Sehgal Foundation

The Sehgal Foundation is a tightly controlled family private foundation based in Des Moines, Iowa, with $57.1 million in assets (FY2024). Founded in 1999 by Dr. Surinder "Suri" Sehgal — an agronomist and former CEO of Asgrow Seed Company who built substantial personal wealth through the seed industry — and his wife Edda G. Sehgal, the foundation operates as a vehicle for deeply personal philanthropic priorities that span two continents. All board seats are held by family members (Surinder, Edda, and their children Rajat/Jay, Bernd, Kenai, Oliver, and Vicki), with two independent directors (Ryan Clutter and Maureen Smith) providing governance balance.

The foundation's most fundamental characteristic is preselected grantmaking — it does not accept unsolicited proposals, has no public application portal, and awards grants only to organizations identified through its own networks. The IRS 990 filing explicitly states the foundation "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations." This is the operating reality, not a bureaucratic formality.

The dominant giving relationship — by a wide margin — is with S M Sehgal Foundation, the India-based rural development NGO co-founded by the Sehgal family. That organization has received $8.17 million across 5 documented grant cycles, representing approximately 88% of all grant dollars on record. The US Sehgal Foundation functions, in large part, as a funding conduit for the India rural development mission centered on water security, food security, agricultural development, and rural women's empowerment across 3,000+ villages in 13 Indian states.

Beyond this anchor relationship, the foundation supports roughly 30-40 domestic organizations annually, concentrated in Iowa (Des Moines area), suburban Chicago, and Florida's Southwest coast. These reflect the Sehgal family's personal footprint and civic engagement: Des Moines as their primary business base, the Chicago area as a historic residential presence, and Southwest Florida as a seasonal location.

First-time prospects should understand that no formal initiation process exists. The only viable path is an organic, relationship-driven introduction through existing grantees or shared civic spaces — the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue, Indiaspora networks, or Iowa nonprofit leadership circles being the most documented entry points.

The Sehgal Foundation's grant record reveals a sharply bifurcated funding structure: one mega-grantee (S M Sehgal Foundation, India) absorbs the overwhelming majority of grant dollars, while dozens of smaller domestic organizations receive modest sustaining support.

Overall record: 166 documented grants totaling $9.235 million, average of $55,634 per grant. This average is severely distorted by the India relationship.

S M Sehgal Foundation (India): 5 grants totaling $8.165 million, average of $1.633 million per disbursement, with at least one reaching $2.29 million. This single relationship accounts for 88.4% of all grant dollars on record.

Domestic grant portfolio: Excluding the India mega-grants, approximately 161 grants totaling roughly $1.07 million — an average of $6,645 per grant. The practical range for domestic grantees is $1,000–$30,000, with sustained multi-year relationships occasionally reaching $50,000–$130,000 cumulatively. Top domestic recipients (cumulative): Youth and Shelter Services Inc ($130K, 3 grants), Iowa Council for International Understanding ($107K, 5 grants), Indiaspora ($82K, 4 grants), Des Moines Performing Arts ($53K, 2 grants), Punjab Ag University ($50K, 2 grants), Indian Schools Alumni & Friends ($50K, 2 grants), World Food Prize Foundation ($47K, 4 grants).

Annual giving trends: Total giving has ranged from $1.91 million (FY2022) to $4.50 million (FY2019). Recent years: FY2023 — $3.67M total giving, $2.93M grants paid; FY2022 — $1.91M total giving, $958K grants paid; FY2021 — $3.21M, $2.41M grants paid; FY2020 — $2.85M, $1.98M grants paid. FY2019 was an outlier ($17.3M in contributions received, likely a large family capital infusion, enabling $3.86M in grants). FY2024 grants paid not yet reported.

Geographic distribution (by grant count): Iowa 50 (30%), Illinois 35 (21%), Florida 32 (19%), California 11 (7%), DC 6 (4%), Massachusetts 5 (3%), Colorado 4 (2%), with remaining spread across MI, NY, and TX.

Program areas (estimated by dollar share): India rural development ~88%, Iowa/Midwest civic organizations ~7%, arts and culture ~2%, environmental conservation ~2%, international education ~1%.

The five asset-size peers identified from IRS data — all carrying approximately $57 million in assets and classified under NTEE code T (Philanthropy & Grantmaking) — provide a useful scale benchmark, though limited public data is available on their program specifics.

Among these asset-size peers, the Sehgal Foundation stands out for its unusual cross-national giving structure — channeling roughly 88% of its grant dollars to a single international implementing partner (S M Sehgal Foundation in India) rather than distributing broadly across a domestic portfolio. This makes the US foundation atypical: its $57M asset base supports a comparatively narrow domestic giving program (roughly $1M–$1.5M in domestic grants annually), with the bulk of philanthropic capital dedicated to a captive international mission built around the founder's professional legacy in Indian agriculture. Most family foundations at this asset level distribute more broadly across program areas. The peer foundations shown are asset-size comparables only; no evidence suggests programmatic alignment with Sehgal's India-centered focus.

The most consequential recent development is a generational leadership transition at the foundation's primary grantee. In April 2025, founder Dr. Surinder "Suri" Sehgal formally nominated his son Rajat "Jay" Sehgal as the new Chairperson of S M Sehgal Foundation — the India NGO that receives ~88% of US foundation grant dollars. Jay, who holds the title Executive Vice President at the US foundation (2024 compensation: $188,158, up from $180,191 the prior year), previously served as Executive Director of the India entity. This transition consolidates family control at the operational level across both organizations and signals continuity of the India rural development mission under the next generation.

On the financial side, the US Sehgal Foundation's FY2024 Form 990 (filed October 31, 2025) reported total assets of $57.1 million, up from $53.1 million in FY2023 — a 7.6% gain driven by $8.09 million in investment revenue. No FY2024 grants paid figure has been publicly disclosed yet, which may indicate a pending large disbursement to the India entity consistent with prior large-grant years.

For the India entity, 2024-2025 brought the Walmart Foundation's $1.5 million grant for resilient agriculture in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, new academic MoUs with University of Wisconsin-Madison and Shiv Nadar University, and the 8th consecutive Bhamashah Award from the Government of Rajasthan. No domestic US program announcements, new grantee relationships, or changes to application policies were identified for 2025-2026.

Because the Sehgal Foundation is strictly invitation-only, conventional grant application advice does not apply. The most important tip is: do not cold-apply. There is no portal, no LOI form, no RFP cycle, and no indication that unsolicited materials receive any review. Attempting to submit materials uninvited could permanently undermine any future relationship with family leadership.

Map your connector network first. The foundation's documented grantee roster is a precise map of viable entry points. If your organization has a genuine, substantive working relationship with any of these recipients — Iowa Council for International Understanding, World Food Prize Foundation, Youth and Shelter Services Inc, Evanston Community Foundation, Indiaspora, Alliance for the Great Lakes, or Des Moines Performing Arts — a candid conversation about whether a Sehgal Foundation introduction would be appropriate is the correct first step.

Prioritize the World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue. This annual October event in Des Moines is the highest-probability venue for authentic, non-transactional engagement with foundation leadership. The foundation has supported the World Food Prize Foundation across at least 4 grant cycles ($47K cumulative). Attending consistently and engaging meaningfully — not as a solicitor but as a genuine participant in global food security conversations — builds the kind of visibility that precedes an invitation.

Indian diaspora networks are a documented pathway. Indiaspora ($82K, 4 grants), India Philanthropy Alliance ($16K), Punjab Ag University ($50K), and American India Foundation ($2K) all have track records with this foundation. Organizations with US-India programmatic bridges — especially in agriculture, rural development, or education — fit the foundation's documented priorities more tightly than most domestic applicants.

Calibrate size expectations. Domestic grants outside the India mega-relationship typically range from $2,000 to $25,000, with only well-established long-term relationships reaching $100K+ cumulatively. Do not approach this foundation expecting a transformational grant; expect modest, multi-year sustaining support that grows with relationship depth.

Language to use: Frame your work in terms of community transformation, sustainable development, and tangible human impact — the language that runs throughout the foundation's documented grant purposes. Avoid programmatic jargon. The Sehgal family values practical, field-level outcomes over theoretical frameworks.