FundersSouth Carolina

Elizabeth Calvin Bonner Foundation

Charleston, SC · EIN 57-1123927. Reported 124 grants totalling $106,529 to 41 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500median grant
$106,529granted, 2021-2024
41organizations funded
88%of grantees funded again the next year
$519,194assets, 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. Elizabeth Calvin Bonner 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 $500. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $1,000; the smallest was $200 and the largest $5,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
80 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
43 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
1 grant

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
Maccallum More Museum and GardensChase City, VA$17,000442024
Prestwood FoundationClarksville, VA$13,000442024
Friends of the Ft Mitchell and Keysville DepotChase City, VA$6,000442024
Friends of Butler Memorial LibraryChase City, VA$5,000442024
Respite Care of CharlestonCharleston, SC$5,000442024
Colleton County Historical & Perserv SocWalterboro, SC$4,000442024
Fishing Creek Presbyterian ChurchChester, SC$4,000442024
Save Our HeritageChase City, VA$4,000442024
Strides of Strength Therapeutic RidingChester, SC$4,000442024
Samaritan's PurseBoone, NC$3,000442024
Water MissionN Charleston, SC$3,000442024
Lowcountry Food BankN Charleston, SC$2,500442024
Tunnel to Towers FoundationStaten Island, NY$2,500332023
Canines for ServiceWilmington, NC$2,000442024
Charleston Symphony OrchestraCharleston, SC$2,000442024
Friends of Hampton PlantationMcclellanville, SC$2,000222024
Harvest Free Medical ClinicN Charleston, SC$2,000442024
Pet HelpersCharleston, SC$2,000442024
Turtle Survival AllianceCross, SC$2,000222024
Turtle Survival AllicaneCross, SC$2,000222022
Casc Meals on Wheels CharlestonCharleston, SC$1,900442024
Hallie HillRavenel, SC$1,900442024
Coastal Conservation LeagueCharleston, SC$1,700332023
Charleston Horticultural SocietyCharleston, SC$1,500332024
James Island OutreachCharleston, SC$1,500332024
Chester District Genealogical SocietyRichburg, SC$1,200442024
Spire Art ServicesCharleston, SC$1,079112024
A Fathers PlaceConway, SC$1,000222024
NAMIN Charleston, SC$1,000222023
Confederate Home & College theCharleston, SC$900332024
Als Association Sc ChapterJohns Island, SC$800222022
Carolina Youth Development CenterN Charleston, SC$800442024
Charleston Area Therapeutic RidingJohns Island, SC$800442024
Rein & ShineAwendaw, SC$800442024
Carolina Wildlife CenterColumbia, SC$500112024
Charleston Bridge ClubCharleston, SC$500222022
A Father's PlaceConway, SC$400112021
Charleston County Parks FoundationCharleston, SC$350112021
Epworth Children's HouseColumbia, SC$300112021
Four Paws and a Wake Up CallWilmington, NC$300112021
No One Should Die Alone FoundationFresno, CA$300112022

34 of 41 (83%) 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 88%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 66 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
16 grants
Arts & Culture
11 grants
Health Care
8 grants
Animal Welfare
7 grants
Housing & Shelter
6 grants
Recreation & Sports
4 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants
International Affairs
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202131$28,300$500
202232$26,150$500
202331$25,250$500
202430$26,829$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.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 50% of this one's giving went to organizations in South Carolina. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

South Carolina
$53K
Virginia
$45K
North Carolina
$5K
New York
$2K
California
$300

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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 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.

Coastal Community Foundation of South12 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund11 shared recipientsDominion Energy Charitable Foundation8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc6 shared recipientsHenry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation Inc6 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $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 South Carolina.
  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.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Elizabeth Calvin Bonner 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: 1700 Ashley River Road Ste a, Charleston, SC, 29407. 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 57-1123927 · 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.