Funders › Virginia

Irving May and Edith H May Foundation

Richmond, VA · EIN 54-6045912. Reported 109 grants totalling $107,467 to 35 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$107,467granted, 2020-2024
35recipients, as named on its returns
84%of grantees funded again the next year
$694,973assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Irving May and Edith H May Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $1,200; the smallest was $100 and the largest $2,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
41 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
68 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Pancreatic Cancer Action NetworkManhattan Beach, CA$9,500552024
Vcu - Massey Cancer Center - Massey's Magical Touch SalonRichmond, VA$9,500552024
Cadillac Area Honor GuardCadillac, MI$6,500552024
American Legion Bon Air Post 354Midlothian, VA$6,000552024
Ronald Mcdonald HouseCharlotte, DC$6,000332022
South East Corgi RescuePooler, GA$6,000552024
Jewish Family ServicesCharlotte, NC$5,000552024
Palm Beach Zoo - Edith & Robert Callahan Endowment FundWest Palm Beach, FL$5,000552024
Travis Mills FoundationHallowell, ME$4,925552024
Penn MedicinePhiladelphia, PA$4,000222021
Sandy Hook Promise FoundationNewtown, CT$4,000442024
Scoliosis Research SocietyMilwaukee, WI$4,000222024
Richmond SPCARichmond, VA$3,900552024
Companions for HeroesSaint Simons Island, GA$3,513552024
American Red CrossRichmond, VA$2,500442023
Prader-Willi Syndrome AssociationBrandon, FL$2,500112024
Ronald Mcdonald House Greater CharlotteCharlotte, DC$2,500222024
Ronald Mcdonald House Greater PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA$2,500222024
Fisher House FoundationRichmond, VA$2,400552024
C4 FoundationCoronado, CA$2,168332024
Jared Box ProjectPort Matilda, PA$2,100552024
Corygwin Rehabilitation SanctuaryJessup, IA$2,000222024
University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA$2,000112022
Jewish Federation of Greater CharlotteCharlotte, NC$1,400332022
CorgiaidSeattle, WA$1,061552024
Field Institute of TacosEl Prado, NM$1,000112024
Fox Chase Cancer CenterPhiladelphia, PA$1,000112024
Grymes Memorial SchoolOrange, VA$1,000112021
Planned Parenthood Federatio of AmericaWashington, DC$1,000112021
Congregation Brit ShalomState College, PA$900552024
Mad Hatters Farm and RescueHarlem, GA$500112021
The Als AssociationArlington, VA$500112023
Central Union MissionWashington, DC$200222021
Philadelphia Z00Philadelphia, PA$200112023
Piedmont Animal RescueMooresville, NC$200112023

25 of 35 (71%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 84%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 53 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Human Services
14 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
10 grants
Animal Welfare
6 grants
Health Care
5 grants
Diseases & Disorders
5 grants
Crime & Legal
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Education
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202019$16,825$925
202123$22,861$1,000
202220$20,907$1,000
202324$21,168$1,000
202423$25,706$1,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

24% of its giving went to organizations in Virginia. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Virginia
$26K
Pennsylvania
$13K
California
$12K
Georgia
$10K
District of Columbia
$10K
Florida
$8K
North Carolina
$7K
Michigan
$6K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund11 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program7 shared recipientsThe Blackbaud Giving Fund6 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc6 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Virginia.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Related guides

Foundations funding human services in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding animal welfare in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding health care in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Irving May and Edith H May Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 17950, Richmond, VA, 23226. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 54-6045912 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.