Mary Elizabeth Bates Foundation
Conifer, CO · EIN 84-6028054. Reported 231 grants totalling $1,682,010 to 62 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. Mary Elizabeth Bates 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $3,000 and $9,050; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $58,464. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denver Dumb Friends League | Denver, CO | $167,400 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Ark Valley Humane Society-Sunshine Shelter | Buena Vista, CO | $64,700 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Mary E Bates Trust | Conifer, CO | $58,464 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Humane Society Pikes Peak Region | Colorado Springs, CO | $58,200 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Teller County Regional Animal Center | Divide, CO | $55,300 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Larimer Humane Society | Fort Collins, CO | $55,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Upper Rio Grande Animal Societyconour Shelter | Monte Vista, CO | $53,900 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Humane Society South Platte Valley | Littleton, CO | $52,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| International Hearing Dog Inc | Henderson, CO | $48,900 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Freedom Service Dogs | Englewood, CO | $47,450 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Humane Society Pagosa Springs | Pagosa Springs, CO | $47,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Foothills Animal Shelter | Golden, CO | $45,900 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Hamlett Spay & Neuter Clinic Inc | Colorado Springs, CO | $45,700 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Longmont Humane Society | Longmont, CO | $42,200 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Second Chance Humane Society Ridgeway | Ridgeway, CO | $41,725 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Humane Colorado | Denver, CO | $39,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Boulder Valley Humane Society | Boulder, CO | $38,150 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Montrose Animal Protective Agency | Montrose, CO | $37,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Max Fund Inc | Denver, CO | $36,425 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Dr Mary E Bates Trust | Conifer, CO | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Paws for Life Animal Welfare & Protective Society | Pueblo, CO | $34,300 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Scholarship Co State | Fort Collins, CO | $34,150 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Dr Bates Trust | Conifer, CO | $34,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Southern Colorado Spay & Neuter Assn | Pueblo, CO | $33,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Fort Morgan Humane Society | Fort Morgan, CO | $31,400 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Intermountain Humane Society | Conifer, CO | $29,600 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Evergreen Animal Protective League | Evergreen, CO | $27,200 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| National Mill Dog Rescue | Colorado Springs, CO | $25,425 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Colorado Humane Society SPCA Inc | Denver, CO | $24,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Wet Mountain Wildlife Rehab | Florence, CO | $23,267 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Second Chance Lamar | Denver, CO | $22,600 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Divine Feline Fix ( Rocky Mnt Alley Cat) | Denver, CO | $21,450 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Eagle Valley Humane Society | Eagle, CO | $21,400 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Caws-Delta County | Paonia, CO | $19,200 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Almost Home Adpotions | Westminster, CO | $18,650 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Animal Rescue of the Rockies | Breckenridge, CO | $17,600 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Animal Friends Alliance | Fort Collins, CO | $17,200 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Feline Rescue (look What the Cat Brought In) | Colorado Springs, CO | $15,650 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Cats Alive Alamosa Co | Alamosa, CO | $13,875 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Breeder Release & Adoption Service | Boncarbo, CO | $13,750 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Front Porch Felines | Fort Lupton, CO | $12,550 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Canine Partners of the Rockies | Aurora, CO | $11,125 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| North Eastern Colorado Feral Cat | Fort Collins, CO | $10,800 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Second Chance Wildlife Rehab--Pueblo | Pueblo, CO | $9,800 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Paws Second Chance | Log Lane Village, CO | $9,625 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Rocky Mountain Feline Rescue | Denver, CO | $9,525 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Paws Crested Butte | Crested Butte, CO | $8,029 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Front Range Freedom Rescue | Boulder, CO | $7,900 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Street Dog Coalition | Fort Collins, CO | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Project Animal Aid | Boulder, CO | $6,100 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| College of Veterinary Medicine and Bio | Fort Collins, CO | $5,700 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Slv Spay and Neuter | Alamosa, CO | $5,300 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Northern Colorado Friends of Ferals | Fort Collins, CO | $5,125 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Ft Collins Cat Rescue | Fort Collins, CO | $4,600 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Project Vets | Boulder, CO | $4,300 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Little Rescue on the Prairie | Log Lane Village, CO | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| North Eastern Colorado Friends of Ferals | Fort Collins, CO | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Pet Aid Colorado (harrison Memorial Hosp) | Denver, CO | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Street Dogs Coalition | Ft Collins, CO | $2,400 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pawsitive Recovery | Denver, CO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Slv Spay & Neuter Alliance | Monte Vista, CO | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bella Pet Insurance Fund | Evergreen, CO | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
49 of 62 (79%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 89%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 117 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44 | $316,000 | $5,950 |
| 2022 | 47 | $343,929 | $5,600 |
| 2023 | 48 | $370,464 | $5,500 |
| 2024 | 46 | $370,464 | $6,382 |
| 2025 | 46 | $281,153 | $4,550 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Mary Elizabeth Bates Foundation has 2 of them, worth $7,125. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Paws Second Chance | Log Lane Village, CO | $3,700 |
| Paws Second Chance | Log Lane Village, CO | $3,425 |
Where its money goes
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,500. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Colorado.
- 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.
- 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 Mary Elizabeth Bates Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: 8899 Black Mountain Drive, Conifer, CO, 80433. 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 84-6028054 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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