Scheidel Foundation

The Scheidel Foundation is a Virginia-based family foundation established in 1999 by Herb and Miyuki (Miki) Scheidel in Jacksonville, Florida. Herb's 1998 diagnosis with metastatic kidney cancer became the defining event shaping the foundation's dual focus on integrative cancer care and college success for low-resource students. After Herb's passing in 2008, Miki Scheidel carries forward the mission as Trustee and President, and the family's personal story infuses every aspect of the foundation's grantmaking philosophy.

This is fundamentally a relationship-driven, invitation-only grantmaker. Neither of its two primary programs — College Success Grants and Integrative Cancer Care Grants — accepts unsolicited full proposals. The pathway to funding begins with a brief introduction via the foundation's online contact form or by emailing grants@scheidelfoundation.org. Organizations demonstrating strong mission alignment may then be invited to submit a full application. Prospective grantees should plan for a six-to-twelve month relationship development timeline, not a quick turnaround.

The foundation explicitly values "informed grantmaking and the cultivation of long-term relationships" with its grantees. Multi-year grants are common: Commonweal received $150,000 over two years; the University of Michigan received $65,000 over two years in the Integrative Cancer Care program. First-time applicants should position their outreach as the beginning of a partnership, not a one-time transaction.

The grantmaking team is small but professional. Caroline Wertz serves as Sr. Director of Foundation Programs at approximately $110,000 annual compensation, providing institutional continuity and domain expertise. Miki Scheidel and Wesley Scheufler serve as trustees at $16,000-$18,000 compensation each, reflecting an engaged working board rather than passive governance.

The foundation's stated preferences are explicit: grants that have a "transformative and/or catalytic effect," seed funding for innovative programs with evaluation components, work that fosters community cooperation, and initiatives that leverage matching funds or government programs. For first-time applicants, the most important steps are verifying geographic eligibility for College Success (four specific metro areas), confirming national or international scope for Integrative Cancer Care, and framing your work as catalytic rather than operational.

The Scheidel Foundation has maintained a consistent, predictable grantmaking rhythm over more than a decade. Annual grants paid range from $871,512 (2013) to $1,261,957 (2023), with total giving running $1.2M-$1.72M per year. The foundation's grantmaking is stable rather than growing: grants paid have held in the $1.0M-$1.3M band since 2012 with no dramatic year-over-year swings.

Assets have declined modestly from $20.9M in 2012 to $17.8M in 2024 — approximately 15% over twelve years. Revenue is almost entirely investment income: $675,521 in 2022, $860,709 in 2023, $1,450,064 in 2021 (a strong market year), and $2,558,271 in 2019. The foundation accepts essentially no charitable contributions ($0 in most years; $10,000 in 2021), meaning its giving capacity is tied directly to endowment performance and market conditions. Applicants should note that in years of poor investment returns, grant budgets may tighten.

Within the Integrative Cancer Care program, grant sizes span $25,000 to $150,000 over 1-2 year terms. Documented examples include Commonweal at $150,000 (2 years), the University of Michigan at $65,000 (2 years), and the Society for Integrative Oncology at $25,000 (1 year). The typical Integrative Cancer Care grant likely falls in the $50,000-$100,000 range.

The College Success program — which appears to account for the majority of annual grants paid, based on the geographic clustering of grantee activity in Virginia and Florida — includes multiple sub-channels: direct grants to organizations, Scheidel Scholarships to students, College Prep Club partnerships, and the Herbert W. Scheidel Leadership in Action Award. The exact dollar split between the two pillars is not publicly disclosed.

Overhead is a firm constraint: 10% maximum for universities, hospitals, and large research institutions. Discretionary limits apply to other organization types. A small portion of annual giving also flows through family-directed discretionary, legacy, and emergency grants that are not part of the competitive application process.

The Scheidel Foundation's $17.8M asset base places it in the mid-tier range of U.S. family foundations. The five peer foundations identified at a similar asset level — all classified under Philanthropy & Grantmaking (NTEE code T) — share nearly identical balance sheets but have no public-facing websites, published guidelines, or disclosed annual giving figures, making direct comparison on grantmaking strategy difficult.

Scheidel stands apart from this peer group in three meaningful ways. First, it maintains a staffed program office — Caroline Wertz as Sr. Director at approximately $110,000 annual compensation — which is uncommon among family foundations at this asset level, where governance is typically family-only. Second, Scheidel's website, published funding criteria, explicit exclusion lists, and overhead caps make it substantially more transparent than any peer in this set, none of which appear to have a public web presence. Third, its decade-plus track record of consistent giving ($1.0M-$1.3M per year in grants paid) demonstrates disciplined endowment management. For grant seekers, the staffed program office is the most actionable signal: there is a knowledgeable professional counterpart at this foundation who can evaluate proposals with genuine depth.

No major new program announcements or leadership changes were identified for 2025-2026. The foundation's most visible recent activity centers on its College Success Fellowship and annual awards, which serve as both programming and public storytelling channels.

In June 2025, the foundation published a profile of Phillip Simmons through the College Prep Club program, illustrating the program's community presence in Jacksonville. In May 2025, Francine Calayag was named the Herbert W. Scheidel Leadership in Action Award recipient — an annual honor named for founder Herb Scheidel. In March 2025, 2024 College Success Fellow Natalie Scheidel authored a piece on support systems for first-generation and low-income students, continuing a pattern of fellows serving as the foundation's intellectual voice.

The 2024 calendar year saw 2023 Fellow Aaron Merlos contribute a two-part series on artificial intelligence in higher education (February and June 2024). The foundation's decision to publish content on AI signals that it is tracking technology's intersection with its educational mission — a potential area of alignment for organizations working at that intersection.

Financially, the most recent complete data (fiscal year 2023) shows total giving of $1.72M against total assets of $18.54M. The 2024 IRS data reports assets of $17.79M but does not yet include grants paid figures, suggesting the 2024 Form 990-PF filing is not fully complete in public databases. Leadership remains stable: Miki Scheidel, Wesley Scheufler, and Caroline Wertz represent a consistent, long-serving team with no announced transitions as of mid-2026.

The single most important fact for any prospective applicant: both the College Success and Integrative Cancer Care programs are invitation only. Do not submit an unsolicited full proposal, LOI, or budget — neither will be reviewed, and the attempt signals unfamiliarity with the foundation's approach.

The correct entry point is a brief, targeted introduction. Email grants@scheidelfoundation.org or use the contact form at scheidelfoundation.org. Keep your message to one page or less: state your organization's mission, the specific program you are seeking support for, the population served, your evidence of impact, and how your work creates transformative rather than incremental change. Do not attach documents.

Language alignment matters enormously with a family foundation of this type. The foundation's published guidelines use precise phrases — "transformative and/or catalytic effect," "evidence-based," "seed funding for innovative programs with evaluation components," "long-term solutions," and "leverage additional resources." Mirror this language. Avoid framing your work as filling a gap, sustaining operations, or addressing an emergency — position it as sparking systemic change.

For College Success applicants: geographic precision is non-negotiable. Your primary service area must be Jacksonville or St. Augustine FL, Sarasota FL, Washington DC metro including Alexandria or Arlington VA, or Kauai HI. Organizations outside these areas will not receive College Success funding regardless of program quality.

For Integrative Cancer Care applicants: your work must have national or international reach, must not include direct patient care programs or clinical research, and should focus on education, awareness, or adoption of integrative approaches among practitioners or patients. The Society for Integrative Oncology ($25,000), Commonweal ($150,000), and the University of Michigan ($65,000) represent the funded archetype: credible, field-building, non-clinical organizations.

Budget discipline is essential. Keep overhead at or below 10% for universities, hospitals, and large research institutions — this is published as a hard cap. Highlight any matching funds or government co-investment explicitly, as this is called out as a priority in the foundation's funding guidelines. Once invited into the application process, plan for a long relationship: document your impact carefully and report proactively, as renewal conversations depend on demonstrated results.