Christ Foundation

The Christ Foundation was established in 1971 by Jerry and Patricia Moore of Hartville, Ohio — a faith-driven family whose giving has scaled from $138K annually in FY2015 to $4.26M in FY2023, fueled by a transformative $36.3M contribution in FY2021 that elevated assets from $8.5M to $55.4M virtually overnight. Today the foundation holds $71.1M in assets and operates as a genuine mid-market grantmaker with a clearly defined Christian philanthropic identity.

Governance remains tightly family-controlled. Patricia Moore serves as President/Trustee; Daniel Moore and Randall Moore hold Secretary/Trustee positions; Michael Ogline rounds out the board. Lewis Yoder serves as Executive Director at a compensation of $90,000. This structure means the Executive Director is the key gatekeeper — he reviews all applications and selects which proposals advance to Trustee consideration. Building a professional relationship with Yoder, while respecting the formal application process, is the most direct path to funding.

The foundation strongly favors sustained, multi-year relationships over one-time grants. Among the top 50 grantees in the dataset, 30+ received 5 consecutive grants — Chestnut Mountain Ranch ($1.06M over 5 grants), Love Our Community ($465K over 5 grants), Rahab Ministries ($365K over 5 grants), and Akron Canton Regional Food Bank ($220K over 5 grants) are illustrative. First-time applicants should calibrate expectations: initial grants are typically modest (median $7,000 across the full portfolio), with amounts scaling significantly as the relationship matures. A $10,000-$25,000 first grant that leads to a $50,000-$100,000 relationship within three years is a realistic progression.

Applications are submitted entirely online at grants.thechristfdn.org. There is no LOI stage — the foundation moves directly from application to Trustee review within a 45-day decision window. Organizations should treat the application as their primary pitch document and invest proportional effort in it. Alignment language matters: frame your work around the foundation's stated values of 'restoring individuals, strengthening families, and sustaining communities,' and signal that your organization's impact extends beyond the grant period through diversified funding and proven programmatic sustainability.

The Christ Foundation's financial trajectory tells a clear story of a foundation still finding its giving scale. Annual grants paid grew from $116K (2015) to $301K (2019), then jumped sharply: $1.12M (2021), $1.89M (2022), $2.96M (2023). Total giving (including pass-through and other distributions) reached $4.26M in FY2023 — the most recent complete year — on $21.1M in total revenue that included $18.8M in new contributions and $2.56M in net investment income.

The foundation's own database of typical grant sizes shows a median of $7,000 and an average of $24,952, with a floor around $500 and a ceiling of $270,000 for standard competitive grants. Matching grant commitments operate on a separate, higher scale — the Christian Children's Home of Ohio matching grant alone totals $900,000 (June 2024–December 2025).

Geographic concentration is pronounced. Of 301 tracked grants, Ohio accounts for 200 (66%), with Stark County (Hartville, Canton, Alliance, North Canton) as the epicenter. Florida is a meaningful secondary market at 32 grants (11%), anchored by Palm Beach County-area organizations — reflecting the Moore family's Florida connections. Illinois (11 grants), Nebraska (10), and Washington D.C. (7) represent smaller outposts, often tied to national Christian organizations headquartered there.

Program area breakdown by grant count and dollar volume from the grantee dataset: food/hunger relief and community human services (~30-35% of grants, including Second Harvest Food Bank, Lake FISH, Palm Beach County Food Bank, Refuge of Hope); addiction recovery and criminal justice reform (~15-20%, including Rahab Ministries, Haven of Rest, Dunklin Memorial Camp); pregnancy and maternal health services (~10-15%, including Pregnancy Choices, Heartbeat International, Alliance Pregnancy Center); Christian education and youth ministry (~10-15%, including Christian Children's Home of Ohio, Heritage Christian School, Compassion International); and child welfare and foster care (~10%, including Trulight 127, Foster Our Community, Global Orphan Project). International missions represent a smaller but consistent allocation (~5-10%).

The foundation's database-matched peers are sized by asset value (~$71M) within the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE category. Programmatic comparisons require inference from public filings.

The Christ Foundation stands apart from its asset-comparable peers in one critical way: it maintains a fully open, publicly documented application process — three defined cycles annually, an online portal, explicit eligibility criteria, and published deadlines. Foundations of this asset size ($70M+) almost universally restrict access to invited proposals or pre-existing relationships. The Christ Foundation's structured accessibility reflects its founders' explicit intent to deploy capital broadly across community-based Christian ministries. For grant seekers in Ohio and Florida working in the foundation's priority areas, this represents a rare opportunity to access a well-capitalized family foundation through a fair competitive process rather than a closed network.

The foundation's most visible recent activity centers on its expanding matching grants program. As of early 2026, 11 organizations hold active matching grant commitments ranging from $10,000 to $900,000. The $900,000 Christian Children's Home of Ohio matching grant (June 2024–December 2025) is the largest known commitment in the foundation's history and signals a willingness to deploy transformative capital when organizational trust is established. Broken Chains Ministry holds back-to-back $75,000 matching grants for 2025 and 2026; Hannah's House secured grants through February 2027; and Toward the Goal Ministries, Urban Vision, and Hartville Christian School hold commitments extending into 2027 and 2028.

Leadership appears stable. Lewis Yoder has served as Executive Director across at least FY2021 through FY2023, with consistent compensation of $90,000 in FY2022 and FY2023. Patricia Moore, Daniel Moore, and Randall Moore remain in Trustee roles. No leadership transitions were identified through public records or website review.

FY2024 revenue data ($3.26M, with grants_paid not yet reported) suggests a modest pullback from the FY2023 peak, consistent with normalization after the FY2021 influx. The foundation's website was last updated November 22, 2024, with no new program area launches or strategic shifts announced publicly. The consistent presence of matching grants for pregnancy centers, food banks, addiction recovery ministries, and Christian children's services across 2025 and 2026 indicates programmatic continuity rather than pivot.

1. Use the fall cycle strategically. The Fall cycle (August 15–September 30, with decisions by first Friday of December) is the least publicized of the three annual windows and may attract fewer first-time applicants. The Spring cycle (February 15–March 31) tends to draw peak volume. If your program timing is flexible, target Fall for an initial application.

2. Salary and staffing costs are explicitly welcome. Multiple top grantees — Rahab Ministries, OHuddle, Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin, The Legacy Project of Stark — received grants specifically designated for salaries or staff positions. This foundation does not treat operational support as a lesser category. Frame your request around sustaining a key staff role and its measurable community impact.

3. Emphasize multi-funder validation. The foundation's guidelines explicitly require evidence that your organization seeks 'financial commitments from organizations other than Christ Foundation.' Your proposal should name confirmed funders, pending applications, or earned revenue streams. A proposal that shows only Christ Foundation as a funder will raise sustainability flags.

4. Christian mission matters, but is not exclusively required. Approximately 80% of top grantees are faith-based organizations. Secular organizations (Second Harvest Food Bank, Akron Canton Regional Food Bank, Goodwill Industries) have succeeded when addressing the same populations — hunger, addiction, poverty — that faith-based partners serve. Secular applicants should lead with community need data and human impact metrics, not organizational identity.

5. One application per 12-month period is a hard limit. If declined, avoid the temptation to reapply immediately under a slightly modified project name. Wait the full cycle, request feedback if possible, and return with strengthened outcome data or expanded community proof points.

6. Inquire about matching grants separately. The matching grants program is not accessed through the standard application portal. If your organization runs an annual fundraising campaign or gala and has a track record of donor cultivation, approach Lewis Yoder directly about a matching grant partnership — commitments in this channel range from $10,000 to $900,000 and have multi-year renewal histories.

7. The required document list is non-negotiable. Missing any of the six required attachments (IRS determination letter, prior year 990/financials, current balance sheet, program budget, board list, top-10 donor list) will disqualify your application before it reaches review. Prepare a document checklist and verify completion before submitting.