Funders › Louisiana

Harper Family Foundation

New Orleans, LA · EIN 58-1921771. Reported 48 grants totalling $588,878 to 25 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$8,251median grant
$588,878granted, 2021-2024
25recipients, as named on its returns
55%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,226,404assets, 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. Harper Family 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 $8,251. Half of everything it gave fell between $4,707 and $20,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $30,027. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
14 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
11 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
13 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
10 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Opening Doors Baton RougeBaton Rouge, LA$115,027442024
Friends of CrowvilleCrowville, LA$70,000332024
Streetside LibraryNew Orleans, LA$70,000332024
Live Oak Wilderness CampNew Orleans, LA$57,002332024
St Michael Special SchoolNew Orleans, LA$45,000222024
Tensas AcademySt Joseph, LA$45,000222024
La Center for Children's RightsNew Orleans, LA$30,000442024
Goat in the Road ProductionsNew Orleans, LA$23,000222024
University of New OrleansNew Orleans, LA$21,456332023
The Thensted CenterGrand Coteau, LA$19,466442024
St Katherine Drexel PreparatoryNew Orleans, LA$16,427112021
Doorway to Louisiana IncLake Providence, LA$15,000112023
New Orleans Women & Children's ShelNew Orleans, LA$15,000222024
Community Sailing New OrleansNew Orleans, LA$10,000112022
Youth Run NolaNew Orleans, LA$10,000222022
St George's Episcopal SchoolNew Orleans, LA$7,500112021
Beauregard-Keyes Historic House & GNew Orleans, LA$4,500112022
University of Louisiana FoundationMonroe, LA$3,000222023
Clover House IncOdessa, TX$2,500112022
Project LazarusNew Orleans, LA$2,500112022
University of Louisiana MonroeMonroe, LA$2,000112021
Ignatian Volunteer CorpsNew Orleans, LA$1,500112022
Louisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LA$1,000112021
Louisiana Tech University FoundatioRuston, LA$1,000112023
University of New Orleans FoundatioNew Orleans, LA$1,000112022

13 of 25 (52%) 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 55%, across 3 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 23 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.

Education
9 grants
Human Services
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Arts & Culture
2 grants
Youth Development
2 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant
Recreation & Sports
1 grant
Diseases & Disorders
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202111$138,883$7,500
202215$161,259$5,000
202312$147,707$8,750
202410$141,029$14,000

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

100% of its giving went to organizations in Louisiana. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Louisiana
$586K
Texas
$2K

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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.

The Greater New Orleans Foundation7 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc6 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund6 shared recipientsBaptist Community Ministries5 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program4 shared recipientsEugenie & Joseph Jones Family Foundation4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $8,251. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Louisiana.
  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 Harper Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 5258 Marcia Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70124. 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 58-1921771 · 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.

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