Rogge Memorial Foundation

Rogge Memorial Foundation describes itself as a "catalyst" funder — one that wants to seed innovative programs that create permanent solutions to community needs in Zanesville and Muskingum County, Ohio, rather than fund recurring operating gaps indefinitely. Every one of the 75 tracked grants in the foundation's giving history went to an Ohio recipient, and the foundation's own site frames its twin goals as helping the community "leave fewer people behind" while helping talented people "stand out" — meaning both safety-net and opportunity framing land well.

A defining structural feature is the foundation's eight named beneficiaries — Genesis HealthCare Foundation, Bishop Fenwick School, Bishop Rosecrans High School, St. Nicholas Catholic Church, St. Thomas Catholic Church, the Animal Shelter Society, Zanesville Civic League/Center, and St. Vincent de Paul Society — which receive year-over-year distributions automatically and can layer additional project requests on top. New applicants are effectively competing for the residual pool after this baked-in support, which explains why so much of the historical grant list (75 grants totaling $3,331,458, averaging $44,419 each) clusters around a small set of repeat institutions: Genesis HealthCare Foundation alone received $616,338 across 4 grants, and Muskingum University received $400,000 across 3.

The relationship progression is a two-stage LOI-to-full-proposal model. The foundation accepts LOIs year-round but reviews them at quarterly board meetings, responding within 30 working days. There is no paid program staff — governance runs through a four-person unpaid board (President Chad M. Brown, VP Pat Nash, Secretary/Treasurer Albert F. Iacovone, Trustee Scott Moyer) with PNC Bank serving as fiscal/trust administrator. First-time applicants should treat this as a small, closed, locally-embedded board rather than a national foundation with a grants department: a warm local introduction carries real weight, and proposals framed as flexible general operating support aligned with education, culture, or recreation outcomes match what the board has actually funded — virtually 100% of tracked grants were coded general support, not restricted programs.

Across the 75 grants captured in the foundation's giving history (2012-2024 filings), Rogge Memorial Foundation distributed $3,331,458 total, averaging $44,419 per grant, with every dollar going to Ohio recipients. A separate typical-grant-size metric derived from the foundation's own award data puts the median single grant at $25,000, ranging from $1,000 to $114,838 (average $34,207 across 13 records) — a useful planning range for a standard-cycle ask, distinct from the larger cumulative totals below that reflect multi-year, multi-grant relationships.

The recipient list is top-heavy: Genesis HealthCare Foundation leads with $616,338 across 4 grants, followed by a single $500,000 grant to Muskingum County Library System, $400,000 across 3 grants to Muskingum University, roughly $293,869 cumulative to Bishop Rosecrans High School, ~$285,369 to Bishop Fenwick School, $200,000 (2 grants) to Eastside Community Ministry, $168,148 (2 grants) to Muskingum Valley Park District, $148,000 (2 grants) to Ohio University Zanesville, $130,000 (2 grants) to Zanesville Museum of Art, and roughly $124,200 to St. Nicholas Catholic Church. Below that sits a long tail of dozens of grants under $10,000 — often $1,000-$8,000 recurring annual gifts to the same named beneficiaries (Animal Shelter Society, Zanesville Civic League, St. Vincent de Paul Society, St. Thomas Catholic Church).

Annual giving has fluctuated with markets: total giving was $1.02M in FY2019, dropped to $596K in FY2020 (pandemic-era), recovered to $772K (FY2021), $947K (FY2022 and FY2023), then $759K in FY2024. Total assets have held in the $9.5M-$12.3M band for over a decade and stand at $11.78M as of FY2024, with income of $5.8M reported for the period. FY2024 net investment income spiked to $889,238 versus $190K-$290K in the three prior years, a payout-relevant signal that giving capacity may trend upward. At $759K on $11.78M in assets, the FY2024 payout ratio was roughly 6.4% — on the higher end for a foundation this size, consistent with its self-described bias toward pushing money out rather than building endowment.

Rogge sits squarely in the middle of this ~$12M-asset peer cohort by size, but it is the clear outlier for transparency and accessibility: none of the five closest asset-matched peers have a discoverable public website, published funding priorities, or an open LOI process, while Rogge publishes a Content Guide, a working online application portal, and quarterly submission deadlines. That accessibility is a meaningful advantage for grant seekers, since most similarly-sized private foundations in this peer set are effectively closed shops reachable only through personal networks. Rogge's ~6-8% payout rate also runs above what is typical for foundations holding this asset level, reinforcing its self-description as a catalyst funder that prioritizes moving money into the community over accumulating reserves.

No news articles, press releases, or public announcements from or about Rogge Memorial Foundation were found for 2025 or 2026 — this is a foundation with zero paid staff and no communications function, so it does not generate press coverage the way larger institutional funders do. The most current hard data available is the FY2024 Form 990 filing, which reported $759,096 in grants paid against $11.78M in total assets and a notably strong $889,238 in net investment income, more than triple the $190K-$290K net investment income reported in each of FY2021-FY2023. That investment gain, if it holds, suggests the foundation may have more giving capacity available heading into the current cycle than its recent $759K-$947K/yr range would imply.

Leadership has been stable across the years represented in the data: Chad M. Brown (President), Pat Nash (Vice President), Albert F. Iacovone (Secretary/Treasurer), and Scott Moyer (Trustee) appear consistently across multiple years of filings with no indication of turnover. No new program announcements, executive changes, or one-time special initiatives were identified. The largest historical commitments in the record — $616,338 cumulative to Genesis HealthCare Foundation across 4 grants and a single $500,000 grant to Muskingum County Library System — both predate the most recent filing year and likely reflect multi-year pledges rather than 2025-2026 news events. Grant seekers should not expect to find real-time public updates from this foundation and should instead rely on direct phone contact at (740) 454-2545 or the online LOI portal for current-cycle status.

Apply only if your organization serves Zanesville or Muskingum County, Ohio directly — every one of the 75 grants in the foundation's tracked giving history went to an Ohio recipient, and out-of-area requests are very unlikely to be funded regardless of mission fit. The foundation accepts LOIs year-round through its online portal, but the board reviews them only quarterly, on cutoffs of March 1, June 1, September 1, and November 1; submit a week or more ahead of the relevant date to make that quarter's meeting, since the foundation commits to responding within 30 working days of submission.

Before drafting anything, download the Content Guide PDF linked from the Grant-Application page — the foundation explicitly directs applicants to review it first, and skipping it is a common failure point noted by outside grant-research sources. When you write the LOI, frame the request as general operating support with a specific, permanence-oriented local-impact case: virtually all tracked historical grants were coded general support rather than restricted-program funding, and the foundation's own language ('catalyst,' 'permanent solutions to community needs') rewards proposals that echo sustainability framing rather than one-off program asks.

Set realistic dollar expectations: a first-time or standard-cycle ask should target the $1,000-$115,000 range (median $25,000) seen in the foundation's own typical-grant-size data. The largest cumulative relationships in the record — $616,338 to Genesis HealthCare Foundation, $500,000 to Muskingum County Library System, $400,000 to Muskingum University — were built over multiple years and multiple award cycles with deeply embedded local institutions, not single first asks.

Remember that eight named beneficiaries (Genesis HealthCare Foundation, Bishop Fenwick, Bishop Rosecrans, St. Nicholas Catholic Church, St. Thomas Catholic Church, Animal Shelter Society, Zanesville Civic League/Center, St. Vincent de Paul Society) receive automatic annual distributions on top of any project requests, meaning new applicants compete for what remains of a roughly $759K-$947K/yr budget. Because there is no paid program staff — governance is a four-person unpaid board plus PNC Bank as trust administrator — a warm local introduction (through a current grantee, county nonprofit network, or chamber contact) meaningfully improves odds versus a cold, generic submission. Government entities and educational institutions are explicitly eligible alongside 501(c)(3)s, so public schools, county agencies, and the local university system should not assume they're excluded.