👤 Donor Profile
Stage: Qualification
Name:David Grohne
Organization:David F and Margaret T Grohne Family Foundation
Email:—
Phone:(708) 496-0380
Address:4908 Lawn Ave
Connection:Foundation
Priority:High
Assigned To:Nick
Giving Capacity:$1,000,000
Rec. Ask:$800,000
Projected Ask:$1,000,000
Prior Pledges:None
Notes: Pulled from Partnership Schools Annual Report, 2025.
Research from August 2026:
David F. and Margaret T. Grohne Family Foundation — Giving, FY2022–FY2024
Grohne Family Foundation — Giving, FY2022–FY2024
Total charitable giving was ~$33.8M over three years ($10.0M → $10.3M → $13.5M) across ~117 grants. Education is a real but secondary program area — Hillsdale is the anchor, but conservation and wildlife (Ducks Unlimited alone) dominate the portfolio.
3-year giving total: ~$33.8M
Education total (narrow: K-12 + higher ed + civic + choice policy): ~$3.5–4.5M, or ~10–13% of total giving
Hillsdale College: $500,000/year every year — the consistent higher-ed anchor
Other recurring education: Leadership Institute ($100K/yr), Field School Chicago ($100K), Partnership Schools ($100K in 2023), Purdue Polytechnic, plus small Catholic school gifts (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Philip Neri); FY2024 adds KIPP Foundation and EdChoice (both new)
Actual portfolio driver: conservation & wildlife — Ducks Unlimited $7.5M in FY2022 alone, plus Delta Waterfowl, Sportsmen's Alliance, Wetlands Initiative, Illinois Conservation, Max McGraw Wildlife
Other major clusters: healthcare (Morris Hospital, Salk, Mayo, IU School of Medicine, Phoenix Children's), veterans (Wounded Warriors, DAV, Luke's Wings), conservative policy (Heritage, Cato, Leadership Institute)
Bottom line: Hillsdale is a durable $500K/year commitment from Grohne, but characterizing them as an "education foundation" would be wrong — they're primarily a conservation-and-outdoors foundation with a meaningful higher-ed and Catholic-school sidecar. If you're approaching them, lead with Hillsdale as the reference relationship, but recognize that education competes with much larger conservation commitments for their attention.
📋 Cultivation History (Last 10 Activities)
| Date |
Activity |
Notes |
| 2026-08-31 | Next Action Complete | Completed: mail LOI package |
| 2026-08-26 | Next Action Complete | Completed: draft letter which combines Outdoor & campus — done - ready to mail - |
🎯 Meeting Objectives & Talking Points
Primary Ask:
$800,000 toward the Building Our Future Campaign
Key Connection Points & Talking Points:
Anticipated Questions / Concerns:
📝 Prep Notes & Action Items