The Robert D And Patricia E Kern Family Foundation Inc.

The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Family Foundation operates as a preselect-only institution — the single most important fact for any grant seeker to internalize. Established in 1998 by Robert and Patricia Kern, who built Generac Power Systems into a global leader from a Wisconsin manufacturing base, the foundation's giving philosophy mirrors how its founders built a business: identify high-leverage opportunities, commit capital at scale, and stay long enough to achieve systemic results. They do not fund experiments proposed by outsiders; they fund organizations already doing work that aligns with Kern's theory of change and then approach them.

The foundation's strategic pillars are four: quality education, strong character, entrepreneurial mindset, and meaningful work. In practice, these map to three active program clusters. The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) links 60+ university partners where Kern funds curriculum redesign, faculty development, post-doctoral placements, a national digital platform ($2.4M in development and maintenance alone), and twice-yearly conferences drawing 463-511 grantees. The character education cluster funds K-12 school networks (Greathearts Foundation received $16.4M cumulative), charter school expansion, and campus-wide character formation programs at universities ranging from Harvard to Milwaukee School of Engineering. The Faith, Work, and Economics (FWE) cluster supports vocational theology, the Accelerated Pastoral Degree Program (APDP), FLOW grants, and market-oriented policy research at organizations like the Acton Institute ($5.7M) and American Enterprise Institute ($3.75M for its faith and public life program).

The typical relationship arc is entirely foundation-initiated. Program officers identify promising organizations, engage them in multi-year dialogue about Kern's frameworks, and co-develop grant structures over 12-24 months before a first award. The data confirms this: top grantees have received three or more consecutive grants, and average transaction size ($538,117) dwarfs the median ($160,000) because flagship partnerships run into the tens of millions.

For prospective grantees, the only actionable entry point is a direct inquiry to info@kffdn.org articulating specific overlap with KEEN, character education, or FWE. Organizations best positioned share three traits: institutional capacity to absorb multi-million-dollar investments, a credible theory of national-scale impact, and alignment with the foundation's values — free enterprise economics, faith-friendly character frameworks, and non-ideological (conservative-leaning) education reform.

The Kern Family Foundation's financial position is strong and growing. Total assets reached $836.9M in FY2024, up from $688M in FY2022 — a 22% increase in two years driven by net investment income of $58.9M in FY2024. Annual grants paid have averaged $52.7M over the six years from FY2019 through FY2024, ranging from a low of $34.2M (FY2022, likely reflecting market disruption) to a high of $66.5M (FY2024). The FY2023 total giving figure of $80.7M exceeds grants paid ($54M) because it includes program service expenses. A substantial one-time contribution of $150.7M was received in FY2023, fortifying the endowment.

The typical grant structure is large and long-term. Across 122 tracked awards: median: $160,000; average: $538,117; range: $8,750 to $9,000,000. The distribution is heavily right-skewed. Four flagship relationships — Charter Fund Inc. ($23.4M cumulative), Medical College of Wisconsin ($18.6M), Greathearts Foundation ($16.4M), and MTF Fund ($17.1M) — account for roughly $75M of the $220.4M in the top-50 grantee database, which spans 490 total grants. Entry-level partnerships typically appear in the $100,000-$350,000 range across one to two grants before escalating.

By program area (inferred from grant purpose language): - KEEN / Engineering Entrepreneurship: ~40-45% of dollars — EM faculty development, curriculum mapping, post-doc support, digital platform, national conferences - Character Education (K-12 and Higher Ed): ~25-30% — school network expansion, leadership programs at 20+ universities, character curriculum - Charter Schools and School Choice: ~10-15% — New Schools for Alabama, Parent Choice Inc., charter fund support - Faith, Work, and Economics: ~8-12% — Acton Institute, AEI faith program, BES Inc. virtue ethics, APDP - Media and Content: ~3-5% — PBS Foundation Ken Burns documentary ($6M total), Character Lab

Geographically, Wisconsin leads (51 grants) but the foundation is genuinely national. California (31), Massachusetts and Pennsylvania (29 each), Virginia (23), New York and North Carolina (22 each), and Ohio and Indiana (21 each) follow. No geographic restriction is applied — Kern pursues program alignment regardless of location. Total identified giving across the top 50 recipients reaches $220.4M with an average of $449,824 per grant relationship.

The Kern Family Foundation occupies a cohort of foundations with assets between $810M and $870M, all classified under the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE category. The table below compares key metrics and access models (peer giving figures are approximate estimates based on available data, as exact peer 990 figures are not in this dataset):

Kern distinguishes itself from this peer group in two important respects. First, its giving is far more thematically concentrated than any peer — nearly all dollars flow through KEEN, character education, or FWE, making it unusually predictable for organizations working precisely in those spaces. Second, its values orientation (free enterprise, faith-integrated character, school choice) is more explicit than peers like Heising-Simons or Weingart, which operate with broader or more progressive frameworks. For engineering school applicants, Burroughs Wellcome Fund is the most natural complement: it funds early-career biomedical researchers through open competitions at many KEEN-affiliated universities, creating a potential dual-funding pathway. Rasmuson is entirely Alaska-restricted. Skoll and Heising-Simons are philosophically misaligned with Kern's orientation and should not be treated as strategic alternatives for the same programs.

The foundation's most significant public announcement in recent years was a five-year, $10.7 million grant to Grand Canyon University (November 2025) to expand the Canyon Center for Character Education. The grant funds university-wide character formation across all GCU colleges, student government, athletics, and K-12 national partnerships — a deepening of the relationship begun with a $3.2M Kern grant in 2019 for GCU's accelerated pastoral training program. Dr. Peter Anderson, formerly Assistant Dean of GCU's College of Theology, was appointed Executive Director of the CCCE to coordinate the initiative.

In December 2025, Ohio State University received a $2 million, three-year grant to extend and sustain entrepreneurial minded learning through research, professional practice, and student experience — a continuation of a prior KEEN engagement with OSU's engineering college.

In October 2024, Kern funded ELATES faculty leadership scholarships at Drexel University for the Class of 2025-2026, supporting cross-institution faculty development within the KEEN network orbit.

Leadership is stable. James C. Rahn has served as Director and President continuously with compensation of $753,419 in the most recent filing. Michael W. Senske (CFO and Treasurer, $467,836) and Kyle R. Bode (Vice President, $409,852) provide continuity. Board directors include Gail Hanson, Dawn Tabat, Austin Ramirez, Warren Pierson, Steven Roell, and Richard Graber. No leadership transitions or strategic reorientation have been announced publicly through early 2026.

The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals — this is structural policy, not a soft discouragement. There is no grant portal, no application deadline, no RFP cycle. Program staff identify and approach grantees; organizations cannot self-nominate through any public channel.

The only actionable path is a direct inquiry email to info@kffdn.org. That email should be concise (one to two paragraphs, no attachments on first contact) and must accomplish three things: identify the specific Kern program cluster your work aligns with (KEEN, character education, or FWE), demonstrate institutional scale and track record, and signal values alignment — free enterprise orientation, faith-friendly (or at minimum faith-neutral) character frameworks, and a theory of national impact.

For engineering schools and universities already in the KEEN network: the path is more structured. Attend annual KEEN national conferences (held spring and fall, 463-511 grantees in attendance). Engage with the Engineering Unleashed platform and build relationships with Kern program staff before submitting any formal inquiry. Use the foundation's 3Cs language (Curiosity, Connections, Creating Value) explicitly in all communications. KEEN grant entry points typically start at $100,000-$250,000 for curriculum or faculty development work, with larger multi-year commitments following demonstrated EM integration.

For character education applicants: Kern has funded organizations ranging from Harvard's Human Flourishing Program ($2.5M) to Milwaukee School of Engineering ($2.5M) to Teach For America ($1.5M). The connective tissue is a credible, named framework for developing specific virtues — not generic social-emotional learning or student wellness. Reference Aristotelian virtue ethics, Christian character formation, or KEEN's 3Cs depending on your institutional context.

For Faith, Work, and Economics applicants: Kern's investments in Acton Institute ($5.7M), AEI's faith and public life program ($3.75M), and BES Inc. virtue ethics ($2.3M) signal preference for established think tanks and academic centers with both theological grounding and market-economy orientation. Emerging organizations in this space face a high bar.

Critical caution: Progressive-framing organizations should look elsewhere. Inside Philanthropy describes Kern as 'not an approachable or accessible funder by design' and notes its conservative orientation explicitly. Misaligned outreach is unlikely to succeed and may close off future opportunities.