Bengier Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Bengier Foundation supports K-12 education and youth in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere in the U.S.
IP TAKE: While this funder does provide info on past grantees, it is pretty opaque about how it chooses which projects to support, only saying that the Bengier family makes these decisions. This is not a transparent or accessible foundation, making it more challenging to get on it’s radar. However, it’s approachable, so reach out with your ideas, which the foundation states it welcomes. New grantseekers best bet is to reach out with a compelling idea to support K-12 education in the Bay Area and see what happens. But, make sure your pitch is concise, evidence-backed and aligns with the foundation’s mission before doing so.
PROFILE: Established in 2004, the Bengier Foundation is a private family foundation based in Redwood City, California. This is the foundation of Gary and Cynthia Bengier, who were able to retire at an early age and devote more of their lives to giving back to their community. Gary F. Bengier received a B.B.A. in computer science and operations research from Kent State University, an MBA from Harvard Business School and an M.A. in philosophy from San Francisco State University. Bengier was a corporate controller at Compass Design Automation. He held senior financial positions at Qume Corporation and Bio-Rad Laboratories. Gary Bengier worked for various Silicon Valley tech companies and was the CFO of Ebay, from 1997 to 2001. Cynthia Bengier retired from the banking industry after serving in roles for Mondex USA and Wells Fargo Bank and is now involved with San Francisco-area nonprofits.
The foundation aims to “provide educational experiences that motivate, broaden and qualify bright, hardworking young people who have limited means and limited opportunities to enlarge their expectations of what they can accomplish in life.” Grantmaking interests of the Bengier Foundation include education and various causes that serve youth.
Grants for K-12 Education
The Bengier Foundation does not appear to have dedicated grantmaking programs; however, tax records show that support for education—specifically for K-12 education—is a key funding priority. Previous grantees in this area include The Bay School of San Francisco, Options through Education (OTE) , Study Abroad Scholarships, Genesys Works and Reading Partners. Bengier has also given over a million to San Francisco’s Exploratorium science museum, indicating that science education is a priority for the funder. View more past funded projects here.
Important Grant Details:
The Bengier Foundation’s grantmaking surpassed $500,000 in a recent year. Grant amounts tend to range between $5,000 and $200,000, but most grants remain below $50,000.
Bengier does not accept applications or unsolicited requests for funding, but it does invite grantseekers with “some ideas” that align “precisely” with the foundation’s mission to reach out via email at ideas@bengierfoundation.org.
PEOPLE:
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