How much does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation give?

The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation reported 7 grants totaling $465,000 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 2 and 9 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2023.

What does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation fund?

By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2024, its largest causes are Religion (82%), Education (12%), Human Services (4%).

Who are The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation's largest grantees?

By total granted over FY2018 to FY2024: Auburn University Foundation ($206k), Gods Garage Inc ($67k), Blount County Childrens Center Inc ($12k).

Does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation fund new organizations?

In FY2023, 50% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.

Does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family 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 The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Amazonsmile Foundation.

Where is The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation based?

The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation is based in AL.

Foundation Dossiers

Alabama · Private foundation

The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family 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.

$465k
Granted FY2024(still arriving): 7
Grants FY2024: 2
Organizations funded FY2023: 50%
First-time grantees FY2023

Read the full brief

Median grant, FY2024: $60,000
Largest grant, FY2024: $200,000
Organizations funded a year: 2 to 9; FY2018 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024: 1
Total assets, FY2024: $688k
Applications: Preselected organizations only; Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 50% of the organizations The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family 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; $2k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

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

Human ServicesCrime & LegalReligionOther

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 year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2024still arriving	4	$465k	25%
FY2023	2	$202k	50%
FY2022	3	$329k	33%
FY2021	5	$194k	40%
FY2020	2	$182k	50%
FY2019	2	$329k	0%
FY2018	9	$130k	n/a

97% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Religion$1.5MEducation$225kHuman Services$81kInternational$12kPhilanthropy$3kArts & Culture$500Recreation & Sports$450Other$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Auburn University Foundation	$206,000	4	0%
Gods Garage Inc	$67,000	2	5%
Blount County Childrens Center Inc	$12,000	2	2%
Samaritan's Purse	$10,000	1	0%
United Way of Central Alabama Inc	$3,000	2	0%
United Methodist Children's Home	$2,000	1	0%
Legacy Preparatory Christian Academy	$2,000	1	0%
Heart of Christ-Corazon de Cristo Inc	$2,000	1	1%

Plus 7 recipients with no EIN on record ($1.5M), not named here.

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation supplied at peak.

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 8.

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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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.

Compare The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation with peer funders

About The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation

How much does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation give?: The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation reported 7 grants totaling $465,000 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 2 and 9 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2023.
What does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation fund?: By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2024, its largest causes are Religion (82%), Education (12%), Human Services (4%).
Who are The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation's largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2018 to FY2024: Auburn University Foundation ($206k), Gods Garage Inc ($67k), Blount County Childrens Center Inc ($12k).
Does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation fund new organizations?: In FY2023, 50% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family 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 The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Amazonsmile Foundation.
Where is The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation based?: The Wendell and Celia Ellis Family Foundation is based in AL.