Aureus Foundation

Aureus Foundation is a small, family-governed private foundation (EIN 26-1610650) based in Clarksville, Maryland, with roughly $1.12 million in assets and $168,455 in reported income. It was established in 2008 and is classified under NTEE code T22 (Private Independent Foundation). Its own database record marks it as "preselected_only," and third-party aggregators (Instrumentl, Impala, CauseIQ) consistently describe it as an invitation-only, relationship-driven funder that does not run an open RFP process or publish formal guidelines — its website offers no grants portal, no LOI form, and no published deadline, only a contact email (grants@aureusfoundation.org).

The grantee history in the data bundle makes the foundation's real preference clear: it favors long-running relationships with a small number of Catholic and faith-affiliated institutions rather than one-off gifts to a broad applicant pool. Of 17 tracked grants totaling $165,500, Mount De Sales Academy (a Catholic girls' school) alone received 4 grants totaling $85,000 — over half of all tracked giving — followed by Aquinas College (a Catholic college in Grand Rapids, MI) with 3 grants totaling $43,000, and the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (a Nashville, TN Catholic religious order) with 4 grants totaling $20,000. Smaller one-time gifts went to the Shrine of St. Anthony, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, St. John's Episcopal School, and an individual scholarship fund (Colleen and Erin Marlatt Scholarship).

For first-time applicants, the practical implication is that Aureus behaves less like a competitive grants program and more like a family giving vehicle with a handful of standing commitments, largely to Catholic education, religious orders, and scholarships in Maryland, Tennessee, and Michigan. Organizations without an existing relationship or a clear faith-based/Catholic educational mission should not expect a competitive-proposal pathway to succeed. The most realistic path in is a warm introduction to current officers Justin B. White (President), Jessica L. Fansler (Vice President), or Jaclyn S. Whitaker (Secretary/Treasurer) — all of whom joined the board during the 2023 leadership transition — paired with a mission fit that mirrors the foundation's existing grantee roster.

Across the 17 grants captured in the data bundle, Aureus Foundation distributed $165,500, an average of $9,735 per grant. The distribution is heavily concentrated: Mount De Sales Academy's $85,000 across four grants represents 51% of all tracked giving, and the top three grantees (Mount De Sales Academy, Aquinas College, and the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia) together account for $148,000, or 89% of tracked dollars. Individual grant sizes ranged from $500 (Colleen and Erin Marlatt Scholarship) up to $20,000-plus annual commitments to Mount De Sales Academy, consistent with third-party reporting that typical awards fall between $500 and $20,000 with a median near $5,000–$10,000.

Geographically, funding is concentrated close to home: Maryland received 10 of the 17 tracked grants, with Tennessee (4 grants, all to the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia) and Michigan (3 grants, all to Aquinas College) rounding out the footprint. By purpose, scholarships and general operating support dominate — there is no evidence of program-specific or capital-campaign grantmaking in the available history.

The foundation's IRS filings (2011–2023, with gaps) show total assets climbing steadily from $122,573 in 2011 to $971,920 in 2023, and to $1,120,075 as of the most recent filing — driven substantially by contributions received (ranging $39,000–$154,000/year) and net investment income (as high as $79,782 in 2021). But total giving has moved in the opposite direction of assets in recent years: grants paid fell from $53,500 (2021) to $43,000 (2022) to $26,000 (2023), and third-party sources report a further drop to roughly $15,000 in 2024. That puts the 2023 payout ratio at roughly 2.7% of year-end assets — notably thin for a non-operating private foundation, which is generally expected to distribute close to 5% of net investment assets annually to satisfy IRS minimum-distribution rules, suggesting either timing effects in qualifying distributions or a genuine near-term contraction in grantmaking coinciding with the 2023 board turnover.

These five peers were matched purely on near-identical asset size (all cluster within a few hundred dollars of $1.12 million), which is a common footprint for a first- or second-generation family foundation still built around one endowing gift. None of the peer filings in this data bundle include detailed giving totals or stated focus areas beyond the shared NTEE "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" classification, so a direct payout or priority comparison isn't possible from this dataset alone — but the pattern is instructive: Aureus, like most foundations at this asset tier, is almost certainly run by unpaid family/board volunteers (compensation for all listed Aureus officers is $0) rather than professional program staff, reinforcing why it operates without a formal application infrastructure.

The most concrete recent development visible in the data is a full board transition. Founding officers Louis M. Rehak Jr. (President), Robert B. White (Vice President), and Jane Brooks Horn (Treasurer) are marked as having left the board in 2023, with Justin B. White (who joined as a director in 2022) elevated to President, alongside new officers Jessica L. Fansler (Vice President) and Jaclyn S. Whitaker (Secretary/Treasurer). This coincides with the sharpest drop in the foundation's giving history: grants paid fell from $43,000 in 2022 to $26,000 in 2023, with third-party aggregators reporting a further decline to roughly $15,000 across three awards in 2024.

No press releases, news articles, or public announcements from or about Aureus Foundation for 2025 or 2026 were found in this search — which is itself informative. There is no evidence of a new grant program launch, a public RFP, or a strategic-plan announcement; the foundation continues to operate below the radar of grantmaking media coverage, consistent with its invitation-only, low-administrative-overhead structure. The most recent database verification on file shows the foundation confirmed as "accepting applications" as of an August 2026 verification pass, even though its own website and every third-party source describe an invitation-only relationship model rather than an open call. Grant seekers should treat that "accepting applications" flag cautiously and verify current appetite directly by email before investing time in a formal proposal.

Because Aureus Foundation publishes no grant guidelines, deadline, or online application, the single actionable step available to any prospective applicant is a direct, concise email to grants@aureusfoundation.org — there is no portal, LOI form, or downloadable RFP to reference. Frame that outreach around fit with the foundation's demonstrated giving pattern rather than a generic funding pitch: the historical record shows a strong, repeated preference for Catholic educational institutions, Catholic religious orders, and scholarship funds, concentrated in Maryland, Tennessee, and Michigan. An organization with no connection to Catholic education, a religious order, or a faith-based community-service mission is working against the foundation's evident priorities, regardless of how the proposal is written.

Because every grant in the available history reads as either "general operating expenses" or "scholarship support," applicants should lead with unrestricted or scholarship-specific asks rather than program-restricted or capital-campaign requests — there is no visible track record of Aureus funding capital projects, research, or new program launches. Given the foundation's own volunteer-run structure (zero officer compensation across every listed year) and its self-description as pursuing "faithful stewardship," proposals that speak in terms of mission alignment and stewardship — rather than metrics-heavy logic models — are more likely to resonate with this funder's voice.

The most consequential factor is relationship, not proposal quality: the top three grantees (Mount De Sales Academy, Aquinas College, Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia) account for 89% of all tracked dollars, indicating Aureus functions primarily as a standing-commitment funder to a small circle of Catholic institutions rather than a competitive grants program. New organizations should pursue a warm introduction — through parish, diocesan, or Catholic-education networks connected to current officers Justin B. White, Jessica L. Fansler, or Jaclyn S. Whitaker — before submitting a cold proposal. Given the sharp 2022–2024 decline in total grants paid, applicants should also set expectations for a modest ask (in the $500–$20,000 historical range) and confirm current grantmaking appetite by email before investing significant proposal-development time, since the foundation's payout has been shrinking even as its asset base grows.