Mcleod Family Foundation Inc.

The McLeod Family Foundation is a hybrid private operating foundation — a critical distinction that shapes everything about how grant seekers should approach it. While the foundation holds $35.8 million in assets and channels $2–4 million in annual disbursements, the overwhelming majority of those funds flow into programs the foundation operates directly: The Academy (a full-scholarship private school targeting generational poverty), HoneyTree LLC (a STEAM-based early childhood childcare center), and Financial Peace University financial literacy classes for low-income families. External grants to outside organizations represent a comparatively small share: between $41,250 and $86,000 annually in recent years, distributed to a tight circle of preselected Virginia nonprofits.

This architecture fundamentally shapes the proper approach. Rather than a grantmaker fielding competitive proposals, John and Katherine McLeod function as an engaged philanthropist family with a clear internal agenda. Both serve as uncompensated directors, and Director of Operations Teresa Schaeffer handles day-to-day operations and external relationships. There is no published RFP, open grant cycle, or online application portal. The foundation's own IRS filing explicitly characterizes it as funding 'preselected organizations only.'

Founded in 1989, the foundation began awarding grants to nonprofits in 2005 and distributed nearly $1 million to local organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters and Family Services of the Roanoke Valley before pivoting in 2013 toward direct service delivery. Since that shift, external grantees have contracted to a handful of local organizations serving housing stability, youth development, arts access, and youth sports — all within Roanoke City, Salem, or Vinton.

For first-time applicants, the right entry point is a relationship-building conversation with Teresa Schaeffer, framed around a shared commitment to breaking generational poverty in the Roanoke Valley. Organizations should demonstrate on-the-ground service delivery to low-income families in the Roanoke region and show how their work complements — rather than duplicates — the foundation's own programs. Expect a one-to-two-year relationship development timeline before a formal grant request is appropriate. This is a community-embedded family foundation, not a grants office.

External grant-making at the McLeod Family Foundation is modest and geographically concentrated. Between FY2011 and FY2023, annual grants paid to outside organizations ranged from $37,000 to $125,146. Recent annual totals: $41,250 (FY2023), $60,143 (FY2022), $51,000 (FY2021), $49,750 (FY2020), and $86,000 (FY2019). The historical peak was FY2015 at $125,146 — a transitional period before the foundation fully committed to its direct-service model.

Six external recipients were identified across 12 documented grants, all within Virginia:

• Family Promise (housing/family stability): 2 grants, $60,000 total — $30,000 per grant, the largest external relationship
• Center In The Square (arts and community): 2 grants, $24,000 total — $12,000 per grant
• Advancement Foundation (economic mobility): 2 grants, $20,000 total — $10,000 per grant
• VBR Soccer Club (youth sports): 2 grants, $14,286 total — ~$7,143 per grant
• Rober Van Gieson (individual contribution): 2 grants, $1,000 total — $500 per grant
• William Denzel (individual contribution): 2 grants, $1,000 total — $500 per grant

The practical grant range for nonprofit organizations is $7,000–$30,000, with a median near $10,000 across substantive institutional grants. A key warning for grant seekers: the 'total giving' figures in the foundation's financials ($2.4M–$4.4M annually) are frequently misread as the external grant pool. These totals include direct program operating costs — The Academy, HoneyTree childcare, and Financial Peace classes — not grants to outside organizations. The actual discretionary external grant pool is $40,000–$86,000 annually.

Asset growth has been dramatic: from $2.9M in FY2011 to $35.8M in FY2023, representing 12x growth in 12 years. Despite this asset accumulation, external grant-making has not scaled proportionally — suggesting the foundation is primarily reinvesting growth into its own programs. Sector focus across external grants spans housing/homelessness, arts and culture, economic advancement, and youth athletics.

The following foundations hold assets comparable to the McLeod Family Foundation (~$35M) within the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE category (T21):

Among asset-comparable peers, the McLeod Family Foundation stands out for two structural reasons. First, its external grant-making is unusually low relative to its asset base — less than 0.25% of assets distributed to outside organizations annually, far below the typical private foundation floor of 5%. This gap is legally permissible because the foundation qualifies its direct program costs (The Academy, HoneyTree, Financial Peace) as operating expenditures that count toward the IRS-required 5% minimum distribution. Second, unlike most foundations of comparable asset size, the McLeod Family Foundation functions as a direct-service operator rather than a pure grantmaker — making it structurally closer to an operating nonprofit with a philanthropic endowment than to a traditional family foundation. For grant seekers, the practical implication is clear: McLeod should be cultivated as a relationship partner and eventual program collaborator, not a volume grantmaker or competitive grant source.

The most current publicly documented activity is the filing of the FY2024 Form 990-PF on December 16, 2025, showing total assets of $35,480,387 and charitable disbursements of $2,124,688 — a significant year-over-year increase from $1,495,762 in FY2023. The jump in disbursements may reflect expanded operating costs for The Academy or HoneyTree childcare rather than a surge in external grants, though the FY2024 grant schedule is not yet publicly disaggregated.

Foundation director John McLeod (John G. McLeod, CPA) published a LinkedIn article titled 'McLeod Family Foundation Announces Record Year,' signaling positive momentum, though the article's precise publication date and detailed metrics were not accessible in publicly visible excerpts.

The Academy's milestone arc continues: its inaugural cohort entered kindergarten in August 2018 and carries the designation 'graduating class of 2031.' As these students approach middle school, the foundation's multigenerational model — which wraps academic support around the entire family unit — enters a phase where longer-term outcome data should begin to emerge.

Asset growth over the decade has been striking: from $2.9M in FY2011 to $35.8M in FY2023 — more than 12x in 12 years — driven primarily by investment income and contributed capital rather than grant-making. No leadership changes, new board members, or major external grant announcements have been publicly disclosed for 2025–2026. The foundation maintains a limited public communications presence; activity appears primarily via Facebook and LinkedIn.

Because the McLeod Family Foundation funds exclusively through preselected grantees with no open application process, the path to funding is entirely relationship-driven. The following tips reflect the realities of this funder's model, not generic grant-writing advice.

Know before you contact: The foundation serves Roanoke City, Salem, and Vinton, Virginia only. If your organization is outside the Roanoke and New River Valleys, stop here — no documented grant has gone outside Virginia, and the foundation's mission statement is explicitly Roanoke Valley-specific.

Lead with Teresa Schaeffer. The Director of Operations (tschaeffer@mcleodfamilyfoundation.org, (540) 344-0040 x413) is the appropriate first contact. Send a brief two-paragraph introduction email: who you are, who you serve, and a request for a 20-minute call to learn about the foundation's work — not a funding ask.

Use the foundation's language. Phrases that appear verbatim in their 990-PF program descriptions include: 'breaking the cycle of generational poverty,' 'multigenerational approach,' 'supporting the whole family,' 'life skills,' and 'sustaining a livable wage.' Organizations that fluently adopt this framing signal genuine alignment rather than opportunistic grant-seeking.

Position yourself as complementary, not duplicative. The foundation already operates a school, a childcare center, and financial literacy classes. The grantees that have received consistent funding — Family Promise (housing navigation), Center In The Square (arts), Advancement Foundation (economic mobility), VBR Soccer Club (youth sports) — each fill a distinct gap in the ecosystem. Show specifically where your work fits that is not already covered by McLeod's own programs.

Calibrate your ask to relationship stage. Documented grants range from $7,000 to $30,000 per grant. A first request in the $5,000–$10,000 range reduces perceived risk and signals long-term partnership intent over transactional grant-seeking. All six identified external grantees received repeat grants — stewardship pays.

Avoid formal proposal submissions without invitation. An unsolicited full proposal or online grant application will not be received by this funder — there is simply no mechanism for it. Patience in relationship development is the only viable strategy.