The Kettering Family Foundation

About Us

The Kettering Family Foundation was founded by Eugene W. Kettering, son of Charles F. Kettering, and his wife Virginia W. Kettering in 1956.

Today, the Foundation supports a broad range of charitable activities of interest to the Board of Trustees, which is composed of members of the Kettering Family. 

Because funding decisions are driven by the interests of the trustees, Request Summaries endorsed by a trustee at the time of submission are considered a priority. Over 90% of grants awarded fit within this category.

A trustee may choose to endorse a request at any time during the application review process; therefore, the Foundation is open to receiving Request Summaries that are not endorsed at the time of submission. Trustees may not be preemptively contacted to obtain an endorsement.

The Board of Trustees meets biannually (May and November) to make funding decisions. Please visit the Application Process page for more information and to apply.

Application Process

Grant Guidelines: The Foundation trustees have historically approved grants in those areas where family members reside. At the same time 90%+ of the grants approved in recent years have been trustee endorsed, some of which are in areas that may be located outside of family residence areas.   Family members live throughout the US, but there are larger concentrations between New York and New Hampshire, in addition to Colorado.  We strongly recommend that you contact the Foundation’s office to discuss your proposed program before you start the application process.  Please send an e-mail to info@ketteringfamilyphilanthropies.org.  The Kettering Family Foundation (KFF) will consider activities in the following categories: Primary Areas of Support:

• Arts, Culture and Humanities
• Education
• Environment
• Health/Medical
• Human Services/Public & Society Benefit

Organizations that are not units of government or affiliated with a religious organization must have a current 501(c)(3) determination letter from the IRS.  Fiscal sponsorships will be accepted, but only under special circumstances.  Request Summaries for any of the following purposes are rarely considered without the endorsement of a Kettering Family Foundation trustee.  

• Religious organizations for religious purposes
• Individual public elementary or secondary schools or public school districts
• Capital construction
• Foreign based or foreign purpose organizations
• Local chapters of national organizations
• Multi-year grants
• Travel expenses
• Event sponsorship

Request Summaries will not be accepted for any of the following purposes.

• Grants or loans to individuals
• Tickets, advertising or sponsorships of fundraising events
• Efforts to carry on propaganda or otherwise attempt to influence legislation
• Activities of 509(a)(3) Type III Supporting Organization

The Application Process:

• KFP uses a two-step application review process that operates on a biannual cycle, January – May and July – November.   The appropriate KFP Committee (Committee) first reviews a Request Summary.  If interested, the Committee will invite the applicant to submit a Full Proposal.
• Only one Request Summary per calendar year may be submitted to any one of the Kettering Family Philanthropies.
• Previously supported organizations are eligible to submit a Request Summary for the same or different purpose, if the previous grant has been fully expended, and all required reports have been submitted and accepted by KFP.
• If you are a first-time applicant, or have not applied since January 1, 2010, follow the link to Create account or login with username & password in the upper right-hand corner of any KFP web page.    Your  User Name  must be your organization’s Employer Identification Number, also known as the Federal Tax Identification Number (without the hyphen).   The e-mail address that you enter into the Account information will be the address to which all communications will be sent from KFP.
• This Account will be your organization’s permanent record with KFP.  You will receive an e-mail from KFP confirming your Account information.  Save this information for future access to your Account.
• If you have applied to KFP since January 1, 2010, log in to the Account previously established for your organization. To insure that your contact e-mail address is up to date, click on Account Settings tab in the upper right hand corner of the page.  You can also change your password, if you so desire.
• If you know that your organization has an Account, but you cannot access it, or you are not sure if you have an Account, use the Create account or login with username & password link.
• After you have accessed or established your Account, click on the Create a Request Summary in the first section of the page. (For best results we recommend that you use one of the following browsers:  Firefox 4.0, Safari 5.0+, Google Chrome or Internet Explorer 8.0).
• Submit the Request Summary by the due date, either January 31 or July 31.  If these dates fall on a weekend or holiday, the information is due the next business day.  You will receive an e-mail confirming receipt of your submission.    You will be advised by e-mail of the outcome of the Committee’s  review in approximately three weeks.
• If you have received an e-mail inviting you to submit a Full Proposal, access your Account to complete the process.  Full Proposals are due March 15 or September 15.  If these dates fall on a weekend or holiday, the information is due the next business day.  You will receive an e-mail confirming receipt of your submission.  You will be contacted if additional information is needed.  A site visit may be requested.
• Notice of approval or denial will be communicated to you within 10 days of the Committee’s meeting.  If you are awarded a grant, the chief executive officer of your organization will be required to sign a Grant Recipient Agreement that outlines the duties and responsibilities of being a grant recipient.  Generally grants are paid within 45 days of the Committee’s meeting.
• Faxed, mailed or hand-delivered Request Summaries and Full Proposals will not be accepted, unless KFP has agreed to an exception.
• In summary, all communications from KFP will be sent to the e-mail address listed in your Account information.  You can expect e-mails informing you that:

1. Your Account has been established
2. Your Request Summary has been received
3. Your Request Summary has been denied or you have been invited to submit a Full Proposal
4. Your Full Proposal has been received 
5. Your Full Proposal has been denied
6. A grant has been awarded

To ensure that our e-mails are not deleted or moved to your Spam or Junk Mail folder, add our e-mail address, info@ketteringfamilyphilanthropies.org, to your safe sender list.  If you are not receiving our communications, please contact us at info@ketteringfamilyphilanthropies.org. Please read these Helpful Hints before you begin to fill out the application form.  

Grant History

During the last three calendar years, The Kettering Family Foundation paid a total of $18,460,944 to charitable organizations throughout the United States, primarily where family members reside.

2023 Grants Paid by Category

Arts/Culture/Humanities       $ 1,332,750

Education                               $ 1,177,500

Environment                           $    595,000

Health/Medical                        $ 1,101,000

Human Services                     $ 1,770,000

Public/Society Benefit            $   296,500     

                                                  $ 6,272,750

Grants Paid by Category: 2021 – 2023

Arts/Culture/Humanities         $  4,249,250    (23%)

Education                                 $  3,911,000    (21%)

Environment                            $  1,963,994     (11%)

Health/Medical                         $  3,189,500     (17%)

Human Services                      $  4,531,200     (25%)

Public/Society Benefit            $     616,000      ( 3%)

                                                   $17,438,771   (100%)

To review financial information about The Kettering Family Foundation, click this link to Guidestar