The Business Of Good Foundation

The Business of Good Foundation is a closed, relationship-driven family foundation, not an open grantmaker. Founded in Ashtabula, Ohio (the foundation's own site credits Tim and Alice McCarthy, with an IRS ruling date of January 2002), its stated mission is to 'invest in organizations that advance equality of opportunity through education and entrepreneurship' by serving economically and socially disadvantaged populations in northeast Ohio. Critically, the foundation's website states in plain language that it 'does not accept unsolicited grant proposals; all its grantmaking is directed to its program partners.' Those four partners — America Mentors (online mentoring for first-generation college students), NEO Fund (entrepreneur education and coaching), Ashtabula Capital Access Program/ACAP (small-business financing assistance), and SEA Change (social enterprise acceleration, based in Columbus with a Cleveland/Denver footprint) — absorbed $2.379 million of the $3.24 million in grants captured in the foundation's grantee history (Sea Change $1.1M across 4 grants, America Mentors $850,000 across 4 grants, NEO Fund $429,000 across 4 grants). The board is small and hands-on: Brad Roller (President), Alice McCarthy (Vice President), Timothy P. McCarthy (Secretary), Stuart W. Cordell and Andrea Bushweiler (Treasurer roles across filing years, with Bushweiler drawing the only listed compensation at $24,000). For organizations outside the four core partners, the foundation still makes a long tail of smaller 'general operations' gifts to Ashtabula-area nonprofits — the YMCA, Saint John School, West Side Catholic Center, the Ashtabula River Foundation, and roughly 25 other local groups — typically in the $250 to $67,000 range. These read as community relationship gifts rather than competitively awarded grants. First-time applicants should treat this as a foundation to build a relationship with over years, not one to apply to cold: get introduced through the Ashtabula County or northeast Ohio nonprofit network, align explicitly with education, employment, or entrepreneurship programming for disadvantaged populations, and consider whether partnering with (rather than competing against) America Mentors, NEO Fund, ACAP, or SEA Change is the faster path to indirect funding.

Total giving has scaled sharply: $318,498 (2015) to $527,231 (2019) to $633,669 (2020) to $814,580 (2021) to $1,086,126 (2022) to $1,632,879 (2023) — roughly a 5x increase over eight years. The inflection point is fiscal 2021, when the foundation recorded $15,775,541 in contributions received against total revenue of $15,775,541 that year, a one-time capital event that lifted total assets from a nominal $1 (2020 filing) to $14,999,540 (2021). Assets have since settled around $12.0–13.5 million ($13,064,075 in FY2023; $12,041,143 as currently listed), suggesting the foundation is now operating off an endowment built from that infusion rather than fresh annual contributions (2023 revenue was just $254,502, mostly investment income of $403,038). Grants paid have followed giving upward: $1,406,334 in FY2023 versus $979,500 in FY2022. Two overlapping grant-size datasets are available. The foundation's own typical-grant-size profile (n=24) shows a median of $11,000, an average of $30,089, and a range of $250 to $200,000. The fuller grantee history (71 grants, $3,238,927 total, average $45,619) is dominated by the four program partners — the top three recipients alone (Sea Change, America Mentors, NEO Fund) account for 73% of tracked dollars. Below that, roughly 30 Ashtabula-area organizations split the remainder in amounts mostly under $15,000, with the largest of these secondary gifts being $67,000 to Saint John School and $60,000 to the Ashtabula River Foundation. Geographically, giving is almost entirely local: 68 of 71 tracked grants (96%) went to Ohio recipients, with only 2 to New York and 1 to North Dakota.

All five peers share the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE classification and near-identical asset bases around $12.0 million, but none maintain a public website in the data available, which is itself a signal — these are small, closely held family foundations that typically direct giving through personal networks rather than public application processes, the same pattern The Business of Good Foundation exhibits explicitly. What distinguishes The Business of Good Foundation from this peer set is transparency: it names its program partners and focus areas publicly, giving outside applicants at least a legible map of where the money goes, even though the door to direct funding is effectively closed.

No foundation-specific news coverage, leadership changes, or new program announcements were found for 2025 or 2026 — the foundation does not appear to issue press releases or maintain a news section on its website. Search results surfaced a similarly named but unrelated organization, Business for Good Foundation of Saratoga Springs, NY, which rebranded in May 2025 and named Maire Masterson as executive director; this is a distinct entity and should not be attributed to the Ashtabula, OH foundation covered here. The most recent verifiable activity for The Business of Good Foundation is financial: the FY2023 Form 990 (the latest year in the data) shows total giving of $1,632,879 and grants paid of $1,406,334, continuing the upward trend that began after the foundation received a $15.78 million contribution in FY2021. Board composition as of the most recent filings shows Brad Roller as President, Alice McCarthy as Vice President, Timothy P. McCarthy as Secretary, and Stuart W. Cordell and Andrea Bushweiler cycling through Treasurer duties — a small, stable leadership team with no signs of recent turnover. Absent a public LOI process or news presence, the most reliable way to track this foundation's activity going forward is its annual Form 990-PF filing and any public updates from its four named partners (America Mentors, NEO Fund, ACAP, SEA Change), whose own announcements will likely surface new Business of Good Foundation support before the foundation does.

This is not a foundation where conventional proposal-writing tactics apply — the single most important piece of advice is to recognize its structure before investing time. The foundation's website is unambiguous: unsolicited grant proposals are not accepted, and all grantmaking flows to four standing partners (America Mentors, NEO Fund, ACAP, SEA Change). The most common mistake an applicant can make is treating this like a typical family foundation with an informal-but-open process; it is not. That said, the underlying IRS Form 990 filing lists a legacy application instruction — a written request including proof of tax-exempt status and an explanation of intended fund use, 'submitted prior to Oct 15 for consideration by Dec 31' — which may reflect either outdated boilerplate or a narrow secondary channel still used for the smaller community gifts (the ~30 Ashtabula-area nonprofits receiving $250-$67,000 awards that sit outside the four core partners). If your organization is Ashtabula County-based and serves economically disadvantaged populations through education, employment, or entrepreneurship programming, a concise written request submitted well ahead of the October 15 cutoff, with 501(c)(3) documentation attached, is worth attempting through this secondary channel — but set expectations low and modest ($1,000-$15,000 is the realistic range based on the observed community-gift pattern). The higher-value strategy is relationship-based: identify whether your program overlaps with America Mentors, NEO Fund, ACAP, or SEA Change and explore a subcontract, referral partnership, or co-branded initiative, since indirect funding through these partners represents the large majority of the foundation's giving ($2.379M of $3.24M tracked). Build visibility within the northeast Ohio nonprofit and philanthropic community — this is a foundation whose board (the McCarthys, Cordell, Roller, Bushweiler) makes decisions through personal familiarity with organizations and leaders, not competitive review. Avoid generic capacity-building or unrelated-geography pitches; alignment language should explicitly reference education access, workforce entry, or entrepreneurship support for disadvantaged individuals in Ashtabula County or greater northeast Ohio.