OVERVIEW: The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation is the largest foundation in Georgia and makes over $100 million in grants each year. This funder supports public health, education, environment, human services, community development and arts and culture. Grantmaking is limited to the state of Georgia.
IP TAKE: The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation is Georgia’s largest private foundation and an important source of funding for Georgia organizations working in health, education, conservation and community development. The foundation gives millions each year to its two main recipients, Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center and the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, but many smaller organizations also receive significant support. More than half of all grantmaking stays in the greater Atlanta area.
The Woodruff Foundation — not to be confused with the Bob Woodruff Foundation that specializes in veterans — accepts letters of request at any time through its online portal. LOIs should include etailed financial and budget information. Staff email addresses are available at the foundation’s trustees and staff page, so grantseekers can reach out with questions.
PROFILE: Founded in 1937 by a 20th-century Coca-Cola CEO and environmentalist, the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation pursues a mission to “improve the quality of life in Georgia […] by responding to community needs, typically making grants to well-established institutions and projects with strong leadership and a broad base of support.” The foundation maintains assets of about $3.8 billion and is the largest private foundation in the state of Georgia, with grantmaking that easily surpasses $100 million in most years. Its grants fund a full range of causes including health, education, environment, human services, arts and culture and community development. With very few exceptions, grantmaking is exclusive to the state of Georgia.
Grants for Public Health
Public public health is the Woodruff Foundation’s largest area of giving and aims to “strengthen health systems in Georgia, with a focus on improving access and quality.”
- Recent funding has focused on the city of Atlanta, where the foundation invests in leading healthcare institutions, research at Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center and improving access to quality healthcare for underserved communities.
- In a recent year, Emory University, the foundation’s leading recipient of funding, was granted $400 million for the development of its Winship Tower and Health Sciences Research buildings.
- Other recent health grants have supported Atlanta’s Henry W. Grady Health System, Morehouse School of Medicine, Prevent Blindness Georgia, the American Cancer Society’s Georgia Chapter and the Shepherd Center, a brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation center in Atlanta.
Grants for Mental Health
Mental health giving has tapered off somewhat recently but has featured prominently in the Woodruff Foundation’s public health and human services grantmaking initiatives in the past.
- One past grantee, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, was awarded a $10 million commitment for the expansion of a behavioral and mental health plan.
- Other past recipients include Covenant House Georgia, the George West Mental Health Foundation, the Georgia Prevention Project and Eagle Ranch, a faith-based youth counseling facility in Branch, Georgia.
Grants for Education
The Woodruff Foundation’s education funding prioritizes private colleges and public research universities in the state of Georgia. Only a small portion of the foundation’s education grants go to K-12 initiatives at the state level and in Atlanta Public Schools systems.
- In a recent year, Berry College received a $4 million grant for the construction of the future home of its animal sciences program, and the Technical College System of Georgia received $1 million for student financial assistance.
- Other higher education grantees include the Georgia Military College, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Mercer University, which was awarded $10 million for the construction of a new science building.
- At the K-12 level, the foundation recently supported the Georgia Council on Economic Education’s work toward the improvement of economics education statewide.
Grants for Environmental Conservation
The Woodruff Foundation’s robust environmental grantmaking reflects its founder’s “lifelong love for the outdoors” and “focuses on the science of natural resource management through programs in conservation, research and education.”
- The foundation’s main recipient in this area is the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, an organization that conducts research, resource management on a 29,000 tract of land that Woodruff donated at the time of his death. The Jones Center receives about $10 million a year in support.
- Additional environmental grantmaking has focused on large-scale land conservation projects, green spaces in the Atlanta metro area and supporting public/private collaborations “to promote good stewardship of Georgia’s natural resources.”
- Recent grants have gone to Atlanta’s Park Pride, the PATH Foundation, Grant Park Conservancy and Decatur’s Wylde Center, which received funding for a “campaign to improve greenspaces and expand environmental education programs.“
Grants for Housing and Community Development
Grantmaking for housing and community development stems from Woodruff’s community development and human services grantmaking programs.
- Community development funding focuses on initiatives that broadly support the metro areas of Atlanta but has also supported community improvement plans in other areas of the state that are “backed by major local support.”
- In Atlanta, the foundation recently committed $5 million to the Atlanta Police Foundation for “a comprehensive public safety strategy to reduce crime in Atlanta” and another $5 million to the PATH Foundation for a network of hiking trails that connect to urban areas.
- Elsewhere in the state, the foundation has given to the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site and the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation.
Woodruff’s grantmaking for housing has declined in recent years.
- However, it did partner with the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation in May 2023 to give $100 million to Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta to help increase access to low-cost housing in the city.
- Other past grantmaking includes initiatives for affordable housing, homeless youth and residences for the elderly, including Habitat for Humanity, Covenant House Georgia and the William Breman Jewish Home in Atlanta.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Arts and culture represent a smaller area of the Woodruff Foundation’s grantmaking.
- Grants generally provide capital and capacity-building support to “organizations with significant audiences, strong leadership and sound financial operations” in the greater Atlanta area.
- Recent grantees include the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, Zoo Atlanta, the Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Atlanta Historical Society.
Important Grant Details:
The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation’s grants range from $100,000 to about $75 million.
- This foundation makes over $100 million in grants a year, making it an important source of funding for Georgia’s health, education and environmental organizations.
- The foundation’s largest recipients, Emory University and the Jones Ecological Research Center, receive ongoing support in the millions each year.
- Grantmaking is limited to Georgia, with more than half of all grants going to organizations in the metro-Atlanta area.
- Woodruff accepts grant requests via its online portal from eligible Georgia nonprofits working in its areas of interest. Applicants are asked to submit proof of nonprofit status, detailed budgets, financial statements and the names of the organization’s trustees with their application.
- For additional information about Woodruff’s past grantmaking, see the foundation’s current grantees and previous grantees pages.
General inquiries may be submitted to the foundation via email at fdns@woodruff.org or by telephone at (404) 522-6755.
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