FundersVirginia

Irving May and Edith H May Foundation

Richmond, VA · EIN 54-6045912. Reported 86 grants totalling $81,761 to 32 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$81,761granted, 2020-2023
32organizations funded
85%of grantees funded again the next year
$631,664assets, 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. Irving May and Edith H May 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 $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $1,200; the smallest was $100 and the largest $2,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
35 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
51 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
Pancreatic Cancer Action NetworkManhattan Beach, CA$7,500442023
Vcu - Massey Cancer Center - Massey's Magical Touch SalonRichmond, VA$7,500442023
Ronald Mcdonald HouseCharlotte, DC$6,000332022
Cadillac Area Honor GuardCadillac, MI$5,500442023
American Legion Bon Air Post 354Midlothian, VA$4,800442023
South East Corgi RescuePooler, GA$4,800442023
Jewish Family ServicesCharlotte, NC$4,000442023
Palm Beach Zoo - Edith & Robert Callahan Endowment FundWest Palm Beach, FL$4,000442023
Penn MedicinePhiladelphia, PA$4,000222021
Travis Mills FoundationHallowell, ME$3,925442023
Sandy Hook Promise FoundationNewtown, CT$3,000332023
Companions for HeroesSaint Simons Island, GA$2,907442023
Richmond SPCARichmond, VA$2,900442023
American Red CrossRichmond, VA$2,500442023
Scoliosis Research SocietyMilwaukee, WI$2,000112023
University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA$2,000112022
Fisher House FoundationRichmond, VA$1,900442023
C4 FoundationCoronado, CA$1,668222023
Jared Box ProjectPort Matilda, PA$1,600442023
Jewish Federation of Greater CharlotteCharlotte, NC$1,400332022
Corygwin Rehabilitation SanctuaryJessup, IA$1,000112023
Grymes Memorial SchoolOrange, VA$1,000112021
Planned Parenthood Federatio of AmericaWashington, DC$1,000112021
Ronald Mcdonald House Greater CharlotteCharlotte, DC$1,000112023
Ronald Mcdonald House Greater PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia, PA$1,000112023
CorgiaidSeattle, WA$861442023
Mad Hatters Farm and RescueHarlem, GA$500112021
The Als AssociationArlington, VA$500112023
Congregation Brit ShalomState College, PA$400442023
Central Union MissionWashington, DC$200222021
Philadelphia Z00Philadelphia, PA$200112023
Piedmont Animal RescueMooresville, NC$200112023

21 of 32 (66%) 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 85%, 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 47 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
12 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
10 grants
Diseases & Disorders
5 grants
Animal Welfare
5 grants
Health Care
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Crime & Legal
3 grants
Education
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202019$16,825$925
202123$22,861$1,000
202220$20,907$1,000
202324$21,168$1,000

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. 26% of this one's giving went to organizations in Virginia. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Virginia
$21K
Pennsylvania
$9K
California
$9K
Georgia
$8K
District of Columbia
$8K
North Carolina
$6K
Michigan
$6K
Florida
$4K

Find more foundations like Irving May and Edith H May 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 Fund11 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust7 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program7 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc6 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc6 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. 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 Virginia.
  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 human services in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding animal welfare in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Irving May and Edith H May Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 17950, Richmond, VA, 23226. 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 54-6045912 · 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.