Funder guides › District of Columbia
Foundations That Fund Community Improvement in District of Columbia
618 foundations reported 2,126 grants worth $292.5M to community improvement organizations in District of Columbia on their most recent tax filings. Here is who they are, and which ones did not check the box on that filing for giving only to preselected organizations. An unchecked box is not a statement that a foundation takes requests; its own page quotes what its return said about applying.
Grantmaking charities such as community foundations report on a different form and are counted separately, in their own section.
Repeat funding in community improvement, District of Columbia
Across 70 funder-year observations in this group, a typical foundation funded 67% of the same organizations again the following year. That is why a record of past giving is worth reading before writing to a foundation. It describes the organizations a foundation already supports, not whether it would add yours.
Foundations that fund community improvement in District of Columbia without the preselected-only box checked
Each one granted to this cause in this state, and none of them told the IRS it only funds organizations it picks itself. Ordered by how many grants they made, not by dollars. That shows how widely each one gives, not whether any one of them would take a new applicant. Typical grant is the median, so you can judge whether you are their size.
| Foundation | Based in | Typical grant | Grants made | Granted here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Ford Foundation | New York, NY | $255K | 64 | $24.1M |
| Wk Kellogg Foundation | Battle Creek, MI | $250K | 45 | $13.1M |
| The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Princeton, NJ | $250K | 35 | $22.0M |
| The Kresge Foundation | Troy, MI | $100K | 34 | $4.8M |
| The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz | Washington, DC | $60K | 32 | $2.8M |
| Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation | Kansas City, MO | $108K | 23 | $4.3M |
| The Bank of America Charitable | Charlotte, NC | $4K | 23 | $2.0M |
| Td Charitable Foundation | Portland, ME | $75K | 23 | $2.0M |
| William J and Dorothy K O'neill | Cleveland, OH | $20K | 23 | $1.1M |
| The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation | Menlo Park, CA | $150K | 19 | $3.4M |
The largest funders — for reference
These give the most money to this cause in this state, but most state on their returns that they give only to organizations they select, and their grants are usually far larger than a small organization would seek. Useful context, not a target list.
| Foundation | Typical grant | Granted here | Preselected-only box |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ford Foundation | $255K | $24.1M | Not checked |
| The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | $250K | $22.0M | Not checked |
| Gates Foundation | $500K | $20.5M | Not checked |
| The Jpb Foundation | $792K | $20.5M | Checked: preselected only |
| The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc | $4.4M | $18.3M | Checked: preselected only |
Grantmaking charities that gave to community improvement organizations in District of Columbia
Everything above comes from private foundations’ Form 990-PF. Community foundations, United Ways and other charities that make grants file Form 990 instead and list their grants on Schedule I, so they are counted here on their own and are not included in any figure above.
On returns for tax years 2019–2025, 615 grantmaking charities reported 2,338 grants totalling $754.4M to 285 community improvement organizations in District of Columbia.
Listed by number of grants reported, not by dollars: 15 of 615 are shown. Form 990 does not ask whether a charity accepts unsolicited requests, so nothing here says either way.
| Grantmaker | Based in | Grants reported | Organizations | Reported here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AARP | Washington, DC | 26 | 11 | $1.1M |
| Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America | Washington, DC | 25 | 10 | $3.1M |
| Edison Electric Institute Inc | Washington, DC | 20 | 6 | $434K |
| Ncta - the Internet & Television | Washington, DC | 18 | 6 | $505K |
| Open Society Action Fund Inc | New York, NY | 17 | 6 | $45.3M |
| United Way of the National Capital Area | Vienna, VA | 15 | 5 | $529K |
| Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation | Washington, DC | 14 | 5 | $2.6M |
| Sixteen Thirty Fund | Washington, DC | 11 | 5 | $58.3M |
| Enterprise Community Partners Inc | Columbia, MD | 11 | 6 | $642K |
| Ctia - the Wireless Association | Washington, DC | 11 | 4 | $410K |
Grantmakers at donor-advised-fund scale, for reference
Each of these reported grants to 2,000 or more different organizations across all its returns. Grantmakers at this scale are normally donor-advised fund sponsors or workplace-giving platforms: the money is directed by many individual account holders, not awarded by a committee, so writing to the organization is unlikely to reach whoever chose these grants.
| Grantmaker | Based in | Grants reported | Organizations | Reported here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund | Boston, MA | 121 | 49 | $36.5M |
| Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc | Lone Tree, CO | 92 | 34 | $11.5M |
| American Online Giving Foundation Inc | Newark, DE | 89 | 30 | $4.0M |
| Greater Washington Community Foundation | Washington, DC | 71 | 25 | $10.6M |
| Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program | Southeastern, PA | 53 | 18 | $3.3M |
How cause was assigned here. Schedule I gives each recipient’s EIN. We looked that EIN up in the IRS Business Master File and used the NTEE major group the IRS assigns to the recipient, the same classification the private-foundation figures above use. Grants whose recipient EIN is missing or not in the master file are not counted. State is the recipient’s address as the grantmaker filed it. Where a return was amended, only the newest version is counted.
Get the rest of the District of Columbia community improvement funders by email
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Where the money actually goes in District of Columbia
Total granted to organizations in each city. Funding is usually far more concentrated than people expect, which matters when you are judging your own odds.
How to use this list
- Start with the foundations that did not check the box. The others told the IRS they give only to organizations they select themselves. An unchecked box is not an invitation, so read what each one's return says about applying on its own page.
- Check whether they fund organizations your size. The median grant here is $20K — a funder writing $20K checks is unlikely to write you a six-figure one.
- Look for a local connection. Foundations concentrate their giving geographically, and repeat the same grantees year after year.
- Read their recent grants before writing. Past giving tells you what they actually fund, which is often narrower than their stated mission.
Other funder guides
Other causes in District of Columbia: Animal Welfare (1,522) · Arts & Culture (3,405) · Civil Rights (1,580) · Crime & Legal (996) · Diseases & Disorders (1,035) · Education (3,499) · Employment (282) · Environment (3,500) · Food & Nutrition (953) · Health Care (1,414) · Housing & Shelter (433) · Human Services (2,080) · International Affairs (4,283) · Medical Research (420) · Mental Health (302) · Public & Societal Benefit (2,483) · Public Safety & Disaster Relief (388) · Recreation & Sports (642) · Religion (661) · Science & Technology (293) · Social Science (822) · Youth Development (547)
Each number is how many private foundations reported grants to that cause in District of Columbia.
Community Improvement in other states · Every guide, by state and cause