The Charles M. Morris Charitable Trust is a private foundation that was established by Charles M. Morris, a lifelong resident of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. After Mr. Morris’s death in 1987, the Trust received its initial funding. In 1988, the Trust began making grants.

The Trust is operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes. In making distributions from the Trust, emphasis is given to the organizations that Mr. Morris had benefited during his lifetime through contributions of money and/or business judgment. This would include Jewish charities located in or serving Jewish people residing in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and certain charities located in Israel.

The Trust awards grants approximating $1.5 to $2 million per year. Sixty to seventy-five percent of grant awards are made to Jewish charities, and the remaining awards are designated for non-sectarian organizations or charities serving people of other faiths. The Trust is interested in supporting organizations that benefit the elderly, disadvantaged persons, youth, the disabled, and the performing arts. Most awards are made to organizations located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

Individual grant awards generally range in amount from $5,000 to $25,000, but larger requests will be considered under certain circumstances. Multi-year commitment requests are considered, especially for capital campaign projects.

The Trust has a standard form of application that must be used when submitting a grant request. No other form of application is accepted.