Woodbury Foundation

The Woodbury Foundation is a quiet, invitation-only private family foundation established in March 1991 and headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois (c/o MG CPA Group Ltd, formerly Hochfelder & Weber PC, at 5 Revere Drive Suite 200). With $37.7M in assets and approximately $1.88M in annual charitable disbursements as of fiscal year 2025, it funds through deep, recurring relationships with organizations personally connected to its eight-member all-volunteer board — not through open grant cycles or competitive RFPs.

The foundation's character is best understood through its largest commitment. Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina has received $575,000 across five grants, including a permanently endowed Woodbury Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Stuart Ryman Memorial Conservation Research Fund. This multi-year relationship reflects the foundation's core philosophy: it invests in institutions where board members have personal histories, family obligations, or memorial commitments. The Sophia Iannaccone Memorial Fund — channeled exclusively to USC Norris Cancer Center ($171,500 across two grants) — confirms that named giving in honor of family members is a defining structural feature. The Saif Mansour Memorial Fund at Brown University reinforces this pattern.

The eight-member board (President Myron P. Boon, Vice President William J. Ransom, Treasurer Christiana Lopez, Secretary Louisa Gloger, and directors Gaetano Iannaccone, Amelia M. Iannaccone, Earl Ransom, and Priscilla M. Anderson) collectively defines both the geographic footprint and the thematic priorities. The phone number on file carries a (210) San Antonio, Texas area code, which directly aligns with Texas grantees including The Workshop ($127,500 across two grants), San Antonio Food Bank ($32,000), Capital Area Food Bank ($20,500), and the University of Texas Foundation cardiac fellowship ($15,000). Vermont grantees — Thetford Academy, Camp Thorpe, Plowshare Farm, Willing Hands, Marion Cross Elementary School, Migrant Justice — almost certainly reflect another board member's home community.

First-time applicants must understand that the foundation has no public grants portal, no published application deadline, no RFP page, and its application instructions are listed as "none" in foundation directories. The preselected flag confirms relationship-driven giving. Organizations doing conservation work, outdoor education, performing arts, medical research, farm-to-table agriculture, or therapeutic animal services — particularly in California, Vermont, North Carolina, and Texas — are best positioned to cultivate relevant introductions.

The Woodbury Foundation's grant-making has grown steadily over more than a decade, tracking the expansion of its endowment from $16.8M in FY2011 to $37.7M in FY2025. Annual grants paid have roughly doubled from $893,628 (FY2011) to $1,883,114 (FY2025). The foundation receives zero contributed income; all giving flows from an endowment funded entirely by investment gains and dividends. Net investment income has ranged from $475,989 (FY2011) to $4,676,661 (FY2020), producing corresponding variability in annual giving capacity.

Based on 98 grants totaling $2,873,500 in available data, the median individual grant is $20,000 and the average is $29,321. Per-transaction grants range from $5,000 (small operational gifts to animal shelters, food banks, and community programs) to $100,000 or more for anchor relationships. The foundation's registered typical grant range is $5,000–$300,000, with a reported median of $20,000 and average of $34,137 across 51 tracked transactions.

Geographically, California dominates with 22 recorded grants, followed by Vermont at 17, North Carolina at 13, and Texas at 10. Illinois, Minnesota, Florida, and Pennsylvania each received 4 grants; New York received 3; New Jersey received 2. This distribution mirrors board member personal communities rather than any programmatic geographic strategy.

By program area, education claims the largest share. Warren Wilson College alone ($575,000), Thetford Academy ($127,000), Carnegie Mellon University ($95,000 for technical theater scholarships), Sonoma Academy ($70,000), Marin Primary and Middle School ($27,500), and Westtown School ($30,000) account for well over 30% of known total giving. Conservation and environment represents the second-largest bucket — California Trout ($100,000), Edith Allen Wildlife Sanctuary, Everglades Foundation, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Sustainable Resources Institute — at roughly 10–12%. Healthcare (USC Norris Cancer Center $171,500, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation $55,000, National Institute for Canine Services $45,000) and arts/culture (San Diego Museum of Art $75,000, Bolinas Museum $50,000, Digital Stone Project $40,000, Headlands Center for the Arts $25,000) each represent approximately 8–12% of total giving.

Giving has not been linear: FY2019 dipped to $1.06M before rebounding to $1.83M in FY2021. FY2022 moderated to $1.42M, and the FY2024–FY2025 data confirms a return to growth at $1.7M–$1.88M.

The Woodbury Foundation occupies a mid-tier bracket of private family foundations with $25M–$50M in assets and $1–3M in annual giving. Its all-volunteer board, CPA-firm administration, and invitation-only process align with how most foundations of this size and structure operate across the Midwest and nationally.

Woodbury's $20,000 median grant is typical for a foundation of its asset class, though its range ($5K–$300K per transaction) is wider than average — signaling that while modest introductory gifts can open doors, anchor relationships generate multi-year, multi-hundred-thousand-dollar commitments. Its all-volunteer board and lean CPA-firm administrative model mirror the Brinson Foundation's operating structure. Unlike the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation — which maintains professional staff and an open LOI process for Chicago-area nonprofits — Woodbury publishes no eligibility criteria and accepts no unsolicited proposals. The Heller Charitable Foundation offers the most comparable mission profile (environment, education, and health in a California-anchored geography) but differs significantly by operating an open LOI process. Grant seekers who cannot crack Woodbury's invitation-only access should explore the Donnelley Foundation as a more accessible peer funder for organizations doing conservation and arts work in Illinois and the Southeast.

No press releases, grant announcements, or leadership changes specific to the Woodbury Foundation (EIN: 36-3715828) were found in public sources during 2025–2026. The foundation maintains a deliberately low public profile consistent with its invitation-only giving model. It has no social media presence, no foundation-owned public website (the domain woodburyfoundation.org resolves to the entirely unrelated Woodbury Community Foundation in Woodbury, Minnesota), and publishes no annual reports or press materials.

The most current public data comes from its 990-PF filing for fiscal year ending May 2025, showing total assets of $37,714,499 and charitable disbursements of $1,883,114 — the highest giving level recorded across all available filings. This builds on the Grantable-reported FY2024 figure of $1.7M (a 47.3% year-over-year increase), and represents meaningful recovery from the FY2022 dip to $1.42M in grants paid.

Board composition has remained stable across available filings. Myron P. Boon continues as President, William J. Ransom as Vice President, Christiana Lopez as Treasurer, and Louisa Gloger as Secretary. The Iannaccone family (Gaetano and Amelia) and Earl Ransom continue as directors; Priscilla M. Anderson also remains on the board. No new executive staff or board members have been publicly announced. The foundation's most recent notable grant activity, per available 990 data, includes ongoing multi-year commitments to Warren Wilson College (Woodbury Endowed Scholarship Fund and Stuart Ryman Memorial Conservation Research Fund) and USC Norris Cancer Center (Sophia Iannaccone Memorial Fund).

Securing a grant from the Woodbury Foundation requires relationship cultivation, not proposal writing. Its "preselected only" status in foundation databases, combined with the absence of any published application portal, RFP, or deadline, confirms that unsolicited proposals will not be reviewed. Every tip below is inferred directly from 14 years of grant history.

Start with the board, not the foundation. The highest-funded grantees — Warren Wilson College, Thetford Academy, Plowshare Farm, Camp Thorpe — have multi-year track records suggesting prior personal relationships. Before drafting anything, determine whether your organization has any existing connection to board members: Myron P. Boon, William J. Ransom, Earl Ransom, Christiana Lopez, Louisa Gloger, Priscilla M. Anderson, Gaetano Iannaccone, or Amelia M. Iannaccone.

Leverage existing grantees as introduction channels. Warren Wilson College, Thetford Academy (Thetford, VT), Aloha Foundation, Camp Thorpe, and Plowshare Farm all have demonstrated relationships with the foundation. If your organization has programmatic, geographic, or alumni overlap with these grantees, ask their development staff about a warm introduction.

Frame around named memorial fund themes if applicable. If your work involves cancer research or oncology support services, align explicitly with the Sophia Iannaccone Memorial Fund's focus at USC Norris Cancer Center. If your work involves conservation science, conservation-based education, or field research, reference the Stuart Ryman Memorial Conservation Research Fund framework. These named funds represent the foundation's most sustained and emotionally significant giving.

Geography is your best qualifying signal. Organizations based in or primarily serving Marin/Sonoma/San Diego (California), the Vermont Upper Valley, the Asheville/Swannanoa (NC) region, or San Antonio (Texas) are operating in the communities where board members live. Multi-state organizations should lead with these geographic elements in any introductory communication.

Propose specific, named programmatic purposes — not general capacity building. Every review of Woodbury's grant descriptions reveals specificity: "Outdoor Education," "Dogs for Diabetics," "School of Drama Technical Direction Program," "Sacred Ground Program," "DEI Initiative." Proposals framed around named programs or endowed funds fit the foundation's documented giving vocabulary. Avoid vague language like "general operations" unless you have an established multi-year relationship.

Plan for a 12-to-24 month horizon. The foundation gives cyclically (likely once or twice per year based on 990 data). From first contact to a potential award, budget at minimum one year of relationship-building.