FundersOhio

Bernard-Wentz Scholarship Fund

Columbus, OH · EIN 31-6334477. Reported 89 grants totalling $312,791 to 42 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,621median grant
$312,791granted, 2021-2024
42organizations funded
65%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,795,925assets, 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. Bernard-Wentz Scholarship Fund 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 $1,621. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,300 and $3,242; the smallest was $80 and the largest $19,958. 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
72 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
10 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
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
Kent State UniversityKent, OH$64,063542024
Ohio State UniversitySteubenville, OH$45,838542024
Ohio UniversityAthens, OH$36,394442024
University of AkronColumbus, OH$27,628442024
Walsh UniversityN Canton, OH$15,610542024
University of CincinnatiCincinnati, OH$14,464442024
University of Mount UnionAlliance, OH$11,697442024
University of Notre DameColumbus, OH$8,455442024
Kent State University TuscarawasNew Philadelphia, OH$7,800112024
Aultman CollegeColumbus, OH$6,009332024
College of WoosterWooster, OH$5,688442024
Mount Vernon Nazarene UniversityMt Venon, OH$4,709222022
Grove City CollegeGrove City, PA$4,067332024
Malone UniversityCanton, OH$4,067332024
The CitadelCharleston, SC$4,067332024
Ohio Northern UniversityAda, OH$3,900222024
West Liberty UniversityColumbus, OH$3,900222024
Capital UniversityColumbus, OH$3,088222022
John Carroll UniversityUniversity Ht, OH$3,088222022
Thomas More UniversityColumbus, OH$3,088222022
West Virginia UniversityColumbus, OH$3,088222022
West Virginia UniversityMorgantown, WV$2,767222023
University of EvansvilleEvansville, IN$2,600222024
Ashbury UniversityColumbus, OH$1,621112021
Brigham Young UniversityColumbus, OH$1,621112021
Central Michigan UniversityColumbus, OH$1,621112021
Clarion UniversityColumbus, OH$1,621112021
Ferris State UniversityColumbus, OH$1,621112021
Marietta CollegeColumbus, OH$1,621112021
Saint Marys CollegeColumbus, OH$1,621112021
University of DaytonColumbus, OH$1,621112021
Brigham Young UniversityProvo, UT$1,467112022
Tiffin UniversityTiffin, OH$1,467112022
University of Akron Wayne CollegeOrrvile, OH$1,467112022
University of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$1,467112022
Anderson UniversityAnderson, SC$1,300112024
Ashland UniversityAshland, OH$1,300112024
Cedarville UniversityCedarville, OH$1,300112024
Miami UniversityOxford, OH$1,300112024
Stark State CollegeNorth Canton, OH$1,300112023
University of ArizonaColumbus, OH$1,300112023
Dover City School DistrictDover, OH$80112022

22 of 42 (52%) 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 65%, 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 39 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
39 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202123$94,524$1,621
202227$88,100$1,467
202318$69,067$1,300
202421$61,100$1,300

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 Ohio. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Ohio
$295K
Pennsylvania
$6K
South Carolina
$5K
West Virginia
$3K
Indiana
$3K
Utah
$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 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 Inc19 shared recipientsColumbus Foundation18 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund18 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsThe Paul and Carol David Foundation17 shared recipientsThe Ohio Foundation of16 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,621. 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 Ohio.
  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 education in OhioEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Bernard-Wentz Scholarship Fund'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 1558 Dept EA5W86, Columbus, OH, 43216. 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 31-6334477 · 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 [email protected] and we will correct it.