What Bay Area Grant Seekers Should Know about the Gellert Foundation’s Local Support

Editor's note: This article was revised and updated on 7/1/2021.

Lots of well-heeled donors who grew up and lived in the Bay Area remain committed to local causes after they've made it big. But you might not be familiar with Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert, one such philanthropic couple.

Carl found success after founding Sunstream Homes, which joined with the Crocker Land Company to create one of the region’s first large-scale planned communities. Carl was the president of the local home builders' association, a regional director and lifetime director of the National Association, president of the Associated General Contractors, and chairman of the Building Industry Conference Board. He passed away in 1974 and his wife Celia in 2000.

Here are three things that Bay Area grantseekers should know about this foundation:

Grants Stay Local

For over 20 years, the foundation has kept grantmaking in the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. If you scroll through the list of recent grantees, you’ll see that there are really no exceptions to this rule.

A while back, the foundation made local news for providing a $2,500 grant to the Daly City Public Library and for its Gellert Family Business Awards. The annual awards recognize extraordinary business achievement and community service. Past recipients have included Henry’s House of Coffee and Aunt Ann’s In-House Staffing and Java Beach Café and Harrington Galleries.

Gellert Funds a Wide Range of Causes

Funding at the Gellert Foundation benefits various types of nonprofits in the area. The foundation's Bay Area support has gone to educational institutions, scauses funded in 2015ocial services for the homeless, affordable low-income housing, and religious, public, and private school education.

Take a look at the causes funded in a recent year to get a sense of what Gellert has supported lately —everything from basic needs support to facility upgrades and tuition assistance. Gellert often supports causes for children and youth in the Bay Area, and education is a big part of its annual grantmaking strategy.

Unsolicited Applications Are Welcome

Unlike many funders in the area, Gellert does not require a letter of inquiry and welcomes unsolicited grant applications from eligible nonprofits. It uses an online grant system through which it accepts applications.

Applications are due once per year in mid-August. Although that’s technically the deadline, grantseekers should know that they can complete their online application by early August to have it reviewed before the deadline. The grant guidelines provide a great deal of technical instruction on how to submit an application, but not a lot of guidance regarding what the foundation is looking for in new programs and grantees.

Questions about the application process should be directed to Program Officer Rosa King at 650-985-2080 or via email at info@gellertfoundation.org. To learn more about this funder, check out IP’s full profile, The Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation: Bay Area Grants.