School City of Mishawaka Education Foundation

What School City of Mishawaka Education Foundation does

School City of Mishawaka Education Foundation (MEF), legally "School City of Mishawaka Education Foundation Inc.," is a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation established in 1994 and headquartered at 1402 S Main Street, Mishawaka, Indiana. Its exclusive mission is to raise monies not available through public school funding for the benefit of School City of Mishawaka (SCM) students and educators, bridging the gap left by unpredictable and insufficient state government funding. The foundation operates a four-tier grant program: a Wishlist Program for items under $200 (anytime submissions), Classroom Grants for $200–$2,000 (two annual cycles in October and March), Special Grants for projects over $2,000 (requiring principal and superintendent coordination), and dedicated Fine Arts Grants.

Name

School City of Mishawaka Education Foundation

Legal name

School City of Mishawaka Education Foundation Inc.

Website

https://mishawakaedu.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The 501(c)(3) Mishawaka Education Foundation raises community donations and runs annual events to fund teacher grants, classroom supplies, fine arts, and student programs exclusively for School City of Mishawaka.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Foundation Grants

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF)

Keywords

• Education grant funding
• Nonprofit foundation
• Teacher grants
• Fundraising events
• School community support

Headquarters

HQ city

Mishawaka

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Individual and Business Donations: Primary funding source from individuals, families, and local business partners who make charitable contributions to support educational programs and teacher grants.
2. Event-Based Fundraising: Revenue generated through hosted events including silent auction dinners, golf tournaments, job fairs, trunk-or-treat events, and art auctions. Ticket sales, sponsorships, and participant fees support foundation activities.
3. Planned Giving and Legacy Donations: The Leaving a Legacy initiative allows community members to make estate planned gifts or bequests to support future educational opportunities.
4. Major Saver Card Sales: Sale of discount cards featuring local business deals; $15 per card with proceeds benefiting the foundation and participating schools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Mishawaka Education Foundation (MEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation that raises and distributes charitable funds to support School City of Mishawaka students and educators. It operates a tiered grant program — Wishlist (≤$200), Classroom Grants ($200–$2,000), Special Grants (>$2,000), and Fine Arts Grants — and funds these grants through individual/corporate donations, event-based fundraisers (silent auction dinner, golf tournament, luncheon, online art auction), and discount card sales.

Product overview

The Mishawaka Education Foundation (MEF) is a nonprofit education foundation that serves School City of Mishawaka by bridging funding gaps in public school budgets. The organization offers a tiered grant system: the Wishlist Program for items under $200, Classroom Grants for $200-$2,000 requests, Special Grants for large projects over $2,000, and Fine Arts Grants for arts programs. MEF also operates diverse fundraising programs and events including the annual Growing the Future Silent Auction Dinner, Chip In for Education Golf Tournament, Made in Mishawaka Luncheon, MEF Trunk or Treat community event, MHS/MEF Job Fair, and Major Saver Card discount program. The foundation has distributed over $100,000 annually to support students and teachers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MEF Wishlist Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Distributed over $100,000 in 2024-2025 impacting students and teachers
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor, flagship and core.

• Four Winds Casino South BendminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 5 November 2026Venue host for the Growing the Future Silent Auction Dinner at the Ribbon Town Ballroom, providing gala event space for annual fundraising.
• Morris Park Country ClubminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 13 July 2026Venue partner for the annual Chip In for Education Golf Tournament, hosting the 9th annual event with 4-person scramble format.
• Everwise Credit UnionflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 20262026 honoree at the Growing the Future Silent Auction Dinner. Originally founded in 1931 as Teachers Credit Union, Everwise has expanded beyond educators and serves nearly 300,000 members in the Midwest. Provides nearly $1 million in local community support annually and is financially committed to Mishawaka community programs.
• Mishawaka Penn Harris Public LibrarycoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 May 2024Donated inventory of stored artwork valued over $13,000 to the Mishawaka Education Foundation for virtual art auction fundraising. Art pieces include works from artists with Mishawaka roots, featuring watercolor, oils, clay, and other media.
• United Way of St. Joseph CountycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2019Collaborative partner on the Kindness to Prevent Blindness initiative in cooperation with Boling Vision Center, providing vision screening and prevention services to SCM students.
• Boling Vision CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2019Partner in the Kindness to Prevent Blindness initiative with United Way, providing eye care services and vision correction assistance to students in need.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• United Way of St. Joseph County: A confirmed MEF partner that also funds education programs in St. Joseph County through workplace giving and competitive grants, operating with comparable community-anchored fundraising and direct service-area overlap.
• South Bend Community School Corporation Education Foundation: The South Bend-area K-12 school district supports education foundation activity through grants and community giving for its students and teachers, serving a directly adjacent geographic and demographic market to MEF's Mishawaka catchment.
• Community Foundation of St. Joseph County: The regional Community Foundation serving the same St. Joseph County geography operates grantmaking and endowment services for local nonprofits including education initiatives, directly competing for charitable dollars in the same catchment as MEF.
• Penn-Harris-Madison Education Foundation: The neighboring Penn-Harris-Madison school district in Mishawaka operates an analogous K-12 education foundation with similar grantmaking programs, donor base, and event-driven fundraising model, making it the most directly comparable peer.

Broad incumbents

• Indiana Department of Education: The state-level education authority that administers public K-12 funding across Indiana; it represents the public funding system that MEF explicitly exists to supplement and provides the policy and funding backdrop for community education foundations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/School-City-of-Mishawaka-Education-Foundation-149219221758901
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/school-city-of-mishawaka-education-foundation-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about School City of Mishawaka Education Foundation