Funders › Virginia

Share the Cheer Foundation

Winchester, VA · EIN 54-1868558. Reported 22 grants totalling $68,250 to 21 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$68,250granted, 2021-2025
21recipients, as named on its returns
0%of grantees funded again the next year
$341,820assets, 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. Share the Cheer 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 $1,000 and $5,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $12,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
14 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
5 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
2 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
Ourbridge for KidsCharlotte, NC$12,000112021
Opequon Presbyterian ChurchWinchester, VA$10,000112022
Human Society of CharlotteCharlotte, NC$6,000112024
Second Harvest Food Bank of MetrolinaCharlotte, NC$6,000112024
Winchester Rescue MissionWinchester, VA$6,000112022
Vector SpaceLynchburg, VA$5,000112023
Young Women's Empowerment AcademyLynchburg, VA$5,000112023
Bright FuturesWinchester, VA$3,000112025
Sinclair Health ClinicWinchester, VA$3,000222025
Lynchburg City Schools Education Foundation IncLynchburg, VA$2,000112023
Adult Care CenterWinchester, VA$1,000112025
Blue Ridge Area Food BankVerona, VA$1,000112025
Cacapon Lost River Land TrustCapon Bridge, WV$1,000112025
Ccap of WinchesterWinchester, VA$1,000112022
Compassionate Care ProgramWinchester, VA$1,000112022
Dementia MattersWhite Post, VA$1,000112025
Hardy County Community FoundationRomney, WV$1,000112025
I'm Just Me Movement - Agents for Change CampaignWinchester, VA$1,000112022
Literacy Volunteers (of Winchester)Winchester, VA$1,000112022
Shenandoah Valley Discovery MuseumWinchester, VA$1,000112022
Capon Valley Neighbor to NeighborCapon Springs, WV$250112022

1 of 21 (5%) 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 0%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 9 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.

Arts & Culture
2 grants
Health Care
2 grants
Food & Nutrition
1 grant
Religion
1 grant
Education
1 grant
Housing & Shelter
1 grant
Human Services
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20211$12,000$12,000
20229$22,250$1,000
20233$12,000$5,000
20242$12,000$6,000
20257$10,000$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

62% 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
$42K
North Carolina
$24K
West Virginia
$2K

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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 Fund9 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc6 shared recipientsShare Our Strength4 shared recipientsPaypal Charitable Giving Fund4 shared recipientsNetwork for Good4 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 arts & culture in VirginiaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Share the Cheer Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: 141 Marcel Drive, Winchester, VA, 22602. 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 54-1868558 · 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.