The Hall Family Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of the Hall family, creators of Hallmark brand greeting cards. The foundation donates to nonprofits in the Kansas City area and the University of Kansas.

History

J.C. Hall founded Hallmark Cards in 1910. In 1943 Hall, his wife Elizabeth, and his brother Rollie B. Hall founded the Hallmark Educational Foundation, which was renamed the Hall Family Foundation in 1993. ¹

Donald J. Hall, Jr. is chairman of the board of the Hall Family Foundation and executive president of the board of Hallmark Cards. ²

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

In 1986, the Hall Family Foundation spent $20 million on 57 works by British sculptor Henry Moore, including three large bronze pieces, which it donated to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. ³ In 2000, the foundation donated an additional 84 works to the museum, including 52 more works by Moore and sculptures by Constantin Brancusi and Alberto Giacometti. ⁴ In 2017, the museum, using a $10 million grant from the foundation, purchased 800 photographs for its collection, including works by Diane Arbus and Dorothea Lange. ⁵

University of Kansas

In 1983, the Hall Family Foundation began donating to the University of Kansas for a building now known as the Hall Center for the Humanities. In 2001, the foundation donated $42 million, the largest gift made to the university at the time. ⁶

The foundation has made several large gifts to the university in this century, most recently a $25 million gift in 2015 towards the construction of a new building for the University of Kansas Medical Center. ⁷

Children’s Mercy Kansas City Hospital

In 2018, the Hall Family Foundation and the Sunderland Foundation each donated $50 million to the Children’s Mercy Kansas City Hospital for the construction of a pediatric research facility, which opened in February 2021. ⁸

Other Grantmaking

In 2021, the Hall Family Foundation made $37 million in grants, including four seven-figure ones. It gave $2.8 million to the Truman Medical Center Medical Foundation; $2.5 million to the Eisenhower Foundation towards the restoration of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s birthplace in Abilene, Kansas; $2.6 million to the Kansas University Endowment Association, including $2 million to endow a professorship in breast cancer prevention and survivorship; and $1.6 million to the Nelson Gallery Foundation for purchases of photographs by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. ⁹

1. ^[1] “History,” Hall Family Foundation, https://www.hallfamilyfoundation.org/history-timeline/ (accessed May 12, 2022)
2. “Team,” Hall family Foundation, https://www.hallfamilyfoundation.org/team/ (accessed May 12, 2022)
3. Grace Gleick, “Moore Group Sold to Kansas Cityans,” New York Times, November 27, 1986.
4. Judith H. Dobrzynski, “Big Sculpture Gift for Missouri Museum,” New York Times, March 21, 2000.
5. Peter Libbey, “Nelson-Atkins Museum Announces Acquisitions,” New York Times, November 8, 2017.
6.  Terry Rembeck, “Kansas University Endowment Group Surpasses $500 Million Mark,” Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World, November 21, 2003.
7. Sara Shepherd, “KU Medical Center Breaks ground on new $75 Million Health Education Building,” Lawrence (Kansas) Journal-World, August 27, 2015.
8. “Children’s Mercy Kansas City’s New Research Building Opens,” press release from Children’s Mercy Kansas City Hospital, February 19, 2021.
9. 2021 Hall Family Foundation Annual Report, https://www.hallfamilyfoundation.org/2018/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/F_HFF_2021_Rev3.3.22.pdf (accessed May 12, 2022)