Business Spotlight: Gifts for the Gifted

A Springfield-based charitable foundation has quietly amassed over $14 million in assets and granted over $6 million to date, primarily to local education and youth organizations. Its latest round tallies $525,000 to nine groups.

It all started with a $200,000 investment by Henry Schneider in 1989. The initial capital came from proceeds of artwork sold at auction, says Schneider’s son, Dr. Mike Schneider, the current foundation president.

“Dad’s got an interesting background,” says Mike, who last year retired from a 36-year career as an anesthesiologist at Mercy.

For one, Henry, who was born in 1926, grew up as a gifted student in an era when there wasn’t a lot of educational programming available. His son also describes him as an accomplished piano player, art collector, professor and retail store owner. But one thing led the trajectory of Henry’s career.

“His primary interest was in investing,” Mike says, noting his dad formed a securities trading advisory firm for private investors in the 1960s and ran it until starting The Schneider Foundation in 1989. “He’s been principal investor and manager of the foundation. He’s currently 97 years old and still going strong.”

The elder Schneider is a Springfield native and graduate of Drury University, where his wife Jane also earned a degree, and he went on to receive an MBA from Columbia University in New York. It was that experience, under the tutelage of economist Benjamin Graham, Mike says, that catapulted his father’s financial career. The first step was working on Wall Street as a market analyst and then becoming a chartered financial analyst.

Wall Street to Main Street
The Schneiders returned to Springfield in the early 1950s to start a family, and Henry brought his trading acumen from the Big Apple.

“All the money in the foundation was made in stock investments,” Mike says.

The couple were no strangers to charitable donations.

“They wanted to consolidate their giving to do it in a more meaningful fashion,” Mike adds.

In the latest round, a $200,000 grant to The Summit Preparatory School of Southwest Missouri is tops, followed by $175,000 to the Foundation for Springfield Public Schools to fund the district’s international baccalaureate program.

“This is all new money coming into the community that Henry’s made on Wall Street,” says Karen Schneider, Mike’s wife, noting she’s not a board member but recognizes the family foundation’s economic impact locally.

Summit Prep has been a leading recipient in recent years, including a $500,000 gift in 2018, when the school relocated to its current building on Walnut Lawn Street.

“It’s one of the few private schools that’s nonreligion based. It’s a progressive education where the students basically choose their own route of education and they pursue that,” Mike says.

“Dad thought that was an interesting concept. He was a gifted student, and he didn’t have much of an outlet.”

Henry attended Greenwood Laboratory School on the Missouri State University campus through eighth grade, then went to a military academy in Tennessee for high school.

Other grants selected this year, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, include Drury’s Center for Gifted Education, after-school programs at Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield Inc. and The Salvation Army, student and music programs at Springfield Symphony Orchestra Inc. and the Springfield Youth Symphony, and a Boy Scouts camp.

At the Foundation for SPS, Executive Director Natalie Murdock says the Schneiders have been longtime supporters of the IB program, which is in place at three elementary schools – Boyd, Field and Rountree – as well as Pipkin Middle and Central High schools. The annual grants, she says, go toward teacher training, field trips and classroom support, including exam fees and learning materials.

“In 2018, the Foundation for SPS honored the Schneider family as our Advocate for Education,” Murdock says via email.

The Schneider Foundation has given to over 20 organizations over the years, Mike says. The 2022 grant cycle issued $400,000.

“The amount we give away is basically set by the IRS, usually 5% of our average investment assets,” he says.

Same family, new ideas
Today, the foundation remains a family affair, with Henry appointing Mike president at the past board meeting in the fall, and two other children, Susan Holliday and Ross “Monty” Schneider, named vice presidents. Rounding out the board are directors Douglas Nickell, secretary; David Myers, treasurer; and James Johnson.

According to the foundation’s recently filed federal form 990s, no compensation is awarded to the officers or board members. Mike says the group does cut checks for legal and accounting services handled by members.

As president and able to dedicate more time, Mike says one of his goals is to make the foundation more visible. That effort has resulted in a website that tells the genesis story, provides mission and vision statements, links to annual tax filings and accepts grant application submissions.

“Now, we prefer all grants are submitted through the website,” he says.

The 2024 cycle just opened and closes on Dec. 31.

“We are open to new ideas and new grant proposals,” Mike says, noting he intends to maintain and honor his father’s three decades of giving and relationships through the foundation.

“It has been a true pleasure,” Henry says in a prepared statement. “I have enjoyed everything about it. My wish has always been to benefit the Springfield community.”