Funders › Indiana

Gibson Foundation

Culver, IN · EIN 35-1422779. Reported 223 grants totalling $733,550 to 49 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$733,550granted, 2021-2025
49recipients, as named on its returns
93%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,978,054assets, 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. Gibson 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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $2,500; the smallest was $100 and the largest $130,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
82 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
97 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
29 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
13 grants
$100,000 and Up
2 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Marshall County Community FdnPlymouth, IN$170,000652025
Putnam County FoundationGreencastle, IN$131,000332023
Iu FoundationBloomington, IN$76,0001552025
St Thomas Episcopal ChurcPlymouth, IN$48,500552025
St Elizabeth's EpiscopalCulver, IN$37,500552025
Marian University-Ancilla CollegePlymouth, IN$31,250542025
Boys & Girls Club of MarsPlymouth, IN$25,000552025
University of Northern ColoradoGreeley, CO$22,500652025
Wnit Public TelevisionElkhart, IN$20,000552025
Cultivate Food RescueSouth Bend, IN$17,000542025
Wild Rose MoonPlymouth, IN$13,500552025
Potawatomi Wildlife ParkTippecanoe, IN$12,500552025
United Way of Marshall CountyPlymouth, IN$12,500552025
The ReesPlymouth, IN$10,750332025
Lasalle Council BSASouth Bend, IN$10,0001052025
Marshall County Economic DevelopmenPlymouth, IN$10,000552025
Marshall County NeighborhPlymouth, IN$10,000552025
Indiana State UniversityTerre Haute, IN$7,5001052025
Riley HospitalIndianapolis, IN$6,000222022
Culver Educational FdnCulver, IN$5,000652025
Culver Youth ClubCulver, IN$5,000552025
Lake Maxinkuckee EnvironmCulver, IN$5,000552025
The Foundation of SjrmcPlymouth, IN$5,000552025
United Way of St Joseph CountySouth Bend, IN$5,000552025
Blessings in a BackpackLouisville, KY$4,000442025
Memorial Health FdnSouth Bend, IN$4,000442024
Plymouth High SchoolPlymouth, IN$2,900752025
Heartland Artists GalleryPlymouth, IN$2,500552025
Marshall County Humane SoPlymouth, IN$2,500552025
Wythougan Valley Preservation CouncPlymouth, IN$2,500552025
Junior AchievementSt Joseph, MI$2,000442024
Marshall County Historical MuseumPlymouth, IN$1,500222025
Marshall-Starke DevelopmePlymouth, IN$1,500552025
Vassiliadis ElementaryLas Vegas, NV$1,500112025
Alzheimers ServicesSouth Bend, IN$1,250552025
Culver Community Christmas FundCulver, IN$1,250552025
Sigma Chi FoundationEvanston, IL$1,250552025
Crime StoppersSouth Bend, IN$1,000442024
Cultivate Culinary School & CaterinSouth Bend, IN$1,000112021
Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental FundCulver, IN$1,000112023
Memorial HospitalSouth Bend, IN$1,000112025
The Salvation ArmyIndianapolis, IN$1,000442024
Adams Street MinistriesPlymouth, IN$600332023
Culver Chamber of CommerceCulver, IN$500222022
Lake Maxinkuckee Film FestivalCulver, IN$500552025
Marshall County Reading CouncilPlymouth, IN$500552025
Plymouth Optimist ClubPlymouth, IN$500222022
Tri KappaIndianapolis, IN$500112021
Culver LakefestCulver, IN$300112025

43 of 49 (88%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 93%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 64 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Education
26 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
16 grants
Youth Development
5 grants
Arts & Culture
5 grants
Human Services
4 grants
Religion
3 grants
Community Improvement
2 grants
Environment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202145$207,600$1,000
202245$94,850$1,000
202344$215,850$1,000
202445$102,600$1,000
202544$112,650$1,000

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

96% of its giving went to organizations in Indiana. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Indiana
$702K
Colorado
$22K
Kentucky
$4K
Michigan
$2K
Nevada
$2K
Illinois
$1K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund5 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation4 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America4 shared recipientsCommunity Foundation of St Joseph County Inc3 shared recipientsLilly Endowment Inc3 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program3 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  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 Gibson Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 270, Culver, IN, 46511. 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 35-1422779 · 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.

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