Goodstein Foundation

The Goodstein Foundation is a small, closely held family foundation based in Casper, Wyoming, run day-to-day by President/Treasurer Paul Homar (compensation $10,800), Secretary Demi Homar ($2,400), and Vice President Lucy M. Goodstein, tying the fund directly to the Goodstein family name that also endows the Goodstein Foundation Library at Casper College. There is no program officer staff, no online portal, and no public RFP calendar — the foundation's own instruction on file is to apply 'in writing, clearly outlining the request,' which signals a preference for direct, personal correspondence over templated online forms. With $5.66M in assets and roughly 110 grants totaling $1.46M in the visible grantee history, this is a hyper-local funder: 103 of 110 tracked grants went to Wyoming organizations, almost entirely in Natrona County (Casper), with a handful of secondary gifts in Colorado, California, and Idaho tied to family or trustee connections. First-time applicants should not expect a competitive, open RFP process; instead, treat this as relationship philanthropy where trustees personally know — or come to know — grantee leadership. Every tracked grant purpose is coded simply 'GENERAL SUPPORT,' meaning the foundation does not fund narrow, restricted projects so much as it backs organizations it trusts to spend wisely, often through multi-year repeat gifts (many top grantees show 3 separate grants in the visible history, implying a habitual, near-annual giving pattern to the same roster). The foundation favors established, mission-critical human-service and civic institutions — a YMCA, a hospice, a rescue mission, Boys & Girls Club, hospital foundation, museum, symphony — over newer or unproven nonprofits. Organizations with no prior Casper-area track record or without a Wyoming presence face a steep uphill climb; the realistic path in is a warm introduction through a current grantee, board member, or Casper civic network, followed by a concise written request rather than a polished national-style grant proposal.

Across the visible grantee history, the foundation has made 110 grants totaling $1,458,600 (average $13,260), while its own reported typical-grant-size data (39 grants) shows a median of just $3,000 against a much higher average of $11,833 — a gap that reveals a barbell pattern: a long tail of small, sub-$5,000 gifts to dozens of local nonprofits, topped by a small number of outsized six-figure awards. The single largest tracked grantee is Wyoming Sports Ranch at $500,000 across 2 grants, followed by Casper Family YMCA ($260,000 across 3 grants) and Central Wyoming Hospice ($188,500 across 3 grants) — together these three recipients account for roughly two-thirds of the $1.46M tracked total. Below that tier, a broad base of Casper civic and human-service organizations receives repeat gifts in the $15,000-$40,000 range (Wyoming Rescue Mission, 12-24 Club, St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School, Youth Crisis Center, Boys and Girls Club, Children's Hospital Foundation, Nic Art Museum), and a long tail of 20+ organizations receives smaller annual gifts of $1,000-$9,000 (Meals on Wheels, CASA of Natrona County, Wyoming Special Olympics, Salvation Army, Casper Humane Society). Officially, the foundation's own stated range is $1,000-$250,000. Annual grants-paid has fluctuated with investment performance rather than following a steady upward trajectory: $100,250 in 2012, up to $617,250 in 2015, dipping to $312,000-$462,000 through 2019-2021, then climbing again to $601,500 in 2023 (total giving including overhead of $694,664) — a pattern consistent with a foundation that pays out based on realized investment income (net investment income was $347,127 in 2023, funding the bulk of that year's $373,364 total revenue) rather than fixed annual commitments. By state, virtually all tracked recipients (103 of 110) are Wyoming-based; California, Colorado, and Idaho recipients are outliers likely tied to trustee or Goodstein-family personal connections rather than an active out-of-state program.

Goodstein sits at the small end of Casper's unusually dense foundation ecosystem — the city hosts 96 private foundations controlling $771M in combined assets, so Goodstein's $5.66M in assets and roughly $600-700K in annual giving place it well below the city's largest players, more in line with other single-family Casper foundations than with the city's flagship community funders.

Annual-giving figures for peers are drawn from third-party aggregation (Instrumentl/CauseIQ) rather than Form 990 detail and should be treated as directional. What stands out is that Goodstein's giving level ($600-700K) is roughly one-twentieth of McMurry's and well below the mid-tier Ellbogen, Wold, and Martin family funds — yet Goodstein still makes some of the largest single gifts in its own portfolio (a $500,000 commitment to Wyoming Sports Ranch), meaning it concentrates disproportionate resources on a few trusted, high-conviction relationships rather than spreading modest checks broadly like some peers.

The clearest recent data point is a $75,000 grant announced August 25, 2025 to Wyoming Rescue Mission's Men's Sober Living House in Casper, funding a new roof, interior water-damage repairs, backyard leveling and landscaping, door improvements, and security-camera installation — a capital/facilities award rather than a program grant, publicly covered by both Oil City News and KISS Casper. Foundation President Paul Homar was quoted saying the need 'tugs at our heartstrings,' and Wyoming Rescue Mission Executive Director Brad Hopkins credited the gift with helping create 'a safe and stable environment for continual life transformation' — useful language for applicants pitching similarly mission-critical, human-dignity-focused capital needs. Third-party aggregators report a fuller 2025 slate of roughly 37 grants totaling approximately $295,000, including $60,000 to Boys and Girls Club, $50,000 to The Lyric (a Casper performing-arts venue), and $15,000 to Children's Hospital Foundation — all consistent with the foundation's historical roster and general-support pattern; these figures come from secondary sources rather than a filed Form 990 and should be treated as provisional until the 2025 990-PF is available. Separately, Casper College's Goodstein Foundation Library — the namesake facility funded by the Goodstein family's earlier philanthropy — relocated its Testing Center in early 2026 and closed for renovation March 14-20, 2026, a reminder of the family's deeper legacy giving beyond the foundation's annual grant cycle. No leadership changes, new program launches, or strategic-priority announcements were found; the foundation appears to be operating on the same low-profile, relationship-driven model it has followed for decades.

There is no online application, no published deadline, and no formal RFP — the foundation's official instruction is to apply 'in writing, clearly outlining the request.' Treat that literally: a concise letter (not a multi-page grant application) stating who you are, what you need funded, the dollar amount requested, and why it matters to Natrona County residents is the expected format, sent to PO Box 2773, Casper, WY 82602, or by phone at (307) 234-0821 to confirm the right contact before mailing. Because every tracked grant purpose is coded 'GENERAL SUPPORT' and virtually all recipients are established Casper-area institutions, first-time applicants should not lead with a narrow pilot program; instead, frame the ask around organizational sustainability or a tangible facility/capital need (the $75,000 Wyoming Rescue Mission roof-and-repairs grant is the clearest recent template) — capital requests with a specific, itemized cost and a visible human-impact story appear to land well. Given trustees Paul Homar, Demi Homar, and Lucy M. Goodstein run the foundation directly with minimal paid staff (combined officer compensation is only $13,200/year), expect a personal, relationship-driven review rather than a committee process with published criteria — the strongest path in is a warm introduction from a current grantee, a Casper civic leader, or another Natrona County nonprofit already on the foundation's roster (YMCA, Wyoming Rescue Mission, Central Wyoming Hospice, Boys and Girls Club, 12-24 Club). Common mistakes to avoid: submitting a generic national-style grant application designed for large institutional funders, requesting support for programs outside Natrona County/Wyoming (99% of tracked dollars stay in-state), and treating this as a one-time ask — the grantee list shows heavy repeat funding (3 separate gifts to the same organization is the modal pattern), so plan for an ongoing relationship rather than a single transaction. Because payout tracks investment income rather than a fixed schedule, giving capacity varies year to year (grants paid ranged from $100K in 2012 to $617K in 2015) — asking about current-year capacity in an initial phone call before submitting a large request is reasonable given the informality of the process.