Neil & Amelia McDaniel Charitable Trust

OVERVIEW: The McDaniel Charitable Trust supports organizations focusing on a wide variety of funding areas, primarily in California. It keeps a low profile and does not maintain a website.

IP TAKE: The Neil and Amanda McDaniel Charitable Trust is a low-profile funder operating mainly in California. Grantmaking tends to provide multi-year support to small organizations in the trust’s areas of interest, which include education, economic opportunity, health, diseases, arts and culture and more. The trust does not run a formal application program, but an address and phone number are provided below. While it’s not accessible, the trust does its best to remain responsive despite its sparse staff. 

The McDaniel Charitable Trust does, however, support grantees in a variety of ways. It tends to give multi-year support, which centers on smaller organizations based in California. So, if your work is not based in or serves California, your work will not be competitive here.

PROFILE: The San Francisco, California-based Neil and Amelia McDaniel Charitable Trust was founded in 1977. This modest supporter does not employ a formal staff or operate a website. McDaniel is a relatively small organization with assets of around $6 to $8 million. Its tax filings reveal grantmaking to a few small to mid-sized groups that are building capacity. Areas of interest include economic opportunity, education, health and diseases, and more. Grantmaking is mainly limited to California.

Grants for K-12 Education

McDaniel funds more grants for education than for any other issue but does not name specific priorities for its funding in this area. Past K-12 grantees include the Northern Light School, the San Ramon Valley Educational Foundation, Holy Names High School, and Cantare con Vivo, all of which operate in California. Higher education grantees include Saint Mary's College, Willamette University in Oregon, Colorado College, Sonoma State University, the University of Puget Sound, University of California at Berkeley Foundation and Georgetown University.

Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity

This funder does not name specific goals for its work and economic opportunity grantmaking, but it has demonstrated an interest in adult literacy and high school equivalency programs. Grantmaking has supported programs at Oakland’s Next Step Learning Center and Holy Names University.

Grants for Health and Diseases

Much of McDaniel’s health grantmaking focuses on disease research and treatment. It has funded organizations working in areas including brain and nervous system disorders, cancer, immune system diseases (specifically for HIV/AIDS) and musculoskeletal diseases. Previous grantees include the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation, the Cancer Support Community San Francisco Bay Area and the Arthritis Foundation.

Grants for Housing and Community Development

According to recent tax filings, the McDaniel Trust has supported organizations working with homeless individuals and families. Past grantees include the Living Room Center, the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties and housing shelters operated by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa.

Grants for Global Development

The trust is a modest supporter of global poverty alleviation organizations based in the U.S. Past grantees include Care USA, Oxfam, Heifer International and Finca International.

Grants for Arts and Culture

McDaniel’s arts and culture funding goes mainly to organizations operating in California. Past grantees include Friends of the Bancroft Library and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. This funder is also a strong supporter of local music presenting organizations, including Lamplighters Music Theatre, Music From Bear Valley and Womensing.

Important Grant Details:

This funder makes between $200,000 and $400,000 a year. A majority of its grants are awarded in amounts under $5,000, but a few grants have been as high as $50,000. The McDaniel Charitable Trust tends to give multi-year support to smaller organizations based in California. For additional information on past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings.

This funder does not appear to accept unsolicited proposals for funding and does not provide a direct avenue for getting in touch. A mailing address and phone number are provided below.

PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

Neil and Amelia McDaniel Charitable Trust

625 Fair Oaks Ave Suite 360

South Pasadena, CA United States 91030

(626) 441-5188