OVERVIEW: The Kenneth Rainin Foundation makes grants for education, health, and the arts. Its arts funding supports organizations in the Bay Area. Education grants support early childhood development in Oakland. Its health giving is focused on research into the treatment and curing of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
IP TAKE: Health grantseekers will have the most opportunity here. Arts groups outside the Bay Area should look elsewhere. This funder likes collaboration within the context of its disease grants and grants that support IBD research. Though approachable and accessible, this funder’s grants are competitive in the disease research space.
PROFILE: San Francisco businessman Kenneth Rainin founded the Kenneth Rainin Foundation (KRF) to serve as a vehicle for his passions for the arts, education and medical research. When he passed away in 2007 at the age of 68, Mr. Rainin named the foundation the primary beneficiary of his estate. Its current mission is to “enhance quality of life by championing the arts, promoting early childhood literacy, and supporting research to cure chronic disease.” Many of its grants prioritize California; however, its health grants have a broader reach. Its three main focus areas are arts, education, and health.
Kenneth Rainin was an entrepreneur who made his fortune founding scientific and medical product companies. At the age of twenty-five, he founded Rainin Instrument Company, which distributed laboratory instruments and later sold a line of laboratory pipettes used for liquid sample testing. During his lifetime, Rainin channeled his wealth toward charitable, civic, and cultural activities, including the San Francisco Ballet and medical research at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Before his death, he gave over $8 million to fund the Kenneth Rainin Foundation for Crohn’s disease, colitis, and intestinal disorder research at UCSF and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. In 2007, he suffered from heart failure and passed away at the age of 68.
Grants for Arts and Culture
KRF supports “visionary artists” and arts organizations in the Bay Area that “push the boundaries of creative expression.” Grants through the Arts program seek to “to identify ways to support artists to unleash creativity and reduce administrative burdens that constrain the creative process.” The foundation’s two programs that focus on the arts are the New and Experimental Works (NEW) Program and the Open Spaces Program.
The New and Experimental Works (NEW) Program focuses on support for “new and experimental works by small and mid-size dance, theater and multidisciplinary arts organizations that enables Bay Area artists to produce timely, visionary projects.” Grants are for two years. The award ranges from $5,000–$30,000. For more information, new grantseekers can look over the NEW program FAQs.
The foundation’s Open Spaces Program works to “support temporary place-based public art projects in Oakland and San Francisco that engage communities, demonstrate artistic experimentation and energize public spaces.” Grants run for two years and range from $50,000 to $200,000. The foundation accepts letters of inquiry for this program from early April to the end of May. Grantseekers will want to keep an eye on the KRF website for the pre-application workshops schedule. For more complete information, grantseekers can look over the Open Spaces program FAQs.
To get a better idea of the types of arts organizations this funder supports, look over its Previous Grantees database, organized by program and year
Grants for Education
The Education program makes grants to support early childhood development in Oakland and to enable “every child to read at or above grade level by the end of third grade.” Its grants for education prioritizes funding for “education partners in Oakland schools, research on best practices and approaches, and family programs that support language development.” These grants are by invitation only; however, potential grantseekers should be aware that grantees “must provide services for Oakland children. While an organization can operate and provide services outside of Oakland, [the foundation’s] funding can only go towards […] Oakland-based programming.” The Rainin Foundation’s primary funding vehicle for early childhood education is the SEEDS of Learning program.
To get a better idea of the types of education organizations this funder supports, look over its Previous Grantees database, organized by program and year
Grants for Diseases
KRF’s Health funding, which is almost exclusively dedicated to the study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), aims to “support novel, high-risk research and challenge investigators to push boundaries.” Its Innovator Awards Program goes to “invest in new and veteran IBD researchers alike and embrace novel, untested ideas,” and supports a range of research types including “basic, translational and clinical science.” Some of its research priorities include bioengineering, diet and nutrition, molecular biology, fecal microbiota transplant, immunity and inflammation, microbiome, and therapeutic development and delivery.
KRF’s Synergy Award is “designed to encourage collaboration among health researchers from across disciplines to advance the study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.” This interdisciplinary award is presented to two to more investigators from disparate areas of research interested in pooling their expertise to address IBD. Scientists must first participate in the foundation’s Innovations Symposium to be eligible for this award.
KRF typically awards grants of $100,000 to $200,000 grants for a one- to two-year period. Applicants for the Innovator Award must submit a Letter of Inquiry by March 15 in order to be invited to submit a full proposal. The Synergy Award accepts proposals between May and September. To get a better idea of the types of health organizations this funder supports, look over its Previous Grantees database, organized by program and year
Important Grant Details:
Foundation grants tend to be between $50,000 and $200,000, although some grants are larger than this. View lists of past grants on the arts, education, and health sections of the funder’s website. This foundation is focused on the Bay Area, specifically on Oakland, California. A handful of grants, particularly in disease research, are national.
The Rainin Foundation accepts unsolicited grant requests for its arts and health programs. Review the funder’s website for the most current information about open grant opportunities and deadlines. Keep up with recent grant news on the foundation News and Blog section.
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