Blake Family Foundation Inc.

The Blake Family Foundation is the personal philanthropy of Frank Blake — former Chairman and CEO of The Home Depot (2007–2015) — and his wife Liz Blake, former Senior Vice President at Habitat for Humanity International. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood, the foundation has grown from $8.96M in assets and $110K in giving (FY2015) to a $61.6M endowment distributing over $5.3M annually by FY2023 — a trajectory that reflects deliberate, accelerating capital deployment.

There are effectively two entities grant seekers must understand. The Blake Family Foundation (EIN 47-4945600) is the formal 501(c)(3) private foundation that explicitly makes contributions only to preselected organizations — unsolicited applications are not reviewed. The operationally active grantmaking channel for new applicants is the Liz Blake Giving Fund (lizblakegivingfund.org), which maintains a published application process via the JustFund portal and awards grants of $25,000–$75,000 on a rolling basis. Conflating the two entities, or submitting directly to the corporate foundation, is the most common mistake organizations make with this funder.

The giving philosophy centers on what Liz Blake calls two-generation (2Gen) approaches — interventions that simultaneously strengthen mothers and caregivers as economic actors while improving outcomes for their children from prenatal through 3rd grade. This reflects both founders' backgrounds: Frank Blake's corporate leadership experience introduces a systems-level, scalability lens, while Liz Blake's Habitat for Humanity work grounds the strategy in community-based family stability. The foundation was explicitly motivated by Atlanta's 2018 Bloomberg ranking as one of the worst U.S. cities for economic mobility.

The typical giving relationship is multi-year and partnership-oriented. Repeat grantees — Westminster School (3 awards), Atlanta Mission (3 awards), Morehouse School of Medicine (3 awards), American Jewish Committee (4 awards) — indicate the Blakes value deepening relationships with proven partners over one-time project grants. First-time applicants should expect a cultivation period; a cold application without prior relationship carries steep odds. The most effective entry points are warm introductions through organizations already in the portfolio, particularly those active in Atlanta's early childhood, maternal health, or mental health ecosystem where Liz Blake is a visible convener.

The Blake Family Foundation's grantmaking has grown dramatically across its decade of operation: $110,704 (FY2015) → $1.33M (FY2019) → $2.63M (FY2020) → $3.99M (FY2022) → $5.31M (FY2023) → approximately $5.24M (FY2024, 18 awards). The net investment income in FY2023 was $6.45M on $62.35M in assets, funding grantmaking well above the federal 5% minimum at an effective payout rate of approximately 8.5%.

Across 62 documented grants totaling $11.89M, the average grant is $191,777 and the database-reported median is $50,000, but this masks a strongly bimodal distribution. A small number of signature awards dominate total dollars: Westminster School ($4.28M across 3 grants), Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund ($1.775M), The Liz Blake Charitable Fund ($1.77M), American Enterprise Institute ($744K), and Blake Family Fund ($490K). Remove these institutional/re-grantmaking flows and the median community-facing award is closer to $75,000–$100,000. The Liz Blake Giving Fund's published grant range of $25,000–$75,000 reflects what new applicants should realistically target.

Geographically, 44 of 62 documented grants (71%) go to Georgia-based organizations. The remainder flows to Kentucky (6 grants), Washington D.C. (5), Massachusetts (3), New York (3), and Ohio (1). The D.C. and New York grantees are almost exclusively policy think tanks — American Enterprise Institute ($744K), Manhattan Institute for Policy Research ($313K), and Hudson Institute ($213K) — that reflect Frank Blake's institutional relationships and are not accessible to new applicants. Kentucky giving is not publicly explained and likely reflects personal relationships.

The community-facing Atlanta portfolio divides roughly as follows: healthcare and human services account for the plurality (Morehouse School of Medicine $206K, Grady Health $200–325K, Atlanta Mission $212K, Shepherd Center $105K, Atlanta Community Food Bank $156K, Second Helpings Atlanta $100K); education and cultural institutions follow (Georgia Aquarium $150K, Agnes Scott College $55K); and civic and advocacy organizations round out the portfolio (American Jewish Committee $181K, Atlanta Police Foundation $102K, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation $50K). The Liz Blake Giving Fund's 2Gen portfolio (maternal health, early childhood, mental health) represents the most structured and accessible slice of this broader allocation.

The following table compares Blake Family Foundation Inc. to four asset-matched peers, all classified under NTEE code T (Philanthropy & Grantmaking) with approximately $61–62M in assets:

Among asset-matched peers, the Blake Family Foundation stands out on two dimensions. First, its giving is unusually transparent and accessible: it is the only peer with a functioning public-facing website, a named sub-initiative with stated priorities, and a documented application portal (JustFund). All four comparable foundations are effectively closed to unsolicited applicants with no public disclosure of grantmaking criteria. Second, its payout rate of approximately 8.5% (FY2023) significantly exceeds the federal 5% minimum, confirming active capital deployment by founders who intend to give meaningfully during their lifetimes rather than preserve endowment. For Metro Atlanta organizations working on maternal and child health, early childhood, and mental health, the Blake Family Foundation/Liz Blake Giving Fund is the most accessible and clearly articulated funder at this asset tier.

The foundation's most recent 990-PF was filed October 30, 2025, reporting 18 grants and approximately $5.24M in charitable disbursements for FY2024 — the second consecutive year above $5M in total giving.

The 2024 Liz Blake Giving Fund portfolio was notably diverse across the three stated priority areas. In maternal and child health: March of Dimes Atlanta GBI received funding for monthly $1,000 stipends to 25 Black pregnant women; Atlanta Birth Center received a capacity-building grant to hire four to five nurse-midwives expanding hospital-based midwifery. In mental health: CHRIS 180 received support for its WRAParound trauma-informed model; the Mental Health Funders Collaborative pooled fund extended the foundation's reach across Georgia's youth mental health network. In early childhood and financial empowerment: Wellroot Family Services expanded Healthy Families America to DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett Counties; Motherhood Beyond Bars funded Certified Peer Support Specialists for incarcerated mothers.

Two major institutional legacy commitments also closed in 2024: the Liz and Frank Blake Chair in Children's Behavioral and Mental Health at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (an endowed position), and the Blake Scholars Program at Emory School of Nursing providing full-tuition scholarships for psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners. Both signal the Blakes are beginning to layer endowment-level institutional partnerships alongside their project grant portfolio — a pattern common among family foundations entering their second decade.

No leadership changes have been publicly announced. Frank Blake (President) and Liz Blake (Treasurer) continue to serve without compensation, each contributing approximately one hour per week per the 990 disclosure.

Use the correct entity and portal. The Blake Family Foundation (EIN 47-4945600) is preselected-only. All new applicant activity must go through the Liz Blake Giving Fund at lizblakegivingfund.org, submitting an LOI via the JustFund portal (portal.justfund.us/p/rfps/54d89dba-5dcb-4164-8456-28306d6c1e46). Do not mail applications to the home office at 3406 Old Plantation Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30327.

The 2Gen filter is non-negotiable. Every program in the Giving Fund's portfolio simultaneously serves mothers/caregivers AND children from prenatal through 3rd grade. Programs serving only adults, only children, or children over age 8 will be screened out at the LOI stage. State your 2Gen model in the first paragraph.

Target the right dollar range. The Giving Fund's published grant range is $25,000–$75,000. First-year requests above $75,000 are unlikely unless your organization has a prior relationship with the Blakes or is part of a collaborative initiative they co-fund.

Use their vocabulary. The evaluation criteria language is precise: "two-generation approach," "trauma-informed," "scalable model," "opportunity to inform future approaches to the problem." This is not boilerplate — these are scored criteria. Proposals that use generic impact language without explicitly addressing scalability and replicability miss a key filter.

Emphasize collaboration. Multiple 2024 awards went to multi-partner initiatives: the Mental Health Funders Collaborative and the Atlanta Women's Foundation 2Gen Initiative. If your organization participates in collective impact tables, co-funding arrangements, or cross-sector partnerships, lead with this.

Frame multi-year. The Giving Fund explicitly values "interest in multi-year partnership." Present a multi-year program arc with annual milestones rather than a standalone 12-month project.

Geography is strict. All programs must operate in Metro Atlanta. The 2024 Wellroot grant clarified that DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett Counties are in scope. Programs outside the metro area will not fit.

Build presence in the ecosystem. Liz Blake participates in Atlanta's maternal health and early childhood funder convenings. Attend GA-AIMH (Georgia Association for Infant Mental Health) events, connect with Atlanta Women's Foundation, and engage with the Mental Health Funders Collaborative — these are networks where Blake Giving Fund relationships are built.