The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation is a private foundation based in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Foundation was founded by the late Mrs. Cornelia T. Bailey to carry on her philanthropic interests which included the arts, education, and the environment, among other initiatives. Mrs. Bailey was a resident of both Connecticut and Florida and enjoyed supporting many initiatives in those regions. To learn more about our funding initiatives please visit our funding map.

The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation was founded in 2007 by Mrs. Bailey to support organizations for which she and her late husband, Glenn W. Bailey, were passionate. Read more about Mrs. Bailey and her legacy on our About page.

Eligible applicants are 501(c)(3) organizations whose programs and initiatives help to further our Foundation's mission and whose services benefit individuals and organizations identified within our priority funding areas.

Our Foundation does not grant to individuals, political organizations, lobbying groups, fraternal, foreign, civic organizations, or other private trusts/foundations.

Our Foundation does not grant to individuals, political organizations, lobbying groups, fraternal, foreign, civic organizations, or other private trusts/foundations. You may be able to contact an organization such as a local United Way, YMCA or Cultural Council, who might agree to partner with you on your proposed project but we are in no way able to help with that process. We will only fund 501(c)(3) designated organizations.

The only way to know if a project or program is something we are interested in funding is by first submitting an LOI or program application. Our staff is not able to decipher from an email or web inquiry whether or not the board will vote to move ahead with a full grant application or approve a program application.

After reviewing our FAQ please visit our Apply page and take our eligibility quiz. If after taking the quiz you determine that your organization is a good fit for our Foundation please submit a Letter of Inquiry or program application. Please allow our staff at least eight weeks to review your LOI. We will contact the e-mail address submitted in the inquiry to notify you of our decision and any appropriate next steps.

The Foundation's Board meets monthly, and Letters of Inquiry, Program Applications, and Full Grant Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, often with a small backlog. There are no specific deadlines or due dates. The Foundation operates on a calendar-year budget, and most submissions take up to 12 weeks to review.

The Foundation does not typically seek recognition for its philanthropic activities, however, we recognize the value a grantee organization may find in leveraging its private funding to demonstrate support for its programs and attract additional resources. The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation reserves the right to approve all public uses of its name. Please contact us before doing so.

The Foundation will entertain requests for multi-year grants, which will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Grant applicants may apply for additional grants each year if a multi-year request is not granted. Each request will be considered independently. This does not apply to P/Arts, New ERA or Eager grants as they are strictly one-year grants.

As of 2023, the median grant from our Foundation was $32,000.

Suppose, through the Letter of Inquiry process, we invite your organization to submit a full grant application, and you feel as though a site visit will help us in deciding on the grant application. In that case, we are happy to schedule a visit to your location to meet with your staff and to learn more about your operations and the proposed project first-hand. Use the Contact Us page to contact our office for more information.

Unless otherwise stated, you will have one year from the date of the award letter to submit our form annual grant report (located on the Reporting page of our website). Please visit the Reporting page on our website for more information.