Genevieve and Ward Orsinger Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Genevieve and Ward Orsinger Foundation supports in Bexar County and Central Texas County nonprofits in the areas of cultural enrichment, education, and human services.
IP TAKE: After a strategic planning retreat, the foundation has been spending down its assets by the end of 2023 and is really looking to take a dual generation approach to strengthen local family units.
PROFILE: Established in 1997, the Genevieve and Ward Orsinger Foundation is the foundation of Genevieve McDavitt Orsinger, who was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She later taught at Stephens College in Missouri and in the San Antonio public school system. In 1954, she married Ward Orsinger, who founded Orsinger Motor Company. In 1980, the couple gave fifteen acres of land to Bexar County to establish Orsinger Park. The Genevieve and Ward Orsinger Foundation seeks to “achieve a community where all people can access opportunities to be their best selves, build stronger family dynamics and provide a nurturing environment for the success of future generations.” Grantmaking areas of interest are arts and culture, education, and human services.
Grants for Arts and Culture, K-12 Education, and Community Development
In the past, the foundation has often supported local programs related to early childhood that emphasize health and wellness, the fine arts, outdoor activities, and literacy. It often supports community service learning projects planned and operated by youth, programs for adults that support self-sufficiency and enhance their capacity to care for their families and also programs for elderly persons that use the fine arts to enhance quality of life and support health and wellness. Primary topics of interest today are parent education, quality early childhood education, and programs that bring youth and parents together.
Foundation grants tend to be less than $10,000. Visit the funder’s grant history page to learn more about past funding. Grantmaking is solely focused on Bexar, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays, Kendall, and Travis counties in Texas. The foundation does not provide funding for capital campaigns, scholarships, start-ups, or fundraising events.
Important Grant Details
Following the foundation’s reevaluation of its grantmaking in 2018, it stopped accepting unsolicited letters of inquiry in the way that it did in the past. Instead, the funder hosts presentations with Q&A sessions for nonprofit representatives to attend and then complete an eligibility quiz through an online portal. Grant cycles typically run from September to March.
PEOPLE:
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