Through our innovative approach to the standard philanthropic “Theory of Change,” as a more ambitious “Theory of Great” – focusing on what constitutes a great life, childhood, young adulthood, and lifetime for our citizens, we strive to identify promising initiatives and policies in health, education, social welfare, and relief of the impoverished while prioritizing the historical, cultural, and shared narratives that shape our interactions and solutions.
By contemplating the necessary conditions that nurture greatness, we aim to create fertile ground for growth and prosperity in our beloved city of Charlotte. Together, we hope to cultivate the soil and plant the seeds for a brighter, more connected future. We are investing in ideas worth trying.
The focus of our work is lifting up the elements that constitute a great life and can be categorized into the following themes:
Belonging Relationships Awe & Wonder
While actively pursuing solutions in our focus areas, The Gambrell Foundation works with our partners to develop proposals for consideration. We are not currently accepting or reviewing unsolicited proposals.
If you have an access code to our online grants system, please click here to access.
Classroom Central
We envision a Charlotte where strong communal ties prevail, and citizens feel a profound sense of belonging. To strengthen belonging, we must cultivate a vibrant culture, communal ethos, shared history, and sense of feeling valued. How can we promote belonging among diverse groups, fostering inclusivity and bridging cultural, racial, and socioeconomic divides? How do we widen circles, leaving people feeling respected, cared for, connected, and loved?
Project L.I.F.T.
The importance of social capital, connectedness, and the creation of strong ties are necessary building blocks for a great life. Through our work, we aim to dig deeper into roles relationships play in achieving a great life and how different types of relationships (e.g., romantic, faily, friends, colleagues) contribute to well-being and evolve over time. We seek to discover and implement ideas that improve the quality of relationships in our communities and explore how factors like technology impact relationships and well-being.
Charlotte, NC
The powerful feeling of awe, coupled with a sense of wonder, is a transformative thing. By leaning into the existing research surrounding these emotions and translating it into practical strategies, we will explore the social benefits of awe and wonder (e.g., generosity, cooperation, common good, etc.), the most effective ways to induce awe and wonder in everyday life, how built environments create a sense of awe and wonder, and how awe and wonder can lead to a sense of connectedness and purpose.
Ideal requests will be from not-for-profit 501(c)3 organizations that are sufficiently staffed and organized to handle an influx of support. Funding is not available for individual pursuits.
We believe in right timing. Requests should be able to show positive momentum over a sufficient period of time and organizations that are at an intersection of need and capability. Results can be in organizational growth, expansion of service area or population, financial (either increased costs due to growth or a positive trend in donations), growth in volunteer support, etc.
Requests will be able to clearly demonstrate a critical need through definition of their service population using geographic scope, demographics and ethnographic studies. A mix of qualitative and quantitative support is recommended.
Organizations must be able to share adequate financial information for an assessment including, but not limited to, a balance sheet, and income statement, and an IRS Form 990.
Organizations should not only have a need, but a well-crafted plan to address it. We look for plans that accurately reflect such things as your current mission, strengths and resources. Your plan can be in a draft form, but the basic structure of it should articulate a logical approach, expected outcomes and KPIs (key performance indicators) by which you’ll define success. It should also include pro-forma financials that show the impact of the requested funding.
2019 marked a significant year of community impact for The Gambrell Foundation. We continued to explore innovative new ideas as well as deliver on our past commitments. As part of our mission to address inequity, we brought two groups of diverse community leaders to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. to experience and discuss the lessons highlighted in this national treasure.
A few of our exciting partnerships this year ranged from working with the UNC Charlotte Faculty Fellow Program, enhancing the influence of philanthropy through the Southeastern Council of Foundations, supporting Brookings Institution research that enables the Opportunity Insights work to bridge Charlotte’s economic mobility divide, to a new year of partnership with Communities In Schools.
Our annual report will provide greater detail of our activities in 2019. We are excited to share our year with you and are thankful for the many organizations we work with that are making a difference in Charlotte. Learn more by downloading our annual report below.
