The people of Northwestern Mutual have a long history of community involvement. To carry out its corporate contributions program, Northwestern Mutual created a private foundation, The Northwestern Mutual Foundation.
Grant Application Procedure
The Northwestern Mutual Foundation focuses its funding in Milwaukee, where the company is headquartered. Therefore, applying for a grant from the Northwestern Mutual Foundation is limited to Milwaukee-area nonprofit organizations with programs centered on Education, Health & Human Services or Arts & Culture. (We define the Milwaukee area as Milwaukee County, with limited programmatic grants in Waukesha, Racine and Ozaukee Counties)
Northwestern Mutual Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests. Groups new to the Foundation are asked to submit a written letter of intent. We ask that you describe your organization, your funding request, and provide information about the program for which you are seeking support. Our team will review your letter of intent and, if the Foundation is interested in learning more about your project, you will receive an application form. Please be patient. We will contact you as soon as we have reviewed your materials. Please submit your letter of intent to:
Northwestern Mutual Foundation
720 E. Wisconsin Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Groups that we have an active relationship with and currently fund are allowed to apply annually for support.
Once an organization submits an application, the review process takes about 90 days. We review and approve Milwaukee-area grants on a monthly basis, as we do not have application due dates.
Although the Northwestern Mutual Foundation does not have a national open-grants program, please click here to learn more about the programs that we currently support on a national level.