W D Kelley Foundation

The W.D. Kelley Foundation is a family-operated private foundation headquartered at 707 S. Rock Street in Georgetown, Texas. President Dale Illig ($66,000 annual compensation) and Executive Director Carl Illig ($162,468) lead day-to-day operations, with Secretary Sandra Illig also on the board. This tight-knit family governance structure means that personal relationships with the Illig leadership — particularly Carl Illig — are essential prerequisites to any successful grant pursuit.

The foundation's giving philosophy explicitly favors "bold and imaginative educational leaders" pursuing innovative approaches in Williamson County. Nontraditional, experimental programs are not just acceptable — they are preferred. Equine-assisted therapy for children with disabilities (Ride On Center For Kids, $360,060 across four grants), vocational reentry programming (Jails to Jobs, $50,000), and internationally focused internship bridges (Simple Sparrow's Southwestern University partnership, $125,000 across four grants) all exemplify the breakthrough work that resonates with this funder. Generic service delivery will not distinguish an application here.

The practical entry point for first-time applicants is a Letter of Inquiry submitted through the Contact Us page at wdkelley.org. The foundation operates primarily on an invitation-only model for full portal applications, but actively accepts LOIs as the qualifying gateway. An LOI should be no longer than two pages and must demonstrate explicit Williamson County impact — this geographic restriction is absolute. After submitting an LOI, calling Carl Illig at 512-930-5012 to introduce your organization is both appropriate and expected.

The foundation cultivates long-term partnerships rather than one-time transactions. Its top grantees — YMCA of Central Texas (6 grants over time), Round Rock ISD Education Foundation (5 grants), Ride On Center For Kids (4 grants), and Simple Sparrow (4 grants) — each received sustained multi-year support. First-time applicants should frame their initial request as the beginning of a partnership, with explicit plans for outcome reporting and renewal engagement.

With assets expanding from $7.4 million in 2021 to $38.7 million in 2023 — driven by a $32.9 million investment return in fiscal year 2022 — and annual giving rising from $669,225 to $2,173,672 over the same period, the foundation is actively deploying expanded capital. This growth window makes 2025-2026 a particularly favorable time for mission-aligned Williamson County nonprofits to initiate a relationship with foundation leadership.

The W.D. Kelley Foundation's 112 documented grants totaling $2,557,754 reveal a bimodal giving structure: the majority of grants are modest operational awards, while a small cohort of long-term partner organizations receives substantially larger cumulative investments. The foundation's own data sets the median grant at $5,000 and average at $26,683, though the range spans from $1,000 (Central TX Table of Grace) to $360,060 (Ride On Center For Kids across multiple building and capital campaign awards).

Annual giving has grown dramatically across five tracked fiscal years: - 2019: $558,855 total giving - 2020: $595,506 (+6.5%) - 2021: $669,225 (+12.4%) - 2022: $1,134,222 (+69.5%) - 2023: $2,173,672 (+91.7%)

Cash grants paid in 2023 reached $1,479,951. Net investment income of $1,112,184 against $38.7 million in assets reflects a payout posture slightly above earnings — aggressive for a newly endowed funder.

Geographic concentration is intense: 110 of 112 documented grants went to Texas recipients, with virtually all concentrated in Georgetown, Round Rock, Taylor, and Temple — communities within or immediately adjacent to Williamson County. Two grants reached Illinois.

By program area, education dominates the portfolio. Education-linked grantees include Round Rock ISD Education Foundation ($129,547 across 5 grants), Taylor Education Enrichment Foundation ($102,715 across 5 grants), Georgetown ISD Education Foundation ($49,382 across 3 grants), Temple College Foundation ($132,560), Leander Education Excellence Foundation ($20,976), Hutto Education Foundation ($17,294), Southwestern University ($72,200 across 3 grants), and Jarrell ISD Education Foundation ($57,500). Human services forms the second cohort: YMCA of Central Texas ($242,819 across 6 grants), Williamson County Children's Advocacy Center ($72,017), CASA of Williamson County ($69,787 + $29,350), Simple Sparrow ($125,000), Temple Community Clinic ($60,000), and Jails to Jobs ($50,000). Arts and culture — Georgetown Palace Theater ($77,000), Williamson County Historical Museum ($50,592), and Central Texas Philharmonic ($50,000) — receive meaningful but smaller awards. Faith-based organizations constitute a consistent minority of grantees.

The foundation explicitly prioritizes programs over capital campaigns and staff — yet the two largest recipient totals both included building and capital campaign support, indicating capital funding becomes available to established multi-year grantee partners.

Among foundations of comparable asset size (~$38 million), the W.D. Kelley Foundation is distinctive for its exceptional geographic specificity — Williamson County, Texas exclusively — which makes it highly accessible to local nonprofits and entirely unavailable to organizations outside the region. Its 2023 annual giving of $2.17 million represents approximately 5.6% of total assets, above the IRS-mandated 5% minimum payout, reflecting active deployment of its dramatically expanded endowment. Unlike the Lobeck-Taylor Foundation, which operates transparent public grant cycles, Kelley's LOI-gated, relationship-first model places significant weight on Executive Director Carl Illig's personal knowledge of applicant organizations — making consistent community presence and informal relationship cultivation as strategically valuable as formal grant writing skill. For Williamson County nonprofits, Kelley's above-average payout rate and active deployment posture make it one of the region's most consequential local private funders.

No formal 2025-2026 press release or annual report has been publicly released by the W.D. Kelley Foundation. However, the foundation's LinkedIn presence and community engagement reveal several recent activities.

The foundation served as presenting sponsor for Round Rock ISD's inaugural professional learning conference — the "Connect 5 Conference: Unity in Excellence" — which convened more than 3,700 teachers and staff. This high-visibility investment is consistent with the $129,547 in documented grants to Round Rock ISD Education Foundation and signals growing engagement with district-level education systems beyond traditional education foundation grantmaking.

Executive Director Carl Illig publicly engaged with civic infrastructure projects, including a site tour of the new Cedar Park Library under construction, situated within a 16-acre park. This engagement suggests ongoing attention to Williamson County's civic growth and may indicate prospective interest in literacy or community programming adjacent to new civic anchors.

Foundation staff and board members toured the Carver Center for Families in Georgetown — a family resource center focused on children, youth, and family well-being — consistent with the human services pillar and potentially signaling pipeline interest.

Financially, the most recent available Form 990 (fiscal year 2023) shows total giving of $2,173,672, a 91.7% increase over 2022's $1,134,222. No leadership transitions have been publicly reported; the Illig family (Carl, Dale, Sandra) remains in longstanding governance roles. Over 25 years, the foundation has supported 149 organizations and awarded $9,331,340 in total grants. No new competitive grant programs or open RFPs have been announced publicly.

The single most critical first step for organizations seeking support from the W.D. Kelley Foundation is submitting a well-crafted Letter of Inquiry (LOI) through the Contact Us page at wdkelley.org. Unlike foundations with fixed application windows, Kelley accepts LOIs year-round — but decisions are made only twice annually at board meetings. Submit your LOI at least three to four months before your target funding date to align with a review cycle and avoid missing the nearest board meeting.

Your LOI should be no longer than two pages and should open immediately with a compelling statement of how your organization is led by an "innovative leader" — the foundation's most consistently cited selection criterion. Do not bury this framing in boilerplate program description. Name the specific innovation: a nontraditional educational model, a technology-enabled human services approach, or a cross-sector partnership. Generic program descriptions will not distinguish your LOI from others.

Geography is non-negotiable. Every LOI must explicitly articulate Williamson County impact with specific numbers — clients served, schools reached, residents benefited. If your organization is headquartered outside the county but serves residents within it — as Southwestern University and Temple College have done successfully — state that county nexus clearly and quantitatively.

Avoid leading with a request for staff salaries or general organizational capacity. The foundation's FAQ explicitly states it prioritizes programs and projects over capital campaigns and staff positions. However, once a multi-year operational relationship is established, capital support does become available: Ride On Center For Kids received $360,060 across building and capital campaigns, and YMCA of Central Texas received $242,819 including capital support. Frame initial asks around program outcomes.

After submitting your LOI, proactively call Executive Director Carl Illig at 512-930-5012. Kelley is a family-run foundation where personal relationships carry decisive weight. Carl Illig is the operational decision-maker who can advise on appropriate funding levels before you access the formal online portal — the FAQ recommends this conversation explicitly.

Faith-based organizations should not hesitate to apply as long as programs serve the broader Williamson County community. Position every grant request as the start of a long-term partnership: top Kelley grantees average three to six grants over multiple years, and outcome documentation between cycles is the clearest path to renewal.