The Harold Burson Foundation (fka John W Hill Hill and Knowlton Foundation)
New York, NY · EIN 13-6161529. Reported 63 grants totalling $905,505 to 48 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. The Harold Burson Foundation (fka John W Hill Hill and Knowlton 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $4,500 and $15,000; the smallest was $425 and the largest $75,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Lagrant Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Committee to Protect Journalists | New York, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| World Central Kitchen | Washington, DC | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Executive Leadership Council | Washington, DC | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Blue Star Families | Encinitas, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Americares Foundation | Stamford, CT | $36,670 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Project Sunshine | New York, NY | $35,000 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| USA for Unhcr | Washington, DC | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Economic Club of New York | New York, NY | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Brazil Foundation | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board | Arlington, VA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| International Rescue Committee | Albert Lea, MN | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Institute for Public Relations | Gainesville, FL | $22,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Arthur Page Society | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Institute of Public Relations | Gainesville, FL | $20,000 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Red Cross | Boone, IA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Literacy Partners Inc | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Turkish Philanthropy Funds | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Columbus Citizens Foundation | New York, NY | $12,000 | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| Jazz at Lincoln Center | New York, NY | $10,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Friends of Magen David Adom | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Committee for Economic Develpment of the Conference Board | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Committee for Economic Development of the Conference Board | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Feeding America | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| God's Love We Deliver | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Make-a-Wish Metro New York and Western New York | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mayors Fund to Advance New York City | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Mccain Institute Arizona State University | Tempe, AZ | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Palestinian American Medical Association | Fairfax, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Strive | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Pride Network | Newark, NJ | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Voices Project USA Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wounded Warrior Project | Jacksonville, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| YMCA of Greater New York | New York, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Diversity Action Alliance | New York, NY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Asu Foundation (mccain Institute) | Tempe, AZ | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| City Meals on Wheels | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Community Service Society of Ny | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| International Committee of Red Cross | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Un Wfp USA | Boone, IA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Community Service Society of New York | New York, NY | $4,585 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Trevor Project | West Hollywood, CA | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Seminar | Clermont, FL | $3,750 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Nina Vaca Foundation | Dallas, TX | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| YMCA of Greater Ny | New York, NY | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Everyorg | San Francisco, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Notre Dame | Notre Dame, IN | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
8 of 48 (17%) 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 15%, across 4 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 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.
- Committee to Protect Journalists
To support the Committee to Protect Journalists - World Central Kitchen
To support the World Central Kitchen - The Lagrant Foundation
To support the The Lagrant Foundation - Executive Leadership Council
To support the Executive Leadership Council - Blue Star Families
To support Blue Star Families - Lagrant Foundation
To support the LAGRANT foundation
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 41 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 9 | $106,170 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 13 | $166,160 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 24 | $240,425 | $8,750 |
| 2024 | 9 | $74,000 | $10,000 |
| 2025 | 8 | $318,750 | $35,000 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Harold Burson Foundation (fka John W Hill Hill and Knowlton Foundation) has 5 of them, worth $57,500. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Project Sunshine | New York, NY | $20,000 |
| Institute of Public Relations | Gainesville, FL | $12,500 |
| Mayor's Fund to Advance New York | New York, NY | $10,000 |
| Wounded Warrior Project | Jacksonville, FL | $10,000 |
| Un World Food Program USA | Boone, IA | $5,000 |
Where its money goes
40% of its giving went to organizations in New York. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Harold Burson Foundation (fka John W Hill Hill and Knowlton 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: 3 World Trade Ctr Fl 29, New York, NY, 10007. 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 13-6161529 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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