Robert W. Woodruff Foundation

The Robert W. Woodruff Foundation is the beneficiary of the estates of Mr. Woodruff and his wife, Nell Hodgson Woodruff. It has awarded more than $3.4 billion in grants since inception. Grants are generally limited to organizations located and operating in metro Atlanta, although we will occasionally consider grants to significant institutions and initiatives in communities throughout Georgia.

The Woodruff Foundation shares an office and staff with the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, Lettie Pate Evans Foundation and Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, though each is governed by its own board and charter. This arrangement came about through the friendship and business relationship between Mr. Woodruff and Mrs. Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans, the wife of one of the original Coca-Cola bottlers and the first woman to serve on The Coca-Cola Company’s board of directors. Grant proposals addressed to the Woodruff Foundation may also be considered by the Whitehead and Evans Foundations.

The Foundation makes grants in six broad program areas: health, education, environment, human services, arts and culture, and community development. The Foundation is responsive to the needs of the community and typically makes grants to well-established institutions and projects with strong leadership and a broad base of support. We seek to help organizations with a proven track record of success stretch further to seize new opportunities or to meet extraordinary needs.

Generally, the Foundation prefers not to be the only funder for a project, but to participate with the community in supporting initiatives led by others. The Foundation will occasionally make leading grants when the need is great and the initiative is compelling.