Indiana · Private foundation
Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
- $17M
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 5
- Grants FY2025
- 6
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 33%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $1,253,615
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $10,500,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 1 to 8
- FY2017 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 1
- Applications
- Takes unsolicited applications
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 33% of the organizations Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust funded were first-time grantees, receiving 37% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5.0M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 5 | $17M | 20% |
| FY2024 | 6 | $13M | 33% |
| FY2023 | 5 | $400k | 20% |
| FY2022 | 8 | $675k | 50% |
| FY2021 | 4 | $150k | 50% |
| FY2020 | 2 | $50k | 100% |
| FY2019 | 1 | $175 | 0% |
| FY2017 | 1 | $50 | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conner Prairie Museum Inc | $11,025,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Central Indiana Land Trust Incorporated | $6,253,615 | 2 | 70% |
| Purdue Research Foundation | $5,000,000 | 1 | 2% |
| Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc | $4,275,000 | 6 | 2% |
| Midwest Food Bank Nfp | $4,275,000 | 6 | 1% |
| Shepherd Community Inc | $100,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Union County Foundation Inc | $100,000 | 1 | 11% |
| Indiana Golf Foundation Inc | $75,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Gem Ministries Inc | $25,000 | 1 | 21% |
| College Mentors for Kids Inc | $20,000 | 1 | 1% |
Show all 11 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conner Prairie Museum Inc | $11,025,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Central Indiana Land Trust Incorporated | $6,253,615 | 2 | 70% |
| Purdue Research Foundation | $5,000,000 | 1 | 2% |
| Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc | $4,275,000 | 6 | 2% |
| Midwest Food Bank Nfp | $4,275,000 | 6 | 1% |
| Shepherd Community Inc | $100,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Union County Foundation Inc | $100,000 | 1 | 11% |
| Indiana Golf Foundation Inc | $75,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Gem Ministries Inc | $25,000 | 1 | 21% |
| College Mentors for Kids Inc | $20,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Humane Society for Boone County Inc | $225 | 2 | 0% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 2 recipients with no EIN on record ($400k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 11 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Lilly Endowment Inc · Duke Energy Foundation · Indiana Philanthropy Alliance Inc · Indiana Philanthropy Alliance Foundation Inc · Independent Colleges of Indiana Inc · Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust · The Indianapolis Foundation Inc · Centerpoint Energy Foundation Inc · Central Indiana Community Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation
How this is measured
Compare Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust with peer funders
About Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust
- How much does Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust give?
- Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust reported 5 grants totaling $16,853,615 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 1 and 8 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2024.
- What does Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (33%), Food & Nutrition (26%), Environment (19%).
- Who are Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Conner Prairie Museum Inc ($11M), Central Indiana Land Trust Incorporated ($6.3M), Purdue Research Foundation ($5.0M).
- Does Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 33% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Lilly Endowment Inc, Duke Energy Foundation, Indiana Philanthropy Alliance Inc.
- Where is Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust based?
- Jean and Bernas Downing Charitable Trust is based in IN.
Play a game based on Jean and Bernas Downing’s filings →