The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Inc
New York, NY · EIN 13-3480472. Reported 56 grants totalling $6,541,081 to 32 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. 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 Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Inc 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 $12,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,500 and $50,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $2,290,500. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The J Paul Getty Trust | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $720,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $365,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $250,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Elton John AIDS Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $117,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NJ | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| American Academy in Rome | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Katonah Museum of Art | Katonah, NY | $44,456 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Whitney Museum of American Art | New York, NY | $43,125 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Bailey House | New York, NY | $32,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Foundation for AIDS Research | New York, NY | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| New York City AIDS Memorial Inc | New York, NY | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Dallas Museum of Art | Dallas, TX | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Currier Museum of Art | Manchester, NH | $16,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Kitchen | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Aperture Foundation | New York, NY | $13,200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Institute of Contemporary Art Miami | Miami, FL | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| New Orleans Museum of Art | New Orleans, LA | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Iris House | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| National Galleries of Scotland | Edinburgh | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| National Gallery of Art | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Research Foundation for State University of Ny | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Robert Wilson Arts Foundation | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| The Jewish Museum | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Planned Parenthood of Greater New York | New York, NY | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| International Center of Photography | New York, NY | $7,100 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Studio Museum in Harlem | New York, NY | $7,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Olana Partnership | Hudson, NY | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Visual Arts Foundation | New York, NY | $4,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Housing Works Health Services Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| International Center of Photography Museum | New York, NY | $1,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
11 of 32 (34%) 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 41%, 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.
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
FOR DONEE'S EXEMPT PURPOSE - Elton John AIDS Foundation Inc
NON-CASH DONATION OF ART FOR DONEE SUPPORT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 44 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 14 | $468,000 | $10,000 |
| 2021 | 13 | $4,933,625 | $10,625 |
| 2022 | 8 | $388,800 | $16,600 |
| 2023 | 9 | $331,487 | $12,500 |
| 2024 | 12 | $419,169 | $12,500 |
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 Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Inc has 17 of them, worth $6,776,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 |
| The J Paul Getty Trust | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $525,000 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $350,000 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $250,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $200,000 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $175,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $150,000 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $125,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $112,500 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $100,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $75,000 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $65,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $37,500 |
| Bailey House | New York, NY | $15,000 |
Where its money goes
70% of its giving went to organizations in California. 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 $12,500. 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 California.
- 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 Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Inc'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: 260 Madison Avenue 17TH Floor, New York, NY, 10016. 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 13-3480472 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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