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Foundation Dossiers

Pennsylvania · Private foundation

Crels Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.1M
Granted FY2023
51
Itemized grants FY2023
51
Organizations funded FY2023
4%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Itemized, FY2023
$1.1M
The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2023
$8,700
Largest grant, FY2023
$170,000
Organizations funded a year
50 to 117
FY2020 to FY2023
States reached, FY2023
3
Total assets, FY2023
$16M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 4% of the organizations Crels Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 1% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’21’22’23
ReligionOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY202351$1.1M4%
FY202250$956k2%
FY202150$1.2M6%
FY2020117$1.1Mn/a
98% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$2.0MReligion$937kHousing & Shelter$555kHealth$513kHuman Services$110kEmployment$74kArts & Culture$60kAnimals$37kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2023, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Weaverland Mennonite Schools$675,2004n/a
Old Order Mennonite Schools$508,3003n/a
Ephrata Community Health Foundation$247,200411%
Water Street Ministries$99,20040%
Lighthouse Vocational Services$73,50041%
Ephrata Mennonite School$65,5004n/a
Middlecreek Mennonite Fellowship Center$61,500410%
New Haven Mennonite School$44,1004n/a
Shalom Mennonite School$44,1004n/a
Terre Hill Mennonite High School$44,1004n/a
Show all 32 grantees
All grantees of Crels Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Weaverland Mennonite Schools$675,2004n/a
Old Order Mennonite Schools$508,3003n/a
Ephrata Community Health Foundation$247,200411%
Water Street Ministries$99,20040%
Lighthouse Vocational Services$73,50041%
Ephrata Mennonite School$65,5004n/a
Middlecreek Mennonite Fellowship Center$61,500410%
New Haven Mennonite School$44,1004n/a
Shalom Mennonite School$44,1004n/a
Terre Hill Mennonite High School$44,1004n/a
The Clinic for Special Children Inc$38,70040%
Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic$36,70040%
Mennonite Gospel Missions$29,40040%
Carolina Chaplaincy Program$28,40048%
Cumberland Mennonite Fellowship Center$28,400214%
Revelations of Freedom Ministries$26,70031%
Hinkletown Mennonite School$25,7004n/a
Faith Mennonite High School$25,70041%
Gehmans Mennonite School$25,70041%
Lititz Area Mennonite School$25,70040%
Hickory Hollow Christian School$25,70042%
Tidings of Peace Christian School$25,7004n/a
Landis Homes Retirement Community$25,70040%
Sporting Hill Christian School$25,7004n/a
Community Therapy Barn$24,70041%
Welsh Mountain Home$22,00040%
Lebanon Valley Christian School$18,7003n/a
Visioncorps Foundation$18,30040%
Parish Resource Center Inc$14,70041%
Lancaster Mennonite Conference Historical Society$8,20040%
Support for Prison Ministries$6,10011%
Lancaster Bible College$5,00020%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 91 recipients with no EIN on record ($1.9M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Crels Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetEphrata Community Health Foundation: $247,200 over 4y, 11% of budgetWater Street Ministries: $99,200 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLighthouse Vocational Services: $73,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetMiddlecreek Mennonite Fellowship Center: $61,500 over 4y, 9.8% of budgetThe Clinic for Special Children Inc: $38,700 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetLancaster Cleft Palate Clinic: $36,700 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMennonite Gospel Missions: $29,400 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCarolina Chaplaincy Program: $28,400 over 4y, 8.2% of budgetCumberland Mennonite Fellowship Center: $28,400 over 2y, 14% of budgetRevelations of Freedom Ministries: $26,700 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetFaith Mennonite High School: $25,700 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetGehmans Mennonite School: $25,700 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetLititz Area Mennonite School: $25,700 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHickory Hollow Christian School: $25,700 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetLandis Homes Retirement Community: $25,700 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity Therapy Barn: $24,700 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetWelsh Mountain Home: $22,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetVisioncorps Foundation: $18,300 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetParish Resource Center Inc: $14,700 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetLancaster Mennonite Conference Historical Society: $8,200 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetSupport for Prison Ministries: $6,100 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetLancaster Bible College: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 22.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Anabaptist FoundationShady Maple FoundationRobert C Wenger Chari…Lancaster County Comm…The Norman & Elizabet…Clark Associates Char…Burkholder Family Fou…Central Pennsylvania …High FoundationNatl Christian Charit…William and Jemima Br…The Robert J Gunterbe…
Anabaptist FoundationPA50.8× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Anabaptist Foundation · Shady Maple Foundation · Robert C Wenger Charitable Trust · Lancaster County Community Foundation · The Norman & Elizabeth Hahn Family Foundation · Clark Associates Charitable Foundation · Burkholder Family Foundation · Central Pennsylvania Scholarship Fund · High Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · William and Jemima Brossman Charita Charitable Foundation · The Robert J Gunterberg Charitable Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare Crels Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Crels Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Crels Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

About Crels Foundation

How much does Crels Foundation give?
Crels Foundation reported 51 itemized grants totaling $1,051,700, out of $1,094,000 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2023 IRS filing. It funded between 50 and 117 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2023.
What does Crels Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2023, its largest causes are Education (36%), Religion (17%), Housing & Shelter (10%).
Who are Crels Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2020 to FY2023: Weaverland Mennonite Schools ($675k), Old Order Mennonite Schools ($508k), Ephrata Community Health Foundation ($247k).
Does Crels Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 4% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Crels Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Crels Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Anabaptist Foundation, Shady Maple Foundation, Robert C Wenger Charitable Trust.
Where is Crels Foundation based?
Crels Foundation is based in PA.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 124 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $1.1M of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Crels’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home