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Sander Foundation

Stowe, VT · EIN 20-2007940. Reported 56 grants totalling $2,162,471 to 53 organizations across tax years 2021-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500median grant
$2,162,471granted, 2021-2023
53organizations funded
6%of grantees funded again the next year

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. Sander 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 $500. Half of everything it gave fell between $250 and $7,800; the smallest was $100 and the largest $1,847,013. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
33 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
6 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
4 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
7 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
3 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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
Fidelity Charitable Gift FundCincinnati, OH$1,847,013112023
Kvc MissouriKansas City, MO$55,000112023
Audubon Corkscrew Swamp SanctuaryNaples, FL$50,000112021
Variety-the Childrens CharitySt Louis, MO$37,500222022
HelpusadoptorgNew York, NY$35,000222023
Lift for Life AcademySt Louis, MO$25,000112021
Great CircleSaint James, MO$20,000112022
St Louis Zoo AssociationSt Louis, MO$20,000112022
Donald Danforth Plant Science CenterSt Louis, MO$10,000112021
Kentucky Tornato Relief FundFrankfort, KY$10,000112022
Ladue ChapelSt Louis, MO$10,000112021
First Presbyterian Church of Bonita SpringsBonita Springs, FL$7,800112021
Franklin & Marshall CollegeLancaster, PA$5,000112023
Lift for Life GymSaint Louis, MO$5,000112023
World Cup Dreams FoundationKeene, NY$5,000112022
Accountability for LifeYork, PA$2,500112022
Central Institute for the DeafSaint Louis, MO$2,500112022
Haven House St LouisSaint Louis, MO$2,500112022
Habitat for HumanitySt Louis, MO$1,250112021
St Andrews Charitable FoundationSt Louis, MO$1,250222022
St Louis Children's Hospital FoundationSt Louis, MO$1,000112021
Conservancy of Southwest FloridaNaples, FL$750112021
Judicial WatchWashington, DC$750112021
Assistance League of St LouisEllisville, MO$500112021
Ding Darling Wildlife SocietySanibel Island, FL$500112021
Ronald Mcdonald House Charities of St LouisSt Louis, MO$500112021
The Nature Conservancy in MissouriSt Louis, MO$500112021
American Parkinson Disease AssnWashington, DC$250112021
Bonita Bay Vets CouncilBonita Springs, FL$250112021
Bonita Springs Concert BandBonita Springs, FL$250112021
Center for Speach and HearingSaint Louis, MO$250112021
Disability Resource AssnFestus, MO$250112021
Foodbank St LouisSt Louis, MO$250112021
Forest Park Forever IncSt Louis, MO$250112021
Friends of the SmithsonianWashington, DC$250112021
John Burroughs SchoolSaint Louis, MO$250112022
Leukemia and Lymphoma SocietyWashington, DC$250112021
National Multiple Sclerosis SocietyWashington, DC$250112021
Operation Home FrontSan Antonio, TX$250112021
Project HopeHagerstown, MD$250112021
St Jude Hospital for ChildrenMemphis, TN$250112021
The Haven of GraceSt Louis, MO$250112021
The Heritage FoundationWashington, DC$250112021
The Little Bit FoundationSt Louis, MO$250112021
The Warriors RefugeWest Columbia, TX$250112021
Wings of HopeSt Louis, MO$250112021
Prison FellowshipMerrifield, VA$198112021
Great Rivers Habitat AllianceSt Louis, MO$150112021
Wounded Warrior ProjectTopeka, KS$150112021
American Parkinsons Disease AssnWashington, DC$110112022
American Cancer SocietyOklahoma City, OK$100112021
St Louis Theta Not for Profit CorpSaint Louis, MO$100112022
Women's Connection NetworkChesterfield, MO$100112021

3 of 53 (6%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 6%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 28 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
6 grants
Education
3 grants
Housing & Shelter
3 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants
Animal Welfare
2 grants
Recreation & Sports
2 grants
Environment
2 grants
Diseases & Disorders
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202138$141,498$250
202213$98,960$2,500
20235$1,922,013$10,000

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. 85% 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
$1.8M
Missouri
$195K
Florida
$60K
New York
$40K
Kentucky
$10K
Pennsylvania
$8K
District of Columbia
$2K
Texas
$500

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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 Inc23 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund22 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsSt Louis Community Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program17 shared recipientsThe Blackbaud Giving Fund16 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $500. 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 Sander Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 3 returns (tax years 2021-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 105 Depot Street 415, Stowe, VT, 05672. 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 20-2007940 · 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.