Anchored Support Foundation Inc.

Anchored Support Foundation Inc. is a small, family-operated private foundation out of Groveland, Florida, founded by Buddy and Connie Raney and now governed entirely by their family — Arthur V. Raney Jr. (President), Connie J. Raney (VP), Julie S. Mudd (Secretary), Luke M. Raney (Treasurer), and trustees Taylor Raney and John L. Mudd III — all serving uncompensated. This is not a staffed institutional funder with published RFPs; it is a values-driven giving vehicle built around two tracks: "Anchored Blessings," monthly stipends to roughly 15 missionaries and like-minded ministries, and "Unexpected Blessings," one-time crisis relief for individuals and families. First-time applicants should understand the Anchored Blessings roster functions more like a standing relationship list (Ed Brown/MTM International, Lighthouse Children's Home in Costa Rica, Macedonian Mechanics, missionaries in the Philippines and Alaska) than an open grant competition — displacing or joining it likely requires a warm introduction through the funder's existing missionary or Central Florida church network rather than a cold submission. The more realistically "open" door is Unexpected Blessings, which funded 73 grants totaling $1,833,051 in the data reviewed, most in the low thousands to tens of thousands of dollars for itemized, verifiable needs (a wheelchair ramp, a van repair, pediatric equipment, hurricane generators). There is no formal LOI-to-full-proposal-to-site-visit pipeline; the entire front door is a short contact form on anchoredsupport.org, after which foundation staff (per its own 990 filing) bring a recommendation to the family board, which reviews requests monthly. Applicants should expect an informal, relationship-first process: describe who you are, the specific and time-bound need, the dollar amount, and — where authentic — the faith or missionary dimension of the work, since Scripture (1 John 3:17) explicitly frames the foundation's giving philosophy. Secular organizations without a faith or crisis-relief angle, or requests framed as general operating support rather than a discrete, describable need, are a poor fit for this funder's demonstrated pattern.

Total giving has grown unevenly off a base built by a single large $6.34M contribution in FY2019: total giving was $397,637 (FY2019) → $703,747 (FY2020) → $638,319 (FY2021) → $641,246 (FY2022) → $787,841 (FY2023), with grants paid of $714,387 in FY2023 against total assets of $5,777,980. Net investment income (~$100K-$127K/year in FY2021-23) now covers a meaningful share of annual giving alongside modest new contributions ($33K-$61K in most years). At the grantee level, the data shows 73 grants totaling $1,833,051 across 10 states, with an average of $25,110 — but that average is heavily skewed by one outlier: Bay Lake Missionary Baptist received $813,165 across just 3 grants (44% of total dollars) for "housing expenses for pastor," clearly a core, long-standing relationship rather than a template for new applicants. Excluding that anchor gift, the next tier is far more representative of what an outside applicant could realistically receive: Macedonia Missionary Service ($161,500, one grant, concession trailers), Ace Hardware ($109,933 across 2 grants, hurricane generators for Ian and Louisiana relief), Central Care Mission ($99,000, men's homeless facility), and Unexpected Blessings itself ($86,619 across 12 micro-grants averaging ~$7,200 each — love offerings, wheelchair ramps, van repairs, pediatric equipment). The funder's own reported typical-grant-size data (n=32) shows a median of $11,598, average of $21,071, and a range of $200 to $271,800. Geographically, giving is Florida-concentrated: 45 of 73 grantees (62%) are in-state, with Kentucky (7), Georgia (3), and single-digit counts in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Washington, Alabama, New York, and Texas, plus international missionary partners (Bahamas, Costa Rica, Philippines, North Macedonia) that don't register as domestic grantee records. By program, the FY2023 990 shows Anchored Blessings absorbing $579,434 (74% of program spend), hurricane/disaster relief $95,824 (12%), Unexpected Blessings itself just $7,432, and banquet/fundraising overhead $12,057 — meaning the two "blessings" program names mask very different dollar realities: Anchored Blessings is the dominant recurring-support line, while Unexpected Blessings, despite driving the highest grant count, is the smallest direct-expense line.

All five identified peers sit within roughly $10,000 of Anchored's current asset base and share its IRS "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" classification, forming a tight cohort of small, single-family private foundations spread across Pennsylvania, Georgia, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Massachusetts. None of the five maintain a public website or disclose giving data, which is itself the most useful comparative signal: Anchored Support is unusual within this asset bracket for running an actual public-facing site, publishing a mission statement, quarterly newsletters, and a named contact channel. For grant seekers, that means Anchored is realistically more "findable" and approachable than most $6M-asset family foundations, which typically give exclusively through trustee networks with no outside intake at all.

The most concrete recent activity comes from the foundation's own 2025 newsletters rather than outside press, consistent with a family foundation that doesn't generate third-party media coverage. The organization held its Annual Banquet on February 1, 2025, its primary donor-facing fundraising and awareness event (funded via a $12,057 fundraising/banquet program line in the FY2023 990, including a silent auction). Through mid-to-late 2025, quarterly newsletters (July and September) tracked the completion of the "Smith House" rebuild in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas — a multi-year hurricane-recovery project consistent with the foundation's historical Hurricane Dora/Laura disaster-relief spending line ($95,824 in FY2023 program expense). The same newsletters referenced continued support for a Missionary Training Ministry partner and a medical missionary ("Dr. Elena") working in Skopje, North Macedonia — evidence the Anchored Blessings roster of roughly 15 missionaries remains active and international in scope. The December 2025 update described year-end holiday assistance — food, gifts, and urgent household-needs support for families and ministries — continuing the pattern seen in the grantee data ("love offerings," "unexpected blessing" cash gifts to named families). No leadership changes were found; the same Raney/Mudd family board identified in IRS filings (Arthur V. Raney Jr., Connie J. Raney, Julie S. Mudd, Luke M. Raney, Taylor Raney, John L. Mudd III) continues to govern the foundation uncompensated. No 2026 grant announcements or new program launches were found in available web sources as of this research.

There is no formal LOI, proposal template, or grants portal — the entire application front door is the "Reach Out Today" contact form at anchoredsupport.org/contact (Name, Email, Phone, Message). Keep the initial message tight: who you are or represent, the specific need, the dollar amount, and the timeframe/urgency. Per the foundation's own IRS filing, an applicant "is required to make initial contact at anchoredsupport.org and complete contact information and reason for needed assistance" — staff then bring recommendations to the family board, which reviews requests at its monthly meeting, so budget for a multi-week (roughly 4-8 week) response window rather than a fixed deadline; there is none posted, so apply as soon as the need is identified. Every visible funding relationship in the data is Christian- or missionary-affiliated (Baptist churches, missionary societies, a Bible college, disaster-relief ministries) — secular nonprofits, or requests with no faith or crisis-relief framing, are a mismatch for this funder's demonstrated pattern, and language echoing their stated basis (1 John 3:17, "bringing hope one blessing at a time") is appropriate where it's authentic to your organization. Recognize the two-tier reality: the ~15-missionary "Anchored Blessings" roster (Ed Brown/MTM International, Lighthouse Children's Home, Macedonian Mechanics, Philippines and Alaska missionaries) behaves like a filled, relationship-based list — a new missionary organization is more realistically pursuing a one-time "Unexpected Blessings" award ($200-$40,000 typical, median $11,598) than a slot in that recurring program. The single biggest mistake to avoid is a broad, general-operating-support ask: virtually every funded purpose in the grant history is narrow and itemized — a specific piece of equipment, a specific repair, a specific person's name ("Jessica Messer – Pediatric Equipment," "Ray Tomez Porch") — so requests should be similarly concrete and verifiable. Disaster-relief requests tied to a named storm event, channeled through an identifiable local church or distribution partner, have a strong track record (Hurricane Ian generators, Louisiana relief supplies, Green Turtle Cay rebuild) and are worth leading with if applicable. Because the board is the founding family itself, a warm introduction through an existing Anchored Blessings missionary, a Central Florida (Groveland/Lake County) church, or a shared ministry contact will likely outperform a purely cold digital submission.