Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation
/OVERVIEW: This major Southwest Florida funder often supports the Sarasota and Chicago areas education, humanitarian causes, housing and community development, economic development, MS research, health access, arts and culture, and the environment.
IP TAKE: This funder prioritizes children and youth causes, and Sarasota continues to be the focal point of Barancik giving. The foundation makes grants for a mix of organizations in the Southwest Florida community that it serves, from true grassroots outfits to more established institutions, so organizations of all sizes are welcome here.
This is not an accessible funder, so getting on it’s funding radar will require a bigger profile, much networking or both. However, this funder offers funding for capacity building, annual operating costs and programs of organizations, among other concerns.
It’s also collaborative in that it likes to team up with local partners to advance it’s mission, so another idea here - if your organization can scale it’s work - is to approach Barancik with opportunities for collaboration. Recent partnerships include a partnership with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, to address the deep lack of affordable housing in Sarasota, and Early Learning Coalition (ELC) of Sarasota County. Barancik is highly collaborative and is always seeking local partnerships to expand it’s grantmaking reach, making it a great local funder to which to pitch your organization’s ideas - provided that your work can scale, is research backed, and provides measurable success.
All grants tend to concentrate in the Sarasota-Manatee community, except for occasional Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research grants, which are open to promising medical researchers from outside of Florida.
PROFILE: Established in 1987, Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation is a private, family foundation in Sarasota, Florida that seeks to “promote meaningful changes in the areas of education, humanitarian causes, arts and culture, the environment, and medical research.”
Charles “Chuck” Barancik purchased and operated 10 manufacturing companies, including the Mayline Company, Justrite Manufacturing Company, and Hamilton Industries. In the early 1990s, he started selling all his companies and transitioned to philanthropy. He served on the boards of the Asolo Repertory Theatre, the Sarasota Orchestra, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Margery Barancik was the co-founder and vice president of the foundation. She received a B.A. in Elementary Education from Smith College and a M.A. in Deaf Education from Columbia University. Her schooling led to teaching children who were deaf and young adults with multiple handicaps. Margery was passionate about helping underserved children and has served on the board of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Sarasota-Manatee, as well as other children and Jewish-focused organizations.
Since the couple passed, the foundation continues their legacy, having expanded giving, especially throughout Southwest Florida. The foundation’s main funding priorities address education, humanitarian causes, arts and culture, the environment, and medical research and resources, but also fund several related initiatives. It also funds some teaching fellowships and MS Research.
While this funder does not have a dedicated program for equity or diversity issues, it conducts all of it’s grantmaking through an equity lens in keeping with the founder’s Jewish faith. Please note that it’s complex site, while sprawling, has evolved a lot in recent years, so it’s important to check their site often for new information.
Grants for K-12 and Higher Education
The foundation makes grants for K-12 education, which typically focus on science, math, and literacy in elementary schools through investments in “training and cutting-edge classroom technology to ensure teachers feel valued and effective, while creating opportunities for students to engage in the changing world around them.” Early education is a particular interest here, with investments not just in general ECE grantmaking, but also in research about ECE in Southwest Florida through an Early Learning Initiative. However, it sometimes provides some funding for colleges and other higher education institutions in the Southwest area as well.
The Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation’s education grants largely remain in Sarasota, Florida, where their education grants have consistently worked to uplift and invest in local teachers and students, which has become more important than ever as the local school system becomes undermined by political partisanship. Education grants tend to be sizable, especially for local foundations that put every dollar to work. Funds for teachers include the Ripple Effect Award. The foundation also offers the TIME Fellowship, which honors Margery’s previous profession and passion by supporting as many as 25 grants each year to Sarasota County School District educators, “each totaling up to $12,000, to help refresh and renew their commitment to teaching. Selected Fellows design and attend trips across the country and world to gain new experiences and perspectives.” The foundation also funds the Teacher Retention|Recruitment initiative to train and keep talented teachers in the Sarasota-Manatee area.
Past education grantees include the YMCA of Southwest Florida, which is an anchor institution there and backbone of the local early learning community. Another grantee is UnidosNow, which received a grant for “general operational support and to create the Luz Corcuera Educational Endowment.” The Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties received a grant for capacity building and to expand teen programs, while New College of Florida received a grant to expand college access.
Grants for Community Development, Housing, Food Insecurity, and Economic Development
Charles and Margery Barancik held family at the center of everything they did. In keeping with that tradition, their foundation invests in projects and programs that work to break the cycle of poverty while supporting vulnerable Southwest families and girls. This foundation doesn’t have dedicated programs to community development, but conducts related grants through it’s Family Enrichment and Social Wellness focus areas. While these appear to be different initiatives in scope, demographic beneficiaries overlap here and appear the same: youth, families, senior citizens, and girls.
Grants for housing and homelessness may be accessed through Family Enrichment, which works with it’s partners to help “keep families in their homes and ensure those homes provide a sense of security.” Housing and homeless are major issues for this funder, which has ramped up giving in recent years for emergency housing and shelters, accessible housing and issues surrounding homelessness.
Housing and homelessness grantees include Second Heart Homes to help them “purchase additional homes to help address homelessness.” Other housing grantees includes the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness, to “establish a flexible housing fund,” and Community Assisted & Supported Living (CASL) to “build and operate affordable rental units.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Barancik Foundation partnered with the Gulf Coast Community Foundation to address access to affordable housing in Southwest Florida. Another housing grantee is the Salvation Army of Sarasota County, which Barancik has funded so they can further “provide case management and supportive housing for families.”
Mental health, senior citizens, families and youth are interests of Social Wellness initiatives. Previous grantees include Legal Aid of Manasota.
Meanwhile, grants for economic development focus on a mix of projects related to economic policy and community programs. Recent grantees include the Florida Policy Institute for “general operations in the study and support of reducing barriers to economic opportunity and reducing health inequities,” and the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce Foundation to “support CareerEdge’s Bridges to Careers training program.”
Food security grantees include Kim’s Krew, which works to expand food services in Manatee County. All Faiths Food Bank received a $2.5 million grant “expand food insecurity screening programs in Sarasota and DeSoto counties.”
Grants for Arts and Culture
Arts and culture are an important feature of the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation’s giving. Sarasota, Florida is renowned for its cultural institutions and historic arts community in the Gulf Coast. Arts and culture grants support organizations that expose youth to positive influences and boost civic engagement.
Previous arts grantees include the Sarasota Art Museum and FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training to “support an outdoor production at The Ringling.” Another grantee is the Hermitage Artist Retreat, which delivers programming focused on community impact, education, and social justice, making it free an accessible to all members in the Sarasota-Manatee community.
Grants for the Environment
Environmental interests target activities that connect people with nature through educational programs and policies that protect the environment. In recent years, the Barancik Foundation has worked to protect Southwest Florida’s marine habitats, clean water, coastal waters, the Sarasota Bay front, environmental policy and sustainability, among other environmental interests.
Previous environmental grantees include the Suncoast Waterkeeper to “create new community engagement programs,” as well as Minorities in Shark Sciences to “promote diversity and inclusion efforts in marine science and conservation efforts.” Another grantee is Science and Environment Council of Southwest Florida to “support an Environmental Summit that convenes and engages our regional community in meaningful dialogue that motivates action on priority environmental challenges and solutions.”
Grants for Health, Diseases and Medical Research
Medical grants are fewer and farther between, prioritizing issues that have directly affected the Barancik family; however, giving has expanded in these areas since the couple passed away. This foundation’s health grantmaking focuses predominately on bringing access the it’s most vulnerable members in the Southwest Florida community it serves, as well as investing in medical research related to Multiple Sclerosis. This funder’s interest in Multiple Sclerosis is so pronounced that it has sponsors the Barancik Prize for Innovation in MS Research, one of the only opportunities available to grantseekers outside of Florida.
Past health grantees include the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which often receives the foundation’s support, and We Care Manatee to “create a community collective that provides direct healthcare to uninsured residents of Manatee County.”
Grants for Women and Girls
The Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation conducts grants for women and girls across all of it’s giving programs and initiatives, rather than giving through a dedicated program. Previous women and girls grantees include the Women’s Resource Center to support their services and staff, among many others.
Important Grant Details:
Grants tend to range between $50,000 and $500,000; however, sometimes it offers grants in the $1-2 million range, as it’s searchable grant database shows. In a past grant cycle, the foundation’s board approved over $6 million in grants and initiatives. By the spring of that year, the funder had given out over $6 million.
A large portion of the Barancik Foundation’s funding stays in Sarasota, but occasionally goes outside the area as well. The couple has strong ties to Chicago and the surrounding suburbs and to the Jewish community. Unfortunately for grant seekers, this foundation does not accept unsolicited requests for funding.
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