Quantum Foundation Inc.

Quantum Foundation operates as a hyper-local health equity funder with an exclusive geographic mandate: 100% of its grants must benefit Palm Beach County, Florida. This singular focus distinguishes it from national health funders and means every proposed project must demonstrate direct, measurable community impact within county lines — statewide initiatives or multi-county collaborations must make a compelling case that Palm Beach County residents are the primary beneficiaries.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on three Impact Zones: Better Engagement in Health (building individual knowledge and health worker capacity), Greater Access to Health Resources (expanding community and organizational capacity), and Stronger Connections for Healthy Communities (systems-level health equity work). Projects explicitly addressing multiple Impact Zones tend to draw larger, repeat investments — as evidenced by core grantees like Caridad Center ($1.48M over 4 grant cycles), Catholic Charities ($1.24M over 4 cycles), and The Lord's Place ($1M over 4 cycles), each of which intersects clinical access with housing or social determinants simultaneously.

The endowment was seeded with approximately $125 million from the 1959 sale of JFK Medical Center, giving the foundation independence from donor pressure and a deep institutional memory in the Palm Beach County nonprofit ecosystem. President Eric Kelly — in the role across multiple consecutive 990 filing cycles at $265,003–$315,506 annually — leads a stable, relationship-oriented leadership team. First-time applicants should understand this is an LOI-gated funder: the process begins when a Letter of Intent is submitted through the online grant system, and only organizations whose proposed projects match the foundation's vision receive invitations to submit full proposals. Program staff has discretion over these invitations, making pre-submission relationship cultivation critical.

For organizations new to Quantum Foundation, the Quantum in the Community (QIC) grant program — awards of $25,000 or less distributed annually to grassroots nonprofits — offers the most accessible entry point. The QIC program has cumulatively distributed $9.5 million and in a single recent cycle funded 120 organizations with approximately $1 million total. Performing well on a QIC grant is the primary pathway to larger Regular Grant eligibility. The 2026 QIC application window opens June 1 and closes August 7.

Quantum Foundation's grant portfolio reveals a bimodal distribution: a high volume of smaller community grants via QIC anchored by a core of substantial multi-year investments in proven health infrastructure organizations.

From the foundation's historical grantee records — 872 total grants totaling $24,697,570 — the average grant is $28,323 while the median sits at $10,000 per award. This gap reflects a small cohort of flagship grantees that skews the mean significantly upward. The documented range runs from $50 to $610,000 per individual grant. The top 50 grantees account for approximately $11M of the $24.7M total, meaning 44% of all documented grant dollars concentrate in the foundation's top institutional relationships. Multi-cycle flagship grantees receiving 4 consecutive grants include: Caridad Center ($1,483,456 total), Catholic Charities ($1,240,000), The Lord's Place ($1,000,000), and Feeding South Florida ($1,000,000).

Annual grantmaking has been remarkably consistent over more than a decade: $7.5M (2012), $9.2M (2011), $10.9M (2013), $8.8M (2015), $8.2M (2019), $10.7M (2020), $9.5M (2021), $9.6M (2022). Assets reached a record $171.2M in 2024 on $12.3M in revenue. Based on the historical 5–6% distribution rate, 2025 annual giving likely approached $9–10M. Publicly reported figures for 2025 — $3M+ in H1 plus $1.4M in Q3-Q4 announcements — may represent partial cycles; additional distributions may not have been publicly announced at the time of this report.

By program area, funding clusters into four major categories: - Safety-net clinical health: Caridad Center, FoundCare, Community Health Center West Palm Beach, Genesis Community Health, Palm Beach County Health Department - Social determinants: The Lord's Place (housing), Feeding South Florida (food security), Vita Nova (youth housing), Neighborhood Renaissance (economic opportunity) - Education and workforce: Palm Beach State College Foundation, Education Foundation of PBC, George Snow Scholarship Fund - Specialty health: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Alzheimer's Community Care, Promise Fund of Florida (cancer screening), Center for Child Counseling

For grant size benchmarking: QIC awards are $25,000 or less. Regular Grant first-time awards typically run $50,000–$150,000. Established multi-cycle relationships receive $200,000–$400,000 per cycle, and the largest individual grants documented reach $610,000 for flagship capital-adjacent investments. Geographic concentration is near-total: 868 of 872 grants (99.5%) benefit Florida organizations, effectively making this a 100% Palm Beach County funder.

Quantum Foundation occupies the upper tier of Florida regional health funders, with $171.2M in assets placing it as the dominant private health endowment in Palm Beach County and slightly below its closest Florida peer by assets. The table below compares Quantum to five asset-comparable health foundations nationally:

*Peer annual giving estimates based on standard 5% distribution from reported assets. Verify via each organization's most recent Form 990.*

Three factors distinguish Quantum Foundation from this peer group. First, its five LOI submission cycles per year (versus 1–2 annual cycles at most comparable foundations) make it unusually accessible for a funder of this asset size, offering grant seekers more entry points than any comparable peer. Second, its explicit recognition of social determinants as core health investments — funding housing, food security, and income stability alongside clinical services — goes further than most hospital-legacy health foundations. Third, its near-total geographic concentration in a single county means competition comes primarily from other Palm Beach County-based nonprofits rather than statewide or national applicant pools, creating a more defined competitive landscape.

In January 2026, Quantum Foundation announced the distribution of $1,406,587 to 20 Palm Beach County nonprofits, covering its Q3 and Q4 2025 grant cycles. Highlighted recipients included the YMCA of the Palm Beaches ($150,000 for a Teaching Kitchen and Food Pantry at the Lake Lytal facility), the Promise Fund of Florida ($150,000 for breast and cervical cancer services), the Early Learning Coalition of Palm Beach County ($100,000), and the Palm Beach County Health Department ($100,000). YMCA President and CEO Tim Coffield stated: "Quantum Foundation's support is a game changer for our community."

Earlier in 2025, the foundation invested over $3 million in the first half of the year — grants spanning school-based dental sealant programs, cancer screenings, expanded speech therapy, and coordinated care programs addressing social determinants.

A notable 2024 milestone: Quantum Foundation awarded $500,000 to the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties specifically for architectural design and planning of an African American Museum and Research Library — an atypical departure from direct service grants, signaling expanded interest in racial health equity infrastructure.

The foundation's 2024 financials show total assets at a record $171.2M with $12.3M in revenue. Leadership remains stable under President Eric Kelly ($315,506 annual compensation, up from $265,003 three years prior) and Chairman Brian Kirkpatrick. One critical operational note: the online grants portal was offline for system reconstruction as of early 2026, with reopening expected in May 2026. Applicants targeting the June 12, 2026 LOI deadline should confirm portal availability at quantumfnd.org beginning in May.

Lead with Palm Beach County impact data. The foundation's single non-negotiable requirement is that 100% of grant benefits must reach Palm Beach County residents. If your organization operates regionally or statewide, isolate and quantify your PBC-specific programming, caseload, and outcomes in the very first paragraph of your LOI. National affiliates without a meaningful PBC footprint will not be funded.

Use the Impact Zone framework as your structural scaffold. The foundation's program staff screens every LOI against the three Impact Zones before any other criterion. Map your project explicitly using the foundation's own terminology — "Greater Access to Health Resources" for clinic or service expansion, "Better Engagement in Health" for education and workforce programs, "Stronger Connections for Healthy Communities" for systems-change or coalition work. Projects addressing two or more zones in a coherent theory of change tend to receive larger and longer-duration funding.

Social determinants are first-class health investments here. Organizations in affordable housing, food security, income stability, and workforce development have received cumulative multi-year funding matching clinical health organizations. The Lord's Place accumulated $1M over 4 grant cycles; Feeding South Florida, $1M over 4 cycles; Neighborhood Renaissance, $123K over 2 cycles. Do not frame social services as ancillary — frame them as the primary health mechanism, consistent with the foundation's own statement that "80% of health is affected by social factors."

Strategic timing for 2026: The grants portal is under construction (expected back online May 2026). Target the June 12, 2026 LOI deadline (full proposal due July 17, 2026; project start October 2026). This cycle provides time to reconfirm portal availability and schedule a pre-submission conversation with program staff before committing to the LOI.

For first-time applicants — enter through QIC. Submit a QIC grant application first (June 1–August 7, 2026, $25,000 or less, grassroots community focus). This lower-barrier pathway establishes your organization in the foundation's grant management system, demonstrates reporting accountability, and signals organizational health before a Regular Grant request.

Avoid generic grant language. The foundation explicitly states it seeks "exciting and innovative projects." Even operational programs should be framed around innovation — a new service population, a novel delivery model, or a new partnership structure. Program descriptions that read as routine continuation without a distinctive element are unlikely to earn an invitation to submit a full proposal.

Make a pre-submission contact. Call (561) 832-7497 or email info@quantumfnd.org before your LOI submission. Introduce your organization, describe your Impact Zone alignment, and ask one substantive question about current priorities. Program staff at a $171M foundation typically have bandwidth for these calls and value the relationship signal they send from prospective grantees.