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J Earl Belch Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

J Earl Belch Charitable Trust

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$650k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Recreation & Sports$839kEducation$447kYouth Development$316kHealth$53kPublic Safety & Disaster$26kHuman Services$11kMembership Benefit$10kAnimals$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $25k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $80k
  • $250k+2 grants · $950k
$8,478
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS$650,008
LIFEWISE ACADEMY$300,000
COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS$80,000
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY$15,000
BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY$10,000
COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS$8,478
ANIMAL PROTECTION LEAGUE OF MERCER COUNTY$5,000
LIFEWISE ACADEMY$5,000
COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY$5,000
SONS OF AMERICAN LEGION$3,000
RHODES STATE COLLEGE$2,098
BLUFFTON UNIVERSITY$649
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 9% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY: $5k → 12%BALL STATE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 19%COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS: $650k → 7%ANIMAL PROTECTION LEAGUE OF MERCER COUNTY: $5k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY: $5k → 9%WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 9%ASHLAND UNIVERSITY: $5k → 11%DEFIANCE COLLEGE: $25k → 11%BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 12%BLUFFTON UNIVERSITY: $3k → 13%OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY: $5k → 15%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $15k → 15%COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY: $5k → 12%BALL STATE UNIVERSITY: $3k → 19%LIFEWISE ACADEMY: $300k → 7%UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY: $3k → 9%CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 9%DEFIANCE COLLEGE: $5k → 11%BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 12%OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY: $5k → 15%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 15%COLUMBIA SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY: $5k → 12%COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS: $100k → 7%CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY: $4k → 9%DEFIANCE COLLEGE: $5k → 11%BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: $10k → 12%OHIO STATE BEAUTY ACADEMY: $5k → 13%OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY: $5k → 15%COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS: $80k → 7%BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY: $5k → 12%COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS: $35k → 7%UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO: $5k → 13%COLUMBUS GROVE SCHOOLS: $25k → 7%UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO: $5k → 13%COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS: $25k → 7%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AT LIMA: $10k → 13%COLUMBUS GROVE SCHOOLS: $25k → 7%RHODES STATE COLLEGE: $5k → 13%COLUMBUS GROVE SCHOOLS: $25k → 7%VILLAGE OF COLUMBUS GROVE: $25k → 7%COLUMBUS GROVE PLEASANT TWP JOINT FIRE DEPT: $18k → 7%COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS: $8k → 7%LIFEWISE ACADEMY: $5k → 7%COLUMBUS GROVE SCHOOLS: $5k → 7%COLUMBUS GROVE AMERICAN LEGION: $5k → 7%LIFEWISE ACADEMY: $5k → 7%SUGAR CREEK ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: $51k → 7%PUTNAM COUNTY 911: $45k → 7%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 25 repeat orgs$106k to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
19

Total granted

$1.6M
$101k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+7%
+37%

Still filing today

36%
16%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationYouth DevelopmentHealthAnimalsOther
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.

Backed again, and grew

  • LI
    LIFEWISE INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $314k · revenue +503%
  • DC
    DEFIANCE COLLEGE
    3× · 2017–2019 · $35k · revenue +7%
  • ON
    Ohio Northern University
    4× · 2017–2024 · $16k · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • PC
    PUTNAM COUNTY 911
    one grant, 2021 · $45k
  • CG
    COLUMBUS GROVE PLEASANT TWP JOINT FIRE DEPT
    one grant, 2024 · $18k
  • TO
    THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AT LIMA
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Union University

Union university provides christ-centered education that promotes excellence and character development in service to church and society.

Education
2
Walsh University Inc

Walsh university is an independent, coeducational catholic, liberal arts and sciences institution dedicated to educating its students to become leaders in service to others through a values-based education with an international perspective…

Education
3
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
4
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
5
Roberts Wesleyan University

As new york's leading university for character education, rwu is a community of learners committed to historic christianity which seeks to prepare thoughtful, spiritually mature, service-oriented people who will transform society.

Education
6
Benedictine University

Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…

Education
7
Franklin University

Since 1902, Franklin University has been a pioneer in meeting the needs of adult students who have the ambition to continue their education in combination with other responsibilities, receiving its status as a tax exempt organization in…

—
8
Nebraska Wesleyan University

Nebraska wesleyan university is an academic community dedicated to intellectual and personal growth within the context of a liberal arts education and in an environment of christian concern.

Education
9
Tiffin University

Educate students by linking knowledge to professional practice.

Education
10
Heidelberg University

Heidelberg university's mission and programs are firmly rooted in liberal arts with innovative coursework in sciences, global education, business and related graduate-level programs. quality education, services to students, a close…

Education
11
Excelsior University

Excelsior University provides educational opportunity to adult learners with an emphasis on those historically underrepresented in higher education. The University meets students where they are - academically and geographically, offering…

Education
12
Oberlin College

Oberlin College and Conservatory educate students for lives of intellectual, musical and artistic rigor and breadth, sustained inquiry, creativity and innovation, and leadership. Oberlin aims to prepare graduates with the knowledge,…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ohio Northern University; the most unlike its peers is Animal Protection League of Mercer. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

13 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 13 of the 45 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLS: $898,736 · OtherCOLUMBUS GROVE LOCAL SCHOOLSCOLUMBUS GROVE SCHOOLS: $80,000 · OtherCOLUMBUS GROVE SCHOOLSSUGAR CREEK ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: $52,325 · OtherPUTNAM COUNTY 911: $45,152 · Other+28 more: $221,504 · Other+28 moreLIFEWISE INC: $314,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIFEWISE INCDEFIANCE COLLEGE: $35,000 · EducationOhio Northern University: $16,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO: $10,000 · EducationCedarville University: $9,000 · EducationThe University of Findlay: $8,000 · EducationASHLAND UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · EducationOtterbein University: $5,000 · EducationBluffton University: $3,649 · Education+2 more: $3,000 · EducationANIMAL PROTECTION LEAGUE OF MERCER: $5,000 · AnimalsST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $3,000 · Health
Other$1,297,717Youth Development$314,000Education$94,649Animals$5,000Health$3,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLIFEWISE INC: $314,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetDEFIANCE COLLEGE: $35,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetOhio Northern University: $16,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCedarville University: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe University of Findlay: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetASHLAND UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOtterbein University: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL PROTECTION LEAGUE OF MERCER: $5,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetBluffton University: $3,649 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWilmington College: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Mount Union: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds LIFEWISE INC ↗
  • Who funds DEFIANCE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Ohio Northern University ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN OHIO ↗
  • Who funds Cedarville University ↗
  • Who funds The University of Findlay ↗
  • Who funds ASHLAND UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Otterbein University ↗
  • Who funds ANIMAL PROTECTION LEAGUE OF MERCER ↗
  • Who funds Bluffton University ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Wilmington College ↗

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.

Columbus FoundationFidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Columbus FoundationOH13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Columbus Foundation · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization J Earl Belch Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from J Earl Belch Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    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 45 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on J Earl Belch’s 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