Foundations that fund organizations in Columbus, Ohio
Worked out from where the grants went, not where the foundations sit.
Funding landscape for Columbus nonprofits
1,432 private foundations gave $246M to Columbus organizations in their latest filings; 36 of the 100 that say either way accept applications.
3,873 grants in total, with a typical foundation's median grant to Columbus around $247K. 39 of these funders are based in Ohio; the rest give here from elsewhere.
- Foundations giving here
- 1,432
- Accept applications
- 36
- of 100 that state a policy
- Dollars to Columbus
- $246M
- latest filings
- Grants
- 3,873
- Typical median grant
- $247K
- Based in OH
- 39%
- of funders listed
Funders, by dollars given to Columbus organizations
| Foundation | Based in | Grants here | Dollars here | Median | Accepts applications | Typical purposes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Wexner Family Charitable Fund | New Albany, OH | 11 | $34M | $1.0M | Preselected only | General support of a warm, traditional, egalitarian, family…; To make jewish life vibrant, accessible and safe locally, i…; To inspire, grow and sustain jewish life in columbus, israe… |
| Nationwide Foundation | Columbus, OH | 3 | $34M | $446K | Preselected only | Grants paid to various foundations in 2024, please see atta…; Matching Education Gift sent to various entities, please se…; Other Leadership and Volunteer Grants paid to various found… |
| The Timashev Family Foundation C/O Carmen & Pearl Cpa | New York, NY | 1 | $17M | $17M | Preselected only | To further the mission of the donee |
| American Electric Power Foundation | Wilmington, DE | 151 | $9.1M | $30K | Preselected only | General & Unrestricted; Charitable Event; General Operating Support |
| Margaret M and Robert D Walter Foundation | Columbus, OH | 1 | $8.5M | $8.5M | Preselected only | To support grantmaking activities - advancing philanthropy |
| The Austin E Knowlton Foundation Inc | Cincinnati, OH | 3 | $6.1M | $100K | Yes | Knowlton school of architecture; Bmec building; Aek executive terminal & aviation learning center |
| S4 Foundation | Austin, TX | 1 | $4.6M | $4.6M | Preselected only | General |
| The George Gund Foundation | Cleveland, OH | 37 | $4.0M | $75K | Yes | Operating support.; Operating support; Honesty for ohio education operating support. |
| Jpmorgan Chase Foundation | New York, NY | 335 | $3.8M | $770 | Preselected only | Matching contribution (general operating support); In support of creating economic mobility and career pathways; In support of underserved small business expansion |
| Gerlach Foundation Inc | Columbus, OH | 3 | $3.7M | $1.0M | Preselected only | General fund; Unrestricted; Gorilla fund |
| Osteopathic Heritage Foundation | Dublin, OH | 33 | $3.1M | $67K | Preselected only | To expand behavioral health services through staff training…; To provide comprehensive support to improve student success…; To increase capacity of the franklinton family service cent… |
| The Haslam 3 Foundation Inc | Knoxville, TN | 4 | $3.1M | $525K | Yes | Scholarships and grants; Support school expansion; Education access |
| The Andrew W Mellon Foundation | New York, NY | 2 | $3.0M | $1.5M | Yes | To support the reimagining columbus initiative; To support community engagement opportunities that integrat… |
| Walton Family Foundation Inc | Bentonville, AR | 2 | $2.3M | $1.2M | Preselected only | To Create and scale high-quality advanced manufacturing hig…; To support general operations. |
| The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 1 | $2.2M | $2.2M | Preselected only | To support career and technical education |
| The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation | Omaha, NE | 6 | $2.0M | $189K | Preselected only | General operating support; Program support |
| Roy Lichtenstein Foundation | New York, NY | 2 | $2.0M | $977K | Preselected only | Artwork contributed by the foundation to be added to the mu… |
| Cardinal Health Foundation | Dublin, OH | 84 | $1.9M | $3,500 | Yes | Employee engagement\volunteer leadership grant; Cardinal health communities\central ohio; Employee engagement\ee strategy - partnerships |
| The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation | Palo Alto, CA | 1 | $1.9M | $1.9M | Preselected only | Support for separations technologies that enable production… |
| Jay and Jean Schottenstein Foundation | Columbus, OH | 11 | $1.8M | $25K | Preselected only | Education; Community; Religious |
| The Macbea Foundation | Columbus, OH | 25 | $1.8M | $30K | Yes | Food pantry; Pregnancy decisions; Armed forces program of columbus |
| The McConnell Educational Foundation | Columbus, OH | 12 | $1.8M | $38K | Preselected only | Enhance continuing education; Research and advancements in the field of medicine; Research and advancements in community supportive services |
| The Arthur M Blank Family Foundation | Atlanta, GA | 1 | $1.8M | $1.8M | Preselected only | Capital campaign |
| Harry C Moores Foundation | Columbus, OH | 122 | $1.7M | $14K | Yes | General operations |
| Marian Foundation | Powell, OH | 18 | $1.6M | $5,000 | Yes | Program support |
| The Weary Family Foundation | Manhattan, KS | 1 | $1.5M | $1.5M | Preselected only | General operating support - educational |
| The Harry T Mangurian Jr Foundation Inc | Fort Lauderdale, FL | 3 | $1.4M | $5,000 | Yes | Cancer research at the ohio state university medical center.; Support for scholarships for low-income women, mostly singl…; Cancer drug research, other medical research and mba progra… |
| The McKnight Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | 3 | $1.4M | $500K | Yes | for general operating support |
| The Wallace Foundation | New York, NY | 1 | $1.3M | $1.3M | Preselected only | To participate in Wallace's ECPI. |
| McKesson Foundation Inc | Dallas, TX | 3 | $1.3M | $166K | Preselected only | Charitable |
| Gates Foundation | Seattle, WA | 3 | $1.3M | $375K | Yes | K-12 education; public awareness and analysis; Postsecondary education; public awareness and analysis |
| Belford Family Charitable Fund Inc | Naples, FL | 6 | $1.2M | $32K | Preselected only | Public services; Public support; Herbert j. block memorial tournament |
| Trott Family Philanthropies Inc | Chicago, IL | 2 | $1.2M | $600K | Preselected only | Stars College Network Program; For the Schumaker Sports Center |
| Nisource Charitable Foundation | Columbus, OH | 66 | $1.2M | $13K | Yes | Corporate donation |
| Charles Koch Foundation | Arlington, VA | 1 | $1.2M | $1.2M | Yes | General operating support |
| Lilly Endowment Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 6 | $1.1M | $4,875 | Yes | Employee matching gift(s); Summer youth program; Thriving congregations initiative |
| Additional Ventures Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 3 | $1.0M | $225K | Preselected only | Single ventricle research fund; Cures collaborative |
| M I Homes Foundation | Columbus, OH | 26 | $1.0M | $10K | Yes | Annual support |
| Fishel Foundation | Columbus, OH | 13 | $1.0M | $10K | Preselected only | Contribute to the general fund of the organization |
| Proverbs 327 Foundation | Monroe, CT | 1 | $1.0M | $1.0M | Preselected only | General fund |
| John S and James L Knight Foundation | Miami, FL | 1 | $1.0M | $1.0M | Yes | To provide the catalytic investment in signal akron, a new… |
| Duke Goldberg Family Foundation | Whitehall, OH | 3 | $970K | $50K | Preselected only | Assistance to the ohio state university athletic department; Donation to operating fund; Assistance to the children of a fallen officer |
| The Business of Good Foundation | Ashtabula, OH | 2 | $925K | $463K | Yes | General operations |
| Safelite Foundation | Columbus, OH | 24 | $889K | $11K | Yes | Help org serve charity |
| Lancaster Lens Inc | Columbus, OH | 7 | $885K | $200K | Preselected only | Unrestricted; Various; Operations |
| The Robert D and Patricia E Kern Family Foundation Inc | Waukesha, WI | 1 | $839K | $839K | Preselected only | Embedding em institutionally |
| Hummel Family Foundation C/O Bessemer Trust Co | New York, NY | 2 | $835K | $418K | Preselected only | Scholarships; General support |
| The Connor Group Foundation Aka the Connor Group Kids and Community Partners | Miamisburg, OH | 1 | $800K | $800K | Preselected only | Accelerator program |
| The Reinberger Foundation | Cleveland, OH | 40 | $786K | $15K | Preselected only | Grant 24-26 general support; Grant 24-103 workforce development for restored citizens; Grant 24- 88 helping vulnerable ne ohio families recover fr… |
| The Fischer Family Foundation 2008 | Fort Mitchell, KY | 11 | $780K | $75K | Preselected only | General donation |
| The Thomas and Ann Dimarco Family Foundation | Dublin, OH | 4 | $776K | $138K | Preselected only | Support the mission of helping children with life threateni…; Support the mission of providing pediatric medical care for…; Support the mission of investing in innovation and technolo… |
| Kara J Trott Family Foundation Aka Life Leap Foundation | Wilmington, DE | 8 | $761K | $53K | Preselected only | General & Unrestricted; Building Hope Campaign; We Recover Sponsorships |
| Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth Fund | Broomfield, CO | 4 | $715K | $150K | Yes | Charter school capacity-building; Impact and innovation; Charter school growth |
| The Joyce Foundation | Chicago, IL | 8 | $684K | $100K | Yes | Democracy; President's discretionary fund; Environment |
| Kairos 610 Foundation | Westerville, OH | 4 | $679K | $179K | Preselected only | General operations |
| Cascade Hemophilia Consortium | Ann Arbor, MI | 2 | $675K | $338K | Preselected only | Support for medical services for persons with hemophilia an… |
| Encova Foundation of Ohio | Columbus, OH | 52 | $666K | $4,000 | Yes | Annual operations |
| The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Princeton, NJ | 5 | $646K | $46K | Yes | Matching gifts; 79528 cdfa minority capital loan guarantee program to incre…; 80296 assisting rwjf in developing the program design for t… |
| Elevance Health Foundation Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 6 | $642K | $100K | Yes | Carol Stewart Village and Star House Drop-in Center Program; Mental Health Academy of Ohio program; Alvis Family and Children's Program |
| Long Ja #2 | Columbus, OH | 2 | $629K | $314K | Preselected only | General operating |
| The Nordson Corporation Foundation | Westlake, OH | 1 | $602K | $602K | Preselected only | Expanding equitable access to k-12 stem education |
| Leo W Dunlap Testamentary Trust | Newark, OH | 1 | $593K | $593K | Preselected only | Educational |
| Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc | Boston, MA | 17 | $590K | $30K | Yes | Dance for all; Weekend & extended break meal boxes; Homeport out-of-school programming for low-income youth |
| Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 3 | $585K | $275K | Preselected only | In support of safe solar viewing glasses and supplemental m…; To synthesize high-power attosecond (10-18 s) optical pulse…; To support improved data and data products for the astronom… |
| Charles Stewart Mott Foundation | Flint, MI | 3 | $575K | $150K | Preselected only | To support a key Ohio organization and its efforts to prote…; To support a statewide afterschool network to ensure the av…; To support a statewide network with demonstrated success to… |
| Feeney Family Foundation | Dublin, OH | 1 | $575K | $575K | Preselected only | Unrestricted |
| The Montei Foundation | Dublin, OH | 22 | $551K | $23K | Preselected only | General charitable purposes; Tuition assistance; Van |
| Laura and John Arnold Foundation | Houston, TX | 2 | $550K | $275K | Preselected only | To build a standalone statehouse team that will cover publi…; To provide expert training and technical assistance to law… |
| Herbert W Hoover Foundation Pfdn | Brooklyn, OH | 1 | $547K | $547K | Yes | General operating |
| Jon and Susan Diamond Family Foundation | Sunny Isles Beach, FL | 2 | $531K | $265K | Preselected only | Unrestricted grant to support the organizations exempt purp… |
| Wilson Sheehan Foundation | Springfield, OH | 6 | $529K | $49K | Yes | Professional work-study program; Spark expansion pilot project; Building capabilities to scale employer partnerships |
| Saul Schottenstein Foundation a | Sunny Isles Beach, FL | 2 | $525K | $263K | Preselected only | Unrestricted grant to support the organization's exempt pur… |
| The Gilbert Family Foundation | Detroit, MI | 2 | $494K | $247K | Preselected only | Economic mobility; Next generation models |
| Alfred P Sloan Foundation | New York, NY | 5 | $470K | $100K | Yes | To advance transient astronomy by taking a movie of the ent…; To evaluate the economic and distributional impacts of reta…; To create a successful systemic change model for recruiting… |
| Scott Louise Orr-Fdn Xxxxx4004 | Chicago, IL | 2 | $452K | $226K | Preselected only | General |
| The Krishan and Vicky Joshi Foundation C/O Krishan Joshi | Beavercreek, OH | 1 | $422K | $422K | Preselected only | General support |
| Daniels Fund | Denver, CO | 2 | $416K | $208K | Yes | Ethics initiative middle school program; Ethics initiative high school program 2.0 |
| The Goldman Sachs Foundation | New York, NY | 1 | $411K | $411K | Preselected only | Grant to support the implementation of the 10,000 small bus… |
| Park National Corporation Foundation | Newark, OH | 25 | $407K | $10K | Preselected only | Support; Suppor |
| Wk Kellogg Foundation | Battle Creek, MI | 4 | $402K | $101K | Yes | Matching Grant; Food, Strong and Equitable Food Systems; Early Care and Education |
| Brown Science Foundation | Escondido, CA | 1 | $400K | $400K | Preselected only | For scientific research |
| Carroll Petrie Foundation | Santa Fe, NM | 1 | $400K | $400K | Preselected only | Emergency powers litigation support |
| Max M & Marjorie S Fisher Foundation Inc | Southfield, MI | 6 | $399K | $38K | Preselected only | The max m. fisher israel outreach & engagement initiative; Building leaders of tomorrow; Buck-id, hillel security/ immediate needs post october 7, 2… |
| The George Foundation | Columbus, OH | 16 | $384K | $200 | Yes | Charitable |
| The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc | Milwaukee, WI | 2 | $375K | $188K | Yes | To support the 2024-2025 Bradley Graduate and Post-Graduate…; To support general operations |
| Susan Crown Exchange Inc | Chicago, IL | 1 | $375K | $375K | Preselected only | Public charity |
| Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment | Boston, MA | 1 | $350K | $350K | Preselected only | Climate science & policy research |
| Richard Rex Ponn Trust Fund | Dublin, OH | 2 | $338K | $169K | Preselected only | Civic; Continued support |
| Schumacher Foundation C/O Kegler Brown Hill & Ritter | Columbus, OH | 7 | $335K | $25K | Preselected only | Assist education programs; Annual fund gift; Additional funds for the mary schumacher fund |
| Dr Ralph & Marian Falk Medical Research Tr | Dallas, TX | 2 | $331K | $165K | Yes | Melanoma onset & recurrence; Develop new therapy for |
| Fox Foundation Inc | Lancaster, OH | 7 | $325K | $35K | Yes | General |
| Soter Kay Foundation F/K/A Sarah Ross Soter Foundation | Palm Beach, FL | 5 | $310K | $25K | Preselected only | To further its exempt purposes |
| The Lb Research and Education Foundation C/O Peter Marks | Asheville, NC | 1 | $300K | $300K | Yes | Medical student scholarships |
| John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation | Chicago, IL | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | In support of general operations |
| Ann Theodore Foundation Amy B Naughton Trustee | Boston, MA | 1 | $300K | $300K | Yes | Biological science initatives to help further critcial medi… |
| The Meijer Foundation | Grand Rapids, MI | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | Scholarships |
| The Thompson Family Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 1 | $300K | $300K | Yes | To aid the donee organization in carrying out its exempt fu… |
| Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation | Erie, PA | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | Unrestricted |
| The Keenan Family Foundation C/O Bakerhostetler | Washington, DC | 1 | $290K | $290K | Preselected only | Entrepreneurship endowment fund |
| Greenacres Foundation Inc | Cincinnati, OH | 1 | $280K | $280K | Preselected only | Organization's Charitable Purpose |
Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV, latest electronic return per foundation (2026-10-28). "Accepts applications" reflects the foundation's own checkbox on Part XV line 2. Grants to individuals excluded.
Common questions
Which foundations give to nonprofits in Columbus, Ohio?
The Wexner Family Charitable Fund, Nationwide Foundation, The Timashev Family Foundation C/O Carmen & Pearl Cpa, American Electric Power Foundation, Margaret M and Robert D Walter Foundation and 95 others reported grants to Columbus organizations on their latest Form 990-PF.
How do I approach a foundation that doesn't accept applications?
A foundation that checks "contributes only to preselected organizations" on its 990-PF won't review a cold proposal. Look at who it funds, find a shared board member, grantee or advisor, and ask for an introduction. Foundations that accept applications usually list a contact and deadlines in Part XV; we show that text on each foundation's page.
Is this list complete?
No. It covers private foundations (Form 990-PF filers) whose latest electronic return lists at least one grant to an organization in Columbus. Community foundations and corporate giving programs file different forms and are not included yet.