Kloepfer Family Foundation Inc.

Kloepfer Family Foundation Inc. is not a conventional organizational grantmaker — it is a single-purpose, family-run direct scholarship program, and grant-seeking nonprofits should recalibrate expectations accordingly. Founded in 2011 through a partnership between Richard D. Kloepfer, a retired businessman from Greenwood, Indiana, and Steven L. Jones, an Eastern Kentucky native who now serves as VP of Operations, the foundation's entire giving apparatus exists to fund one thing: full University of Kentucky scholarships for a handful of Leslie County, Kentucky fifth-graders each cycle. The board — Kloepfer (President, unpaid), plus unpaid directors Clara Bixby, Angela Harris, Shawna Scott, Michael Bixby, and Madison Scott — sets policy, while Jones, based in Hazard, KY, runs day-to-day operations and is the only compensated officer ($66,668 in FY2023, up from $45,000 in FY2020 as the scholar caseload has grown).

Critically, every one of the 16 disbursement records in the public data (100% Kentucky, averaging $4,511 each) went to a named individual student, not to a 501(c)(3) organization. The foundation states outright that it does not accept unsolicited proposals from organizations and makes grants by invitation only in the 990 sense — but for the one program it runs, individual student applications ARE the open channel, gated by hard eligibility rules (Leslie County native/resident, enrolled in Leslie County Public Schools or Red Bird Mission, first-generation college-bound, at least one Leslie County-native parent).

For nonprofits — schools, Red Bird Mission, county educational nonprofits — there is no LOI-to-full-proposal ladder here. The realistic path is relationship-building with Jones's office through the Leslie County school counselor referral network, since counselors are the ones who verify the academic records (GPA, KPREP scores, attendance, conduct) that drive selection. First-time individual applicants should know the relationship, once started, runs long: selected scholars receive up to 10 semesters of tuition, fees, room/board, and books (capped near $250,000) with ongoing mentoring through graduation — this is a multi-year commitment on both sides, not a one-time award.

The foundation's payout pattern reflects a maturing endowment feeding an expanding pipeline of simultaneous multi-year scholars, not a diversified grants portfolio. Total assets grew from roughly $1.2 million in 2011 to $3.70 million in FY2023 (public asset_amount snapshot: $3,497,592), funded almost entirely by investment returns rather than new gifts — FY2023 alone generated $652,998 in net investment income against $0 in new contributions received, a sharp contrast to 2020-2021 when the foundation still took in fresh corpus gifts ($1.02 million in 2020, $430,000 in 2021).

Actual cash grants paid have risen steeply: $0 in FY2019 and FY2020, $16,525 in FY2021, $55,656 in FY2022, and $99,896 in FY2023 — a six-fold increase in two years. This is not a broadening of program area; it is the original 2011-2014 cohorts of fifth-grade selectees reaching and progressing through their ten-semester University of Kentucky scholarship terms simultaneously, stacking multiple concurrent payout obligations onto one small foundation. Third-party 990 aggregators (Instrumentl, Impala) report 17 awards in 2025 versus 11 in 2024 and describe typical individual award amounts ranging from $89 to $25,145 — consistent with the wide range visible in the tracked grantee data, where amounts run from $250 (Abigail Malinak, a partial book/fee stipend) to $20,527 (Jaegen Howard, across two disbursements), with a rough median near $8,900-$11,000 among the six largest-tracked recipients.

Geographically and programmatically, there is no breakdown to analyze: 100% of tracked dollars ($72,181 across 16 grants, averaging $4,511 each) went to individuals in Kentucky, and 100% funded the single University of Kentucky Scholars track — there is no secondary program area, no operating-support line for nonprofits, and no evidence of geographic expansion beyond Leslie County in fifteen years of filings.

Kloepfer sits in a tight asset band with five other small family/private foundations carrying the generic "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" NTEE classification, all within roughly $700 of each other in total assets — a size class typically administered by one part-time staffer rather than a program team.

What distinguishes Kloepfer from this peer set is transparency and focus, not scale — four of its five asset-matched peers have no discoverable website or disclosed mission, typical of unstaffed family foundations that exist mainly as tax vehicles. Kloepfer, by contrast, publishes a dedicated site, named eligibility criteria, a named administrator (Steven Jones), and a single, clearly-articulated program. For grant seekers, this means Kloepfer is unusually easy to rule in or out — but ruling in requires being a Leslie County, Kentucky fifth-grader, not a nonprofit.

Public, dated activity on Kloepfer Family Foundation is sparse. The most recent verifiable dated item is a May 12, 2022 scholarship awards ceremony at Leslie County High School, where the foundation presented University of Kentucky scholarships and Richard Kloepfer met informally with recipients to discuss their plans. The foundation's own "Meet Our Scholars" page has not been visibly refreshed past the 2021-22 senior cohort (Jaegan Howard, Macayla Thomas, Madison Mitchell) and a 2022 fifth-grade intake profile as of this research.

Third-party 990 aggregators (Instrumentl, Impala) report 17 grants in 2025 versus 11 in 2024 — directionally consistent with the foundation's stacking payout model, where each new fifth-grade selectee adds to an already-growing roster of scholars mid-way through their ten-semester award, rather than reflecting any new initiative or press announcement. No leadership changes are evident: Richard D. Kloepfer remains President and a director with $0 compensation across every filing year available (through FY2023), and Steven Jones remains the sole compensated VP of Operations, with pay climbing from $45,000 (FY2020) to $58,290 (FY2022) to $66,668 (FY2023).

Given the thin public record, grant seekers and families should not rely on the website for up-to-the-month status — the practical move is a direct call to (606) 216-2463 or email to kloepferscholar@gmail.com to confirm the current application window and any programmatic changes before assuming the site reflects the present cycle.

Because Kloepfer's only open channel is a direct-to-individual scholarship track, these tips are aimed at families/students and at Leslie County-serving organizations considering outreach — not at nonprofits filing a standard LOI.

• Timing is rigid: applications open in the fall of the student's fifth-grade year and close December 31; there is no rolling intake and no off-cycle exceptions, since the foundation runs one selection per cohort.
• The first cut is entirely academic-file-driven: roughly 9-10 of applicants advance to interviews based on GPA (effectively above 3.5, "mostly A's"), Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (KPREP) results in reading, math, and science, attendance, and conduct — a complete, school-verified file matters more than a personal statement.
• Eligibility documentation is non-negotiable: applicants must supply proof of Leslie County nativity/residency (birth certificate), confirm enrollment in Leslie County Public Schools or Red Bird Mission, and demonstrate first-generation college status (neither parent holds a bachelor's degree) with at least one parent a Leslie County native — families who don't meet every line item shouldn't apply.
• Selection requires an early, binding commitment: winners must agree to apply directly to the University of Kentucky after high school and sign a character agreement (no criminal activity, drug-free) — families uncertain about locking in one university this early in a child's life should weigh that trade-off before applying.
• Notification lands in April, roughly four months after the December 31 deadline — plan FAFSA and other scholarship applications on a parallel timeline, since the foundation explicitly requires recipients to also pursue other grant-based aid, not rely on Kloepfer alone.
• A common and costly mistake is confusing this foundation with kloepfer.org, which belongs to an unrelated individual (a personal tech/ham-radio site) — the correct domain is kloepferfoundation.org.
• For Leslie County schools, Red Bird Mission, or affiliated nonprofits: the foundation states it does not accept unsolicited proposals, so cold LOIs are unlikely to land. The productive channel is a warm introduction through the school counselor network that already verifies applicant academic records, directed to Steven Jones's office (PO Box 1737, Hazard, KY 41702-1737; 606-216-2463; kloepferscholar@gmail.com).
• Use the foundation's own framing in any outreach — "early career planning," "first-generation," and "overcoming educational barriers" — rather than generic financial-need language, since that is the language Richard Kloepfer has used to describe the program's purpose since its 2011 founding.