FundersFlorida

Dona & Sam Scott Foundation

Sarasota, FL · EIN 46-1562521. Reported 44 grants totalling $1,518,100 to 21 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$15,500median grant
$1,518,100granted, 2021-2024
21organizations funded
71%of grantees funded again the next year
$8,233,032assets, 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. Dona & Sam Scott 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 $15,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $39,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $205,000. 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
6 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
2 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
17 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
9 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
5 grants
$100,000 and Up
4 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Westcoast Black Theater TroupeSarasota, FL$400,000222024
After School MattersChicago, IL$310,000442024
Westcoast Black Theater TroupSarasota, FL$160,000222022
Ringling College of Art & DesignSarasota, FL$139,500442024
Chicago Council on Global AffairsChicago, IL$110,000222024
All Faiths Food BankSarasota, FL$90,000332023
Xs Tennis Education & FoundationChicago, IL$50,000112021
Gamma Xi Boule FoundationBradenton, FL$42,000222023
Sarasota Art MuseumSarasota, FL$40,000332024
Van Wezel FoundationSarasota, FL$39,000332023
Sarasota Memorial Healthcare FoundationSarasota, FL$35,850222024
Black Ensemble TheaterChicago, IL$30,000332024
Education Foundation of Sarasota CountySarasota, FL$30,000332024
American Business Immigration Coalition (abic)Chicago, IL$15,000112024
Sarasota Performing Arts FoundationSarasota, FL$10,000112024
Visible Men AcademyBradenton, FL$6,000222023
Girls Inc of ChicagoChicago, IL$4,000222024
Asolo TheatreSarasota, FL$2,500112023
The Hermitage Artist RetreatEnglewood, FL$2,500112024
American Jewish CommitteeNew York, NY$1,250112022
Assoc for the Study of African-American Life and History (asalh)Washington, DC$500112024

14 of 21 (67%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 71%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 30 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
15 grants
Arts & Culture
4 grants
Food & Nutrition
3 grants
Health Care
2 grants
International Affairs
2 grants
Youth Development
2 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
1 grant
Civil Rights
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20217$399,000$50,000
202212$344,250$12,500
202312$385,000$16,250
202413$389,850$10,000

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 66% of this one's giving went to organizations in Florida. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Florida
$997K
Illinois
$519K
New York
$1K
District of Columbia
$500

Find more foundations like Dona & Sam Scott Foundation

We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.

No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.

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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund13 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc13 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust10 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc10 shared recipientsThe Chicago Community Trust9 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc9 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,500. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Florida.
  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 education in FloridaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in FloridaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in FloridaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Dona & Sam Scott Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 605 S Gulfstream Ave 17, Sarasota, FL, 34236. 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 46-1562521 · 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, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.