Pfeiffer Family Foundation

Pfeiffer Family Foundation is a newly established $5.91M private foundation in Aberdeen, SD (EIN 93-4772917), granted 501(c)(3) status in December 2023. It is classified under NTEE code P20 (Human Services — Multipurpose) rather than the typical "Private Independent Foundations" code (T20), which is meaningful: the donor family apparently chose to position the foundation as a direct-services / human-services vehicle rather than a pure grantmaking intermediary. Cause IQ confirms the foundation is supported by Steven M. Pfeiffer as the principal donor. Only two tax filings are publicly available (2023 initial filing with $5.0M in contributions received, and FY2024 with $472K revenue / $209K expenses / $5.91M assets). Because the foundation has existed for less than 18 months as of the 2024 filing, there is no multi-year grant history, no published application portal, and no established grantmaking strategy visible through standard directory sources. Grantseekers should treat this as an extremely early-stage family foundation where direct outreach to the Pfeiffer family in the Aberdeen community — rather than a formal RFP submission — is the only realistic entry point.

The foundation 2023 inaugural 990-PF reports $5,006,268 in revenue against $0 in expenses — i.e., the entire first year was corpus-building, not grantmaking. The FY2024 filing reports $472,431 in revenue, $208,642 in expenses, and $5,914,905 in total assets. Cause IQ narrative indicates the foundation has begun making grants in its second year, but public grantee lists are not yet populated on Grantmakers.io, Grant Bay, or Cause IQ at a granularity that would allow meaningful pattern analysis. The Granted AI profile notes the 5-trustee board and "Human Services (preselected only)" designation, which strongly suggests the foundation checked the 990-PF box stating it only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited applications — the same pattern visible in the Margolis Family Foundation peer. Expect that grants in year two will concentrate in Aberdeen and broader northeastern South Dakota, and will favor human-services organizations (food security, youth services, health/disability) based on the NTEE P20 classification choice.

Pfeiffer is distinctive in this peer set for (a) being brand new (tax-exempt since December 2023), (b) being classified under human services rather than private-foundation grantmaking, and (c) having no published grant history. It most closely resembles the "preselected only / limited staffing" pattern of Margolis but is even earlier in its lifecycle.

ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer shows only two fiscal years of filings: 2023 (inaugural) and 2024. The 2024 filing (published mid-2025) is the first year with any expense activity, at $208,642. That low expense ratio relative to the $5.9M corpus implies the foundation has not yet hit the 5% annual minimum distribution requirement imposed on private non-operating foundations, which means either (a) the foundation will face a required payout acceleration in 2025–2026, or (b) the foundation is organized as an operating foundation with different compliance rules. The family has not published a website, strategic plan, or press release identifiable through search. The pfeiffer.org domain resolves to an unrelated organization — do NOT use it as a research source. Next public filing (FY2025) should publish in mid-to-late 2026 and will be the first year with a full, mature grantee list.

1) Do not assume the foundation has an application process — it almost certainly operates in "preselected only" mode, meaning unsolicited proposals will not be reviewed. 2) Steven M. Pfeiffer (named on Cause IQ as the principal supporter) is the correct decision-maker to research before any outreach; LinkedIn and local Aberdeen, SD news sources are better intelligence than Candid or Instrumentl at this stage. 3) Geographic fit is critical: Aberdeen, SD and broader northeastern South Dakota human-services organizations (food banks, youth programs, disability services, health access) are the most plausible grantees. 4) Do not use the pfeiffer.org website as a source — it is not this foundation domain. 5) Because the foundation is under 2 years old, the realistic strategy is to build a long-term relationship — identify mutual connections in Aberdeen nonprofit community, attend local civic events, and be patient for 12–24 months before expecting a first grant. 6) If you are a human-services organization serving northeastern South Dakota, request to be added to the preselected list via a personal introduction, not a mailed proposal.