Hilaron Foundation

Hilaron Foundation is a newly established private family foundation based in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, granted IRS tax-exempt status in September 2024. Its board is entirely family- and insider-run: Kristy N. Simmelink (President), Peter A. Simmelink (Treasurer), Katelyn G. Simmelink (Secretary), and John C. Parker (Director) — there is no program staff, grants manager, or communications team, which means every inquiry is effectively reviewed by the family directly. The foundation is explicit about its giving philosophy: it prioritizes "impact over visibility," describing itself as working "behind the scenes" and valuing anonymity over public recognition. Applicants should not expect (or pitch for) press mentions, joint announcements, or public co-branding — proposals framed around direct beneficiary outcomes will land better than proposals framed around visibility or PR value.

Critically, Hilaron has no formal application process yet. Its own site states the foundation is "currently in the development stage, working to establish our programs and processes," and the database record confirms no application form URL, no posted deadline, and no published funding cycle. The only documented paths in are the website contact form (name, email, organization, subject, message) or the foundation's phone line. This makes Hilaron a relationship-first, cold-outreach-tolerant funder at this stage — a well-targeted, concise introduction is more likely to succeed than a polished formal proposal, because there is no process yet for a formal proposal to enter.

Financially, the foundation moved from pure asset formation in FY2024 (a $10.26M revenue year with only $104,870 in expenses — essentially incorporation and seeding, no meaningful grantmaking) into its first real giving year in FY2025, disbursing roughly $598,000 in charitable grants. That transition timing matters: first-time applicants reaching out now are engaging a foundation that is actively building its grantmaking practice, which means an early, well-aligned relationship has outsized potential to shape how Hilaron formalizes its process going forward, rather than applicants competing against an established, oversubscribed pipeline.

Hilaron Foundation reports total assets of approximately $10.37M (net assets $10,366,158 per its most recent Form 990-PF) and FY2025 revenue of $816,121, composed of 61.3% contributions and 38.7% investment dividends — evidence the founding gift is now fully invested and generating recurring income. FY2025 total expenses were $602,117, of which 99.3% (roughly $598,000) qualified as charitable disbursements, making FY2025 the foundation's first year of substantive grantmaking.

By contrast, FY2024 — its first fiscal year after the September 2024 IRS ruling — saw $10,257,024 in revenue (almost certainly the founding contribution that built the endowment) against just $104,870 in expenses, meaning essentially no grants went out that year while the foundation was being established.

No itemized grant list, grantee names, or individual award amounts are available in the current data (the platform's grantee database shows zero records for this foundation, and the 990-PF grant schedule was not itemized in available filings), so a median grant size or grant-count range cannot be calculated with confidence. What can be estimated: private foundations must distribute roughly 5% of net investment assets annually to maintain tax-exempt status, which on a ~$10.37M base implies a required minimum payout near $518,000. Hilaron's FY2025 disbursement of ~$598,000 sits modestly above that floor — consistent with a foundation meeting its legal minimum in its first active year rather than one running an aggressive, high-volume grants program. Expect grant counts and total dollars to grow in FY2026 and beyond as the family builds out a repeatable process, likely with a small number of larger checks rather than many small grants, given the lack of staff to administer a high-volume portfolio.

Geography is unconfirmed: the platform record has no populated geographic_focus field, and no grantee-by-state breakdown exists yet. The foundation's Chagrin Falls/Cleveland-area home base and its "Building Stronger Communities" program (explicitly about collaborating with "schools, local organizations, and governments") suggest at least some regional Ohio orientation, but this is inference from program language, not confirmed grant data.

These five peers were matched purely on asset size (all cluster tightly around $10.37M-$10.38M) and share Hilaron's generic "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" NTEE classification — a pattern typical of small, recently formed family foundations whose IRS filings haven't yet been enriched with detailed program data on this platform. None have a public website with disclosed application details except Lillie Family Foundation (lilliefamily.org), so this table should be read as an asset-tier comparison rather than a mission-fit comparison. What sets Hilaron apart within this tier is transparency: it is one of the only peers with a public mission statement, four named program areas, and a stated (if informal) giving philosophy — giving applicants more to work with than most foundations at this asset level typically publish.

No news coverage, press mentions, or third-party announcements about Hilaron Foundation turned up in web searches — searches for the foundation's name frequently surfaced unrelated organizations with similar names (the Hilaroo Foundation founded by Hilary Swank, the Hillman Foundation, the Hilliard Foundation), underscoring that Hilaron itself has very little public footprint, consistent with its stated low-visibility giving philosophy. The foundation's own "Announcements" archive page on its website exists but currently contains no published posts.

The most concrete recent activity is financial rather than editorial: the foundation received its IRS tax-exempt ruling in September 2024, then reported FY2024 as a pure asset-formation year ($10.26M in revenue, negligible $104,870 in expenses) followed by FY2025 as its first year of active grantmaking (~$598,000 in charitable disbursements against $816,121 in revenue, with investment dividends now contributing over a third of income). No leadership changes, new program launches, or named grant recipients could be confirmed. Given the foundation explicitly states it is still "establishing our programs and processes," the most likely near-term activity — not yet observed publicly — would be the formalization of an application process or the announcement of its first named grantees, neither of which has surfaced as of this research.

Hilaron Foundation has no formal application process, LOI cycle, deadline, or online portal as of this research — do not wait for one to appear before reaching out. The only documented channels are the website contact form (fields: name, email, organization name, subject, message) at hilaronfoundation.org and the phone line at +1 (216) 870-3927. Treat the first contact as a relationship-opening inquiry, not a proposal submission: 1-2 concise paragraphs describing your organization, the population you serve, and how your work intersects at least two of the foundation's four stated program areas (Education for All, Fighting Food Inequity, Nourishing Minds and Bodies, Building Stronger Communities) will fit the foundation's current stage far better than a full grant application packet with budgets and attachments.

Because the entire foundation is run by three family board members (Kristy, Peter, and Katelyn Simmelink) plus one outside director (John C. Parker) with no program staff, expect informal, personal review rather than a structured committee process — and expect a longer or less predictable response timeline than a foundation with dedicated grants staff, simply because reviewing inquiries competes with the family's other responsibilities.

Alignment language matters: the foundation's own materials repeatedly frame education as "the key to breaking the cycle of poverty" and describe wanting to support "sustainable food systems," not just emergency food relief. Programs combining food access with academic support (school-based pantries, weekend backpack programs, meals-plus-tutoring models) map onto multiple stated priorities at once and should be positioned as such explicitly in outreach, rather than pitched as a single-issue food or education program.

The biggest mistake to avoid: leading with visibility, press, or co-branding opportunities. The foundation explicitly states it values "impact over visibility" and operates anonymously by design — a pitch emphasizing publicity value will misread the funder. Similarly, avoid submitting a large, formal, unsolicited proposal packet cold; there is no process yet for it to enter, and it risks being ignored rather than reviewed. A short, specific, outcomes-focused introduction — sent now, while the foundation is actively building its first real grantmaking cycle in FY2026 — is the highest-leverage move available.