FundersIndiana

Ball Brothers Foundation

Muncie, IN · EIN 35-0882856. Reported 178 grants totalling $26.0M to 52 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$45,250median grant
$26.0Mgranted, 2021-2024
52organizations funded
88%of grantees funded again the next year
$214.0Massets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Ball Brothers Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $45,250. Half of everything it gave fell between $17,150 and $105,500; the smallest was $500 and the largest $2,790,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
5 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
30 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
17 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
38 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
36 grants
$100,000 and Up
51 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Minnetrista Cultural FndMuncie, IN$8,240,000332023
Minnetrista Museum & GardensMuncie, IN$2,790,000112024
YMCA of MuncieMuncie, IN$2,740,000442024
Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN$1,414,9002042024
Greater Muncie in Habitat for HumanityMuncie, IN$1,095,500442024
Ball State University FoundationMuncie, IN$1,030,000642024
Cardinal Greenway IncMuncie, IN$945,000442024
Boys & Girls Club of MuncieMuncie, IN$735,500442024
Sustainable Muncie CorporationMuncie, IN$705,000332024
Cornerstone Center for the ArtsMuncie, IN$585,000442024
Eci Regional Partnership IncMuncie, IN$405,000442024
Independent Colleges of Indiana IncIndianapolis, IN$405,000442024
Delaware Advancement CorpMuncie, IN$363,000442024
Muncie Sports Commission IncMuncie, IN$325,000442024
Red Tail ConservancyMuncie, IN$285,000442024
Whiteley Community CouncilMuncie, IN$265,000332024
Community Foundation of Muncie & DeMuncie, IN$249,500442024
Muncie Civic TheatreMuncie, IN$220,000442024
Meridian Health ServicesMuncie, IN$215,000442024
YWCA Central IndianaMuncie, IN$210,500442024
Second Harvest Foodbank East Central inMuncie, IN$205,000442024
Delaware County Soil & WaterMuncie, IN$197,500442024
Community Enhancement Projects IncMuncie, IN$193,000222022
Huffer Memorial Childrens CenterMuncie, IN$190,500442024
TeenworksIndianapolis, IN$190,000442024
Indiana Youth InstituteIndianapolis, IN$185,000442024
Motivate Our MindsMuncie, IN$181,500442024
Muncie Downtown Development PartnershipMuncie, IN$175,000442024
United Day Care Center of De CountyMuncie, IN$172,900442024
Youth Opportunity Center IncMuncie, IN$157,800442024
Daleville Community SchoolsDaleville, IN$149,500442024
Muncie Innovation ConnectorMuncie, IN$140,000332024
Music for All IncIndianapolis, IN$105,000442024
Inside Out CdcMuncie, IN$95,000332023
United Way Delaware Henry & Randolph CoMuncie, IN$75,000112021
Indiana Philanthropy AllianceIndianapolis, IN$74,970442024
Delaware Co BY5 Early ChildhoodMuncie, IN$60,000222022
Indiana Dept of Natural ResourcesAnderson, IN$60,000112022
Muncie BY5Muncie, IN$55,000112024
Purdue Research FoundationWest Lafayette, IN$30,000112021
Youth Symphony Orchestras of EciMuncie, IN$23,300442024
College Mentors for KidsIndianapolis, IN$20,000442024
Delaware County Historical SocietyMuncie, IN$20,000112024
Hillcroft Services IncMuncie, IN$15,000332024
Delaware Cnty Emergency Medical ServiceMuncie, IN$10,000222022
Muncie City ofMuncie, IN$10,000222022
Jay-Randolph Developmental Services IncPortland, IN$9,784222024
A Better Way Services IncMuncie, IN$5,500222022
Alliance for Strategic GrowthMuncie, IN$5,000112021
Destiny Christian Academy-Yorktown IncYorktown, IN$5,000112023
Special Olympics IndianaIndianapolis, IN$5,000112021
Masterworks Chorale IncMuncie, IN$4,000112023

42 of 52 (81%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 88%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

Plus 274 grants to individuals totalling $9,638,991 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 65 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
20 grants
Recreation & Sports
11 grants
Community Improvement
10 grants
Arts & Culture
9 grants
Human Services
7 grants
Crime & Legal
4 grants
Mental Health
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202148$6,448,154$40,000
202249$7,255,050$45,000
202340$6,172,000$50,000
202441$6,173,950$50,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Already committed for future years

Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Ball Brothers Foundation has 9 of them, worth $12.1M. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.

OrganizationLocationApproved
Minnetrista Cultural FoundationMuncie, IN$2,775,000
Minnetrista Cultural FoundationMuncie, IN$2,775,000
Minnetrista Museum & GardensMuncie, IN$2,775,000
Minnetrista Cultural FoundationMuncie, IN$2,750,000
Delaware Advancement CorporationMuncie, IN$350,000
Cardinal Greenway IncMuncie, IN$200,000
Cardinal Greenway IncMuncie, IN$200,000
Project LeadershipMarion, IN$198,000
Cornerstone Center for the ArtsMuncie, IN$100,000

Where its money goes

Muncie, IN
$24.8M
Indianapolis, IN
$985K
Daleville, IN
$150K
Anderson, IN
$60K
West Lafayette, IN
$30K
Portland, IN
$10K
Yorktown, IN
$5K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

The Community Foundation of Muncie23 shared recipientsGeorge and Frances Ball Foundation14 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund9 shared recipientsLilly Endowment Inc9 shared recipientsHeart of Indiana United Way Inc8 shared recipientsHamer D & Phyllis C Shafer Foundation7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $45,250. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Indiana.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Ball Brothers Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: P O Box 1408, Muncie, IN, 47308. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 35-0882856 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.