OVERVIEW: The George Kaiser Family Foundation supports a range of Tulsa and Oklahoma-focused causes in the areas of parent engagement and early education, health and family wellbeing, and civic enhancement.
FUNDING AREAS: Parent engagement and early education, health and family wellbeing, civic enhancement
IP TAKE: Closely tied to issues in Tulsa, the big opportunities are in early childhood education and local neighborhood projects. It does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding for most of its programs, but its accelerator grants have an open submission process. Grantseekers looking for support through one of its other programs will need to network to get on this funder’s radar.
PROFILE: Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) is a supporting organization of the Tulsa Community Foundation, which George Kaiser and a group of other local philanthropists founded in 1998. Kaiser’s family foundation is the community foundation’s largest donor and has helped it to become one of the largest community foundations in the country. George Kaiser made his fortune through the Kaiser-Francis Oil Company and BOK Financial Corporation and has signed the Giving Pledge. The funder aims to provide “every child with an equal opportunity.” Grantmaking areas of interest are parent engagement and early education, health and family wellbeing, and community development in Tulsa.
Grants for Early Childhood Education
Kaiser’s premier program is the Parent Engagement and Early Education program. It includes K-12 education and early education initiatives to help children reach their potential. Sub-initiatives within this program include Early Childhood Development, PreK-12 Education, and Parent Engagement, which provides “support and resources to encourage parent‐child engagement and interaction.”
Grants for Public Health and Access, Women and Girls, and Criminal Justice
The foundation’s Health & Family Wellbeing program works to support service gaps in the communities and helping families receive the basic services they need, specifically it “attempts to reverse the generational cycle of poverty, especially for very young children and their families, through programs focused on pre-pregnancy and family health care, teen pregnancy prevention and alternatives to incarceration for mothers who have committed low-level offenses.”
Additionally, its Criminal Justice program seeks to break the cycle of incarceration to alleviate Oklahoma families and communities. Previous grantees in this area include Center for Employment Opportunities, Women in Recovery, The Bail Project, and Still she rises.
Grants for Community Development
George Kaiser is a long-time supporter of early childhood education, and much of his personal and foundation giving has been centered on the Tulsa community and throughout Oklahoma. Kaiser’s local support has regularly extended to schools, arts organizations, community services, the Jewish community, and causes for children. Vibrant & Inclusive Tulsa grants support helping Tulsa thrive both culturally and economically, and they work to make opportunity abundant. Housed within this focus area are a handful of focused community initiatives, including Arts and Culture, which invests in Tulsa’s Arts District and Greenwood neighborhood, Economic Development, which works to increase Tulsa’s economic health, and Neighborhood Development, which focuses on East Tulsa, Kendall Whittier and North Tulsa.
The foundation also has an Accelerator Grant program which works to “increase access to funding and ensure that BIPOC-led nonprofits have the financial and technical support to fulfill their missions within the Tulsa community.” Grantseekers can apply here.
Important Grant Details
Foundation grants vary widely in size, and grant seekers can find sample past grantees on each of the program pages of its website. The foundation mostly focuses on the Greater Tulsa area with its grantmaking but also awards grants elsewhere in Oklahoma. Beyond the state, GKFF occasionally supports national early childhood education efforts.
GKFF does not accept unsolicited grant requests for most programs, and the funder contacts potential applicants directly to apply for grants. Grantseekers can apply to Accelerator Grants here, either via a video submission or a written submission. Direct general questions to the staff at 918-392-16112 or by email at inquiries@gkff.org.
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