Zionsville Education Foundation

What Zionsville Education Foundation does

The Zionsville Education Foundation (ZEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in September 1995 that awards grants to educators and students within Zionsville Community Schools (ZCS) in Zionsville, Indiana. The organization operates five core grant programs — Classroom Grants (awarded twice yearly in spring and fall cycles), Imagine Professional Development Grants (for educators with 3+ years of experience), Student Enrichment Grants (up to $5,000 annually for school-sanctioned student groups), DonorsChoose matching funds (up to $250 per project), and Strategic Initiative Grants — alongside donor engagement programs including Eagle Honor Awards, ZEF Kindy Club, and the ZEF Fund annual giving program. Since its founding, ZEF has awarded over $2 million in grants to ZCS, with the second $1 million distributed in approximately 10 years compared to the first $1 million which took 20 years, indicating recent acceleration in fundraising and disbursement pace.

ZEF is funded through a diversified nonprofit revenue model including individual donations with a ZCS employee payroll deduction program ($1-$10 per paycheck), corporate sponsorships across Premier, Masters, Graduate, and Undergraduate tiers, two major annual fundraising events (ZEF Bash and Trivia Night), and grants from external foundations including the Community Foundation of Boone County, Duke Energy Foundation, and Boone REMC Community Fund. The organization operates with a lean team of three paid staff members — Executive Director Catherine Moser, Development & Events Manager Julie Bradley, and Communications Manager Marissa Bowers — supported by a 20+ member volunteer board of directors. ZEF's technology stack consists of standard nonprofit SaaS: Bloomerang CRM for donation processing and hosted donation forms, an online grant application management system, Qtego for silent auction management, Ryzer for event registration, and integrations with DonorsChoose.org for matching funds and Minted.com for e-commerce fundraising.

The foundation's geographic and beneficiary scope is highly concentrated: ZEF exclusively serves the Zionsville Community Schools district, which is consistently ranked among Indiana's top-performing districts despite receiving the lowest per-pupil state funding among Indiana public school corporations. ZEF's go-to-market is community-driven, leveraging monthly email newsletters, organic social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), community event presence (Eagle Fest, State of the Schools), and the ZCS employee payroll deduction channel to recruit donors and identify grantees within the Zionsville community. The organization's underlying business model is event-driven fundraising complemented by recurring donor programs and corporate sponsorship cultivation.

Name

Zionsville Education Foundation

Legal name

Zionsville Education Foundation

Website

https://zionsvilleeducationfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Zionsville Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that awards grants to Zionsville Community Schools educators and students in Indiana, bridging the gap between limited state funding and innovative classroom projects through community-driven fundraising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Grants & Nonprofit Philanthropy

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

K–12 Support & School Improvement Nonprofits (BPAGADAB)

Keywords

• Education grants
• Nonprofit fundraising
• Classroom funding
• Donor engagement
• Community philanthropy

Headquarters

HQ city

Zionsville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Annual contributions from individuals, families, and community members supporting the ZEF Fund. Includes payroll deduction program for ZCS employees ($1, $2, $5, or $10 per paycheck).
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors at various levels (Premier, Masters, Graduate, Undergraduate) for events and the 30th Anniversary celebration. Includes businesses like Barnes & Thornburg, Fanning Howey, Summers Plumbing, Skillman Corporation, and many others.
3. Annual Events: Major annual fundraiser (ZEF Bash) generating proceeds for grants. Also includes Trivia Night team registrations ($400 per team of 8), Eagle Honor donations ($10+ per honoree), and Cap Off the Night merchandise ($75+).
4. Community Foundation Grants: Grants from Community Foundation of Boone County and other foundations (Duke Energy Foundation, Boone REMC Community Fund) that enable ZEF programming including DonorsChoose matching funds.
5. Memorial/Matching Gifts: Memorial gifts honoring loved ones (Julia Parks Memorial Fund for literacy), planned gifts through estates, and employer matching programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Zionsville Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds from individuals, families, small businesses, and corporate sponsors, then awards grants to Zionsville Community Schools (ZCS) educators and students to support innovative classroom projects, professional development, and student enrichment. Its core offerings are five grant programs (Classroom Grants, Imagine Professional Development Grants, Student Enrichment Grants, DonorsChoose Matching Funds, and Strategic Initiative Grants) funded through annual events such as ZEF Bash and ZEF Trivia Night, recurring payroll deductions, corporate sponsorships, and donor engagement programs like Eagle Honor Awards and the ZEF Fund.

Product overview

Zionsville Education Foundation operates as a unified grant-making nonprofit offering five core grant programs (Classroom Grants, Imagine Professional Development Grants, Student Enrichment Grants, DonorsChoose Matching Funds, and Strategic Initiative Grants) alongside donor engagement programs (Eagle Honor Awards, ZEF Kindy Club, and the ZEF Fund annual giving). The organization hosts two major annual fundraising events—ZEF Bash and ZEF Trivia Night—and communicates through a monthly eNewsletter. All programs work together to provide supplementary funding for Zionsville Community Schools educators, students, and schools, bridging the gap between state funding and innovative educational initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ZEF: Zionsville Education Foundation abbreviation used in communications and branding
• ZEF Fund
• ZEF Bash
• ZEF Trivia Night
• Eagle Honors
• Julia Parks Memorial Fund
• Kindy Club

Quantifiable outcome

• $2 million in grants awarded since 1995
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• ArtMix (Indianapolis nonprofit)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Artist residency program partnering with ZMS art educators for adaptive art experiences for life skills and functional academic students. Art show hosted at Sullivan Munce Cultural Center.
• The Children's Museum of Indianapolis (partnered with Butler University)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025STEM partnership program for competitive educator dinosaur dig opportunity in Wyoming.
• Metropolitan Museum of Art (partnered with MoMA and Guggenheim)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Connecting Collections Summer Institute for art teacher professional development.
• DonorsChoose.orgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCrowdfunding platform for teachers; ZEF provides matching funds for ZCS educator projects up to $250 per project.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Fishers Education Foundation: Hamilton County, Indiana foundation supporting Hamilton Southeastern Schools. Closely comparable peer with same district-based supplemental grantmaking mission and community fundraising events.
• Carmel Education Foundation: Indiana-based education foundation serving Carmel Clay Schools. Most directly comparable peer: similar district-focused grantmaking model, K-12 educator grants, community fundraising events, and small staff structure.
• Noblesville Education Foundation: Indiana-based education foundation supporting Noblesville Schools. Similar structure: small staff, district-focused classroom grants, corporate sponsorships, and annual fundraising events.
• Brownsburg Education Foundation: Indiana-based K-12 education foundation supporting Brownsburg Community School Corporation. Comparable community-funded grant model for classroom innovation and educator support.
• Westfield Education Foundation: Education foundation supporting Westfield Washington Schools in Hamilton County, Indiana. Operates an analogous community-driven grant model for K-12 innovation and educator professional development.

Others

• DonorsChoose: National crowdfunding platform for K-12 teachers. Listed as OTHERS because ZEF directly partners with DonorsChoose to provide matching funds (up to $250/project), making it an enabling ecosystem partner rather than a competitor.
• Hamilton County Education Service Center: Regional education service agency supporting K-12 schools across Hamilton County, Indiana. Thematically related as an education-support organization but operates as a service agency rather than a grantmaking nonprofit.
• Community Foundation of Boone County: Local community foundation providing grant funding to nonprofits in Boone County, Indiana. Strategic institutional funder of ZEF (enables DonorsChoose matching and other programs), making it a direct upstream partner.

Regional players

• The Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) Foundation: Indianapolis-area K-12 education foundation serving Indianapolis Public Schools. Same category but a much larger urban district, providing a comparable peer for a different scale of operations.
• Public Education Foundation of Marion County: Indiana regional education foundation supporting K-12 educators and students. Provides comparable community grantmaking model with broader geographic scope than a single-district foundation.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/zefin140
• YouTubeyoutube.com/embed/UMCllI9KTT8
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php?id=100064758964167
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zionsville-education-foundation
• Instagraminstagram.com/zionsvilleeducationfoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 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 Zionsville Education Foundation