The Lanz family foundation concentrates its giving on a small number of sizable, unrestricted grants to mission-driven service organizations. Recent support emphasizes hospice/palliative care and post‑secondary education/scholarship activity, and the foundation prefers general purpose funding rather than project‑restricted gifts.
Few relatively large grants (four grants totaling $100K) with a tendency toward repeat giving to the same organizations and providing general-purpose/unrestricted support.
Notable grantees: AVOW HOSPICE, AVOW FOUNDATION, COLLEGE EDUCATION & CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Gerald R Lanz and Lisa Kearns Lanz Family Foundation’s largest recent grant was $30,000 to Avow Foundation for general support, a useful signal of how the funder operates: sizable, unrestricted gifts to service organizations. In the recent record, hospice and palliative care appear repeatedly, alongside post-secondary education and scholarship-related philanthropy. The foundation also made a $25,000 general-purpose grant to Avow Hospice in 2025, showing continued support for the same care network across multiple years. The pattern is not limited to one institution. A $25,000 grant to College Education & Charitable Foundation in Cincinnati points to interest in education access and charitable scholarship infrastructure, while smaller gifts go to community institutions that fit the foundation’s broad service-oriented profile. Across the file, the foundation’s giving favors operating support and general purpose support rather than narrowly restricted project funding. That makes its grant record especially useful for researchers looking for funders that back organizational flexibility in hospice, scholarship, and community service settings.
Hospice and palliative care are central in the foundation’s recent record. It gave $20,000 to Avow Hospice in 2023 for general purpose support and another $25,000 in 2025 for the same purpose, alongside a $30,000 gift to Avow Foundation for general support. Education-related philanthropy is also present. The foundation awarded $25,000 to College Education & Charitable Foundation in 2025 for general purpose support, and $2,500 to Evans Scholar Foundation in 2023 for general support. Those grants align with a scholarship and post-secondary education emphasis. Its broader community giving includes cultural and civic organizations. In 2025, it gave $5,000 to San Diego Symphony Orchestra for general support, and smaller gifts in Naples supported organizations such as Naples Botanical Garden and local church communities.
Typical grants cluster around a modest-to-mid-sized range: the p25 is $3,125, the median is $5,000, and the p75 is $16,250. Recent gifts include both larger general-purpose awards and smaller community grants, suggesting a mix of anchor support and supplementary giving. The available record shows grants in 2023, 2024, and 2025, with repeated support to some recipients across years, including Avow Hospice. The foundation is a family foundation and does not fund individuals or make program-related investments. The grants also indicate a preference for unrestricted or general operating support rather than tightly designated project funding.
$60K
$428K
$50K
$64K
Most grants fall between $3K and $16K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$3K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$16K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in FL.
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Giving is regional and lands entirely in the United States in the provided record. Naples, Florida is the most visible recipient city, with multiple grants there across hospice, church, garden, and community foundation recipients. Other recipient cities include Cincinnati, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; San Diego, California; and Golf, Illinois. Illinois is the top state by grant count, even though none of the grants go to recipients in the foundation’s New York headquarters state.
The recent record centers on hospice and palliative care organizations, hospice-related charitable foundations, and college scholarship or post-secondary education foundations. It also includes general support for community institutions such as a symphony orchestra, a botanical garden, and local church organizations.
The grant-size distribution is p25 $3,125, median $5,000, and p75 $16,250. That places most gifts in a small-to-mid-sized range, with a few larger general-purpose awards at the top of the file.
Yes. The grant list repeatedly uses unrestricted language such as general support and general purpose, including awards to Avow Foundation, Avow Hospice, College Education & Charitable Foundation, and San Diego Symphony Orchestra. The pattern suggests a clear preference for flexible funding.
Yes. Avow Hospice appears in both 2023 and 2025, with grants of $20,000 and $25,000. That indicates the foundation has supported the same organization across multiple years rather than making only one-time gifts.
Illinois is the top state by grant count in the available data. The recipient cities also show a regional pattern, with multiple grants to organizations in Naples, Florida, and additional gifts to recipients in Cincinnati, Chicago, San Diego, and Golf.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVOW HOSPICE | NAPLES, FL | $25,000 | 2025 | GENERAL PURPOSE |
| COLLEGE EDUCATION & CHARITABLE FOUNDATION | CINCINNATI, OH | $25,000 | 2025 | GENERAL PURPOSE |
| SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | SAN DIEGO, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| LYNN SAGE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION | CHICAGO, IL | $2,100 | 2025 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| NAPLES BOTANICAL GARDEN | NAPLES, FL | $2,000 | 2025 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | CHICAGO, IL | $1,000 | 2025 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| AVOW FOUNDATION | NAPLES, FL | $30,000 | 2024 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| AVOW HOSPICE | NAPLES, FL | $20,000 | 2023 | GENERAL PURPOSE |
| FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NAPLES | NAPLES, FL | $5,000 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| ST ANNS PARISH NAPLES | NAPLES, FL | $5,000 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| EVANS SCHOLAR FOUNDATION | GOLF, IL | $2,500 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
| COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF COLLIER COUNTY | NAPLES, FL | $2,500 | 2023 | GENERAL SUPPORT |
COLLEGE EDUCATION & CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
$25,000GENERAL PURPOSE
GENERAL SUPPORT
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NAPLES
$5,000GENERAL SUPPORT
ST ANNS PARISH NAPLES
$5,000GENERAL SUPPORT
EVANS SCHOLAR FOUNDATION
$2,500GENERAL SUPPORT
COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF COLLIER COUNTY
$2,500GENERAL SUPPORT