Funders › Ohio

The Beck Foundation

Columbus, OH · EIN 31-1103484. Reported 88 grants totalling $374,130 to 36 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,500median grant
$374,130granted, 2021-2025
36recipients, as named on its returns
91%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,885,224assets, 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. The Beck 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 $1,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $3,500; the smallest was $250 and the largest $76,150. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
22 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
50 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
8 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
6 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
NaNa, OH$142,050222022
City Year ColumbusColumbus, OH$32,000332025
Columbus City SchoolsColumbus, OH$24,880222024
Lower Lights MinistriesColumbus, OH$15,750332025
Lifecare AllianceColumbus, OH$14,000332025
Mid Ohio Food BankGrove City Oh, OH$13,100332025
Oak Creek Elementary SchoolLewis Center, OH$11,000112025
Community Kitchen IncColumbus, OH$10,000332025
The Garden District CorporationColumbus, OH$10,000112025
Homless Families FoundationColumbus, OH$9,600332025
Heinzerling Memorial FoundationColumbus, OH$8,250332025
Neighborhood Services IncColumbus, OH$8,000332025
Plain City Food PantryPlain City, OH$7,000332025
St Stephens Community CenterColumbus, OH$6,000332025
The Open Shelter IncColumbus, OH$6,000332025
Hillsboro Christian AcademyColumbus, OH$5,000112024
Catholic Social ServicesColumbus, OH$4,500332025
Joint Organization for Inner City NeedsColumbus, OH$4,500222025
St Vincent Family CentersColumbus, OH$4,500332025
Urban Concerns IncColumbus, OH$4,500332025
Cumberlands UniversityWilliamsburg, KY$4,000332025
St Francis CenterMcarthur, OH$4,000332025
Worthington Resource PantryWorthington, OH$4,000332025
Faith Mission IncColumbus, OH$3,400332025
Central Ohio Youth for ChristColumbus, OH$3,000222024
Our Lady of Bethlehem SchoolColumbus, OH$2,500332025
Ohio Special OlympicsColumbus, OH$2,250332025
Willow Ridge Horse FacilityPlain City, OH$2,000332025
Community of Holy Rosary-St JohnsColumbus, OH$1,500332025
Holy Cross ChurchColumbus, OH$1,500112023
Recreation UnlimitedAshley, OH$1,500332025
Gladden Community HouseColumbus, OH$1,350332025
St Peters Catholic ChurchColumbus, OH$1,000112025
Voiuce of Hope Family CenterMarion, OH$1,000112025
Kairos Prison Ministry of OhioColumbus, OH$250112024
The Magpie ConsortColumbus, OH$250112025

28 of 36 (78%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 91%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 37 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Food & Nutrition
9 grants
Human Services
6 grants
Housing & Shelter
6 grants
Education
4 grants
Recreation & Sports
3 grants
Health Care
3 grants
Youth Development
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20211$76,150$76,150
20221$65,900$65,900
202327$64,230$1,500
202429$70,350$1,500
202530$97,500$2,000

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.

Already committed for future years

Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Beck Foundation has 8 of them, worth $4,500. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.

OrganizationLocationApproved
Salvation Army of AikenAiken, SC$1,000
Joint Organization for Inner City NeedsColumbus, OH$750
Joint Organization for Inner City NeedsColumbus, OH$750
St Francis CenterMcarthur, OH$500
Music AllianceMentor, OH$500
Legal Aid of Se and Central OhioColumbus, OH$500
St Peter's Catholic ChurchColumbus, OH$250
St Peter's Catholic ChurchColumbus, OH$250

Where its money goes

99% of its giving went to organizations in Ohio. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Ohio
$370K
Kentucky
$4K

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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 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.

Columbus Foundation13 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc12 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund12 shared recipientsIngram-White Castle Foundation11 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsThe William H Davis Dorothy M Davis7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  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

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Beck Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 340256, Columbus, OH, 43234. 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 31-1103484 · 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.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.