Garrigan Foundation

Garrigan Foundation operates as a trustee-directed private foundation, not an open grantmaking program. Despite an 'accepting applications' flag in some databases, the foundation's own website states plainly: 'At this time, we seek neither donations, inquiries, nor requests for funding.' Founder Dr. Scott Garrigan, a Lehigh University professor emeritus who previously worked in the East Penn and Bethlehem Area school districts, drives selection alongside two trustees, Audree Chase-Mayoral and Angela Pistun Hall. The three function as an internal committee that proactively identifies organizations already doing 'great work' and having 'shown past success,' rather than reviewing inbound proposals.

The grantee list bears this out: of the 49 grants captured in the record ($1,640,000 total, averaging $33,469), the large majority went to organizations that received repeat funding across three to five separate grants rather than one-off gifts — Teach Rwanda (4 grants, $445,000), El Sistema/Allentown Symphony (3 grants, $205,000), Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley (5 grants, $154,000), Communities In Schools (5 grants, $68,000), and Partners In Housing (5 grants, $68,000). This is a relationship-first funder: once a nonprofit is in the circle, it tends to stay funded year over year, but breaking in from cold takes a warm introduction, not a submitted letter of inquiry.

For organizations without an existing relationship, the most realistic paths in are: (1) visibility in the Lehigh Valley nonprofit ecosystem, where 29 of 49 tracked grants (59%) landed, since Garrigan and his trustees are locally embedded in Bethlehem, PA; (2) alignment with youth-focused education, anti-poverty, or arts programming with a demonstrable delivery track record, since the foundation explicitly funds 'operating expenses' of proven programs rather than seeding new or unproven ones; (3) a documented funding gap or urgency — the 2025 emergency gift to Lehigh Valley Public Media, made after a federal Ready to Learn grant was clawed back, shows the trustees will move quickly and unsolicited when they learn of a credible, time-sensitive need through their networks. First-time applicants should not expect a portal, deadline, or formal decision cycle; the realistic strategy is board- and staff-level relationship building over a proposal-writing campaign.

Garrigan Foundation's giving has scaled sharply since inception. Total giving progressed from $32,083 in 2019 (its founding year, on just $296,337 in assets) to $40,926 (2020), $183,008 (2021), $504,194 (2022), and $848,591 in 2023 — roughly a 26x increase in four years — with third-party tracking (Instrumentl) putting 2024 giving near $860,000 across 11 grants. Grants paid, a related 990 line, followed the same arc: $16,000 (2019), $32,000 (2020), $158,000 (2021), $400,000 (2022), and $650,000 (2023).

Asset growth has been more volatile: from $296,337 (2019) to a peak of $13,271,946 (2023), before pulling back to $11,743,068 in 2024, even as contributions received stayed substantial ($1,977,361 in 2023; $5,306,499 in 2022) — consistent with a still-active living donor continuing to fund the corpus while investment returns swing (net investment income moved from $340,001 in 2021 to $2,434,007 in 2022 to $1,180,122 in 2023).

On a per-grant basis, the 49-grant/$1.64M sample shows a $33,469 average, but the foundation's own 'typical grant size' data (drawn from its most recently identifiable batch of 6 grants) shows a much smaller range — $3,000 to $9,000, median $4,500. Together these numbers suggest two parallel tracks: a small number of large, multi-year anchor commitments to flagship partners (Teach Rwanda at $445,000/4 grants, El Sistema at $205,000/3 grants, Pilgrim's Inn at $155,000/3 grants) alongside a longer tail of smaller, single-instance local grants ($3,000-$10,000) to organizations like Globalgiving ($6,000), Green Steam ($10,000), and Young At Arts ($3,000). Applicants should calibrate ask size accordingly — a first grant is far more likely to land in the $3,000-$10,000 range than in six-figure territory reserved for proven, multi-year partners.

Geographically, Pennsylvania dominates with 29 of 49 grants (59%), reflecting the Bethlehem/Lehigh Valley home base, followed by Colorado (9 grants, 18%) — a notable secondary cluster with no obvious foundation-office presence, likely a trustee or family tie — then Texas (4), South Carolina (3), DC (2), Maryland (1), and New York (1).

All six foundations sit within a tight asset band around $11.7M, marking them as a peer cohort of similarly sized 'Philanthropy & Grantmaking' private foundations, yet their giving postures diverge widely. Garrigan and Oberweiler each distribute $600K+ annually despite modest endowments, implying both rely on ongoing contributions from living donors rather than pure endowment payout, while Happy Dancing Turtle spends a much smaller fraction of its asset base. Sherman Family Foundation is Garrigan's closest structural analog — both are invitation- or LOI-gated rather than open — while Oberweiler and Happy Dancing Turtle publish real grant pages and accept structured inquiries, making them meaningfully more accessible to unsolicited applicants than Garrigan.

Given the foundation's closed posture, tips lean toward relationship-building rather than proposal mechanics:

• Do not submit a cold letter of inquiry or proposal — the foundation states outright it does not accept unsolicited funding requests, and there is no application_form_url, deadline, or funding_cycle listed in its own IRS filings. A submitted proposal will very likely go unanswered.
• Build visibility in the Lehigh Valley, PA nonprofit sector first. 59% of tracked grants went to Bethlehem/Lehigh Valley-area organizations; local board membership, local press coverage, and connections to Lehigh University (where Garrigan is professor emeritus) are far more productive than a written pitch.
• Demonstrate an operating track record before approaching. Garrigan has said publicly the foundation funds 'operating expenses of people who are doing great work and have shown past success' — organizations pitching a brand-new, unproven program are a poor fit; those with two-plus years of delivery history in education, poverty alleviation, or the arts are a much better match.
• Target the right ask size. Most first-time or single-instance grants in the record fall in the $3,000-$10,000 band (Globalgiving $6,000; Green Steam $10,000; Resources For Human Development $3,000); the six-figure grants (Teach Rwanda, El Sistema) went to multi-year incumbent partners, not new relationships. Calibrate an initial approach to the lower end.
• Watch for funding-cliff moments. The 2025 gift to Lehigh Valley Public Media was reactive — trustees learned a federal grant had been clawed back and moved within the window to prevent a program from lapsing. Organizations that can clearly and quickly communicate 'we lost X funding and Y children or families will lose Z service' to a trustee-adjacent contact have a documented precedent for fast action.
• Lean on the 'Worthwhile Charities' list on garrigan.org. The foundation curates and links to organizations it already regards well; being named there, or being connected to one of those organizations, is a soft signal of fit.
• Avoid the common mistake of treating this like a standard open RFP funder. There is no portal, no board meeting calendar, and no published review cycle; persistence via formal channels will not work. A warm introduction through trustees, Lehigh Valley civic or education networks, or shared grantee relationships is the only documented path in.