Wheels Of Giving

Wheels of Giving is a private operating foundation established in late 2021 and headquartered in Dallas, Texas (PO Box 29319, 75229). Unlike traditional grant-making foundations that distribute funds to outside nonprofits, operating foundations primarily run their own charitable programs — a distinction that fundamentally shapes how external organizations should approach them. This is not a check-writing operation; it is a programmatic entity that controls approximately $31 million in endowed assets.

The foundation's self-described mission centers on three pillars: diabetes education, active outdoor living, and community health access. Its website (wheelsofgiving.org) positions Wheels of Giving as a health promotion organization for lower-income and working-class communities, offering fitness programming, diabetes risk assessments, and educational workshops. The IRS classifies it under NTEE code P20 (Human Services — General and Multipurpose), though its programmatic identity is more health-and-wellness than social services.

The Slagel family drives all decision-making. Bill Slagel serves as the sole compensated director ($180,000 annually in FY2023), while David Slagel and Joanna Slagel hold uncompensated director seats. Jimmy Singer is the fourth and final board member. This small, family-controlled board means decision-making is highly centralized. There is no program officer corps, no grants committee rotation, and no blind peer review. The path to any funding or partnership runs through the Slagels — specifically Bill, reachable at bill@wheelsofgiving.org.

First-time contacts should not lead with a grant request. Instead, position an initial outreach as a potential program partner or community collaborator. Organizations best suited to engage are those that can co-deliver health and wellness programs or provide specialized expertise (e.g., clinical diabetes management, outdoor recreation facilitation) that complements existing foundation activity.

There is no evidence of an LOI-to-proposal pipeline, formal application portal, or published review cycle. The IRS application process field is listed as 'none,' and the website has no grants page. Dallas-area nonprofits working in community health, fitness access, or diabetes prevention should prioritize in-person or warm-introduction outreach before sending written materials. The foundation is young enough (founded 2021) that early partners may help shape its giving philosophy before any formal structure is codified.

Wheels of Giving's financial trajectory follows a rapid-endowment arc. In FY2021 (its founding year), the foundation held just $800,000 in assets and distributed $5,000 — barely operational, as the foundation itself notes it did not receive funding until the last day of that year. FY2022 was transformational: total revenue surged to $50,649,773, driven by $29,765,741 in contributions received and $20,883,594 in net investment income, pushing assets to $30,916,123. Charitable activity in that first full year reached $76,904.

FY2023 provides the most complete data for analysis. Total assets stabilized at $31,179,759 — essentially flat year-over-year, indicating conservative endowment management. Total giving reached $829,539, a roughly 10x increase from FY2022. Officer compensation was $193,461, of which $180,000 went to Bill Slagel as the sole paid director. The foundation's single reported program had expenses of $359,340, suggesting direct program delivery consumed approximately 43% of all expenditures.

Critical interpretation for grant seekers: Because Wheels of Giving carries the IRS operating-foundation designation (foundation code 03), the $829,539 in FY2023 'total giving' almost certainly represents the cost of running its own programs, not grants distributed to third-party organizations. The `grants_paid` field for FY2023 is $0, confirming no external grants were disbursed. This is the single most important financial nuance: the database-flagged grantmaker status reflects legal eligibility, not current practice.

In FY2024 (most recent available), assets were $30,990,232 and revenue was $1,375,372 — consistent with an endowment generating low-single-digit returns. Grants paid for FY2024 had not been filed at time of research.

If the foundation were to open an external grants program in future years, the endowment's annual revenue (~$1.1–1.4M) suggests a sustainable grants budget of $200,000–$500,000 annually at a 20–40% payout rate. Peer foundations at the $30–32M asset level in Human Services that do award external grants typically issue awards in the $25,000–$150,000 range. No geographic grantee breakdown is available because no external grantees appear in any public database.

The following table compares Wheels of Giving to four peer private foundations of similar asset scale operating in the Human Services sector:

Among foundations in the $30–32M asset tier within Human Services, Wheels of Giving stands out for having an active public-facing website and a defined programmatic identity — most peer foundations at this size are passive, family-controlled investment vehicles with minimal public infrastructure. The Foster Family and Erv Community Center foundations in California, and the Williams and Delashmutt foundations in Florida and Virginia respectively, have no websites listed in IRS or public databases, suggesting they operate quietly and exclusively through personal relationships.

Wheels of Giving's $829,539 in FY2023 spending — even attributable to self-operated programs — represents active engagement with the endowment. This level of activity, combined with a paid professional director and a public website, suggests the Slagel family is building institutional capacity. That ongoing build-out creates a window for mission-aligned Dallas-area organizations to engage now, before any formal grants structure might be established.

Wheels of Giving's most significant recent activity is financial, not programmatic. The foundation underwent a transformational capitalization event in FY2022 when it received $29.8 million in contributions — almost certainly a large Slagel family gift — alongside $20.9 million in net investment income, growing assets from $800,000 to over $30 million in a single fiscal year. This placed the foundation among the most rapidly endowed new family foundations in Texas in that period.

Since then, financial activity has been modest and stable: $829,539 in program-related expenditures in FY2023, $1,113,482 in revenue, and assets holding steady at approximately $31 million through FY2024. Annual officer compensation to Bill Slagel ($180,000) has been consistent, indicating the foundation maintains a full-time professional director.

The foundation's website (wheelsofgiving.org) is live and contains structured content around diabetes education, fitness programming, and community health — but the blog section had no published posts as of June 2026, and the /about and /contact pages return 404 errors, suggesting the site is either partially under construction or recently rebuilt. No news coverage, press releases, or grant announcements were found in web searches spanning 2025 and 2026. The Instagram account (@wheels_of_giving) exists but was inaccessible for content review due to login requirements.

There is no public record of leadership changes since founding. Bill, David, and Joanna Slagel and Jimmy Singer have constituted the full board since at least FY2021. The foundation has not been publicly claimed on any philanthropy database platform, consistent with a low-profile operating posture.

Because Wheels of Giving is an operating foundation with no published grants program, the path to engagement is entirely informal and relationship-driven. The following tips are specific to this funder's structure and documented behavior.

Lead with mission alignment, not a funding request. Bill Slagel (bill@wheelsofgiving.org) is the sole compensated officer and effective decision-maker. Any initial communication should be positioned as a partnership or collaboration inquiry. Explain specifically how your organization's work advances diabetes prevention, active outdoor living, or community health access — the exact three pillars on the foundation's website. Mirror the language: 'healthier communities,' 'outdoor activity,' 'diabetes insights,' 'accessible wellness.'

Target Dallas/North Texas geography. The foundation is headquartered at PO Box 29319, Dallas TX 75229. Local organizations with demonstrated community roots in North Texas have a structural advantage over applicants from other states. If your work spans multiple geographies, lead with the Dallas-area component.

Position as a program delivery partner. As an operating foundation, Wheels of Giving is building programs, not grant portfolios. Proposals that offer co-delivery, resource sharing, or subject-matter expertise (certified diabetes educators, licensed fitness professionals, community health workers) will resonate more than requests for unrestricted general operating support.

Calibrate ask size carefully. If external grants are ever offered, peer-comparable foundations at the $31M asset level in Texas suggest awards in the $25,000–$100,000 range. Do not approach with a six-figure multi-year ask in an initial contact.

Avoid common pitfalls. Do not cold-send a formal proposal with budget attachments in the first outreach. Do not submit anything through a generic grants portal — none exists. Do not reference program areas the foundation has not explicitly named; stick to their published language.

Act now while the foundation is young. Wheels of Giving was founded in 2021, is still building its program infrastructure (blog empty, some web pages under construction), and has not yet formalized any external giving process. Organizations that establish a relationship before any formal structure is set position themselves as founding partners rather than applicants in a future competitive pool.