Mill Park Foundation

Mill Park Foundation is a tightly family-controlled private foundation anchored in the philanthropic vision of Miles C. Collier, CEO and Director, and Parker J. Collier, President and Director — a father-son leadership team that has operated the foundation without compensation since its 2002 founding in Naples, Florida. The foundation functions primarily as a dedicated funding vehicle for the Collier family's passion for automotive heritage and American historical preservation, not as a publicly accessible grantmaker accepting competitive proposals.

The foundation's grantmaking is overwhelmingly concentrated in the Revs Institute for Automotive Research, a Naples-based institution that Miles C. Collier founded as the primary institutional expression of his life's work in automotive history and cultural preservation. In FY2024, the Revs Institute received $11,221,365 — representing 97.7% of total grants paid. Across the foundation's documented history from FY2011 to FY2024, the Revs Institute is the dominant recurring beneficiary by a wide margin.

Beyond this anchor relationship, the foundation maintains a small portfolio of community grantees: Naples-area health clinics (Neighborhood Health Clinic: $10,000; Mountainview Medical Center: $5,000), faith-based institutions (Trinity By The Cove: $100,000 for parish hall expansion), and national heritage organizations (White House Historical Association: $250,000 in FY2024). These secondary grants range from $5,000 to $250,000 and reflect the Collier family's personal community ties and civic values — not responses to unsolicited proposals.

There is no published application process, no grants portal, and no stated guidelines. All officer compensation is $0 and there are no program staff, reinforcing that this is a family-operated entity without administrative capacity for reviewing external proposals. For grant seekers, the only realistic path is a pre-existing relationship with the Collier family or a warm introduction from Revs Institute leadership or the Southwest Florida philanthropic community. Cold outreach to this foundation without personal connection is very unlikely to succeed.

Mill Park Foundation's giving history reveals a highly variable, episodic grantmaking pattern driven by the Collier family's institutional priorities rather than a consistent annual payout schedule. Total giving peaked at $15,322,639 in FY2012 — a year in which $22.5M in contributions were also received, suggesting a major capital infusion. Giving remained elevated through FY2013 ($3.8M), FY2014 ($6.5M), and FY2015 ($3.5M) before contracting sharply. From FY2019 through FY2022, total giving ranged from $883,446 to $2,103,604, with grants paid falling as low as $165,000 in FY2022.

FY2024 marks a dramatic reversal: total giving jumped to $11,486,365, but this spike is almost entirely attributable to a single $11,221,365 operating-expense grant to the Revs Institute. Excluding that one grant, secondary giving in FY2024 was approximately $265,000 across three other recipients.

Grant size distribution is sharply bimodal: - Institutional tier: $300,000-$11.2M to Revs Institute (labeled as operating expenses) - Community tier: $5,000-$250,000 to local health organizations, faith-based institutions, and national heritage organizations

Across the documented grantee list from the database, the average grant is $93,000 and the smallest on record is $5,000 (Mountainview Medical Center, Montana). The total documented grantee list includes only 4 unique organizations outside the Revs Institute.

By sector, an estimated 85-95% of cumulative dollars flow to arts/culture/humanities (specifically automotive research and historical preservation). Health care receives a small fraction: Neighborhood Health Clinic and Mountainview Medical Center together received only $15,000 total. Faith-based institutions (Trinity By The Cove) represent a minor secondary priority at $100,000.

Geographically, Florida (Naples area) dominates both grant count and dollar value. Montana appears twice as a secondary geography, and Washington, DC/national organizations appear occasionally. The foundation's asset base declined from $85.7M (FY2015) to $61.7M (FY2024), a 28% reduction warranting close monitoring as a signal of long-term trajectory.

The five peer foundations identified by asset similarity all share NTEE code T22 (Philanthropy & Grantmaking) and cluster tightly between $61.6M and $61.9M in assets — reflecting the private family foundation tier that dominates this asset range.

What distinguishes Mill Park from its peers is extreme concentration: while most private family foundations in the $61-62M tier maintain diversified grantee portfolios of 10-50+ organizations, Mill Park directs nearly all capital to a single founder-affiliated institution. Orland Bethel Family Foundation (Florida) shares the same state and may offer more accessible community giving opportunities for Florida-based nonprofits. Grant seekers unable to access Mill Park should consider these peer foundations — particularly Florida-based peers — as alternative targets with potentially broader community grant programs.

The defining recent event at Mill Park Foundation is the FY2024 grant of $11,221,365 to Revs Institute for Automotive Research — the largest single grant in the foundation's documented history and a substantial recapitalization of its primary institutional partner. This grant dwarfs all prior individual grants on record and signals a major, deliberate capital deployment decision by the Collier family despite the foundation's own declining asset base.

A second FY2024 grant of $250,000 went to the White House Historical Association in Washington, DC, marking the first documented grant to this organization. This is notable as it extends the foundation's documented interest in American heritage and historical preservation beyond the automotive domain — potentially signaling a broadening of the Collier family's philanthropic identity.

Leadership has remained entirely stable since the foundation's 2002 founding: Miles C. Collier (CEO), Parker J. Collier (President), Sandra D. Walker (EVP), Karen S. Gibson (Secretary & Treasurer), Robert A. Walton (Director), and Norman A. Barker (Director) all serve without compensation. No leadership transitions have been publicly announced.

The foundation reported total assets of $61,739,815 in FY2024 — down from $75,470,120 in FY2022 — driven by a $6.5M loss from asset sales and net investment income of only $1.7M against expenses of $11.9M. No new programs, RFPs, or public communications are discoverable; the foundation maintains no active public-facing philanthropic presence.

Grant seekers pursuing Mill Park Foundation must approach this funder with clear-eyed realism: it does not accept unsolicited proposals in any conventional sense. The following tips are specific to how this foundation operates.

Lead with relationship, not paperwork. Miles C. Collier and Parker J. Collier make all funding decisions personally, with no program officer intermediating. A warm introduction through Revs Institute board or staff, the Naples philanthropic community, or the Community Foundation of Collier County is the only practical entry point. No introduction, no grant.

Align explicitly with automotive history or American heritage preservation. The Revs Institute relationship ($11.2M in FY2024) and the White House Historical Association grant ($250,000 in FY2024) together define the foundation's intellectual identity. Organizations connected to automotive research, vehicle heritage, transportation history, or American institutional history have the strongest thematic fit. Lead with this alignment in any initial communication.

Naples community connection matters for smaller grants. The $5,000-$100,000 community tier has gone exclusively to Southwest Florida organizations — a Naples-area health clinic, a Naples church, and a Montana medical center (possibly linked to a Collier family second home). Southwest Florida nonprofit leaders who know the Collier family personally are the most likely candidates.

Request operating support, not project grants. All documented Revs Institute grants are for 'operating expense' and smaller grants are 'general purpose.' No project-specific or capital grants appear in the record. Frame any request around sustaining organizational capacity.

Contact the right person. Do not use millpark.org (family history site). Address correspondence to Miles C. Collier or Parker J. Collier at 2550 Goodlette Rd N, Naples, FL 34103 or call (239) 326-2021. The listed contact is Joseph I. Perkovich.

Be brief and personal. With zero paid staff and a purely family-operated structure, a concise 1-2 page personal letter is more appropriate than a formal 10-page proposal package.