Stockel Family Foundation

The Stockel Family Foundation operates as a tightly held family philanthropic vehicle, led by President Susan Stockel alongside a board composed entirely of family members — Eric Stockel (Secretary & Treasurer), Douglas Stockel (Vice President), Aaron Stockel (Director), and Ruth Waddell (Vice President) — all of whom serve without compensation. The foundation's philosophy centers on two distinct pillars: early childhood development in Greater Los Angeles and Atlanta, and environmental conservation spanning national and global geographies. This dual mandate reflects deeply personal priorities: the early childhood work is grounded in research showing outsized returns from zero-to-five intervention; the environmental portfolio reflects the family's growing urgency around climate and biodiversity loss.

The most important structural fact for any applicant is that Stockel does not accept unsolicited LOIs or proposals. All relationships begin by invitation. However, the foundation maintains a pre-application form at stockelff.org/new-page, which functions as the informal front door. Organizations that fit one of the two pillars should submit that form and allow the board to reach out when an invitation cycle opens. Clarity of programmatic fit matters far more than persistence or volume of outreach.

The foundation favors organizations delivering direct services — early childhood clinics, family shelters, conservation field programs, arts education — over policy, advocacy, or pure research entities. The grantee portfolio reveals a strong preference for long-term partnerships: Child Development Institute has been funded since 2018, Venice Family Clinic since 2018, Atlanta Children's Shelter since 2019, Rainforest Foundation US since 2020, and Health in Harmony since 2020. First-time applicants should expect a multi-year courtship rather than a single-cycle transaction.

A notable secondary pathway is the Junior Board track — four current grantees (Citizens for Los Angeles Wildlife, Friends of LA River, Furkids, and Jane Goodall Institute) appear to be selected by younger Stockel family members. Organizations working in urban wildlife, river health, animal welfare, or global conservation education may find an additional internal champion through this channel.

Administratively, the foundation is managed through Foundation Source (their listed contact), suggesting professional back-office support. All correspondence should go to board@stockelff.org. Do not expect rapid responses; the foundation explicitly notes it cannot guarantee replies to all inquiries.

Across the five most recent complete fiscal years (2019–2023), the Stockel Family Foundation distributed approximately $3.37M in total grants, averaging $673,000 per year. Annual giving has been remarkably consistent: $657,189 (FY2019), $658,459 (FY2020), $663,843 (FY2021), $860,316 (FY2022 — a notable spike), and $804,451 (FY2023). Grants paid specifically (excluding administrative disbursements) ranged from $519,000 (2019) to $705,100 (2022), averaging ~$610,000. Assets have grown from $12.6M (2019) to $18.2M (2024), supported by periodic family capital infusions: $500K in 2020, $500K in 2021, and $1M in 2023.

Individual grant sizes across 67 recorded transactions range from $1,000 to $50,000, with a median of approximately $20,000 and an average of ~$28,938. Third-party sources indicate the ceiling may extend to $105,000 for select multi-year arrangements. Looking at cumulative giving to top recipients: Child Development Institute received $150,000 over 3 grants (~$50K/grant); Health in Harmony $141,825 over 3 grants (~$47K/grant); Rainforest Foundation US $116,280 over 3 grants (~$39K/grant); Drake House $114,000 over 3 grants (~$38K/grant); Venice Family Clinic $110,000 over 3 grants (~$37K/grant). Core established partners can expect $35,000–$50,000 annually once a multi-year relationship is established.

By geography, California accounts for 43% of recorded grants (29 of 67), Georgia 24% (16 grants), and the remainder split across New York, Washington state, DC, Arizona, Oregon, and Virginia — the latter spread reflecting the environmental portfolio's national and international reach (via Charities Aid Foundation as fiscal sponsor for global grantees).

By program area, the portfolio breaks into three buckets: (1) early childhood and family services — roughly 40% of grantee count with the highest per-grant averages; (2) environmental conservation — approximately 45% of grantees, often international scope; (3) theater arts — a stable 5-niche with two long-term partners receiving $30,000–$50,000 per grant. Junior Board selections carry smaller individual grants, typically $4,000–$25,000, but represent the foundation's most actively growing category by new additions since 2023.

The five foundations most comparable to Stockel by asset size and NTEE classification are shown below. All share an approximately $18M asset base and a Human Services designation.

Stockel stands apart from its asset peers in nearly every strategic dimension. It is the only foundation in this cohort with a fully public-facing website, a structured multi-stage annual application cycle, and a dual-pillar portfolio spanning local human services AND global environmental conservation. The four peer foundations maintain minimal public footprints — no websites, no disclosed application processes, and opaque giving histories. Stockel's transparency (publishing a grantee list, articulating mission language, and maintaining an active pre-application form) signals genuine openness to finding the right new partners, even within an invite-only structure. Its decade of steady asset growth from a $5M founding gift to $18.2M further reflects institutional stability and family commitment uncommon among family foundations of this size.

No press releases, media coverage, or external news about the Stockel Family Foundation appeared in searches conducted for 2025 or 2026. This is consistent with the foundation's characteristically low public profile — it does not issue press releases, maintain social media accounts, or list any staff other than the unpaid family board.

The most current IRS Form 990 (FY2023, filed November 1, 2025) reports $669,700 in grants paid and $804,451 in total giving. A standout data point: $1,000,000 in contributions received in FY2023 — the largest annual capital infusion since the foundation's $5M founding gift in 2014, and double the $500K contributions received in each of 2020 and 2021. This suggests continued and accelerating family commitment to growing the endowment beyond investment returns.

FY2024 financials show assets of $18,247,114 (up from $16,668,336 in FY2023, a 9.5% increase) with $797,855 in revenue. Grants paid for FY2024 have not yet been disclosed in the available 990, but if the historical payout ratio of approximately 4–5% of assets holds, FY2024 giving likely ranged from $730,000 to $910,000.

From the foundation's website, the most recent programmatic expansion visible is the addition of five grantees in or around 2023: The Climate Museum, The Outdoor Policy Outfit (via fiscal sponsor Social Good Fund), Friends of LA River, Furkids (an Atlanta-based animal rescue), and the Jane Goodall Institute. All five align with environmental or animal welfare themes and appear to represent Junior Board selections, suggesting next-generation family members are actively shaping the portfolio's direction.

Time your outreach precisely. The foundation notifies selected organizations on May 1 each year that they have been chosen for Phase 1 (LOI). This means any pre-application form submission or relationship-building outreach should occur no later than early February to mid-March — allowing board members sufficient time to evaluate organizational fit before the internal selection window closes in April.

Use the pre-application form as your entry point. The form at stockelff.org/new-page is the only formal channel for organizations not yet in the Stockel network. Keep it focused: state your mission in two sentences, specify which of the two pillars you address (early childhood in LA/Atlanta OR environmental conservation), name the specific program you would want funded, cite your annual budget, and provide one or two measurable outcomes from recent years. This is a screening tool, not a full proposal — brevity and fit clarity matter more than persuasive writing.

Match the foundation's alignment language precisely. The mission statement frames giving around building a world where all people can "fulfill their innate potential while also protecting and restoring the health of our planet." Early childhood applicants should use language around potential, developmental equity, and economic mobility. Environmental applicants should invoke planetary health, indigenous community engagement, and deforestation — the specific frames visible in funded partners Health in Harmony (Indonesia), Rainforest Foundation US, and Nature & Culture International.

Avoid common structural mistakes: - Do not frame a proposal that bridges both pillars in a single ask; the foundation treats early childhood and environmental as entirely separate portfolios. - Do not request only project-specific support without demonstrating organizational stability — the foundation funds at the program level but favors grantees with proven infrastructure and multi-year track records. - Do not apply to both geographic markets simultaneously; LA human services grantees and Atlanta human services grantees are distinct cohorts.

Prepare for a site visit as part of the formal process. Once invited and if advanced past the RFP stage (notification by July 31), a site visit from an SFF representative must occur before November 15. This is a genuine relationship-building conversation — bring program leadership and, where appropriate, program participants. The board evaluates organizational culture as much as metrics.

Theater arts applicants should assess market saturation. The foundation currently funds exactly two theater organizations (24th Street Theatre since 2016, Theatre for a New Audience since 2021). This niche appears fully subscribed and unlikely to expand.