The Chapman Charitable Trust concentrates its giving on local, place-based investments in the Fort Wayne area, with large, targeted gifts to community institutions and higher-education programming tied to the Chapman name. Grants fund institution-building (community foundations), higher-education initiatives at Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Chapman School, and community exchange/civic programs such as Sister Cities. The trust gives few but substantial awards, favoring repeat and multi-year-type commitments to a small set of local partners.
Highly concentrated: a small number of large grants (two very large gifts totaling the majority of giving), repeated support to the same local institutions, and a focus on institutional endowments or named programs rather than many small community grants.
The Chapman Charitable Trust Dtd 3-3-17 makes unusually large local commitments, including a $1.4 million general-support grant in 2025 to the Community Foundation of Fort Wayne. That scale fits a pattern of place-based giving centered on Fort Wayne institutions, with repeated support for named Chapman School programming at Purdue University Fort Wayne and for community foundation vehicles that can hold and direct local resources. The trust’s recent grants show a preference for general support rather than restricted project funding, and several awards recur across years to the same partners. Alongside higher education and civic infrastructure, the trust has also backed arts, health, historical, and family-service organizations in the Fort Wayne area. Its largest gifts are not spread broadly across geographies; they are concentrated in a small circle of local recipients, many of them connected to civic identity, community capacity, or the Chapman name. A smaller number of grants extend to nearby Columbia City and Roanoke, but the overall picture is of a trust using substantial awards to reinforce institutions that shape community life in northeast Indiana.
One clear theme is institutional capacity. The trust gave $250,000 in 2023 and $100,000 in 2024 to the Community Foundation of Fort Wayne for general support, and also supported the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne’s Chapman School with $200,000 in 2023. Higher education is another major thread: Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Chapman School received $500,000 in 2024 for general support. Civic exchange appears as well. In 2023 and 2024, the trust funded Comm Fdn of Ft Wayne- Sister Cities with $200,000 and $50,000 for general support, indicating sustained backing for international or city-to-city exchange work. Arts and cultural organizations also appear in the grant list, including $100,000 to Arts United in 2024 and $50,000 to the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne-ChapmanArts in 2024.
Typical awards are sizable: the grant-size distribution is $5,000 at the 25th percentile, $25,000 at the median, and $100,000 at the 75th percentile. The recent record also shows a much larger outlier at $1.4 million. Grantmaking is repetitive rather than one-off in several cases, with recipients such as the Community Foundation of Fort Wayne, Sister Cities, Stillwater Hospice, Science Central, Turnstone Center for Children-Adult, and Community Foundation of Fort Wayne–Amani Family Services appearing in multiple years. The trust’s recent grants are almost entirely listed as general support, suggesting flexible, core-function funding. It is a charitable trust, not a funder that makes program-related investments, and it does not fund individuals.
$1.7M
$13.3M
$654K
$1.8M
Most grants fall between $5K and $100K, with a median of $25K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$25K
75th Percentile
$100K
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Notable grantees: Community Foundation of Fort Wayne (Community Fdn-FW), Purdue University at Fort Wayne — Chapman School, Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne — Chapman School fund, Community Foundation of Fort Wayne — Sister Cities, Babe of Whitley County
Grantmaking is overwhelmingly in Indiana: 96% of grants go to recipients in the HQ state, and the top giving state is also IN. Fort Wayne dominates the recipient map, with repeated grants to local institutions such as Arts United, Fort Wayne Civic Theater, Allen County Public Library Fdn, and several community foundation affiliates. A smaller share goes just outside the core city, including Columbia City’s Babe of Whitley County and Roanoke’s Vera Bradley Foundation. Outside Indiana, the recent grants list includes one recipient in Chicago, showing only a limited non-local reach.
The recent grants center on community foundations, higher education, civic exchange, and local nonprofit capacity. Examples include the Community Foundation of Fort Wayne, Purdue University Fort Wayne’s Chapman School, Sister Cities, Arts United, and health and family-service organizations in Fort Wayne.
The grant-size distribution is $5,000 at the 25th percentile, $25,000 at the median, and $100,000 at the 75th percentile. Recent grants also include a much larger $1.4 million award, showing that the trust sometimes makes major institution-level commitments.
Yes. 96% of grants go to recipients in Indiana, and Fort Wayne is the main recipient city across the recent grant list. The trust’s geographic scope is local, with only a small number of grants outside the core Fort Wayne area.
Yes. Several grantees appear in multiple years, including the Community Foundation of Fort Wayne, Sister Cities, Stillwater Hospice, Science Central, Turnstone Center for Children-Adult, and Community Foundation of Fort Wayne–Amani Family Services. That pattern points to repeated support rather than isolated one-time awards.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community Fdn-FW- | Fort Wayne, IN | $1,400,000 | 2025 | General Support |
| Babe of Whitley County | Columbia City, IN | $125,000 | 2025 | General Support |
| Fort Wayne Civic Theater | Fort Wayne, IN | $100,000 | 2025 | General support |
| Stillwater Hospice | Fort Wayne, IN | $25,000 | 2025 | General support |
| Hemphill-Smith Art Foundation Inc | Fort Wayne, IN | $10,000 | 2025 | General Support |
| Allen County Public Library Fdn | Fort Wayne, IN | $10,000 | 2025 | General support |
| Turnstone Center for Children-Adult | Fort Wayne, IN | $6,095 | 2025 | General Support |
| Alive Comm OUtreach Inc | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2025 | General Support |
| Wellspring Interfaith International | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2025 | General Support |
| Vera Bradley Foundation | Roanoke, IN | $5,000 | 2025 | General support |
| Audiences Unlimited | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2025 | General Support |
| Japanese American Association of | Fort Wayne, IN | $1,000 | 2025 | General support |
| NE Indiana Boys and Girls Club | Fort Wayne, IN | $500 | 2025 | General Support |
| Purdue Univ at Ft Wayne-Chapman Sch | Fort Wayne, IN | $500,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Northwestern School of Law | Chicago, IL | $100,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Community Fdn-FW- | Fort Wayne, IN | $100,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Arts United | Fort Wayne, IN | $100,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Comm Fnd of Gr Ft Wayne-ChapmanArts | Fort Wayne, IN | $50,000 | 2024 | General support |
| Comm Fdn of Ft Wayne- Sister Cities | Fort Wayne, IN | $50,000 | 2024 | General support |
| Community Fdn-FW-Amani Family Servi | Fort Wayne, IN | $25,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Stillwater Hospice | Fort Wayne, IN | $25,000 | 2024 | General support |
| YWCA | Fort Wayne, IN | $15,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Turnstone Center for Children-Adult | Fort Wayne, IN | $12,395 | 2024 | General Support |
| Audiences Unlimited | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Science Central | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2024 | General support |
| WellSpring Interfaith Social Svc | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2024 | General Support |
| Vera Bradley Foundation | Roanoke, IN | $5,000 | 2024 | General support |
| Community Fdn-FW- | Fort Wayne, IN | $250,000 | 2023 | General Support |
| Comm Fdn of Ft Wayne- Sister Cities | Fort Wayne, IN | $200,000 | 2023 | General support |
| Comm Fnd of Gr Ft Wayne-ChapmanScho | Fort Wayne, IN | $200,000 | 2023 | General support |
| Allen County FW - Historical Societ | Fort Wayne, IN | $30,750 | 2023 | General support |
| Visiting Nurse and Hospice | Fort Wayne, IN | $25,000 | 2023 | General support |
| Community Fdn-FW-Amani Family Servi | Fort Wayne, IN | $25,000 | 2023 | General Support |
| Heartland Sings | Fort Wayne, IN | $25,000 | 2023 | General Support |
| Turnstone Center for Children-Adult | Fort Wayne, IN | $7,715 | 2023 | General Support |
| Science Central | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2023 | General support |
| Vera Bradley Fdn of Breast Cancer | Roanoke, IN | $5,000 | 2023 | General Support |
| Audiences Unlimited | Fort Wayne, IN | $5,000 | 2023 | General Support |
Babe of Whitley County
$125,000General Support
Fort Wayne Civic Theater
$100,000General support
Hemphill-Smith Art Foundation Inc
$10,000General Support
Allen County Public Library Fdn
$10,000General support
Alive Comm OUtreach Inc
$5,000General Support
Wellspring Interfaith International
$5,000General Support
Audiences Unlimited
$5,000General Support
Japanese American Association of
$1,000General support
NE Indiana Boys and Girls Club
$500General Support
Purdue Univ at Ft Wayne-Chapman Sch
$500,000General Support
Northwestern School of Law
$100,000General Support
Community Fdn-FW-Amani Family Servi
$25,000General Support
Audiences Unlimited
$5,000General Support
Community Fdn-FW-
$250,000General Support
Allen County FW - Historical Societ
$30,750General support
Visiting Nurse and Hospice
$25,000General support
Community Fdn-FW-Amani Family Servi
$25,000General Support
Audiences Unlimited
$5,000General Support