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The Michele M And Lawrence R Beyer Family Fund — the formal DBA name for this sub-fund within the Joseph and Florence Mandel Family Foundation — operates as a tightly held family philanthropic vehicle. All four trustees are Beyer family members (Michele M, Anthony M, Robert C, and Timothy C Beyer), and all serve without compensation. This governance structure means grant decisions are personal, values-driven, and relationship-dependent rather than staff-mediated or committee-driven.

The fund does not publish an open RFP cycle or a competitive grant portal. Its stated application process is deliberately informal: applicants submit a narrative letter accompanied by (1) a project description and justification, (2) the specific dollar amount and grant term requested, (3) pertinent financial information, and (4) a copy of the organization's IRS exemption letter. The absence of a formal form puts a premium on clarity, brevity, and alignment — a well-crafted two-page letter will outperform a generic grant application packet.

First-time applicants should expect modest entry-point grants. The median grant across the fund's 222 recorded transactions is $10,000, even as the average is pulled to $79,131 by a handful of large institutional relationships. Building trust through an initial small award — and then demonstrating strong stewardship — is the proven path to larger multi-year commitments. Cleveland State University Foundation, SPACES (a Cleveland contemporary art center), and the Museum of Modern Art each received 8 or more separate grants from this fund, illustrating the value placed on sustained partnerships.

Organizations without a pre-existing connection to the Beyer family or the broader Mandel Foundation network should seek an introduction through affiliated institutions — the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, Facing History and Ourselves, or the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami all represent potential networking nodes. Cold outreach to Lavonda Napka, Secretary, at (216) 875-6500, is a legitimate starting point for making initial contact, but a warm referral will dramatically improve response rates.

The Beyer Family Fund has shown sustained and accelerating giving over the past four fiscal years. Total giving grew from $5.3M in FY2020 to $6.9M in FY2021, $10.1M in FY2022, and $11.0M in FY2023 — a 108% increase in three years. Grants paid (which excludes internal transfers to donor-advised vehicles) tracked at $3.2M (FY2020), $4.1M (FY2021), $6.8M (FY2022), and $8.3M (FY2023). The difference between grants paid and total giving likely reflects contributions to the internal Beyer Family Fund and Charities Aid Foundation of America, both of which appear prominently in the grantee list as pass-through vehicles.

Grant size distribution is highly bimodal. The majority of grants cluster in the $10,000–$50,000 range (median: $10,000), reflecting recurring annual support for community arts organizations and religious institutions. A smaller cohort of institutional partners — universities, major hospitals, and flagship arts organizations — receive $100,000 to $550,000 per grant, pulling the average to $79,131 (across 52 unique grant records) and the total grantee relationship average to $93,075 (across 222 transactions). The single largest recorded grant is $2,000,000.

By program area, arts and culture accounts for the deepest grantee diversity: Institute of Contemporary Art Miami ($728K cumulative), Film Collaborative ($250K), Heights Arts Collaborative ($96K), Museum of Modern Art ($92K), No Exit New Music Association ($105K), Meridian Arts Ensemble ($60K), Cleveland Chamber Choir ($38K), and SPACES ($65K) all appear. Education follows closely: Hebrew Academy of Cleveland ($550K), University of Miami ($475K), Pine Crest School ($407K), Cleveland State University Foundation ($194K), Columbia University ($175K), Brown University ($100K), Brandeis University ($30K). Healthcare grants — Dana Farber Cancer Institute ($375K), Baptist Health South Florida Foundation ($100K), Breast Cancer Research Foundation ($15K) — are meaningful but secondary.

Geographically, Ohio accounts for 72 recorded grants (32%), New York for 66 (30%), and Florida for 60 (27%) — a near-equal three-market split that maps to the Beyer family's likely residential and institutional ties. Virginia (8 grants), Wisconsin (4), and DC (3) account for most of the remainder.

The Beyer Family Fund sits in a cluster of mid-sized family foundations with assets in the $164–166M range. Its peers by asset size operate across diverse geographies and philanthropic missions, but share the privately-directed, low-profile character typical of family philanthropy at this scale.

Among these peers, the Beyer Family Fund stands out for its volume and consistency of disclosed giving — $11M in FY2023 across a well-documented grantee list — and for accepting informal unsolicited inquiries rather than operating purely by invitation. The Weinberg Family Fund is a direct sibling entity sharing the same Mandel Foundation infrastructure and website, making it a useful parallel benchmark for arts and education organizations seeking to understand the broader Mandel family network's appetite. The Amelia Peabody Foundation is the most analogous in terms of arts/culture commitment and New England flavor, though it gives less per year. The Wilf Foundation's Jewish mission focus aligns thematically with the Beyer Fund's Jewish education and institutional giving.

The most significant recent activity from the broader Mandel Foundation network is the January 2025 announcement of a $90 million matching grant to support a $180 million Jewish Day School Transformation Initiative in Cleveland. The initiative will fund endowments (approximately $20M per school) and capital improvements across five Cleveland Jewish day schools: Fuchs Mizrachi, Gross Schechter Day School, Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School, and Yeshiva Derech Hatorah. Fundraising continues through December 2026.

Importantly, this major grant came from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation — a related but legally distinct entity from the Michele M And Lawrence R Beyer Family Fund (EIN: 320570943). However, Hebrew Academy of Cleveland ($550,000 cumulative) is also among the top grantees of the Beyer Fund, confirming that both Mandel family entities overlap in their Jewish education priorities.

For the Beyer Family Fund specifically, no discrete 2025 grant announcements were identified in public records, consistent with the fund's low-profile operating style. The most recent verified financial data (FY2023) shows $11M in total giving and $164.9M in assets as of FY2024. All trustees — the Beyer family members — continue to serve without compensation, and Bradley S Smith remains as Treasurer. No leadership transitions have been publicly reported.

The fund's total assets grew from $143.3M (FY2020) to $164.9M (FY2024) despite increasing distributions, reflecting strong investment returns, particularly in FY2021 ($18.8M net investment income) and FY2020 ($16.7M).

Start with alignment, not an ask. The Beyer family trustees make deeply personal grant decisions. Before submitting anything, map your organization's mission against the fund's proven priorities: contemporary visual art, classical and new music, experimental film, Jewish education and religious institutions, higher education (particularly universities with existing Beyer relationships), and healthcare/cancer research. If your work doesn't fit at least one of these categories clearly, reframe before submitting or reconsider the target altogether.

Use the informal application process to your advantage. Because there is no online portal or standardized form, your letter is evaluated on its own merits. Structure it as: one paragraph on your organization's mission and track record, one paragraph on the specific project and why it matters now, one paragraph on the requested amount and term, and a closing paragraph on how the grant advances the foundation's evident values. Keep the full package under six pages including attachments.

Lead with Cleveland, Miami, or New York. All 222 recorded grants cluster in these three markets. If your organization serves multiple geographies, emphasize your Ohio, South Florida, or metro New York footprint explicitly. Grants to organizations in DC, Virginia, Wisconsin, and other states do exist, but are outliers and appear tied to specific trustee relationships.

Request a grant in the $10,000–$50,000 range for a first ask. The median grant is $10,000. A modest, credible first grant — even $15,000–$25,000 — positions you as a reliable steward. The highest-value grantee relationships (ICA Miami at $728K, Hebrew Academy at $550K) were built through multi-year repetition, not single large asks.

Time your outreach to align with Cleveland's philanthropic calendar. The fund's fiscal year runs through the calendar year. Submit materials in September–October to allow review and approval before year-end giving decisions. Avoid the summer months.

Do not send unsolicited full proposals without first establishing contact. Call Lavonda Napka at (216) 875-6500 to confirm the fund is accepting inquiries and to verify the current mailing address. Attach a copy — not just a reference number — of your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter; the application instructions specifically require this document.