Joseph S. Bruno Charitable Foundation
/OVERVIEW: This funder supports groups in Greater Birmingham, Alabama, and it prioritizes the areas of community health and education.
IP TAKE: This is an accessible funder for organizations working in health or education in the Birmingham area. It accepts letters of inquiry in January and July, and invites selected applicants to submit full proposals. Overall, this funder is accessible and transparent. Don’t hesitate to submit a question via their contact page.
PROFILE: Established in 1932, the Joseph S. Bruno Charitable Foundation is based in Birmingham, Alabama. It seeks to build a “strong community that nurtures and supports all its families and children with access to opportunity, enrichment and achievement.” Bruno, the son of Italian immigrants, opened a small grocery store in 1932. By the time of his death in 1996, his grocery store chain, which included the Piggly Wiggly and Food Fair supermarkets, was a multibillion-dollar corporation. He was a community leader for many organizations during his lifetime. Grant seekers who attended Auburn University may be familiar with the Joseph S. Bruno study abroad program in Italy.
Today, the foundation is run by a fourth generation of Bruno family members. In 2008, the foundation’s board of directors established a new mission and giving strategy. The foundation's two main giving areas are community health and education. Other areas of grantmaking interest include human services for vulnerable people, housing, recreation and arts and culture. Funding stays within the Greater Birmingham area.
In community health, the foundation shares the commitments of the Bold Goals Coalition of Central Alabama, which include “good nutrition, quality healthcare and positive emotional environments.” Grantmaking for health prioritizes healthcare access, nutrition, exercise, mental health and preventative healthcare. Grants have gone to the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, Meals on Wheels of Central Alabama, Southeastern Diabetes Education Services and AIDS Alabama.
Education grantmaking aims to provide high-quality educational opportunities for Alabama’s underserved students, with goals of improved academic outcomes, graduation rates and career readiness. To these ends, the foundation supports high-quality early childhood education, interventions to improve reading and math outcomes at K-12 levels and out-of-school enrichment and mentoring opportunities. Grantees include the Bell Center for Early Intervention, Youthserve, the Jones Valley Teaching Farm and the Alaquest Collaborative for Education.
While health and education are this foundation’s largest giving areas, it also supports human services, basic needs, recreation and arts and culture in the Birmingham area. Grants have gone to organizations including the YMCA of Birmingham, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Foundry Ministries and the Red Mountain Theater Company.
The Bruno Charitable Foundation gave away over $300,000 to local Birmingham organizations in a recent year. Grants ranged from $2,500 to $50,000, with an average grant size of about $15,000. The foundation tends to support small- to medium-sized Birmingham nonprofits with general operating support, program support, multiyear grants and capital grants.
The Bruno Foundation accepts letters of inquiry for its two annual grantmaking cycles in January and July. Selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals, which are due on the 15th of March and September. General inquiries may be submitted to the foundation via its contact page.
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