Dr. Bronner’s Family Foundation and Corporate Giving

OVERVIEW: Dr. Bronner’s Family Foundation supports human rights, immigrants and refugees, agriculture, animals, wildlife and public health in places all over the world.

IP TAKE: Bronner’s expansive view of the “root causes” of immigration and displacement makes this an especially attractive funder for grantseekers. Applicants who can tie their project to the current refugee crisis will do well here.

The foundation does tend to support the same groups year after year, but its acceptance of unsolicited LOIs make this an approachable funder for new grantseekers. Its website is relatively easy to navigate; however, grantseekers should be aware that its program page is as wordy as the label on a bottle of Bronner’s soap, so be sure to read carefully.

PROFILE: Established in 2003, Dr. Bronner’s Family Foundation is an independent grantmaking organization that carries on the legacy of Emanuel Bronner’s activism and community service. Bronner was a third-generation soap-maker from a German-Jewish family who founded a top-selling natural soap brand in the U.S. He was also an activist who wanted to unite all people and promote the spirit of service. Today, the foundation is run by a family member/executive director and a board of family/company executives.

According to its statement of purpose, the foundation “exists to carry on Emanuel Bronner and his family’s legacy of activism and community service.” It is run by a family member/executive director and a board comprised of family members and company executives. Since 2019, the foundation’s main grantmaking focus has been migration justice. The foundation is is a separate entity from the Dr. Bronner’s company, which runs a corporate giving program that gives in the areas of agriculture and environment, drug policy and criminal justice reform, civil and human rights, community betterment and animal advocacy. The corporate gives in the U.S. and abroad through its All-One International program, which gives at least “1% of sales to Dr. Bronner’s participating international markets are donated annually to local efforts in support of social justice, environmental sustainability, and animal advocacy.”

Grants for Immigrants and Refugees

The Dr. Bronner Family Foundation’s Migration Justice makes grants to “confront urgent challenges facing those affected by displacement and injustice.” This cause is of personal interest to the family; Dr. Bronner himself was a descendant of German Jews who were affected by the Holocaust, and the foundation’s current executive director, Kris Lin-Bronner, is an immigrant to the U.S. who “grew up in a family affected by colonialism, civil war, displacement, and discrimination.” The foundation names areas of emphasis including:

The lack of response on the part of leaders and institutions to the gravity of the global migration crisis;
An acknowledgement of root causes of migration including climate change, armed conflict, political crises, social inequity and human trafficking;
The resulting increase in “xenophobia, autocratic leadership, and the use of state power to exclude, isolate, and exploit the most vulnerable”; and
The human rights and basic needs of displaced people around the word.

Grantees include the Alliance for Global Justice, the Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center an Finding Refuge, which works in Greece to provide migrants with safe housing, work opportunities and “healing and recovery after displacement.”

Grants for Environment and Sustainable Agriculture

Support for agriculture and environment stems from the Dr. Bronner’s corporate giving program. In addition to pursuing greener and more sustainable practices in its own commercial practices, the initiative has participated in “campaigns to mandate the labeling of products containing genetically modified organisms” and supported efforts for regenerative organic agriculture. Grantee partners include the Rengenerative Organic Alliance, Mad Agriculture, which supports research and practice in the field of regenerative farming, and Philosopher Foods, which works to “to transform the toxic landscape of almond farming in America.“

Grants for Public Health, Mental Health and Criminal Justice Reform

Another corporate giving initiative concerns drug policy and criminal justice reform. The company’s areas of interest here include:

The legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational uses;
Research, advocacy and policy development for psychedelic, herbal and fungal medications and therapies;
Mental health care for veterans; and
Criminal justice reform programs that focus on reentry, anti-recidivism and “defending and empowering incarcerated people.”

The company’s grantee partners in this work include the Indigenous Medicine Conservation Fund, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions.

Grants for Racial Justice, LGBTQ Rights, Work and Opportunity

Dr. Bronner’s civil and human rights focus area names “fair pay,” the rights of LGBTQ+ people and racial justice as priorities for its giving and engagements. The corporate giving program has supported organizations including the Movement for Black Lives, Business for a Fair Minimum Wage and Gender Illumination, which pursues policy reform to support safety, rights and opportunities for LGBTQ+ people.

Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Community Development

Bronner’s giving for community betterment supports a broad range of community needs in San Diego County, focusing on children, youth and vulnerable people. Grantee partners include the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, Students without Limits, which supports at-risk youth, and Humanity Showers, which runs a mobile shower program for unhoused people in the San Diego area.

Grants for Animal Welfare and Wildlife

In the area of animal advocacy, the Dr. Bronner Company supports organizations that advocate to end animal “suffering and exploitation” and transition to “healthier and more sustainable food systems.” The corporate giving program has supported organizations including Animal Outlook, the Black Veg Society, Farm Forward and the Vine Sanctuary, an organization that rescues animals from abusive practices and situations.

Important Grant Details:

The Dr. Bronner’s Family Foundation awards grants in amounts ranging from $5,000 to $25,000.

The foundation’s current work addresses migrant justice. All other giving areas are supported via the Dr. Bronner Company’s corporate giving program.
This funder appears to favor innovative organizations and has given to organizations of every size.
Many foundation grants support U.S. organizations that work globally to support migrants and displaced people.
Corporate giving supports a broader range of causes in the U.S. and abroad. International grants typically stem from the company’s All-One International program.
The foundation accepts letters of inquiry via an online form, but will only contact nonprofit organizations with projects that closely align with its current funding priorities. The Dr. Bronner’s corporate giving program does not appear run a grant application program.
For information about past giving, see a list of past grantees at the bottom of the Dr. Bronner Family Foundation’s programs page. For information about corporate giving, see the program pages linked to the Our Community page or the All-One annual report.

Submit letters of inquiry to the Dr. Bronner Family Foundation here. The foundation’s phone number is (760) 743-2211. To contact the Dr. Bronner company, send a message via the contact page.

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