The Kemper Foundation

The Kemper Foundation operates as the corporate philanthropic arm of Kemper Corporation, a publicly traded property and casualty insurance holding company headquartered at 200 East Randolph Street, Suite 3300, Chicago, IL 60601. Its giving philosophy is distinctly relationship-driven: the foundation explicitly states it does not accept any unsolicited grant applications, which means the overwhelming majority of its institutional grants — to universities, health organizations, and community development nonprofits — flow exclusively to pre-selected partners with established ties to Kemper Corporation or its leadership.

Understanding this architecture is essential for any grant seeker. The foundation operates on two distinct tracks. The first track — and by far the larger by dollar volume — covers the Kemper Scholars Program (supporting partner universities since 1948), major health partnerships (American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, JDRF/Breakthrough T1D), and community development grants to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, UnidosUS, and the National Urban League. These are invitation-only relationships that develop organically through Kemper's corporate engagement, employee volunteerism via the Kemper Cares program, and executive board connections. Chairman Joseph Lacher also serves as CEO of Kemper Corporation, making the corporate-foundation boundary deliberately porous.

The second track — and the only genuine open-application pathway — is the Read Conmigo grant program, launched in 2022 to support bilingual Spanish-English elementary education in Title I schools. This program offers two grant types: Educator Grants ($3,000 per teacher, awarded twice annually via a grants portal) and School Impact Grants ($10,000 per school, awarded annually in targeted geographies). As of 2025-2026, Read Conmigo is the foundation's most actively expanding program, with new grant cycles and expanded geographies announced throughout 2025.

First-time applicants should recognize that the foundation's three stated pillars — education, health, and community development — are not equally accessible to newcomers. For organizations outside the Read Conmigo model, the practical pathway is through relationship-building with Kemper Corporation employees, participation in Kemper Cares volunteer initiatives, and direct outreach via KemperPhilanthropy@kemper.com or the contact form at thekemperfoundation.org/contact-us/ to explore future preselected cohort alignment. Foundation President Barbara Ciesemier, who has served since October 2020 (listed at $0 compensation), comes from a corporate rather than traditional philanthropic background, reinforcing the close Kemper Corporation-foundation integration.

For bilingual education organizations in targeted markets — Los Angeles, Miami-Dade/Broward, Dallas, and McAllen, TX — the Read Conmigo program offers the most direct, accessible, and time-sensitive funding opportunity, with open portal applications, published deadlines, and grants sized for individual teachers ($3,000) and Title I schools ($10,000).

The Kemper Foundation's annual giving has ranged from $951,270 (FY2019) to $2,119,751 (FY2023) based on IRS 990 data. Grants paid in FY2023 totaled $1,537,915; FY2022 recorded $1,089,406; and FY2021 recorded $1,026,365. The foundation holds approximately $48.9 million in total assets (FY2024), generating roughly $1.0–$1.6 million in net investment income annually, which fully funds its giving — the foundation received $0 in outside contributions in every year from FY2019 through FY2023.

Across 197 tracked grant transactions totaling $4,170,346, the average individual grant is $21,169. The foundation's own typical grant data reports a median of $15,000, a range of $891 to $146,400, and an average of $19,929 based on 47 measured grants. However, this masks a bimodal distribution: a handful of very large institutional grants coexist with a high volume of smaller programmatic grants.

Kemper Scholars Program accounts for the largest individual grants. University of Notre Dame received $420,200 across two academic years (2022-23 and 2023-24); Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and University of Wisconsin each received $400,000 over the same period. HBCUs and HSIs receive smaller but growing amounts: Miles College ($145,000), UT Rio Grande Valley ($110,000), Clark Atlanta University ($100,000), Harris-Stowe State University ($135,000 combined), and Florida International University ($135,000 combined across scholarship and faculty awards). Faculty Award supplements add $25,000–$85,000 per institution.

Health partnerships represent the second-largest funding cluster: American Heart Association ($190,488), American Cancer Society ($186,310), and JDRF/Breakthrough T1D ($140,130 combined across two entities). These are structured multi-year corporate partnership agreements, not competitive grants.

Community Development ranges from major one-time gifts — Habitat for Humanity ($100,000), UnidosUS ($100,000), National Urban League ($80,000 for financial literacy in Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles) — to recurring annual food bank support at $10,000–$30,000 per region across Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, and Florida.

Read Conmigo grants range from $3,000 (educator) to $27,000 (school-cycle totals). In 2025, the foundation awarded 22 School Impact Grants at $10,000 each ($220,000 total).

Geographically, California dominates with 88 of 197 tracked grants, driven by Los Angeles Read Conmigo recipients and Cal State LA partnerships. Texas follows with 28, Illinois with 21, and Florida with 19. The foundation's declared geographic focus states are TX, IL, IN, and MO.

The Kemper Foundation ($48.9M assets, ~$2.1M annual giving) sits at the smaller end of the corporate-affiliated foundation spectrum. The following table compares it to asset-matched peers identified in IRS Education-category foundation data:

The Kemper Foundation stands out from these asset-matched peers in three key ways. First, as a corporate foundation funded entirely by Kemper Corporation's endowment investment returns (zero outside contributions from FY2019-FY2023), its grantmaking is insulated from donor-giving volatility but directly tied to Kemper Corporation's financial health. Second, its annual payout of $1.1–$2.1M represents approximately a 2–4% annual distribution rate on its $45–51M asset base — consistent with the federal 5% minimum but not significantly above it. Third, and most unusually for a foundation of this scale, it operates a genuine open-application grant portal (Read Conmigo) that provides an accessible competitive entry point for bilingual education educators and schools — a rare feature among invitation-only corporate foundations of comparable asset size.

The Kemper Foundation's most significant 2024-2026 activity has centered on the rapid expansion of its Read Conmigo program. In early 2024, the foundation announced an expansion from individual educator grants to school-wide School Impact Grants, creating a new $10,000 grant tier for Title I elementary schools with existing dual-language programs.

In January 2025, the foundation opened applications for Read Conmigo School Impact Grants in Greater Los Angeles (up to 22 grants of $10,000 each, applications open January 8 – March 9, 2025). A parallel round targeting Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Florida followed later in 2025. On August 1, 2025, the foundation confirmed it had awarded $220,000 — all 22 grants fully awarded — to Title I schools across Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, and McAllen, TX.

The Fall 2025 Educator Grant cycle concluded with awards on September 18, 2025. Spring 2026 Educator Grant applications opened October 1, 2025, maintaining the biannual cadence. As of early 2026, the School Impact Grant cycle is running its second annual round.

The ongoing Kemper Scholars Program continues executing the 2022 five-year, $4.5 million commitment. Top university grantees in 2022-2024 included Notre Dame ($420,200), Northwestern ($400,000), University of Chicago ($400,000), and University of Wisconsin ($400,000). No leadership changes have been announced since Barbara Ciesemier became President in October 2020. Joseph Lacher remains Chairman. Total assets grew from $45.9M (FY2023) to $48.9M (FY2024), recovering from the FY2021 peak of $51.0M. The foundation reported $3.1 million in collective community impact for its most recent reporting period.

The single most important fact for any prospective applicant: The Kemper Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications for the vast majority of its programs. Understanding which pathway applies to your organization is the critical first step before investing any effort in an approach.

For Read Conmigo Educator Grants ($3,000) — open application: - These are the only individual-teacher grants available through a competitive open portal. You must be a K-5 teacher actively teaching in a bilingual (Spanish-English) classroom. The program does not fund new bilingual program launches — your dual-language classroom must already exist and be operational. - Applications open twice per year: the Spring cycle opens approximately October 1; the Fall cycle opens approximately April/May. Monitor thekemperfoundation.org and @TheKemperFndn on Twitter/X for exact opening dates. - The application portal auto-saves your progress; return anytime via "Applications Requiring Action" in your dashboard. Use bitly.com to shorten any resource links before entry — the portal enforces a strict 250-character limit per link field. - Contact readconmigo@thekemperfoundation.org for application support or use the "Need Support?" button at the bottom of any portal page.

For Read Conmigo School Impact Grants ($10,000) — open application: - Your school must be a designated Title I elementary school with a school-wide dual-language (Spanish-English) program already in operation. Individual classroom programs do not qualify for this tier. - Geographically, eligible areas as of 2025-2026 are Greater Los Angeles, Miami-Dade/Broward Counties (FL), Dallas, and McAllen, TX — closely aligned with Kemper Corporation regional offices. - Applications open annually in January and close approximately 8 weeks later. Watch investors.kemper.com/news in December–January for geographic cohort announcements.

For institutional partnership funding (Kemper Scholars, health, community development) — invited only: - Do not submit a full proposal. Contact KemperPhilanthropy@kemper.com or thekemperfoundation.org/contact-us/ with a brief alignment inquiry — one paragraph describing your organization's work and its relevance to exactly one of the three pillars. - The most effective organic pathway is through the Kemper Cares volunteer program. Organizations that host Kemper employees as volunteers build direct visibility with foundation trustees, who simultaneously hold senior executive roles at Kemper Corporation. - Use the foundation's own language: "underserved communities," "dual-language education," "Hispanic and Latino student achievement," "insurance and financial services career pathways," "food security," and "community health partnerships" all appear explicitly in funded programs and grant descriptions.