Ray Herrick

The Herrick Foundation was established by Ray W. Herrick in 1949 to provide financial contributions to worthy publicly supported charitable organizations. The Herrick Foundation is a grant making 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Raised in rural Michigan, Ray Herrick became a skilled toolmaker before founding his own shop that went on to become Tecumseh Products Company, an early Fortune 500 company. Ray used his stock in the company to form the Herrick Foundation and began its long-term mission to improve the welfare of society. Under successive generations of family leadership, the values and stewardship that Ray Herrick intended are still preserved. During its more than 75 years of operation, the Herrick Foundation has donated over $500 million to charitable organizations across the United States.

A philosophy to promote community participation drives a preference for challenge grants, and, in most cases, anonymity for the Herrick Foundation so that the community clearly owns the initiative.