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EnglishWhat Is Siebert Serves and How Can Donors Collaborate With Siebert Lutheran Foundation?
Updated
Siebert Serves is the collaborative philanthropy program of Siebert Lutheran Foundation. According to the foundation, for the first time in its nearly 45-year history, it is accepting funds from donors and foundations that align with Siebert's funding priorities and want to increase their impact. If you are an individual, family, or foundation that wants your giving to reach Lutheran ministries, schools, and nonprofits in Wisconsin—especially Greater Milwaukee—Siebert Serves is designed to let you plug into Siebert's existing grantmaking infrastructure rather than build your own.
What Siebert Serves actually is
Siebert Lutheran Foundation describes itself as dedicated to growing organizations in the Lutheran Christian community, with three funding priorities: Growing the Body of Christ, Educating while sharing the Gospel, and Serving as the hands and feet of Christ. Siebert Serves extends that same grantmaking work to outside philanthropic partners.
The core idea is leverage. Instead of standing up a separate giving program, a donor contributes to a pool that Siebert deploys through its established grant process. The foundation reports that in 2025 it made $4.5M in grants and raised over $600,000 through Siebert Serves, and it notes crossing the $1M mark in collaborative philanthropy.
How donors can collaborate
Siebert Serves offers three giving routes, as listed on the foundation's site:
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Unrestricted current or planned gifts | Give now or arrange a future gift without designating a specific use |
| Named Endowed Fund | Establish a fund carrying your name (or a family/foundation name) |
| Customized philanthropy solutions | Tailored arrangements for individuals, families, and foundations |
The foundation frames the value proposition around four things it brings to a partnership:
- Deep knowledge of the Lutheran community and its leaders in Wisconsin, especially Greater Milwaukee
- Professional program officers
- A defined and analytical due diligence process
- Follow-up reporting and outcomes evaluation to assess impact
In other words, you supply the funds and your intent; Siebert supplies the community relationships, vetting, and post-grant measurement.
Who this fits—and who it may not
Siebert Serves is a reasonable fit if:
- Your giving goals already align with Siebert's three funding priorities (Growing, Educating, Serving).
- You want your dollars to reach Lutheran ministries, schools, and nonprofits in Wisconsin, particularly Greater Milwaukee.
- You would rather rely on an experienced grantmaker's due diligence and outcome reporting than run your own grant cycle.
- You are considering a current gift, a planned gift, a named endowed fund, or a customized structure for a family or foundation.
It is likely a poor fit if your priorities fall outside Siebert's stated funding areas, if you want to direct grants to organizations outside the Lutheran community Siebert serves, or if you require full control over every grant decision rather than participating in a shared process.
How to take the next step
The foundation's site points to a "HOW IT WORKS" section for Siebert Serves and a "GIVE" path for contributions. Because the specific forms, minimums, and timelines are not detailed in the available page content, the practical move is to start there and then speak with the foundation directly about which of the three options matches your situation. If you are also curious about the grantmaking side, the site offers a separate "Get the 101 on Siebert's Grant Process" resource and an online grant application for nonprofits—useful context for understanding how your contribution would ultimately be deployed.