Wenger Trust

The Wenger Trust is the grantmaking vehicle behind the public-facing Wenger Foundation brand, administered through Ephrata National Bank (trustee compensation ran $15,701-$33,795/year across recent filings) and based at 47 E Main St, Ephrata, PA, with grant correspondence routed to a Myerstown P.O. box. Its philosophy is unusually literal: the stated mission is "to transform our community by funding faith-based and family-centric programs that change lives," and its four pillars — Faith, Family, Farming, Community — show up almost verbatim in the grant ledger. Of 166 recorded grants totaling $1.35 million, 126 (76%) went to Pennsylvania organizations, and the overwhelming majority of named recipients are Mennonite Church USA or Church of the Brethren-affiliated congregations, denominational agencies, Christian K-12 schools, and benevolent-care retirement communities (Ephrata Church of the Brethren, $151,900 across two grants; Atlantic Northeast District, $140,000; Evangelical Congregational Church, $67,500). This is a denominationally rooted funder, not a general community foundation — applicants outside the Anabaptist/Brethren ecosystem, or outside Lancaster and Lebanon Counties, face long odds regardless of program quality, since the trust's own eligibility language restricts it to those two counties and to organizations holding 501(c)(3) public-charity status.

The typical relationship skews toward repeat, incremental operational support rather than one-time capital gifts: the median grant is $5,000 and the average $8,133, and several top recipients (Mennonite World Conference, Mennonite Church USA) received four separate grants rather than one large award, indicating the trust renews support to known partners year over year. First-time applicants should expect a modest opening ask in the $5,000-$20,000 range, with the possibility of scaling toward the $50,000-$75,950 band the trust has shown it will pay only after an established track record. The foundation does formally offer six grant types — General Support, Project Support, Endowment, Start-Up Costs, Capital Expenditures, and Other — but the ledger shows most funded purposes labeled simply "Operational Support." Because the trust's public identity also channels through the Praise Dinner (its flagship annual fundraiser benefiting COBYS Family Services, Friendship Community, Jubilee Ministries, and On Fire Youth Ministry, generating over $2 million since inception) and the 100 Women Giving $100 circle, a warm introduction through the Anabaptist/Brethren network, Everence, or one of the four Praise Dinner ministries is a far stronger opening move than a cold application.

Trust assets have held in a narrow $6.9M-$10.9M band over the last decade, most recently $10.11 million (FY2023), down from a peak of $10.94 million in FY2020. Total giving (grants plus related outlays) was $584,374 in FY2023, down sharply from $771,211 (FY2022) and $768,575 (FY2021) — a roughly 24-26% pullback in the most recent filed year even though the asset base barely moved, suggesting a more conservative current payout posture. Grants paid specifically ran $500,000 (2023), $675,000 (2022), $680,000 (2021), $485,000 (2020), and $445,000 (2019), roughly doubling from $378,000 in 2011 to the 2021 peak before easing back. FY2020 total revenue spiked to $4.57 million on a one-time $4.23 million contribution received that year, which explains the temporary asset bump that has since partially reversed.

At the grant level, typical size runs from $500 to $75,950 with a median of $5,000 and an average of $8,133 across 83 tracked awards — the $75,950 ceiling lines up closely with half of Ephrata Church of the Brethren's $151,900 two-grant total, indicating that figure is close to the largest single check the trust writes. Purpose labels skew heavily toward simple "Operational Support": roughly 30 of the top 50 grantees by dollar volume carry that exact label, versus smaller clusters for capital campaigns, benevolent/care funds, and disaster or housing programs. By recipient type, the top-50 list includes at least seven Mennonite/Christian K-12 schools (Ephrata Mennonite School, Faith Mennonite High School, Gehman Mennonite School, Hinkletown Mennonite School, Lititz Area Mennonite School, Manheim Christian Day School, Terre Hill Mennonite High School) and five retirement/benevolent-care communities (Fairmount Homes, Garden Spot Village, Landis Homes, Mennonite Home Communities, Tel Hai), alongside direct congregational and denominational-agency support. Geographically, 76% of grants (126 of 166) stayed in Pennsylvania, with the remainder clustering in states that host national Anabaptist/Brethren institutions — Indiana (12), Virginia (12), Illinois (6), New York (4), and Kansas (4) — rather than representing general national outreach.

All six foundations sit within roughly $4,000 of one another in total assets (~$9.97M-$9.98M), making this a peer cohort defined purely by asset size rather than mission overlap — the shared "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" NTEE classification is a generic private-foundation label, not evidence these peers share Wenger's faith-based focus. Wenger differentiates sharply within this asset tier by being one of the few with a hard-coded, two-county geographic restriction and an explicit denominational lens (Anabaptist/Brethren), plus a track record of 166 disclosed individual grants — a level of grantmaking transparency and volume not evident in the peer set from available data. Applicants should not assume interchangeability with these peers; Invesco Foundation, as a corporate foundation, likely follows employee-driven or corporate CSR criteria entirely distinct from Wenger's family/denominational model.

Public-facing activity in 2025-2026 centers on two recurring events rather than new grant programs: a 100 Women Giving $100 giving circle scheduled for November 24, 2025, and references on the foundation's site to a 2025 Praise Dinner recap with a 2026 edition previewed, though specific dollar totals or dates for either 2026 event were not retrievable from the page content available. The Praise Dinner remains the foundation's most visible initiative, having generated more than $2 million since inception for four partner ministries — COBYS Family Services, Friendship Community, Jubilee Ministries, and On Fire Youth Ministry — and the foundation reports over $5.7 million distributed since its 1996 founding by Carl and Margaret Wenger, whose wealth came from Wengers of Myerstown, a farm equipment business. No leadership changes, new program announcements, or large individual grant announcements for 2025-2026 surfaced in web search; Rose Walmer remains the listed point of contact, with Faithward Advisors (Bernie Bostwick) managing the trust's endowment investments under biblically responsible investing principles. The most recent financial detail available in filings is FY2023 (grants paid $500,000, assets $10.11 million) — a full year behind the current date, which is typical of 990-PF filing lag. Grant seekers should treat the trust's giving trajectory as gently declining (down from $680,000 in FY2021) rather than expanding, and should not expect a major new initiative beyond its two established annual events.

Geography is the first filter: the trust states plainly it "only accepts applications from Lebanon and Lancaster Counties" in Pennsylvania, and 76% of its actual grant history confirms that restriction is enforced, not aspirational — organizations outside this two-county footprint should not apply. Mission fit is the second filter, and it is stricter in practice than the website's broad "faith, family, farming, community" language suggests: the disclosed grant ledger is dominated by Mennonite Church USA and Church of the Brethren congregations, denominational agencies, Christian K-12 schools, and faith-affiliated human-service and retirement organizations. Secular nonprofits without an explicit faith component, or faith organizations outside the Anabaptist/Brethren tradition, appear rarely if at all in the top 50 recipients by dollar volume.

Set the ask realistically: median award is $5,000, average $8,133, and the largest recorded single grants top out near $75,950 — request amounts far above $20,000-$25,000 without an established relationship are unlikely to match this funder's typical check size. The documentation bar is high relative to the median grant size — a completed application form, project/program budget, current annual operating budget (including in-kind services and volunteer hours), a Board of Directors list with business addresses and occupations, a current audited financial report, and a 501(c)(3) determination letter are all required. Smaller nonprofits without audited financials should call ahead (717-866-2130) to ask whether reviewed financials are acceptable rather than assume disqualification.

No deadline or review calendar is published anywhere in the trust's filings or on its website — this is a real gap grant seekers should close by phone or email (rwalmer@wengers.com) before investing time in a full packet, since submitting into an unknown cycle risks months of silence. The strongest relationship-building path is a warm introduction: through Everence (the Mennonite-affiliated financial-services organization that appears repeatedly as both grantee and donor-advised-fund partner), through Ephrata National Bank, or through one of the four Praise Dinner ministries (COBYS, Friendship Community, Jubilee Ministries, On Fire Youth Ministry), rather than a cold submission. One underused angle: the trust's stated "Farming" pillar — rooted in the Wenger family's agricultural-equipment business — has no dedicated agricultural-training grantee in the disclosed top 50, suggesting this may be a less competitive niche for an aligned applicant with a genuine farming-mentorship program.