Daniel Foundation
/OVERVIEW: This funder supports educational, health, humanitarian, and cultural activities in Birmingham and throughout Alabama.
IP TAKE: The Daniel foundation supports organizations that are directly involved with or provide services to the people of Alabama. It accepts letters of intent online at any time, but full proposals must be invited. There has been a big push for education support at all levels lately, which makes this a key Southeast funder to know.
PROFILE: The Daniel Foundation was established by R. Hugh Daniel with a mission to improve the lives of people in Alabama. Daniel found success when he opened the Daniel Construction company of Alabama in the 1930s. Birmingham became Daniel’s adopted hometown (he grew up in Georgia and South Carolina), and he was actively involved in the Birmingham community, serving as a director of the Birmingham Committee of 100, the Chamber of Commerce, the Baptist Hospitals Foundation, the Birmingham Museum of Art and other local organizations. In 1978, a private foundation was created in South Carolina, but half of the assets were used to create the Daniel Foundation of Alabama. Today, the Daniel Foundation seeks to “strengthen communities within Alabama and improve the quality of life for citizens from all regions of Alabama” by supporting “effective organizations that are focused on building a healthy and well-educated population, living in a vibrant community.”
The foundation’s current priority funding areas are arts and culture, community needs, education and youth, and health. The foundation supports arts and culture groups with capital needs and prefers to fund organizations with which it maintains relationships. Projects that preserve green space, increase access to nature, and support historic preservation are also considered for these grants.
A significant part of the foundation’s community needs grants are focused on local veterans, of which Alabama has about 400,000, comprising about 8% of the population. Otherwise, these grants go toward programs for job training, entrepreneurship, community revitalization and leadership training.
The Daniel Foundation supports education and youth development causes for the pre-K to grade 12 demographic, often supporting public libraries, preschools, public school advocacy, youth mentoring, summer learning and career and college readiness. Within the realm of higher education, it makes grants to colleges and universities in Alabama.
In health, the foundation prioritizes Alabama’s high obesity rate and low rank in overall healthiness in comparison with other states. Foundation health grants support cost-effective prevention, healthy eating and exercise programs targeting underserved and underinsured people. The foundation also considers requests for medical research and mental health.
New grant seekers can learn about past grantees in each funding category at the bottom of each priority area page. Many past grants have been between $10,000 and $250,000.
To apply for a grant, grant seekers will first need to submit a letter of intent, which should be emailed to intent@df-al.com. Daniel awards grants three times per year, but accepts letters on an ongoing basis. Selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. Multiyear grants are typically only awarded to groups that have worked with the funder before. Grant seekers must operate in Alabama and serve residents of the state to be considered for a Daniel Foundation grant.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
