Corporate giving: the Lincoln foundation and the Vera Bradley foundation

The employers' philanthropy — the companies are in Business and Wealth; the giving is here

Lincoln Financial Foundation: Lincoln National was founded in Fort Wayne in 1905, and though the company moved its headquarters to Radnor, Pennsylvania in 1999 (the firm is in the Business leg), its foundation — incorporated under a Fort Wayne-rooted charter, EIN 35-6042099 — kept Fort Wayne among its grant communities, alongside Greensboro, Omaha, Phoenix, Hartford, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Concord and Dallas. The foundation's current practice is largely invitation-only, with employee matching gifts and LIVE volunteer grants carrying much of the volume. Its 2025 Form 990-PF, as compiled from the filing, records $8.8 million across 3,159 grants, with Indiana taking sixteen percent of grant dollars (about $1.4 million) and Fort Wayne the single most frequent recipient city, with 231 grants; itemized Fort Wayne grants include $100,000 to the United Way of Allen County and $90,000 to Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana, and Easterseals Northeast Indiana has reported $30,000 employment-services grants from the foundation.

The Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer: Vera Bradley's co-founders Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller began raising money for breast-cancer research in 1993 after the death of their friend and colleague Mary Sloan; the company dates the foundation's establishment to 1994 (the company is in the Business leg; the Baekgaard fortune is in Wealth). Its money flows overwhelmingly to one Fort Wayne-raised purpose — the Vera Bradley Foundation Center for Breast Cancer Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine — and its totals are best carried as the dated series its own reports give: more than $36 million raised on the company's standing account, more than $41 million by its March 2025 release, and $43 million donated on accounts published in October 2026. Each October its Turn the Town Pink campaign hangs sponsored ribbons through downtown Fort Wayne.

Sources:

1. Lincoln Financial Foundation, Form 990-PF, tax year 2025 (EIN 35-6042099), as compiled by Grantable — $8.8 million across 3,159 grants; Indiana's $1.4 million (16 percent); Fort Wayne as most frequent recipient city (231 grants); Lincoln Financial, "Lincoln Financial Foundation" (lincolnfinancial.com) — the grant-community list, the invitation-only practice, matching gifts and LIVE grants; Lincoln foundation grant listings (via Grantmakers.io) — the United Way of Allen County ($100,000) and Junior Achievement of Northern Indiana ($90,000) grants; Easterseals Northeast Indiana — the foundation's $30,000 employment-services grants.
2. Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, "About" (verabradleyfoundation.org) — fundraising begun in 1993 by Baekgaard and Miller after Mary Sloan's death; Vera Bradley Inc., news release, 14 March 2025 — "Established in 1994 by Vera Bradley Co-founders Barbara Bradley Baekgaard and Patricia R. Miller… has raised more than $41 million"; Vera Bradley Inc., "Our Story" (verabradley.com) — more than $36 million raised for the Vera Bradley Foundation Center at Indiana University School of Medicine; Oct 2026 coverage — $43 million donated to date.