FundersIndiana

Sherman and Marjorie Zeigler

Muncie, IN · EIN 31-1118863. Reported 77 grants totalling $2,976,301 to 36 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$15,000median grant
$2,976,301granted, 2021-2024
36organizations funded
67%of grantees funded again the next year
$17.9Massets, 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. Sherman and Marjorie Zeigler 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 $4,000 and $40,000; the smallest was $690 and the largest $465,825. 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
21 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
14 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
7 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
18 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
8 grants
$100,000 and Up
8 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
Community Enhancement Projects IncMuncie, IN$1,007,125442024
Community Foundation of Muncie & Delaware County IncMuncie, IN$583,000442024
Red-Tail Land ConservancyMuncie, IN$174,886442024
The Nature ConservancyArlington, VA$171,800442024
Muncie Downtown Development PartnershipMuncie, IN$155,000442024
City of MuncieMuncie, IN$100,000332023
YMCA of MuncieMuncie, IN$100,000112024
Cardinal Greenway IncMuncie, IN$73,020442024
Greater Muncie Habitat for HumanityMuncie, IN$56,000222022
Ross Community CenterMuncie, IN$55,000112022
Ivy Tech FoundationIndianapolis, IN$50,000112022
Muncie Public LibraryMuncie, IN$50,000112021
Martin Luther King Dream TeamMuncie, IN$37,000112023
Urban Light CommunityMuncie, IN$35,500112023
Delaware County Historical SocietyMuncie, IN$35,000442024
Minnetrista Cultural CenterMuncie, IN$26,000442024
Halteman Village Neighborhood AssocMuncie, IN$25,500112023
8TWELVE CoalitionMuncie, IN$25,000112023
Ball State University FoundationMuncie, IN$25,000112022
Halteman VillageMuncie, IN$25,000112021
Hoosier Environmental CouncilIndianapolis, IN$25,000112021
Whitely Community CouncilMuncie, IN$25,000112023
Earlham Nature Reserve System Earlham CollegeRichmond, IN$23,280112024
Orchestra IndianaMuncie, IN$18,000332024
Muncie Children's MuseumMuncie, IN$10,000112021
Muncie Delaware County Economic Development AllianceMuncie, IN$10,000112023
Conservation Law CenterBloomington, IN$9,000222024
Muncie-Delaware Clean & BeautifulMuncie, IN$8,000442024
Muncie Action PlanMuncie, IN$6,690332024
Indiana Historical SocietyIndianapolis, IN$6,000442024
Indiana State Museum FoundationIndianapolis, IN$6,000442024
Delaware County Soil & WaterMuncie, IN$5,000112023
Muncie Symphony OrchestraMuncie, IN$5,000112021
Muncie Arts & Culture CouncilMuncie, IN$4,000112021
Destination MuncieMuncie, IN$3,500112024
East Central Neighborhood AssocMuncie, IN$2,000112021

16 of 36 (44%) 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 67%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 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 49 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
17 grants
Recreation & Sports
8 grants
Community Improvement
8 grants
Environment
5 grants
Education
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Crime & Legal
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202121$804,825$6,000
202218$721,075$20,000
202321$678,005$25,000
202417$772,396$7,000

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. 94% 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
$2.8M
Virginia
$172K

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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 Muncie15 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund10 shared recipientsGeorge and Frances Ball Foundation9 shared recipientsCentral Indiana Community Foundation Inc8 shared recipientsRaymond James Charitable Endowment Fund7 shared recipientsBall Brothers Foundation6 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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Sherman and Marjorie Zeigler'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: Po Box 1775, 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 31-1118863 · 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.