Henry And Sylvia Yaschik Foundation Inc.

The Henry and Sylvia Yaschik Foundation is a legacy bequest foundation (established 1998, EIN 58-2281499) built to perpetuate the Yaschiks' dual commitment to Jewish community life and general Charleston-area philanthropy — its mission statement literally names both. This dual identity is not marketing; it shows up in the grantee ledger, where Jewish institutions (Synagogue Emanu-El, Jewish Studies Center, Chabad of Charleston, Charleston Jewish Federation, Addlestone Hebrew Academy, Birthright Israel Foundation) sit alongside secular Charleston anchors (MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, Charleston Stage, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, Dorchester Paws). First-time applicants should understand this is a hyper-local funder, not a national one: 272 of 282 tracked grantees (96.5%) are South Carolina organizations, and eligibility language explicitly restricts funding to 'qualified charities that serve the greater Charleston, South Carolina area.' Out-of-state grants (10 total, to GA, NY, MS, TX) appear reserved for national Jewish institutions with a distinct community tie, not general nonprofits. The relationship model is simple and non-relational compared to larger institutional funders — there is no LOI stage, no site-visit pipeline described publicly, and no program officer courtship process. It is a single annual cycle: submit a complete application package by April 30, receive a yes/no by June 30. The foundation offers four grant structures — one-time, multiyear (with annual reapplication), start-up/seed, and challenge/matching — and expects applicants to name which one they are requesting rather than leaving it implicit. With 96 grants averaging $9,059 (median $5,000, per the foundation's own typical-grant-size data) in its most recent full cycle, this is fundamentally a high-volume, modest-dollar community funder: most applicants should calibrate asks toward the $5,000-$15,000 range unless they have an established multi-year relationship, since only a handful of anchor institutions (like Synagogue Emanu-El at $140,000 across 3 grants) receive six-figure cumulative support. Board leadership is compact — Chairman Howard B. Sherman, Secretary/Treasurer Paul M. Lynch, and board member Thomas M. Ervin, each drawing $85,000 in officer compensation per the most recent filing — consistent with a hands-on, closely held trustee model rather than a staffed program department.

FY2023 (most recent complete 990) shows grants paid of $986,200 against total assets of $10,568,592 — a payout of roughly 9.3% of assets, above the 5% private-foundation minimum, funded by strong net investment income of $1,421,778. Total giving (which includes grants plus related program costs) has grown steadily from $683,355 in FY2011 to $1,287,236 in FY2023, an 88% increase over 12 years, while assets have grown only modestly (from $9,758,156 to $10,568,592, about 8%) — the foundation is spending near its full investment return each year rather than building corpus. Officer compensation has nearly doubled over the same period, from $128,670 (2011) to $255,000 (2023), now consuming about 17% of total revenue. On the grantee side, the multi-year dataset (282 grants totaling $2,627,091, average $9,316) shows heavy concentration: the top 50 recipients alone account for $2,189,766 (83% of dollars) while representing just 18% of grant count, meaning roughly 232 smaller grantees split the remaining $437,000 at an average near $1,900 each. The single largest relationship is Synagogue Emanu-El at $140,000 across 3 grants (~$46,700/grant), followed by Jewish Studies Center Inc ($130,000/3 grants), and a three-way tie at $105,000/3 grants each for JCC Housing Corp-The Sherman House, Southeastern Wildlife Exposition, and Center For Jewish Life-Chabad of Charleston. By theme, at least 14 of the top 50 recipients ($898,500, ~41% of top-50 dollars) are explicitly Jewish community institutions — synagogues, day schools, the Federation, Chabad, the Jewish Historical Society, JCC housing, and Birthright Israel Foundation. The remainder splits across health/medical (Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic $70,000, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and MUSC Heart & Vascular Center at $60,000 each, Ronald McDonald House $53,000), arts/culture (Southeastern Wildlife Exposition $105,000, Charleston Stage $75,000, Charleston Symphony $15,000), education (American College of the Building Arts $75,000, Porter-Gaud $60,000), and human services (child advocacy centers, food bank, veterans support, legal aid, animal welfare). Geographically, 272 of 282 grants (96.5%) stayed within South Carolina, confirming the foundation rarely funds beyond metro Charleston.

These five peers were matched purely on asset size (all $10.7-10.75M, same NTEE 'Philanthropy & Grantmaking' code) rather than mission, and none publish an open, staffed application process the way Yaschik does — most appear to be closed family foundations with no public website or with generic placeholder sites. Yaschik stands out among this asset-size cohort for having a transparent annual cycle, published deadlines, dedicated application email addresses, and a defined applicant checklist — a meaningfully more accessible posture than typical $10-11M family foundations, which more often fund only board-connected causes with no public solicitation at all.

No independent news coverage or press releases were found for the Yaschik Foundation in 2025-2026; search results returned only grant-directory listings (Instrumentl, GrantExec, Candid, GuideStar, ProPublica, fundsforNGOs) rather than journalism, consistent with a low-profile family foundation that does not actively publicize its giving. The most concrete recent activity is procedural: the 2026 application cycle closed on schedule April 30, 2026, with the foundation's website confirming 'no late applications accepted' and stating results will be communicated by June 30, 2026; the next cycle is not expected to open until February 2027. On the financial side, the foundation's most recent complete Form 990 (FY2023) shows grants paid of $986,200 — its highest level on record and up 13.4% from $869,700 in FY2022 — continuing a multi-year upward trend in payout despite flat-to-modest asset growth. Leadership has been stable and compact: Chairman Howard B. Sherman, Secretary/Treasurer Paul M. Lynch, and board member Thomas M. Ervin appear as the current $85,000-compensated officer slate; earlier filings also listed a President, Martin Perlmutter, who does not appear in the most recent compensation record, suggesting a leadership consolidation to a three-person officer structure in recent years, though the exact transition date could not be confirmed from available data. Prospective applicants should treat the foundation as operationally quiet between cycles — there is no indication of interim RFPs, emergency funding rounds, or new initiatives outside the standing April 30 / June 30 annual rhythm.

Apply only if your organization is a 501(c)(3) actively serving the greater Charleston, South Carolina area — the foundation's eligibility language is explicit and narrow, and the grantee data confirms it: 96.5% of grants (272 of 282) went to South Carolina organizations. Do not approach this as a national or regional funder. Time submission for well before the April 30 hard deadline; the foundation states plainly that late applications are not accepted and that incomplete submissions 'may be held until the next grant cycle at the board's discretion' — meaning a sloppy submission costs you a full year, not a quick resubmission window. Submit to the cycle-specific email address (2026apps@henryandsylviayaschikfoundation.org for the 2026 cycle; expect a new year-specific address each cycle) and expect an immediate receipt confirmation — if you don't get one, follow up before assuming your application was received. Package the proposal as instructed: a single-page cover letter stating the project, requested amount, and timeline, plus the completed Grant Application, Grant Guidelines attachments, and checklist, bound securely but not bulky — explicitly avoid three-ring binders or oversized packages, a specific pet peeve stated on the site. Name your requested grant type explicitly: one-time, multiyear (which requires annual reapplication even once approved), start-up/seed, or challenge/matching — vague or unstated grant-type requests are a common and avoidable mistake given the foundation spells out the four categories. Calibrate your ask to the funder's actual scale: median historical grant is $5,000 and average $9,059, with a ceiling near $60,000 for most awards; only anchor institutions with multi-year track records (like Synagogue Emanu-El or Jewish Studies Center, each cumulatively over $130,000 across 3 grants) reach six figures cumulatively. Do not request funding for ticketed events, dinners/galas, lobbying, or grants routed through another private foundation (unless it is an operating foundation) — all are stated exclusions. If funded, honor the annual follow-up reporting requirement (a dedicated followup@henryandsylviayaschikfoundation.org address exists specifically for this), since stewardship appears to matter for multiyear renewal.