Hillsdale College
Hillsdale, MI · EIN 38-1374230. Reported 74 grants totalling $3,320,210 to 55 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Hillsdale College, the IRS classifies it under education rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE B420) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 55 distinct organizations, with 11% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 71% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and above the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $20,000. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $55,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $322,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $374,064 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Csu Fullerton Auxiliary Services Corporation | Fullerton, CA | $372,217 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | $371,049 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Hc Real Estate Holding Inc | Hillsdale, MI | $322,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| St Louis University | Saint Louis, MO | $256,988 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Cornell University | Ithaca, NY | $249,914 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken, NJ | $245,074 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Faith Baptist Bible College | Ankeny, IA | $117,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Turning Point USA Inc | Indianapolis, IN | $105,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Seven Oaks Classical School | Elletsville, IN | $65,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Cedar Classical Academy | Lansing, MI | $55,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Samaritans Purse | Boone, NC | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| First Baptist Church of Lainsburg | Laingsburg, MI | $42,830 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Citizens for Traditional Values Foundation | Lansing, MI | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Tri-City Baptist Church | Chandler, AZ | $38,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Heights Inc | Potomac, MD | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| True the Vote Inc | Houston, TX | $33,990 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| New Mercies Ministries Inc | Fort Wayne, IN | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boy Scouts of America | Sacramento, CA | $29,614 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy | Pasadena, CA | $29,614 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Salvation Army | Southfield, MI | $29,614 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Northside Education Inc | Atlanta, GA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish | Grand Rapids, MI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Treasure Valley Classical Academy Inc | Fruitland, ID | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Community Baptist Church | Saginaw, MI | $24,488 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Mitchell Research Center | Hillsdale, MI | $23,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hillsdale Community Theatre Inc | Jonesville, MI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hillsdale County Historical Society | Hillsdale, MI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bancroft Congregational Church | Bancroft, MI | $17,300 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Conservative Partnership Institute | Washington, DC | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Life in Christ Church | Owosso, MI | $16,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Empowered International Inc | Fort Wayne, IN | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Heartland Institute | Schaumburg, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Orphanos Foundation | Cordova, TN | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sola Media | San Diego, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Spring Vale Christian School | Owosso, MI | $14,315 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Immanuel Baptist Church | Coronna, MI | $13,200 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mesquite Christian Academy Inc | Mesquite, NV | $13,085 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Discovery Institute | Seattle, WA | $12,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wallen Baptist Church Inc | Fort Wayne, IN | $12,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bennett Creek Church | Powell, WY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Jersey Baptist Church | New Albany, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Westside Baptist Church | St George, UT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of Cincinnati Classical Academy | Cincinnati, OH | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Lansing | Lansing, MI | $6,330 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| House of Prayer | Haslett, MI | $5,524 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Building Twentyone | Mason, MI | $5,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Campus Crusade for Christ Inc | Orlando, FL | $5,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Aboki International | Everett, WA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Christian Family Center | Hamilton, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Institute for Black Solidarity With Israel | Charlotte, NC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Licking County Coalition of Care | Newark, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lifewise Inc | Hilliard, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Our Savior Lutheran Church of Grand Rapids | Grand Rapids, MI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| We Carry Kevan | Fort Worth, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
13 of 55 (24%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Seven Oaks Classical School Inc
EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 40 of 55 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | $347,000 | $173,500 |
| 2021 | 7 | $868,779 | $129,375 |
| 2022 | 7 | $629,628 | $109,845 |
| 2023 | 37 | $1,216,147 | $20,000 |
| 2024 | 21 | $258,656 | $7,156 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
21% of its giving went to organizations in Michigan. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
Get funders for your state and cause by email
We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.
Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.
Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. 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.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $20,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Michigan.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Hillsdale College's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 21 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 33 E College Street, Hillsdale, MI, 49242.
EIN 38-1374230 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your organization? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.