What kind of work does the Clausen Family Foundation fund most often?

Education is the strongest pattern, especially support for Hillsdale College, scholarship funds, charter-school development, and educational infrastructure. The foundation also funds community services, transitional housing, and projects with measurable outcomes through its general grant programs.

Does the foundation accept unsolicited requests?

Yes. The listed general grant programs say they review unsolicited requests, with unrestricted grantmaking available for organizations and goal-oriented projects that align with the foundation’s mission.

What size grants does the foundation usually make?

The middle of the distribution is relatively modest: p25 is $1,750, the median is $6,045, and p75 is $101,000. That indicates a mix of small grants and a few very large awards.

Are grants recurring or mostly one-time awards?

Several recipients appear in multiple years, including Hillsdale College, Providence Network, Challenged Athletes Inc, American Transparency, and Judicial Watch Inc. That shows recurring relationships rather than a strictly one-time pattern.

Clausen Family Foundation

Name: Clausen Family Foundation — grants, 990 financials & funding data
Creator: Kindora

ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals

Wilmington, DEWebsite

About Clausen Family Foundation

The Clausen Family Foundation concentrates nearly all of its giving on education-related initiatives with a strong, recurrent relationship to Hillsdale College—specifically funding the Barney Charter School initiative—and a secondary support stream to a local service provider (Providence Network). Grants are large and targeted rather than broad-based, indicating a preference for a few high-impact partners that align with the foundation’s educational and community-focused priorities.

Focus Areas

Barney Charter School initiative (K–12 charter school development affiliated with Hillsdale College)Higher education support for Hillsdale College and affiliated programsLocal community services in Wilmington (general operating support)

Who They Fund

charter school students (Barney Charter School)scholarship recipients / studentsorphans in Ukrainestudents/users of visual media center

Giving Approach

Highly concentrated giving: few, large grants with multiple repeat payments to the same lead grantee (Hillsdale College) and secondary multi-year support to a single local nonprofit (Providence Network).

About Clausen Family Foundation

A defining feature of the Clausen Family Foundation is its repeated support for Hillsdale College, especially through scholarship and initiative funding tied to the Barney Charter School effort. Across the recent grants list, that relationship appears alongside a smaller but steady stream of unrestricted support for Providence Network in Denver, plus selective awards for scholarships, visual media infrastructure, and emergency aid. The foundation’s pattern is narrow rather than sprawling: a few organizations receive large commitments, while other grants are much smaller and more program-specific. The largest recent grant was $600,000 to Hillsdale College for the Clausen Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund, followed by a $100,000 grant for the Pat Sajak Visual Media Center and another $100,000 grant for the Barney Charter School initiative challenge. Providence Network also received multiple unrestricted grants, including $104,369 and $102,000 awards in consecutive years. Smaller gifts extend the portfolio to a memorial scholarship fund at Willamette University and emergency necessities for orphans in Ukraine through Heart for Orphans Inc. The foundation also accepts unsolicited requests through its general grant programs and funds organizations worldwide with an emphasis on education and measurable impact.

What Clausen Family Foundation Funds

Education is the clearest throughline in the Clausen Family Foundation’s grantmaking. One major example is the $600,000 award to Hillsdale College for the Clausen Family Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund, paired with a $105,000 scholarship-fund grant the prior year. The foundation also gave $100,000 to Hillsdale College for the Pat Sajak Visual Media Center, showing support for educational infrastructure as well as student aid. Their giving also reaches charter-school development: Hillsdale College received $100,000 in 2023 for the benefit of the Barney Charter School initiative challenge. Outside higher education, the foundation has supported community services through $104,369 and $102,000 unrestricted grants to Providence Network in Denver. Smaller, mission-specific grants include $50,000 to Willamette University for the Hannah Albano Memorial Scholarship Fund and $2,000 to Heart for Orphans Inc for necessities for orphans in Ukraine.

How Clausen Family Foundation Gives

Financial Snapshot

Annual Giving

$503K

Total Assets

$2.6M

Total Revenue

$214K

Total Expenses

$521K

Typical Grant Size

Most grants fall between $2K and $101K, with a median of $6K.

25th Percentile

$2K

Median

$6K

75th Percentile

$101K

Geographic Reach

National8 states funded

About 0% of grants go to recipients in MI.

Funding intensity

Low

High

Headquarters

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Recipient	Location	Amount	Year	Purpose
HILLSDALE COLLEGE	HILLSDALE, MI	$250,000	2026	To support the production of Hillsdale College's free online course on Homer's The Iliad, including filming, editing, and distribution, advancing Hillsdale's mission to make classical education rooted in the Western tradition accessible worldwide
HILLSDALE COLLEGE	HILLSDALE, MI	$250,000	2026	To support the production of Hillsdale College's free online course on Homer's The Odyssey, including filming, editing, and distribution, advancing Hillsdale's mission to make classical education rooted in the Western tradition accessible worldwide
JUDICIAL WATCH INC	WASHINGTON, DC	$1,500	2026

Clausen Family Foundation

About Clausen Family Foundation

Focus Areas

Who They Fund

Giving Approach

About Clausen Family Foundation

What Clausen Family Foundation Funds

How Clausen Family Foundation Gives

Financial Snapshot

Typical Grant Size

Geographic Reach

Deep Analysis

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Frequently Asked Questions About Clausen Family Foundation

What kind of work does the Clausen Family Foundation fund most often?

Does the foundation accept unsolicited requests?

What size grants does the foundation usually make?

Are grants recurring or mostly one-time awards?

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