Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation

Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation is a US private foundation based in Winter Park, FL.

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The foundation was established to alleviate human suffering and to help people help themselves. It has broad interests in human service, education and health care, with a limited interest in the arts; it gives special consideration to charitable, religious and educational organisations working to help underprivileged or needy people improve themselves or relieve human suffering. Its grants include challenge and development work, construction and renovation, equipment and functional expansion, pilot and start-up projects, and feasibility or planning studies. It describes its strongest work as helping nonprofit organisations become better managed, governed and led. Eligible applicants are tax-exempt public charities headquartered in the Orlando metropolitan area; requests from elsewhere need special interest or support from a director.

Themes

• Human services
• Education
• Health care
• Arts
• Nonprofit capacity building

Geographic Focus

Priority: Orange; Seminole; Osceola; Lake.

What They Don't Fund

• From chiefly tax-supported institutions or their ‘support’ foundations (more than 50% government funding of operations or projects), or for continuing dropped or discontinued government-funded programs or projects until at least one year of 51% private funding has been completed successfully;
• For individual scholarships or for individual research grants even if through an exempt or otherwise qualified educational organization;
• For alcoholism or drug abuse programs or facilities;
• For routine operating expenses;
• To pay off deficits or pre-existing debt;
• For foreign organizations or for foreign expenditure. For this purpose ‘foreign’ means outside the United States, or its territories and possessions, whether the organization itself is U.S. based or foreign based;
• For travel projects or fellowships;
• For chiefly church, sacramental, denominational or inter-denominational purposes, except outreach projects for elderly, indigents, needy, youth, or homeless regardless of belief, race, color, creed, or sex;
• For endowment funds or other purely revenue generating funds;
• Advocacy organizations or advocacy component funding;
• For cultural or arts organizations unless their collections, exhibits, projects or performances are of demonstrated nationally recognized quality; or for the demonstrated educational value of children, K-12th grade
• From organizations having receipts or revenues from memberships and/or contributions of less than $25,000 in the previous year, or from any organization whose Internal Revenue Code Section 509(a) ‘publicly supported’ status will need renewal in the next six (6) months

Review the Policies & Eligibility section and send the Grants Manager a letter of inquiry stating the amount sought, purpose and nature of the organisation. If the Foundation is interested, it invites the organisation to complete an application.

• Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 68% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
• Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 77 grants to organisations were $35,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

• The foundation encourages organisations to contact it directly before submitting a formal inquiry to check whether a programme is likely to be considered.
• The foundation may conduct a field review, including a site visit and discussion with the organisation’s staff, board or trustees and accounting personnel, as well as a review of its operations.
• The foundation asks grantees to provide progress reports every six months and updates when significant leadership or organisational changes occur during the grant period.
• The foundation requires a final evaluation of the project or impact once grant funds have been expended.