A Look Inside the J. L. Bedsole Foundation Giving in Alabama

Many foundations in the Southeast maintain a strict local focus and like to keep their funding close to home. A good example of this is the J. L. Bedsole Foundation, the legacy of a multi-faceted businessman who created this philanthropic vehicle in 1949. Today, this is a very accessible foundation that nonprofits in the Southeast should know.

Here is a closer look at the Bedsole Foundation’s Alabama giving and how the funder approaches the local grantmaking process.

Specific Foundation Interests

J.L. Bedsole was a very religious and socially conscious man who gave to churches, hospitals and for both city and state needs. He was also very interested in education and economic development, which led him to create the foundation in the first place. Now after the founder’s death, the Bedsole foundation contributes significantly to hospitals, schools, and research institutions. It supports human services and welfare agencies, including organizations that care for orphans, the elderly, the needy and the sick. Youth organizations, such as camps for kids and playgrounds, tend to see this funder’s support regularly. Meanwhile, causes that help alleviate people’s suffering or advance human knowledge are favored by the foundation trustees.

Five Southwest Alabama Counties

There are just five counties in focus for the Bedsole Foundation: Mobile, Baldwin, Clarke, Monroe, and Washington. All of these counties are in Southwest Alabama. The foundation is based in Mobile, Alabama, so many grants are focused on that city and surrounding areas. Rural communities are also of interest to Bedsole. In fact, the funder does not make any grants outside the state of Alabama at all.

Impact, Innovation, and Leverage

When reviewing new grant applications, the Bedsole Foundation looks for three main criteria: impact, innovation, and leverage. In your application documents, be sure to provide details about how your program or organization as a whole helps local people become better off than they were before. Also, describe how your approach is innovative in addressing an unmet need or solving a problem. Bedsole may be more likely to support a cause that already has backing from other funding sources, so be sure to mention if anyone else has already funded your idea so far.

Reviews Occur Five Times Per Year

Some good news about the Bedsole Foundation is that grant opportunities are available steadily throughout the year. There are five deadlines for submitting grant applications, which are the firsts of the months of January, March, May, August, and November. Following these deadlines, the foundation’s distribution committee reviews all applications received during the subsequent months. Grantseekers are required to send paper applications in by mail because there is no online system in place.

Read more about this Southeast-focused funder in IP’s full profile of the J. L. Bedsole Foundation.