FundersIndiana

David P Sheetz Foundation

Indianapolis, IN · EIN 26-4068454. Reported 109 grants totalling $2,973,500 to 48 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$15,000median grant
$2,973,500granted, 2021-2024
48organizations funded
76%of grantees funded again the next year
$16.5Massets, 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. David P Sheetz 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 $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $350,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$5,000 - $10,000
16 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
52 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
24 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
11 grants
$100,000 and Up
6 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
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$550,000332024
Munson Healthcare FoundationTraverse City, MI$243,450222023
Hope CollegeHolland, MI$170,000332024
Joy's House IndianapolisIndianapolis, IN$150,000442024
Child and Family Services of Nw MichiganTraverse City, MI$120,000222022
Nmc FoundationTraverse City, MI$100,000112021
Family Promise of Greater IndianapolisIndianapolis, IN$90,000442024
Fulton Music SocietyChicago, IL$90,000222022
Grand Traverse Commission on AgingTraverse City, MI$90,000442024
People for Urban ProgressIndianapolis, IN$90,000332023
Fathers and FamilyIndianapolis, IN$85,000442024
Safe Harbor of Grand TraverseTraverse City, MI$85,000442024
United Way of Northern MichiganTraverse City, MI$83,000112024
Morning LightIndianapolis, IN$65,000442024
Peace Learning CenterIndianapolis, IN$65,000442024
Free Whellin Community BikesIndianapolis, IN$62,500332023
ReactIndianapolis, IN$60,000222024
Exodus ImmigrationIndianapolis, IN$55,000332023
Mission Hill ChurchTraverse City, MI$52,000112024
Harrison CenterIndianapolis, IN$50,000442024
William James AssociationSanta Cruz, CA$50,000112024
Young Actors TheatreIndianapolis, IN$50,000222022
Indy ReadsIndianapolis, IN$45,000332024
Tech Point Foundation for YouthIndianapolis, IN$40,000442024
Traverse City Junior Golf FoundationTraverse City, MI$35,000442024
District TheatreIndianapolis, IN$30,000222024
Leadership IndianapolisIndianapolis, IN$30,000332024
Northern Mi Adaptive SportsTraverse City, MI$30,000112024
The Little Red Door CancerIndianapolis, IN$30,000332024
Ac PawAcme, MI$27,550442024
Cherryland Humane SocietyTraverse City, MI$25,000442024
Free Wheelin Community BikesIndianapolis, IN$25,000112024
Mission Hill Church Senior MissionTraverse City, MI$25,000112024
Center for Leadership DevelopmentIndianapolis, IN$20,000222024
Indiana Latino InstituteIndianapolis, IN$20,000222022
Unlock TomorrowHollywood, CA$20,000112022
Exodus RefugeIndianapolis, IN$15,000112024
Mlk Community CenterIndianapolis, IN$15,000112024
African American Legacy Foundation IndyIndianapolis, IN$10,000222022
Damien CenterIndianapolis, IN$10,000112021
Ele's Place Ann ArborAnn Arbor, MI$10,000112024
Forgotten HarvestOak Park, MI$10,000112024
Fund for Public HousingNew York, NY$10,000112024
Martindale Brightwood CdcIndianapolis, IN$10,000112021
Rising Pursuit ServicesIndianapolis, IN$10,000112024
Random Arts of FlowersIndianapolis, IN$5,000112023
St Thomas Aquinas SchoolIndianapolis, IN$5,000112021
St Thomas Aquinas ShoolEast Lansing, MI$5,000112023

29 of 48 (60%) 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 76%, 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 45 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Housing & Shelter
9 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
5 grants
Crime & Legal
5 grants
Animal Welfare
4 grants
Arts & Culture
4 grants
Health Care
4 grants
Education
3 grants
Environment
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202126$582,500$10,000
202226$925,000$17,500
202325$626,000$15,000
202432$840,000$20,000

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.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 38% of this one's giving went to organizations in Indiana. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Indiana
$1.1M
Michigan
$1.1M
New York
$560K
Illinois
$90K
California
$70K

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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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc13 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund12 shared recipientsLilly Endowment Inc10 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsCentral Indiana Community Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsThe Indianapolis Foundation Inc10 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,000. 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.

Related guides

Foundations funding animal welfare in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from David P Sheetz 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: 303 Blue Ridge Road, Indianapolis, IN, 46208. 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 26-4068454 · 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.