Bonner Foundation

The Bonner Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation established in 1988 by Bertram F. Bonner and Corella Allen Bonner. Its work centers on strengthening community engagement through higher education while also supporting hunger-relief efforts. Rather than operating as a consumer-facing brand, the foundation functions as a grantmaking and program partner for colleges, universities, community organizations, and students. Its best-known activity is the Bonner Program, a campus-based service and civic-engagement initiative. The program began in 1990 with the Bonner Scholar Program at Berea College. The initial model addressed a practical barrier to student volunteering: students who needed part-time employment could receive scholarship support and devote comparable time to sustained community service. The program subsequently expanded to additional participating institutions and developed a related Bonner Leaders model. Bonner Leaders use institutional or other funding sources, including Federal Work-Study in some cases, to support students involved in structured community engagement. Together, the programs have grown from the original campus experiment into a national network serving more than 3,000 students annually across more than 65 campuses, while the Bonner Scholar Program itself has been associated with 21 participating schools in the cited reference material. The foundation's student programs emphasize long-term relationships between campuses and surrounding communities rather than isolated volunteer events. Participating students generally combine service with leadership development, reflection, and organized campus-community partnerships. The model allows colleges to adapt the program to local needs while retaining a common emphasis on sustained civic participation. This has made the foundation a significant supporter of campus-based community service and a contributor to the broader field of student engagement. The foundation also operates the Crisis Ministry Program. This program provides grant funding to organizations working to combat hunger, primarily through local groups in Central New Jersey and through a smaller number of additional communities with a connection to the foundation. Its grantmaking complements the Bonner Program's educational and service focus by directing resources toward immediate community needs. Leadership has been important to the foundation's development. Wayne Meisel served as its first president, beginning in 1989 and remaining in the role until his retirement in 2010. Meisel had also founded the Campus Outreach Opportunity League, commonly known as COOL, an organization that promoted college-student participation in community service and social action. Although COOL was later merged into Idealist.org, its national student-service conference tradition continued in successor forms. The Bonner Foundation and participating campuses have remained active contributors to the annual IMPACT Conference. Robert Hackett is identified in the cited reference material as the foundation's president. The Bonner Foundation's institutional identity is therefore built around philanthropy, student leadership, community service, and locally directed anti-hunger grants. Its principal outputs are scholarships, leadership opportunities, campus partnerships, and grants rather than commercial products. The foundation remains active, although the supplied reference material does not provide a current official website, detailed financial information, or a complete account of its present governance structure.

The Bonner Foundation was founded in 1988 by Bertram F. Bonner and Corella Allen Bonner. It was created as a philanthropic institution with a focus on community improvement and support for initiatives that connect resources with local needs. Wayne Meisel became its first president in 1989, helping shape the foundation's emphasis on organized student service and civic participation. The foundation's central educational initiative began in 1990 at Berea College in Kentucky. Known as the Bonner Scholar Program, it provided scholarship assistance to students who might otherwise need to spend part of their academic time in paid employment. In exchange for the support, participating students committed substantial time to community service. This structure treated service as a sustained component of a student's educational experience rather than as occasional volunteering. The model also gave colleges a framework for linking students with nonprofit organizations and other community partners. After the initial program at Berea, the Bonner Scholar model expanded to other colleges. The foundation later introduced the Bonner Leaders Program to reach additional students and institutions. Unlike the scholarship program, which is supported through the foundation's scholarship model, Bonner Leaders programs can rely on participating schools' own funding sources, including Federal Work-Study. This made it possible for more campuses to adopt the approach and for a larger number of students to participate. The cited account describes the broader Bonner network as operating at more than 65 campuses and supporting over 3,000 students each year; it also identifies 21 participating schools in connection with the Bonner Scholar Program. The programs developed a recognizable approach to campus-based community engagement. Students serve with local organizations, take on leadership responsibilities, and participate in structured relationships between their institutions and surrounding communities. Through this work, the foundation has supported service learning, student leadership, and the development of recurring institutional partnerships. Its role is not limited to distributing scholarships: it also helps sustain a shared program identity across participating campuses. A second major area of activity is the Crisis Ministry Program. This program provides grants to organizations addressing hunger. Its principal geographic focus is Central New Jersey, where the foundation supports local groups, although it has also funded selected organizations in other communities of interest. The program gives the foundation a direct grantmaking role in addressing food insecurity alongside its longer-term investment in student civic engagement. The foundation's history is also connected to the wider U.S. campus-service movement through Wayne Meisel. Before and during his foundation leadership, Meisel founded the Campus Outreach Opportunity League, or COOL, a national organization promoting college-student involvement in community service and social action. COOL's work included a national conference focused on student community service. COOL was merged into Idealist.org in 2004, and Idealist.org discontinued the on-campus programs it had acquired from COOL in 2007. The conference tradition nevertheless continued as an independent, volunteer-driven event. The Bonner Foundation and its participating campuses have continued to participate in and contribute to the successor event known as the IMPACT Conference. Meisel retired as foundation president in 2010. Robert Hackett is identified as the organization's president in the available reference material. Under the foundation's continuing program structure, its principal activities remain scholarship and leadership support for students, institutional partnerships with participating campuses, and grants directed toward hunger-relief organizations. The available sources do not establish a specific current endowment size, annual budget, official website, or complete present-day leadership roster.

• 2010

  Meisel retired as president

  [1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Wayne Meisel retired after serving as the foundation's president from 1989 to 2010.

• 2007

  Idealist.org discontinued acquired on-campus programs

  [1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Idealist.org discontinued the on-campus programs it had acquired through COOL, while the related national conference tradition continued independently.

• 2004

  Campus Outreach Opportunity League merged into Idealist.org

  [1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The Campus Outreach Opportunity League, founded by Wayne Meisel and associated with the student-service movement, was merged into Idealist.org.

• 1990

  Bonner Scholar Program launched at Berea College

  [1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation began its campus-based scholarship and community-service model with the Bonner Scholar Program at Berea College.

• 1989

  Wayne Meisel became first president

  [1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Wayne Meisel began serving as the foundation's first president, a role he held until 2010.

• 1988

  Bonner Foundation established

  [1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Bertram F. Bonner and Corella Allen Bonner founded the Bonner Foundation as a philanthropic organization.

A U.S. philanthropic foundation positioned around sustained college-student community service, civic leadership, campus-community partnerships, and targeted hunger-relief grantmaking.

• Scholarship and community-service program · 1990

  Bonner Scholar Program

  The Bonner Scholar Program provides scholarship support to participating college students in return for a sustained commitment to community service. It was launched at Berea College in 1990 and was designed to help students who might otherwise need part-time employment devote comparable time to service. The program connects financial assistance with leadership development and structured partnerships between campuses and community organizations.

• Student leadership and service program

  Bonner Leaders Program

  The Bonner Leaders Program extends the Bonner model to additional students and campuses. Participating schools can support student leaders through their own funding mechanisms, including Federal Work-Study, rather than relying exclusively on foundation-funded scholarships. The program is intended to replicate the core combination of sustained service, civic leadership, and campus-community engagement for a broader student population.

• Community grantmaking program

  Crisis Ministry Program

  The Crisis Ministry Program provides grants to organizations working to combat hunger. Its main geographic focus is Central New Jersey, supplemented by grants to a limited number of other communities connected to the foundation. The program represents the foundation's direct community grantmaking activity and addresses immediate food-insecurity needs through local organizations.

• 1990

  Launch of the Bonner Scholar modelProduct launch

  Background

  The foundation sought to enable students with financial constraints to participate substantially in community service rather than relying solely on part-time employment.

  Action taken

  It introduced the Bonner Scholar Program at Berea College, linking scholarship support with a sustained service commitment.

  Aftermath

  The model became the foundation's principal higher-education initiative and was later adopted by additional participating schools.

  Source

• Expansion through the Bonner Leaders ProgramStrategy

  Background

  The original scholarship model did not by itself reach every student or institution interested in structured community service.

  Action taken

  The foundation created the Bonner Leaders Program, allowing schools to use their own resources, including Federal Work-Study, to support additional student leaders.

  Aftermath

  The broader network grew to more than 65 campuses and more than 3,000 students annually according to the cited reference material.

  Source

• 2010

  Wayne Meisel retired as president of the Bonner Foundation[1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Leadership change

  Wayne Meisel, who had served as the foundation's first president since 1989, retired from the presidency in 2010.

• Bonner Foundation programs expanded into a broad campus network[1]Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Bonner Scholar and Bonner Leader initiatives developed from the original 1990 Berea College program into a network reported as supporting more than 3,000 students annually at over 65 campuses.

1. 1Bonner Foundationen.wikipedia.org