Who’s Behind the Bay Branch Foundation, and What Does It Fund in Florida?

Boca Raton Regional Hospital. Felix Mizioznikov/shutterstock

Based in Boca Raton, Florida, the Bay Branch Foundation operates quietly and flies under the radar of many local nonprofits. This foundation does not have a website to guide grantseekers, so getting to know it can be challenging even if you serve the Boca Raton community. Here's what we know about the Bay Branch Foundation and its recent grantmaking commitments in Florida.

Bay Branch’s founders

In the early 1960s, Keith Wold and his wife, Elaine, created the Bay Branch Foundation. Keith Wold (1924-2003) was an ophthalmologist who specialized in eye surgery and had personal interests in yachting, horse breeding and racing. The Wolds established a philanthropic foundation to support education and research projects, especially efforts that assist people who are disabled. During his lifetime, Keith Wold was involved in various charitable events in Broward and Palm Beach counties. Today, numerous Wold family members run the foundation and serve as directors and trustees.

Recent giving and current interests

In a recent year, the Bay Branch Foundation awarded over $5.6 million in grants. However, almost that entire amount went to the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation to help pay for the hospital’s operations, capital projects and fundraising events. Other grants from this funder are usually much smaller, in the $200 to $10,000 range. Almost all grants stay in the Boca Raton area, with some grantees also seeing support in West Palm Beach, Coconut Creek, Delray Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Overall grant interests include education, health, children and youth, social services, and the arts. Recent local grantees include the International Society of Palm Beach, Insight for the Blind, the Florence Fuller Child Development Center, and the Boys and Girls Club of Palm Beach County. Grantees commonly use the foundation’s money for general operations, fundraising events, program development, leader sponsorships and scholarship funds.

Applying for a grant

Unfortunately for local grantseekers, the Bay Branch Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant proposals. This foundation only contributes to preselected organizations and does not publicize its grantmaking guidelines, deadlines or application procedures. However, nonprofits with general questions may wish to contact the foundation via telephone or mail.

You can read more about this funder in IP’s complete profile of the Bay Branch Foundation, which is part of our Florida grantmaking guide.