Elden & Mary Lee Gutwein Family Foundation
The organization is a private foundation focused primarily on supporting religious and missionary initiatives. Its mission centers around providing financial assistance to faith-based organizations, as evidenced by its significant funding directed towards various religious charities. Additionally, the foundation supports community and educational initiatives, reflecting a commitment to enhancing social welfare and education. The foundation primarily serves recipients involved in religious activities and community support, with a notable concentration of grants going to organizations that promote faith-based missions.
Source: Zeffy Agent · Mar 2026
Ideal Applicant
A small-to-mid sized faith-based charity, church, or missionary project with an existing local or personal connection to the foundation and requests aligned with modest award sizes.
Good Fit
- • Clear religious or missionary purpose in programming.
- • Requests for relatively small grants (typically under $5,000, occasionally up to ~$10k).
- • Prior or local connection to the foundation or named president.
- • Activities based in Indiana or in one of the several other states the funder has supported.
Geography
Giving is multi‑state across eight states in the latest year; Indiana is the largest single state share at 36% but a majority of dollars went to out‑of‑state recipients combined.
Recipient Variety
Seventeen distinct independent recipients were funded in the latest year, showing a reasonably broad roster for a micro private foundation, but the portfolio is thematically concentrated on religious/missionary causes.
New Applicants
Based on three years of history the funder mainly re‑supports the same cohort (16 of 17 returnees in 2024) and added only one new grantee, so newcomer entry appears unlikely despite a documented mail/phone contact route.
Source: Zeffy Agent · Mar 2026
