The Kendeda Fund is the private philanthropic foundation created by Diana Blank in 1993. Blank, the ex-wife of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, was not known to be the Fund’s principal donor until 2015. ¹ Blank created the Fund’s name by combining the names of her three children.

The Fund has donated over $750 million since its founding and has vowed to give away most of its assets by 2023. ² It focuses on six areas – environmentalism, left-of-center organizations involved in advocacy for girls, veteran healing through the outdoors, and gun control. It does not accept unsolicited grant proposals. ³

Funding

The Kendeda Fund appears to be solely funded by Diana Blank. She was largely anonymous until 2015, when Blank went public in an interview. ⁴ That year, one of Blank’s children—Dena Kimball—also stepped into the Fund as Executive Director.

Reporting on Blank’s newly-public profile, Inside Philanthropy noted that Kendeda was “fueled by . . . a whole lot of Home Depot stock” in addition to Blank’s money. ⁵ (Blank’s ex-husband Arthur was a co-founder of Home Depot. ⁶)

Kendeda’s revenues in 2015 were $152,805,745, far higher than its 2014 revenues of $19,974,432 and its 2012 revenues of $75,112,179. ⁷ Its 2012 revenues were its highest from 2010 to 2014. Approximately $150 million of Kendeda’s 2015 revenues came from sales of Home Depot stock. ⁸

Key Programs

The Kendeda Fund provides grant funding in key areas: international girls’ rights, veteran healing, gun violence prevention, grants related to environmentalism and economic improvement in several communities, and community impacts on the environment.

The girls’ rights initiative ostensibly focuses on ending child marriage. ⁹ However, Kendeda’s website highlights its support for several groups which support expanded abortion. One group is international young feminist group FRIDA. ¹⁰ FRIDA endorses taxpayer-funded abortions. ¹¹ Kendeda also funds the Population Media Center (PMC), which endorses abortion as a means of population control. ¹² The Global Fund for Women is the third group highlighted on Kendeda’s girls’ rights page; it also strongly endorses legalized abortion. ¹³

Kendeda’s gun control advocacy initiative highlights three groups. ¹⁴ One is the Center for American Progress, a leading liberal think tank which endorses gun control measures. ¹⁵ It also funds the Fund for a Safer Future, a gun control group which provides money to a number of explicitly left-leaning groups such as the Center for American Progress and Media Matters for America. ¹⁶

The People, Place, and Planet initiative funds several key groups, including the far-left Democracy Initiative, which has endorsed the $90 trillion proposal known as the Green New Deal. ^{17 18}

The Southeast Sustainability initiative funds a number of groups which focus on community environmentalist partnerships, as does an initiative focused on Montana. ¹⁹²⁰ The veteran initiative helps veterans heal from injuries through hiking, fishing, and other outdoor activities. ²¹

Kendeda also funds Atlanta improvement programs focused on minority community efforts. ²² A $12 million donation to Montana State University in 2018 was provided by Kendeda for the building of an American Indian Hall. ²³

The Fund donates to a number of apolitical and artistic causes. It gave $20 million to build a hospital and four million dollars to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. ²⁴ It also founded a theater awards program in the early 2000s in Atlanta to help revitalize the city’s economy and artistic contributions. ²⁵

Environmentalism

Kendeda is especially known for its financial support for environmental causes. A 2015 Inside Philanthropy described it as “sitting just outside the top 10 environmental funders nationally.” ²⁶

Inside Philanthropy’s article came after The Kendeda Fund gave a $30 million donation to build an environmentally sustainable building at Georgia Tech. Atlanta Business Chronicle described the building as designed to be “the most environmentally-sound building ever constructed in the Southeast. ²⁷ The building is expected to be completed in 2019. ²⁸

As of April 18, 2019, four out of Kendeda’s six grant projects highlighted on their main page are environmentally-focused. ²⁹ A 2018 report highlighted 10 years of donations to dozens of organizations for Kendeda’s Grants to Green program. ³⁰

Leadership

Kendeda has eight staff members. ³¹ One of Blank’s daughters with Arthur Blank, Dena Kimball, is the group’s executive director. Before beginning her work at Kendeda, Kimball was involved in several education non-profits. ³²

Director of operations Christine Hunt has been with the Kendeda Fund since 2016. ³³

Blank continues to be the Fund’s sole donor. She first publicly came out as the Fund’s donor in 2015 to Atlanta Business Chronicle. ³⁴ In the interview, Blank said Kimball came to The Kendeda Fund because Blank was stepping back from being as directly involved in the Fund’s day-to-day activities. ³⁵

Blank told the Chronicle she first engaged in donations through the Atlanta Women’s Foundation and donor-advised funds created through the San Francisco-based left-of-center philanthropy organization Tides Foundation. ³⁶  When the Georgia Tech building construction began in 2017, she told Atlanta Business Chronicle that one of her goals is to “change a lot of the politics in Atlanta so that people are more open to new ways of building that saves energy and water.” ³⁷

1. Tate Williams, “A top green funder emerges from the shadows and steps up giving,” November 16, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2015/11/16/a-top-green-funder-emerges-from-the-shadows-and-steps-up-giv.html
2. The Kendeda Fund, About, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/about/
3. The Kendeda Fund, About, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/about/#our-approach
4. Maria Saporta, “A longtime anonymous donor reveals her identity,” September 18, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/09/18/a-longtime-anonymous-donor-reveals-her-identity.html
5. Tate Williams, “A top green funder emerges from the shadows and steps up giving,” November 16, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2015/11/16/a-top-green-funder-emerges-from-the-shadows-and-steps-up-giv.html
6. “Arthur Blank.” Forbes. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/profile/arthur-blank/#7c3026d1749c.
7. Kendeda Fund, List of annual 990 reports, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/206881642
8. The Kendeda Fund, 2015 990, Accessed April 18,2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/206881642/2016_12_PF%2F20-6881642_990PF_201512
9. The Kendeda Fund, Girls’ Rights, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/our-programs/girls-rights/
10. The Kendeda Fund, “Empowering young feminists to change the world,” Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/grantee/empowering-young-feminists-change-world/
11. FRIDA, “Celebrating feminists pasts, presents and futures!” Accessed April 18, 2019. https://youngfeministfund.org/iwd-2019/
12. Population Media Center, About Us, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.populationmedia.org/about-us/
13. Global Fund for Women, Abortion Rights Infographics, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/abortion-rights-infographic/
14. The Kendeda Fund, Gun Violence Prevention, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/our-programs/gun-violence-prevention/
15. Center for American Progress, Gun Violence, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.americanprogress.org/tag/gun-violence/
16. Fund for a Safer Future, What We Fund, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.fundforasaferfuture.org/what-we-fund/
17. Democracy Collaborative, Twitter Feed, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://twitter.com/democracycollab?lang=en
18. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, Dan Bosch, Ben Gitis, Dan Goldbeck, and Philip Rossetti. “The Green New Deal: Scope, Scale, and Implications.” American Action Forum. February 25, 2019. Accessed April 24, 2019. https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/the-green-new-deal-scope-scale-and-implications/.
19. The Kendeda Fund, Montana, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/our-programs/montana/
20. The Kendeda Fund, Southeast Sustainability, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/our-programs/southeast-sustainability/
21. The Kendeda Fund, Veterans, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/our-programs/veterans/
22. The Kendeda Fund, Atlanta Equity. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/our-programs/atlanta-equity/
23. Gail Schontzler, “‘Thrilled and humbled:’ Montana State raises $413 million in eight-year campaign,” January 29, 2019. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/montana_state_university/thrilled-and-humbled-montana-state-raises-million-in-eight-year/article_d723b0ba-c5e1-59fd-851e-571b25536a4e.html
24. Maria Saporta, “A longtime anonymous donor reveals her identity,” September 24, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://saportareport.com/a-longtime-anonymous-donor-reveals-her-identity/
25. Kelundra Smith, “Alliance theatre Kendeda competition marks 15 years of world-premiere plays,” February 22, 2019. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://www.artsatl.org/alliance-theatre-kendeda-competition-marks-15-years-of-world-premiere-plays/
26. Tate Williams, “A top green funder emerges from the shadows and steps up giving,” November 16, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2015/11/16/a-top-green-funder-emerges-from-the-shadows-and-steps-up-giv.html
27. Maria Saporta, “Atlanta to join cutting edge of ‘net zero’ buildings,” September 18, 2015. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/09/18/atlanta-to-join-cutting-edge-of-net-zero-buildings.html
28. The Kendeda Fund, Living Building Chronicle, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://livingbuilding.kendedafund.org/about-the-project/
29. The Kendeda Fund, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/
30. The Kendeda Fund, “A Decade to Celebrate: Transforming Nonprofits through Sustainability,” 2018. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/G2G_FINAL-1.pdf
31. The Kendeda Fund, About, Accessed April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/about/#our-approach
32. The Kendeda Fund, Team Member Dena Kimball, April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/team-member/dena-kimball/
33. The Kendeda Fund, Team Member Christine Hunt, April 18, 2019. https://kendedafund.org/team-member/christine-hunt/
34. Maria Saporta, “A longtime anonymous donor reveals her identity,” September 18, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/09/18/a-longtime-anonymous-donor-reveals-her-identity.html
35. Maria Saporta, “A longtime anonymous donor reveals her identity,” September 18, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/09/18/a-longtime-anonymous-donor-reveals-her-identity.html
36. Maria Saporta, “A longtime anonymous donor reveals her identity,” September 18, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2019. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/09/18/a-longtime-anonymous-donor-reveals-her-identity.html
37. Maria Saporta, “Seeds planted for Living Building launch at Georgia Tech,” November 2, 2017. Accessed April 19, 2019. https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/11/02/seeds-planted-for-living-building-launch.html