What St. Louis Groups Should Know About the Dana Brown Charitable Trust
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Grantees include animal-focused organizations like the St. Louis Zoo. Photo: Jason Vargas/shutterstock
There are very few philanthropic foundations that focus their exclusive attention on the city of St. Louis, Missouri, despite the fact that it’s a major U.S. metropolitan area and home to around 2.85 million people. That is why we wanted to learn more about the Dana Brown Charitable Trust (DBCT) and its shared journey with the St. Louis community since 1994.
Here’s what St. Louis-area grantseekers should know about the Dana Brown Charitable Trust.
Founder’s Legacy
Dana Brown was the president and CEO of Safari Coffee, but he was much more to the people of St. Louis. Around town, he was known as a warm-hearted adventurer who maintained a deep connection to St. Louis, considering its residents his adopted family even though he grew up in Appalachian Virginia. Brown made it clear before his death in 1994 that he wanted his self-made fortune to enrich the lives of his fellow people in St. Louis.
Specific Topics of Interest
Although St. Louis is the foundation’s sole geographic interest, DBCT splits its focus between the needs of local children and animals. It distributes around $3.6 million each year to benefit these two vulnerable groups.
Grants for children’s needs go toward education, health and welfare, to alleviate suffering and help kids access more opportunities. As a general rule, more grants tend to support helping children each year than animals. Some child-focused recent grantees include the Central Institute for the Deaf, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri and the Hawthorn School for Girls.
During his lifetime, Dana Brown was a lover of nature, animals and other cultures, and he shared what he learned from his travels through Safari Coffee commercials and local broadcast television. DBCT’s current grantmaking strategy reflects that interest. Recent animal grants have gone to an endangered wolf center, an assistance dog organization and the St. Louis Zoo.
An Accessible Letter of Intent Process
Fortunately for local grantseekers, DBCT has a straightforward application process for grants, beginning with letters of intent in the spring and fall. It typically accepts spring grant cycle LOIs between December 1 and February 15, and fall grant cycle LOIs between June 1 and August 15. From there, the funder’s grantmaking committee invites selected nonprofits to submit full applications. Grants typically range anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000.
Read more about the Dana Brown Charitable Trust and other Missouri-focused funders in our Upper Midwest and Plains funding guide.
