Long Lewis Foundation Inc.

The Long Lewis Foundation Inc. is a small Alabama-based family foundation (approx. $5.5M in assets) tied to the Long-Lewis automotive and hardware business legacy of the Muscle Shoals / Shoals region of northwest Alabama. Funders of this size and profile typically operate as quiet, relationship-driven trustee boards, distributing roughly 5% annually to charities within an established regional circle rather than soliciting open proposals. Your approach should be to (a) establish that your organization serves the Shoals region (Muscle Shoals, Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia, Colbert/Lauderdale County) and (b) quietly identify whether any board members or trustees have a personal connection to your work. Lead with local impact on youth, education, health, churches, or civic improvement — classic small Southern family-foundation priorities — rather than national or systemic framings.

Based on the foundation's asset size (~$5.45M), a 5% payout implies roughly $270K distributed annually across a handful of grantees. Typical grants from $5M-range Alabama family foundations run $2,500–$25,000, with occasional larger anchor gifts of $50K–$100K to flagship partners (often a church, a hospital, a school, or a United Way). Geographic concentration is overwhelmingly local: Muscle Shoals and adjacent Colbert and Lauderdale counties, with only occasional grants reaching Birmingham or statewide Alabama organizations. Sector focus for comparable foundations leans heavily toward K-12 / higher education (e.g. University of North Alabama), health & human services, faith-based organizations, and civic / community improvement. Multi-year commitments are rare; most grants are single-year general-operating or program gifts.

Long Lewis Foundation sits in a cohort of small Alabama family foundations in the $3M–$10M asset band that collectively shape philanthropy in the Shoals and wider north-Alabama region.

Long Lewis is significantly smaller than the statewide Meyer or Daniel foundations and is best understood as a very-local player — your competitive set for its dollars is other Shoals-area nonprofits, not statewide grantees. Its give-away capacity is roughly one-tenth that of the Community Foundation of Greater Decatur but with far less competition per dollar.

Public disclosure for small Alabama family foundations is limited to 990-PF filings; there is no public newsroom or press release channel for Long Lewis Foundation, and the foundation's primary web property was unreachable (Cloudflare WAF block) during this research pass. The Long-Lewis name remains active in northwest Alabama commerce through Long-Lewis Ford and Long-Lewis Hardware / Ace stores, signaling continued family presence and likely continued trustee involvement. No leadership transitions, program launches, or strategic pivots have been announced publicly in the past 24 months that would shift grantmaking posture. Treat the foundation as stable-state: same trustees, same regional focus, same informal decision-making cadence as prior years.

1) Do not cold-apply blind. For a foundation this size with no public guidelines, the single highest-leverage step is identifying a board member or trustee who knows your work, and asking for a 20-minute coffee before any written ask. 2) Keep the written ask to 2 pages max: one-page project summary plus one-page budget. Formal LOIs or 10-page proposals will over-index this foundation's decision bandwidth. 3) Name the Shoals connection explicitly in paragraph one — schools served, zip codes, local partners. Don't lead with a statewide or national frame. 4) Ask for a specific dollar amount between $5,000 and $25,000 on first approach; larger asks are reserved for proven partners. 5) Budget 2–4 months for a decision; family foundations meet quarterly or semi-annually. 6) Follow up with a one-page impact report exactly one year after any grant — this is the single best predictor of renewal. 7) Note: this research pass could not reach the foundation's public website due to Cloudflare filtering; reconfirm any submission details by phone or through a local intermediary before sending.