Philanthropy International

Philanthropy International (Claremont, CA; EIN 87-0643877) is not a conventional program-driven grantmaker — it is fundamentally a donor-directed legacy-giving vehicle. Its own website describes its core work as helping charities build 'planned giving' programs and connecting them with major-gift donors and trained financial advisors, not running a grant competition. The IRS filings confirm this: the foundation's stated program purpose is to 'support various organizations to further their charitable purposes in accordance with the wishes of donors to the Foundation,' and it distributed to 130-147 organizations in its most recent reporting years. In practice, this means the funder's giving reflects the personal and professional interests of its individual donors (and its chairman, Duaine Draeger) far more than any published thematic priority.

Governance is lean: Chairman Duaine Draeger is the only compensated officer ($33,625-$49,897/year across 2019-2023), while Secretary Linda Treydte and Treasurer Janis Bride serve uncompensated. This is a classic small, single-decision-maker family/donor foundation rather than a staffed program office — expect personal relationships and direct correspondence to matter more than formal proposal mechanics.

First-time applicants should not expect a competitive RFP cycle, program officer review, or site visit progression. The realistic paths in are: (1) an existing or cultivable relationship with an individual donor who directs a fund through the foundation, (2) alignment with causes the foundation has already funded repeatedly (homelessness services, religious institutions, international relief, entertainment-industry welfare, youth/health), or (3) becoming a partner charity in Philanthropy International's planned-giving service offering, which creates an ongoing pipeline for legacy gifts rather than a one-time grant. Organizations without a donor connection should still apply by letter, but should calibrate expectations toward smaller, single-year support rather than a multi-year programmatic partnership.

Philanthropy International's asset base has held remarkably steady near $13M for over a decade ($10.97M in 2011 to $13.06M currently), while annual giving swings substantially year to year based on donor activity rather than a fixed payout formula. Total giving: $1,197,517 (2019) → $2,514,617 (2020, COVID-year peak) → $1,196,596 (2021) → $1,775,658 (2022) → $2,094,440 (2023). Grants paid tracked closely: $732,870 (2019) → $2,087,589 (2020) → $877,232 (2021) → $1,229,856 (2022) → $1,738,949 (2023). A 2011 outlier of $11.19M in total giving against a similar asset base signals a one-time major distribution event, not a repeatable pattern.

Grant sizing is sharply right-skewed. The foundation's own reported typical-grant data (165 grants) shows a median of just $2,835, an average of $12,652, and a range from $100 to $500,000 — meaning a handful of very large gifts dominate total dollars while most recipients receive small, likely donor-directed amounts. This shows clearly in the top-50 recipient data: three $500,000 gifts (The Actors Fund, Entertainment Community Fund, Entertainment Industry Foundation) total $1.5M — roughly a quarter of the entire $6.29M tracked across 558 historical grants — reflecting a donor with entertainment-industry ties. Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund received $408,400 across 3 grants; Biking For Fun received $211,300 across 4 grants; Hope Builders Taller San Jose and SAG-AFTRA Foundation each received $200,000.

Geographically, California dominates with 270 of 558 tracked grants (48%), followed by Texas (52, 9%), New York (33, 6%), Minnesota (28, 5%), and Missouri (21, 4%) — with smaller clusters in Illinois, DC, Florida, Montana, and North Carolina. By cause, the top-50 list spans human services/homelessness (Union Rescue Mission, Illumination Foundation, People Assisting the Homeless), religious institutions (First Presbyterian Church of San Diego, Church of the Epiphany, multiple Christian schools), international relief and medical aid (Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, UNICEF, International Medical Corps), and advocacy (Everytown for Gun Safety, ACLU of Georgia, Color of Change) — far broader than the foundation's official 'Education' NTEE tag suggests.

Philanthropy International sits in a tight cluster of similarly-sized (~$13M asset) private foundations under the 'Philanthropy & Grantmaking' NTEE category — several of which cluster at almost identical asset values ($13.05M-$13.06M), suggesting shared fund administration or investment pooling rather than coincidence.

Philanthropy International is the only foundation in this peer set with a public website and a stated (if informal) application path, giving grant seekers a meaningfully higher chance of even reaching a decision-maker compared to its peers, three of which have no discoverable web presence at all. Its willingness to accept unsolicited letters — rare among this peer group of small, donor-family vehicles — is a genuine differentiator worth leveraging.

No foundation-specific news coverage, press releases, or public announcements were found for Philanthropy International in 2025-2026 searches — expected for an organization of this size and structure, which does not appear to issue public communications beyond its website and IRS filings. The most recent available financial data is fiscal year 2023 (total assets $12.22M, total giving $2,094,440, grants paid $1,738,949, officer compensation $49,897 — the highest compensation figure for Chairman Duaine Draeger across the 2019-2023 period, up from $28,817 in 2019).

The foundation's own program description shows modest scale change over recent filings, noting support to '130 organizations' in one filing year and '147 organizations' in another — a roughly 13% increase in grantee count, consistent with either donor base growth or broader distribution of smaller gifts rather than a strategic pivot.

Sector-wide context is relevant even without foundation-specific news: 2025 saw record US charitable giving (over $600 billion per Giving USA) alongside acute strain on international aid organizations following federal funding cuts, prompting private and philanthropic funders to step in with emergency pooled support. Given Philanthropy International's history of funding international relief organizations (Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, UNICEF, International Medical Corps, Mercy Chefs for Ukraine relief), this sector-wide funding gap may make international relief appeals more resonant with this funder's donor base in the current cycle than in prior years — though this is an inference from sector trends, not a confirmed foundation statement.

There is no formal RFP, portal, or published deadline. The foundation's IRS filing states plainly: 'Applications can be submitted in letter form,' and the only eligibility restriction on file is that recipients must be qualified charities (contributions to the foundation itself are noted as tax-deductible, implying standard 501(c)(3) status is expected of grantees). Contact is direct: (909) 625-4511 or info@picharity.org, 480 N. Indian Hill Blvd. Suite 2A, Claremont, CA 91711.

Because this is a small, chairman-led operation (Duaine Draeger is the sole paid officer; Secretary and Treasurer serve as volunteers), do not send a lengthy grant packet — a concise, well-targeted letter is more likely to be read in full than a 20-page proposal built for a large institutional funder. Lead with whatever connects your organization to the foundation's actual giving pattern: religious/faith-based programming, homelessness and human services, international relief and medical aid, youth education, or entertainment-industry welfare — not generic 'education' language, despite that being the foundation's official NTEE tag.

The single biggest lever for a larger award is a donor relationship. The foundation's three $500,000 gifts to entertainment-industry charities, and its $408,400 across three gifts to Everytown for Gun Safety, both point to individual donors directing significant sums to causes they personally care about. If your organization already has a supporter, board member, or advisor connected to Philanthropy International's donor network or the Draeger family's giving circle, name that connection explicitly in your letter — this is likely more decisive than programmatic merit alone.

Calibrate your ask to realistic norms: the median actual grant is $2,835 and the average is $12,652 (skewed upward by a small number of major gifts). A first-time, cold-outreach ask in the $500-$5,000 range is far more consistent with typical practice than a $50,000+ request absent an existing relationship. Common mistakes to avoid: submitting a generic templated proposal with no reference to the foundation's actual giving history; framing the request purely around 'education' based on the NTEE tag rather than the funder's real (broader) pattern; and expecting a multi-stage review process (LOI → full proposal → site visit) that this foundation does not appear to run.