DeVore Foundation

OVERVIEW: The DeVore Foundation supports education, youth services, health care, social care and arts and culture in Kansas.

FUNDING AREAS: Education, youth services, health care, social care, arts and culture

IP TAKE: Although this Kansas funder does not have a website, it is an accessible one that is open to receiving funding requests for many different efforts that benefit the city of Wichita. While this foundation doesn’t accept unsolicited proposals, call them to ask them about their grantmaking and introduce your organization in order to get on their funding radar. Perhaps they might ask you for a proposal.

PROFILE: Established in 1953, the DeVore Foundation is a family foundation based in Wichita, Kansas. Floyd and Alma DeVore created this foundation, which was later carried on by their sons, Bill and Dick DeVore. The foundation is funded through a percentage of annual profits from companies that the DeVore family owns. For example, the DeVore family established a Bible publishing company called DeVore and Sons. It funds local efforts for education, youth services, health care, social care and arts and culture.

The DeVore Foundation does not have a website to guide grantseekers. However, past tax records indicate that this foundation supports a wide variety of causes in the local area. The DeVore family has been actively involved as volunteers and board members for numerous local organizations, including the Music Theatre of Wichita and the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce. The DeVores also created a scholarship to assist students who are enrolled in the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. Still today, the foundation often supports the entrepreneurial spirit and efforts to inspire and motivate local students. The funder often provides unrestricted support to its grantees.

Grants range between about $100 and $25,000. The foundation typically awards a few hundred thousand dollars in grants per year. Learn more about this funder’s local giving by examining its recent tax records. Grantmaking focuses on Kansas and especially the Wichita area. Past local grantees include the Wichita Art Museum, Sedgwick County Zoo and the Kansas Foodbank Warehouse.

This foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits. There is no formal application procedure, so grantseekers should simply send a letter by mail that includes information about an organization the purpose of the funding request. The foundation usually plans its donations in advance rather than awarding urgent funds on an emergency basis. Direct general questions to the staff at 316-267-3211.

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