About Drexel Fund
The Drexel Fund concentrates its giving on faith-based K–12 education, primarily supporting parochial and Christian schools with large, multi-hundred-thousand dollar grants. Grants skew toward startup and core/general operating support and network-level investments rather than program-specific philanthropy. The foundation makes few but sizable awards, often funding the same schools or school networks more than once.
Focus Areas
Catholic parish elementary schools (e.g., Basilica School of St. Mary’s Star of the Sea)Lutheran elementary schools and networks (e.g., St. Marcus Lutheran School)Christian/Baptist K–12 start-up schools and church-affiliated academies (e.g., King’s Academy/Tusculum Hills Baptist Church)Support for preparatory academies with general operating grants (e.g., St. Augustine Preparatory Academy)
Who They Fund
individual school founders/founding teamsK–12 schools (including named academies)school networks/consortia
About Drexel Fund
The Drexel Fund’s recent grantmaking centers on faith-based K–12 education, with repeated support for Catholic parish schools, Lutheran schools, and Christian school startups and networks. The foundation backs both launch-stage schools and established institutions that are expanding or strengthening their operations, often through grants tied to general support, startup needs, or network development. A clear example is the $1,000,000 network grant to The Basilica School of St Mary’s Star of the Sea in Key West, Florida, showing the scale it will commit to a single school network or school community. The fund also returned to St Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee with two $480,000 network grants in 2023, and it supported St Augustine Preparatory Academy in Milwaukee with large general support awards in 2024 and 2025. Other awards reached schools and school networks in Nashville, St Petersburg, Durham, Atlanta, and Key West, indicating a portfolio built around private, nonprofit K–12 institutions rather than a broad mix of nonprofit subsectors. The Drexel Fund also makes awards to specific schools and school-affiliated organizations as they move from startup into sustainability, and it repeatedly funds the same grantees across years.
What Drexel Fund Funds
In school startup work, The Drexel Fund gave $275,000 to King’s Academy (Tusculum Hills Baptist Church) in Nashville for start-up support, and it also backed Sailfuture Academy in St Petersburg with two $250,000 startup grants. Those awards fit a pattern of early operational investment in new private K–12 schools. For network development, the fund has supported expansion and strengthening through grants such as $150,000 to Cristo Rey Network Atlanta Jesuit High School in Atlanta and $250,000 to Julie Billiart in Lyndhurst for network support. It also gave $150,000 to Great Hearts Foundation in Phoenix for network work. General support is another recurring tool. Examples include $425,000 to St Augustine Preparatory Academy in Milwaukee, $200,000 to Cristo Rey Orange County High School in Santa Ana, and $150,000 to Dubuque Dream Center Inc in Dubuque. The portfolio includes support for school-specific learning and ecosystem work as well, including $130,000 to The Ecclesial Schools Initiative Inc in Casselberry.
How Drexel Fund Gives
The Drexel Fund’s typical grant size is $20,000 at the 25th percentile, $50,000 at the median, and $100,000 at the 75th percentile. Recent awards show a much wider upper range, including seven-figure and mid-six-figure grants. The pattern is relationship-based and repeat-oriented: several recipients appear in multiple years, including St Marcus Lutheran School, St Augustine Preparatory Academy, Cristo Rey Network Atlanta Jesuit High School, and The Basilica School of St Mary’s Star of the Sea. The fund operates with multiple program types, including startup, scale, strengthen, and general support, and its School Start-Up Grants program accepts unsolicited applications.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$3.7M
Total Assets
$21.6M
Total Revenue
$9.3M
Total Expenses
$5.7M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $20K and $100K, with a median of $50K.
25th Percentile
$20K
Median
$50K
75th Percentile
$100K
Geographic Reach
National21 states funded
About 2% of grants go to recipients in FL.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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