Ohio Philanthropy News - December 5, 2025

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation is committing $3M to expand Cuyahoga Community College’s Mandel Youth Humanities Academy.
 
Marion Community Foundation approved $567K in community grants to 45 local organizations.
 
The Sisters Health Foundation Board of Directors approved a total of $483K awarded to 45 nonprofit organizations in the Mid-Ohio Valley.
 
The Columbus Foundation introduced two new initiatives designed to help nonprofits meet the current challenges amid changing federal policies.
 
The Erie County Community Foundation is pairing college students with area nonprofits to help students gain valuable real-world experience.
 
The Defiance Area Foundation gave a $10K grant to Lily Creek Farms to build four new run-in shelters and to replace unsafe fences in the pasture.
 
The Morgan Community Fund, with the support of its donors and in partnership with the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, awarded $31K during its 2025 grant cycle to advance 11 projects and programs benefiting the county’s residents and communities.
 
The Marietta Community Foundation held an open house for local nonprofit organizations to celebrate the completion of their “Stock the Shelves Challenge.”
 
The Annual Appalachia Heritage Luncheon on Dec. 16, hosted by Ohio’s Hill Country Heritage Area and Heritage Ohio, is sponsored by AEP Ohio, the Ohio Arts Council, OhioSE, JobsOhio and the Ohio Lottery.
 
The Burton D. Morgan Foundation provided a grant that made possible an annual entrepreneurial competition, Ideablitz!, hosted by the Hiram College Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship.


The education program at Mill Creek MetroParks, aimed a building awareness of the benefits of green infrastructure, was sponsored by The Raymond John Wean Foundation, The Ohio Arts Council, OhioSE, JobsOhio and the Ohio Lottery.
 
The Greater Toledo Community Foundation and anonymous donors will begin covering tuition for current post-secondary students in the HOPE Toledo Promise program as its funding shifts to pre-K students.
 
The New Albany Thanksgiving Day Fund at the New Albany Community Foundation, along with LifeCare Alliance and the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, are three organizations benefiting from the donation-based four-mile run, Thanks for Giving 4-miler.
 
The Clinton County Foundation’s scholarship portal for grant applications opened on Dec. 1.
  
The Well Being Foundation announced a $50K grant to the Pickaway County Pickleball Association to support the renovation of pickleball courts at Barthelmas Park.
 
The Knox County Foundation awarded a $4K grant to support a groundbreaking initiative to improve water quality and recreational safety along the Kokosing Scenic River. 

 Midwest Electric donated $14K to 17 west-central Ohio charities and community projects through the cooperative’s Community Connection Fund. 
 
The Wayne County Community Foundation awarded a $16.5K grant to the Rittman Recreation Center to support the purchase of a new Kubota Side-by-Side Utility Terrain Vehicle to improve its ability to maintain public spaces.
 
The J.W. and M.H. Straker Charitable Foundation provided support for a free holiday concert performance by the Schubach Big Band in Zanesville on Dec. 4.
 
The Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation Board of Trustees approved grants totaling $1.2M at the November board meeting.
 
At the beginning of November, the PNC Foundation approved a two-year, $100K workforce development grant for the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
 
The Carroll County Foundation Board of Governors awarded several grants at its Nov. 13 quarterly meeting.

Other Member News

The George Gund Foundation Board of Trustees voted to approve a slate of 135 grants totaling $16.9M at its November meeting.
 
The Bryan Area Foundation awarded a $10K grant to Hosanna Horse Haven to improve safety, protect resources and support equine-assisted services for students who participate in the Hosanna Horse Haven therapeutic programs.
 
The Muskingum County Community Foundation announced the establishment of a new donor-advised fund: The Compass Fund, dedicated to supporting five essential areas of community need: hunger, education, history, health and family support.
 
The Del Mar Healthcare Fund of The Dayton Foundation, on behalf of the MVRPC Institute for Livable and Equitable Communities, provided a $20K Livable and Age-Friendly Communities Implementation Grant to Miami County.
 
The Delaware County Foundation and its funds awarded Sourcepoint a $12.5K grant to strengthen local meal programs and improve emergency preparedness.
 
The John Henry Eldred Jr. Foundation awarded $220K in grants to 39 small public libraries across the Western United States.