a group which aims to encourage diversity in Central Oregon through the empowerment of local Latino families. LCA provides individuals with advancement opportunities through workforce education and training programs, health and dental service partnerships, cultural enrichment events, and family support services.

With the provisions of the $152,000 grant including that it be used over the course of three years, the LCA plans to hire a full-time development manager to help advance its mission. The development manager will primarily be involved in assisting the nonprofit’s leadership with its fundraising program, grant application processes, and special events committee. To receive the full $152,000, the LCA will need to raise $26,000 in matching funds during year two of the grant, and $50,000 in matching funds in year three.

To read more about this, please visit https://www.ktvz.com/news/latino-community-association-receives-152k-grant/805359742.

Murdock Trust CEO Talks to Vancouver Business Journal

Founded in 1975 based on the wishes of the late Melvin J. “Jack” Murdock, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the lives of residents from Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and its home state of Washington. Earlier this year, Steve Moore, executive director and CEO of the Murdock Trust, sat down for a public discussion about the organization with Vancouver Business Journal co-publisher John McDonagh.

The talk took place at an event known as the Boardroom Breakfast, where community leaders and other Washington residents gathered to learn about Mr. Moore’s nonprofit organization, his interest in and support for higher education, and his leadership in the city of Vancouver. Mr. Moore discussed his past schooling at the Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as his experience learning from the Dalai Lama in India some years ago. In line with Mr. Moore’s own interest in religious study, he noted that his nonprofit organization is unusual due to its willingness to give grants to both faith-based and non-faith-based organizations.

Mr. Moore noted that the trust he oversees originally aimed to provide grants to groups located across the country, but that leadership later realized concentrating the funds in a single region could have a much deeper impact. Today, the group primarily focuses on financially supporting organizations in the Pacific Northwest. It has bestowed over $950 million in grants and programs since its inception, fueling the work of 6700 organizations in this large regional community.

To read more about this, please visit https://www.vbjusa.com/news/ten-things-we-learned-about-the-m-j-murdock-charitable-trust/.

Nootka Dorm Renovation at Young Life’s Malibu Club

Established in 1975, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has awarded more than $960 million through 6,000 grants to programs that enrich the quality of life for residents of Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington. Organizations that have benefited from Murdock Trust grants include the Young Life Malibu Club.

Once a resort catering to Hollywood’s elite, Young Life’s Malibu Club is now a popular summer camp destination that has hosted a quarter of a million teens since 1954. It offers opportunities to explore nature and engage in outdoor sports like mountain biking, sailing, ziplining, and horseback riding.

The grant from the Murdock Trust has helped the club renovate one of its original buildings, the Nootka dorm. Among other outcomes, the renovation brought the dorm up to code, making it a safe and comfortable place for teens to learn from their peers and build self-confidence.

Overview of Murdock Trust’s Essentials of Development Seminar

Established in 1975, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust is a nonprofit organization dedicated to enriching the quality of life in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. The Murdock Trust provides grants to help organizations organize educational, cultural, spiritual, and social programs and projects in the region. The Murdock Trust facilitates an enrichment training called the Essentials of Development Seminar.

Started nearly 25 years ago, the Essentials of Development Seminar aims to teach nonprofit startup organizations how to build a sustainable development structure. The seminar is divided into two schedules in December and May.

The seminar names four essential elements that serve as the foundation of a sustainable development structure: a case statement, annual plan, segmented donor list, and the development team. The case statement describes the mission of the organization and the benefits that donors receive. The annual plan is a written strategy for how the organization carries out its mission through a list of programs, budgets, and funding goals. The segmented donor list shows the individualized engagement approach for different categories of donors. Lastly, the development team consists of the organization leaders with defined responsibilities on how to cultivate and solicit donors.

During the seminar, the organizers and featured speakers provide real-time evaluation and feedback to the participants. Visit https://murdocktrust.org/ to learn more about the seminar.

Earth Economics Works to Protect Watersheds in Washington State

Funding nonprofits that seek to improve health, culture, education, or science, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust focuses its efforts in the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. One recent Murdock Trust grant was in the amount of $190,000 to support Earth Economics’ efforts to protect freshwater ecosystems and promote watershed restoration.

Based in Tacoma, Washington, Earth Economics engages with local communities and helps local leaders identify watershed conservation and restoration projects that will benefit both the community and the ecosystem. Once worthy projects are identified, Earth Economics helps connect local stakeholders with the start-up funding needed to begin the project.

The organization also works to educate civic and nonprofit leaders on freshwater management so that leaders can make decisions that have the best impact on their communities. Earth Economics also shares its research on regional forests, rivers, aquifers, and snowpacks to support the health of Washington watersheds and surrounding communities.

Washington STEM Seeks to Close Educational Opportunity Gaps

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust is a philanthropic organization based in Vancouver, Washington. Founded in 1975, it has made more than 6,400 grants over the course of four decades. Two areas that are key focal points for the Murdock Trust are projects that serve the scientific research and education sectors. These were both areas of great importance to Jack Murdock, the benefactor of the Murdock Trust and co-founder of Tektronix. To improve access to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the Pacific Northwest, the Murdock Trust has recently provided support to Washington STEM.

In June, Washington STEM released an executive summary of its series of reports STEM by the Numbers: Equity and Opportunity. The summary explains that STEM education is the most direct path to a career that can sustain a family, yet clear gaps in opportunity exist. However, the report goes beyond pointing to these gaps in achievement by creating a strategic plan for encouraging more diversity in STEM fields.

Washington STEM plans to begin forming strategic alliances with various partners around the state to triple the number of underrepresented students in these fields. This goal includes students of color, as well as those from rural areas and low-income families. In addition, the organization plans to create more pathways for young women to engage in STEM fields and gain access to high-paying jobs.

Murdock Trust Seeks to Empower Community Leaders

From its headquarters in Vancouver, Washington, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust provides grant funding to non-profit organizations across the Pacific Northwest. Founded more than four decades ago, it seeks to build flourishing communities by supporting visionary efforts to transform the culture through a variety of social and spiritual endeavors. The Murdock Trust supports those who serve the common good and bring hope to the local region.

As the Murdock Trust continues to seek new partners, it also celebrates the work of the hundreds of organizations it has funded in the past year and the outstanding achievements of their endeavors. These partners multiply the good it can accomplish across the Northwest and beyond. Records of such accomplishments over the years can be found in a series of books titled Messages of [State].

The Murdock Trust also empowers pioneering community leaders by providing them with leadership development and education in topics such as non-profit growth strategies through a variety of enrichment opportunities. These include the Essentials of Development Seminar, which consists of two-day sessions led by experienced professionals. The seminar helps participants learn how to identify and express their core mission statement and to create a successful and sustainable business plan.