Foundations that fund organizations in Washington, District of Columbia
Worked out from where the grants went, not where the foundations sit.
Funding landscape for Washington nonprofits
15,860 private foundations gave $5.3B to Washington organizations in their latest filings; 37 of the 100 that say either way accept applications.
49,532 grants in total, with a typical foundation's median grant to Washington around $250K. 3 of these funders are based in District of Columbia; the rest give here from elsewhere.
- Foundations giving here
- 15,860
- Accept applications
- 37
- of 100 that state a policy
- Dollars to Washington
- $5.3B
- latest filings
- Grants
- 49,532
- Typical median grant
- $250K
- Based in DC
- 3%
- of funders listed
Funders, by dollars given to Washington organizations
| Foundation | Based in | Grants here | Dollars here | Median | Accepts applications | Typical purposes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gates Foundation | Seattle, WA | 456 | $507M | $501K | Yes | Postsecondary education; Public awareness and analysis; Global health and development public awareness and analysis |
| Lilly Endowment Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 57 | $190M | $750K | Yes | Christian faith&life storytellg init; Employee matching gift(s); Pathways for tomorrow initiative |
| The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation | Menlo Park, CA | 393 | $160M | $200K | Yes | For general operating support; Matching gift of staff and board members; For legal technical assistance |
| The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation | Omaha, NE | 62 | $159M | $1.0M | Preselected only | Program support; General operating support |
| The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Princeton, NJ | 452 | $151M | $150K | Yes | Matching gifts; 79608 disrupting structural barriers to health equity by ta…; 81694 providing technical assistance and direction for rwjf… |
| The Ford Foundation | New York, NY | 412 | $143M | $202K | Yes | General support; Matching gift; General support and core support for institutional strength… |
| Freedom Together Foundation | New York, NY | 136 | $138M | $500K | Preselected only | General operating support; Funders for housing and opportunity; All voting is local |
| The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 34 | $106M | $2.1M | Preselected only | To improve outcomes for k-12 students in the u.s.; To support public infrastructure development; To support economic development |
| Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation | Redmond, WA | 39 | $102M | $1.9M | Preselected only | To provide general support; To increase access to mental health support for young people; To support civic engagement and participation |
| Walton Family Foundation Inc | Bentonville, AR | 137 | $93M | $250K | Preselected only | To support general operations.; Toimprove the sustainability and resilience of the Colorado…; To Launch the State Implementation Fund, a project that wil… |
| Wem Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | 1 | $75M | $75M | Preselected only | General |
| Wellspring Philanthropic Fund Inc | New York, NY | 148 | $60M | $250K | Preselected only | General operating support; Advancing civic engagement; Expanding economic opportunity |
| Clark Charitable Foundation Inc Dba a James & Alice B Clark Foundation | Chevy Chase, MD | 55 | $55M | $300K | Preselected only | General operating support of youth programs; Student scholarships; Early childhood innovation network |
| John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation | Chicago, IL | 128 | $54M | $238K | Preselected only | In support of general operations; To support its continued participation as a strategic ally…; In support of the double exposure investigative film festiv… |
| Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 101 | $52M | $100K | Preselected only | Employee or trustee recommended gift for general operationa…; 2024 foundation membership to support charitable efforts.; In support of placing phd-level science and technology poli… |
| Sequoia Climate Foundation | Irvine, CA | 43 | $50M | $900K | Preselected only | To provide general operating support; To support engagement and education activities on potent gr…; To improve public health through acceleration of industrial… |
| Foundation to Promote Open Society | New York, NY | 108 | $45M | $250K | Preselected only | To provide general support; To provide general support to a section 501(c)(3) private f…; To support the grantees work examining the u.s. china relat… |
| The David and Lucile Packard Foundation | Los Altos, CA | 140 | $44M | $200K | Yes | Just Societies; Families and Communities; Environment and Science |
| Wk Kellogg Foundation | Battle Creek, MI | 163 | $40M | $200K | Yes | Promise of an Equitable Future; Jobs and Family Economic Security; Early Care and Education |
| The Andrew W Mellon Foundation | New York, NY | 48 | $40M | $575K | Yes | To support general operations; To support capacity building and general operations; To support organizational development, planning, and progra… |
| Laura and John Arnold Foundation | Houston, TX | 169 | $38M | $135K | Preselected only | To provide general operating support.; Employee awards donation.; To inform policymakers of the factors that drive high healt… |
| Carnegie Corporation of New York | New York, NY | 131 | $37M | $234K | Yes | For general support; As a final grant for general support; For support to displaced and at-risk Ukrainian and Russian… |
| Fairfax Educational Foundation Inc Fka Mar-Jac Foundation | Fairfax, VA | 1 | $35M | $35M | Yes | Program assistance |
| Waverley Street Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 20 | $34M | $1.0M | Preselected only | General Operating Support; Civic engagement; SEWA support |
| Conrad N Hilton Foundation | Westlake Village, CA | 121 | $31M | $150K | Yes | For general operating support; To support the sudan country office; To deepen the opportunity youth forum's work including comm… |
| The Coca-Cola Foundation Inc | Atlanta, GA | 32 | $29M | $528K | Yes | From Access to Resilience: Promoting the Growth of Small Bu…; Disaster Responder; American Red Cross Hurricane Debby |
| The Libra Foundation | San Francisco, CA | 2 | $28M | $14M | Preselected only | General support |
| Truist Foundation Inc | Orlando, FL | 26 | $28M | $63K | Yes | Building career pathways to; Strengthening small; Thriving communities |
| Sergey Brin Family Foundation C/O Pacific Foundation Services | San Francisco, CA | 13 | $28M | $1.2M | Preselected only | General operating support; Energy initiatives; Breakthrough prize and general charitable support |
| Crankstart Foundation | San Jose, CA | 28 | $26M | $500K | Preselected only | General support; To support the bay area daca initiative to help daca recipi…; Event sponsorship |
| The Kresge Foundation | Troy, MI | 123 | $25M | $150K | Yes | General operating support; Annual member support; Trustee recognition grant |
| The Heising-Simons Foundation | Los Altos, CA | 83 | $25M | $200K | Preselected only | For general support; To reform wholesale power markets, expand transmission, eng…; For the new sheriff in town fund |
| The Rockefeller Foundation | New York, NY | 70 | $24M | $188K | Preselected only | General support; Education about tax strategies that benefit low income us w…; Toward the costs of its families and workers fund, a collab… |
| The Marcus Foundation Inc | Atlanta, GA | 15 | $24M | $592K | Preselected only | To support the exempt purpose of the recipient organization; To support the exempt purpose of the receipient organization |
| Margaret a Cargill Foundation | Eden Prairie, MN | 31 | $24M | $500K | Preselected only | Other operating support; Support to improve access to maternal and child health; Midwest early recovery fund |
| Popplestone Foundation C/O Sullivan & Worcester Llp | Boston, MA | 8 | $23M | $1.7M | Preselected only | Democracy & civic engagement - general operating support, s…; Democracy & civic engagement - general operations; Democracy & civic engagement - combating election sabotage |
| Annie E Casey Foundation Inc | Baltimore, MD | 202 | $23M | $75K | Preselected only | Provide general operating support; Charitable contribution through the matching gifts program; Support for Connecting Community Service Corps to Climate a… |
| Peter G Peterson Foundation | New York, NY | 73 | $22M | $50K | Yes | To support events and core activities.; To support the peter g. peterson foundation fiscal internsh…; To support the development of comprehensive solutions to ad… |
| Wal-Mart Foundation | Bentonville, AR | 21 | $22M | $790K | Yes | Healthier food for all; Disaster relief and preparedness; Caring and connected communities |
| Valhalla Foundation | Woodside, CA | 10 | $21M | $1.5M | Preselected only | Ocean conservation initiatives; Scaling high quality public schools; Mapbiomas |
| Aviv Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | 1 | $21M | $21M | Preselected only | General purpose |
| Good Ventures Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 20 | $20M | $300K | Preselected only | General support; Bipartisan commission on biodefense; Ai policy and governance |
| The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation Inc | Lake Worth, FL | 1 | $20M | $20M | Preselected only | Restricted - white house ballroom |
| The Schmidt Family Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 50 | $20M | $200K | Yes | Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels; Strengthening civic engagement; Fostering youth development and leadership |
| The Klarman Family Foundation | Boston, MA | 25 | $19M | $300K | Yes | Unrestricted operating support; Support for civic participation; Employee matching gift |
| Democracy Fund Inc | Washington, DC | 76 | $19M | $200K | Preselected only | General support; Program support to provide security training and technical…; Program support for Conecta Arizona |
| Jpmorgan Chase Foundation | New York, NY | 249 | $18M | $744 | Preselected only | Matching contribution (general operating support); In support of creating economic mobility and career pathways; In support of neighborhood revitalization |
| The Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 6 | $18M | $2.5M | Preselected only | General support; Project support for land restoration; General Support |
| The J Willard and Alice S Marriott Foundation | Bethesda, MD | 50 | $17M | $300K | Preselected only | General operating support; Event support; Early childhood mental health doe matching grant |
| Skyline Foundation | San Francisco, CA | 34 | $17M | $350K | Preselected only | General support; Indigenous power and light fund; For the charitable purposes of resource equity funders coll… |
| Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts | Wilmington, DE | 2 | $17M | $8.6M | Preselected only | General & Unrestricted |
| Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated | Pittsburgh, PA | 62 | $17M | $223K | Yes | General operating support; Program support; Project support |
| Diana Davis Spencer Foundation Inc | Bethesda, MD | 38 | $17M | $200K | Preselected only | General operating support; Towards heroes & history makers celebration; Education programs |
| The Rob Walton Foundation | Bentonviille, AR | 9 | $16M | $900K | Preselected only | To support establishing a Conservation Academy; To support African Parks Incubation Program: Scaling Throug…; To provide operational support for the development and mana… |
| The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation | Washington, DC | 292 | $16M | $35K | Yes | Community services; Arts and humanities; Education |
| Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust | New York, NY | 56 | $15M | $250K | Yes | General purpose; Justice program; Energy program |
| The Arthur M Blank Family Foundation | Atlanta, GA | 40 | $15M | $163K | Preselected only | General operating support; Veterans justice project; Good governance |
| Ford Philanthropy | Dearborn, MI | 15 | $14M | $150K | Preselected only | Education for the future of work; Scholarship; Disaster response |
| Capital One Foundation Inc | McLean, VA | 18 | $14M | $163K | Preselected only | Small business; Affordable housing; Workforce development |
| John S and James L Knight Foundation | Miami, FL | 31 | $14M | $213K | Yes | To provide renewed support for the american enterprise inst…; To provide renewed support for nonpartisan research on digi…; To support iranian journalists in exile and a hostage-takin… |
| Charles Stewart Mott Foundation | Flint, MI | 63 | $14M | $100K | Preselected only | For the general purposes or other charitable purposes of th…; To support a national membership organization dedicated to…; To support active and organized civil society participation… |
| The Benificus Foundation | San Carlos, CA | 11 | $13M | $314K | Preselected only | General purpose |
| The Morningstar Philanthropic Foundation D/B/A the Morningstar Foundation | Bethesda, MD | 92 | $13M | $50K | Preselected only | General charitable purposes |
| Gary and Mary West Charitable Trust | LA Jolla, CA | 1 | $12M | $12M | Preselected only | See statement for expenditure responsibility grant |
| Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation | Erie, PA | 18 | $12M | $250K | Preselected only | Unrestricted; Yuval chair, storey chairs, other projects; Microschool start-up loan fund |
| The Patrick J McGovern Foundation Inc | Boston, MA | 23 | $12M | $450K | Preselected only | To expand ai tools and training for nonprofit newsrooms thr…; To support the charitable purpose of the organization; To support the ai equity lab in developing and publicizing… |
| Mastercard Impact Fund | Purchase, NY | 8 | $11M | $633K | Preselected only | Data for social impact; Small business; Financial security |
| Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 42 | $11M | $150K | Yes | Philanthropic sector support 2024; To provide general operating support; General operating support |
| Munger Charitable Trust Number Eight C/O William Borthwick | Pasadena, CA | 11 | $11M | $206K | Preselected only | (1) description: 1 share of berkshire hathaway class a secu…; Charitable; (1) description: 216 shares of berkshire hathaway class b s… |
| The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust | New York, NY | 18 | $11M | $413K | Preselected only | Collaborating with health plans to overcome barriers to cov…; Project impact cgm expanding access to cgm through communit…; General operating support |
| Smith Richardson Foundation Inc | Greensboro, NC | 76 | $11M | $121K | Yes | General operating support |
| The McKnight Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | 47 | $11M | $100K | Yes | for 2024 membership; for general operating support; For program support |
| Lannan Foundation | Santa Fe, NM | 1 | $11M | $11M | Preselected only | Daf |
| John Templeton Foundation | West Conshohocken, PA | 40 | $10M | $202K | Yes | For general support; Bringing diverse christian communities to the dialogue on s…; To support division 36 society for the psychology of religi… |
| Omidyar Network Fund Inc | Redwood City, CA | 67 | $10M | $120K | Preselected only | Employee directed giving program; General operating support; General Operating |
| The Shimon Ben Joseph Foundation Dba Jim Joseph Foundation | San Francisco, CA | 19 | $10M | $100K | Preselected only | General operating support; Atra; Israel education at the international convention |
| Rippleworks Inc | San Francisco, CA | 5 | $10M | $50K | Preselected only | General support; To enable grantee maintain high-impact programs for benefic… |
| Tavitian Foundation II Inc | Stockbridge, MA | 1 | $10M | $10M | Preselected only | Support public charity |
| Catena Foundation | Carbondale, CO | 17 | $9.8M | $380K | Preselected only | General operating support; Community engagement; Conservation |
| Marty and Dorothy Silverman Foundation | New York, NY | 41 | $9.6M | $160K | Preselected only | General donation |
| Wells Fargo Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | 39 | $9.5M | $175K | Preselected only | Veterans Benefits Banking Program Extension and Expansion; Saturday Leadership Academy/Collegiate 100; ABA Foundation's Adult Financial Literacy Expansion |
| Citi Foundation | New York, NY | 16 | $9.3M | $250K | Preselected only | Strengthening community leadership initiative; Community progress makers; Financial inclusion week 2024 and anniversary planning prog… |
| Colcom Foundation | Pittsburgh, PA | 24 | $9.1M | $250K | Yes | General operating support; Restricted grant; 2025 conference |
| The Joyce Foundation | Chicago, IL | 66 | $9.0M | $100K | Yes | Education & economic mobility; Gun violence prevention & justice reform; President's discretionary fund |
| The Marisla Foundation | Laguna Beach, CA | 37 | $8.9M | $125K | Yes | General support |
| Pepsico Foundation Inc | Purchase, NY | 18 | $8.5M | $150K | Preselected only | General Support; Scholarship Program; Fellowship Support |
| Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc | New York, NY | 94 | $8.5M | $75K | Yes | For general support; For general support and membership for 2022, 2023, and 2024; For its project #halfmydaf |
| Builders Vision Foundation | Chicago, IL | 23 | $8.5M | $250K | Preselected only | to provide general operating support; to support its research on agroforestry and carbon sequestr…; to provide financial support for communities affected by At… |
| The Sunderland Foundation | Overland Park, KS | 3 | $8.5M | $3.0M | Yes | 2025 daf funding; 2025 donation for house us fund |
| Sarnat Family Foundation | Carlsbad, CA | 1 | $8.3M | $8.3M | Preselected only | To prevent democratic decline into authoritarianism. |
| Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment | Boston, MA | 10 | $8.2M | $400K | Preselected only | Climate science & policy research; Food and agriculture research; Natural resource conservation and protection |
| Ge Aerospace Foundation | Norwalk, CT | 70 | $8.1M | $353 | Yes | Matching gift |
| The Skoll Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 29 | $8.1M | $90K | Yes | General operating support; 2025 membership support; Global methane hub |
| The Commonwealth Fund | New York, NY | 114 | $7.4M | $26K | Yes | Matching gifts for general operating support; Current and Future Directions in Health Reform: Medicaid an…; Securing the Safety Net for Older Adults: Medicare and Long… |
| The Carl H and Edyth B Lindner Foundation | Cincinnati, OH | 3 | $7.2M | $2.0M | Preselected only | General fund; Campus expansion campaign |
| Arie and Ida Crown Memorial | Chicago, IL | 58 | $7.2M | $75K | Yes | General operating; Program; General operating;program |
| The Wallace Foundation | New York, NY | 42 | $7.1M | $100K | Preselected only | To serve as a Wallace communications partner.; To support districts participating in Wallace's ECPI.; Employee Matching Gift-General support |
| The Allstate Foundation | Northbrook, IL | 48 | $7.0M | $9,950 | Yes | Employee helping hands; 2024 social media education and awareness campaign; July 2024 flash consulting day |
| Alfred P Sloan Foundation | New York, NY | 32 | $7.0M | $211K | Yes | To convene field leaders on how to elevate higher education…; To support projects submitted to higher education forward,…; To facilitate a multi-faceted community of learning and pra… |
| Riff Foundation | Boston, MA | 1 | $7.0M | $7.0M | Preselected only | General support |
Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV, latest electronic return per foundation (2026-10-28). "Accepts applications" reflects the foundation's own checkbox on Part XV line 2. Grants to individuals excluded.
Common questions
Which foundations give to nonprofits in Washington, District of Columbia?
Gates Foundation, Lilly Endowment Inc, The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and 95 others reported grants to Washington organizations on their latest Form 990-PF.
How do I approach a foundation that doesn't accept applications?
A foundation that checks "contributes only to preselected organizations" on its 990-PF won't review a cold proposal. Look at who it funds, find a shared board member, grantee or advisor, and ask for an introduction. Foundations that accept applications usually list a contact and deadlines in Part XV; we show that text on each foundation's page.
Is this list complete?
No. It covers private foundations (Form 990-PF filers) whose latest electronic return lists at least one grant to an organization in Washington. Community foundations and corporate giving programs file different forms and are not included yet.