What We Fund

The mission of the Robert W. Plaster Foundation is to expand educational access and promote the virtues of the American Free Enterprise System through named capital projects.

Primarily, the Robert W. Plaster Foundation provides naming gifts for Free Enterprise Centers and Schools of Business. These are generally at colleges and universities and often house entrepreneurship centers, trading labs, business centers, incubators, accelerators, free market think tanks and research centers for liberty, located primarily in the Midwestern region of the United States.

In addition, the Foundation provides a very limited number of small grants supporting causes that are: in line with donor intent, in the Midwest and usually in communities in which family members have familiarity. These gifts are typically in the form of a challenge grant, aimed at helping charitable organizations inspire additional support and more supporters. These projects should be consistent with Robert W. Plaster’s philosophy of giving in a conservative and Christian environment.

FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a list of our frequently asked questions. If you have a question that is not answered in this list, feel free to ask us directly by emailing Info@RobertWPlasterFoundation.org.

What types of projects do you fund?

We provide naming grants for brick and mortar projects usually for educational institutions.

Do you have an application form?

We prefer to receive a Letter of Inquiry rather than an application form to begin our grant making process. Please refer to the "Grant Making Process" document.

Do you provide grants for endowments?

No. Our Founder, Robert W. Plaster, chose to focus the Robert W. Plaster Foundation on brick and mortar projects.

Do you provide grants for operating budgets?

No. Our Founder, Robert W. Plaster, chose to focus the Robert W. Plaster Foundation on brick and mortar projects.

Do you provide grants for scholarships?

No. Our Founder, Robert W. Plaster, wanted to help as many people as possible with the grants from his Foundation. Where scholarships help one person at a time, buildings help many people at once, broadening the impact of the grants.

Do you only provide grants to institutions in Missouri?

No. Our geographical focus is generally the Midwestern United States.

If you would like more information, please e-mail the foundation at: Info@RobertWPlasterFoundation.org, or call 417-533-3007.

Robert W. Plaster Foundation, Inc.

Grant Making Process

1. Organizations seeking funding should review the Foundation’s Funding Focus before submitting a request.

2. Organizations seeking consideration of funding should submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI) of no more than 2 pages with the following information:

Organizational history, mission, and goals.

Statement of need

How project meets the need

Project attributes such as:

Timeline for construction
Overall costs and construction only costs
Fundraising timeline, current progress
Number of people served
Contact information

3. Upon review of the LOI the requesting organization will be informed if an invitation to submit a formal proposal is warranted.

4. If a proposal is deemed warranted an Request for Proposal (RFP) will be sent and will ask for information such as:

Organizational history, mission, goals
Description of need(s)
Project description (including program description and goals)
How project supports the mission of the Robert W. Plaster Foundation
Methodology for the project
Overall project budget, construction only budget and amount requested
Other funding sources
Projected operating expenses and plans to sustain the project
Ways to measure effectiveness of the project
Pictures of and around the project site and map of town or city and region
Board of Trustees, Board of Directors and other leadership
Financials (Budgets, forecasts, financial statements, IRS Form 990 and Determination Letter
Contact Information for purposes of the proposal

5. A site visit and/or formal in person presentation may be requested by the Foundation’s Executive Director at any point during the application process.

If you would like more information, please e-mail the Foundation at: Info@RobertWPlasterFoundation.org, or call 417-533-3007.

Grant Making Process