FundersIndiana

Gibson Foundation

Culver, IN · EIN 35-1422779. Reported 179 grants totalling $620,900 to 46 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$620,900granted, 2021-2024
46organizations funded
93%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,520assets, 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
69 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
75 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
25 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
8 grants
$100,000 and Up
2 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
Marshall County Community FdnPlymouth, IN$150,000442024
Putnam County FoundationGreencastle, IN$131,000332023
Iu FoundationBloomington, IN$60,8001242024
St Thomas Episcopal ChurcPlymouth, IN$38,500442024
St Elizabeth's EpiscopalCulver, IN$30,000442024
Marian University-Ancilla CollegePlymouth, IN$21,250432024
Boys & Girls Club of MarsPlymouth, IN$20,000442024
University of Northern ColoradoGreeley, CO$20,000542024
Wnit Public TelevisionElkhart, IN$17,500442024
Cultivate Food RescueSouth Bend, IN$11,000332024
Wild Rose MoonPlymouth, IN$10,500442024
Potawatomi Wildlife ParkTippecanoe, IN$10,000442024
United Way of Marshall CountyPlymouth, IN$10,000442024
Lasalle Council BSASouth Bend, IN$8,000842024
Marshall County Economic DevelopmenPlymouth, IN$8,000442024
Marshall County NeighborhPlymouth, IN$8,000442024
Indiana State UniversityTerre Haute, IN$6,000842024
Riley HospitalIndianapolis, IN$6,000222022
The ReesPlymouth, IN$5,750222024
Culver Educational FdnCulver, IN$4,000542024
Culver Youth ClubCulver, IN$4,000442024
Lake Maxinkuckee EnvironmCulver, IN$4,000442024
Memorial Health FdnSouth Bend, IN$4,000442024
The Foundation of SjrmcPlymouth, IN$4,000442024
United Way of St Joseph CountySouth Bend, IN$4,000442024
Blessings in a BackpackLouisville, KY$3,000332024
Plymouth High SchoolPlymouth, IN$2,200542024
Heartland Artists GalleryPlymouth, IN$2,000442024
Junior AchievementSt Joseph, MI$2,000442024
Marshall County Humane SoPlymouth, IN$2,000442024
Wythougan Valley Preservation CouncPlymouth, IN$2,000442024
Alzheimers ServicesSouth Bend, IN$1,000442024
Crime StoppersSouth Bend, IN$1,000442024
Cultivate Culinary School & CaterinSouth Bend, IN$1,000112021
Culver Community Christmas FundCulver, IN$1,000442024
Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental FundCulver, IN$1,000112023
Marshall-Starke DevelopmePlymouth, IN$1,000442024
Sigma Chi FoundationEvanston, IL$1,000442024
The Salvation ArmyIndianapolis, IN$1,000442024
Adams Street MinistriesPlymouth, IN$600332023
Culver Chamber of CommerceCulver, IN$500222022
Marshall County Historical MuseumPlymouth, IN$500112024
Plymouth Optimist ClubPlymouth, IN$500222022
Tri KappaIndianapolis, IN$500112021
Lake Maxinkuckee Film FestivalCulver, IN$400442024
Marshall County Reading CouncilPlymouth, IN$400442024

42 of 46 (91%) 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 93%, 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 54 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
21 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
12 grants
Youth Development
4 grants
Human Services
4 grants
Arts & Culture
4 grants
Religion
3 grants
Employment
3 grants
Community Improvement
2 grants

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

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. 96% 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
$595K
Colorado
$20K
Kentucky
$3K
Michigan
$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 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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund6 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation5 shared recipientsCommunity Foundation of St Joseph County Inc4 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program4 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc4 shared recipientsMarshall County Community4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

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