FundersOhio

Milton James Foundation Inc

Akron, OH · EIN 34-1924355. Reported 100 grants totalling $1,218,152 to 43 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,218,152granted, 2021-2024
43organizations funded
61%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,186,629assets, 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. Milton James Foundation Inc 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $6,000; the smallest was $100 and the largest $500,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
11 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
32 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
40 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
14 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
1 grant
$100,000 and Up
2 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
Cuyahoga Community College FoundationCleveland, OH$500,000112023
IdeastreamCleveland, OH$270,227332024
World Central KitchenWashington, DC$36,000442024
National Parks FoundationWashington, DC$35,000222024
American Red CrossWashington, DC$34,000442024
Akron Children's Hospital FoundationAkron, OH$30,000222022
The University of Akron FoundationAkron, OH$29,500332024
Doctors Without BordersNew York, NY$25,500442024
University HospitalsCleveland, OH$24,000442024
Cleveland Metro ParksCleveland, OH$20,000442024
FulfillNeptune, NJ$20,000442024
Hospice of the Western ReserveCleveland, OH$20,000332024
The Cleveland OrchestraCleveland, OH$20,000442024
Wksu FmKent, OH$20,000222024
Cleveland Clinic Philanthropy InstituteCleveland, OH$15,000332024
Greater Cleveland Food BankCleveland, OH$12,000442024
Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National ParkPeninsula, OH$10,000222024
Summit Metro Parks FoundationAkron, OH$10,000222024
Salvation ArmyAkron, OH$9,000222024
American Kidney FundRockville, MD$8,500442024
Feeding AmericaChicago, IL$7,000222024
Habitat for HumanityAkron, OH$7,000222024
Bath Fire DepartmentAkron, OH$5,000112022
Environmental Defense FendWashington, DC$5,000112024
Kent State UniversityAkron, OH$5,000112021
Porthouse TheatreCuyahoga Falls, OH$5,000332024
Sierra Club FoundationOakland, CA$5,000112024
The University of Akron Hower HouseAkron, OH$5,000222024
Akron-Canton Regional FoodbankAkron, OH$4,500222024
Planned ParenthoodColumbus, OH$4,500442024
Haven of RestAkron, OH$4,000442024
Humane Society of Summit CountyTwinsburg, OH$2,500112021
Good Samaritan Hunger CenterAkron, OH$2,000332024
The University of Akron Haven HouseAkron, OH$2,000112021
One of a Kind Pet RescueAkron, OH$1,500112024
Slow FoodEast Hampton, NY$1,500112021
City HarvestNew York, NY$500112021
Cleveland Museum of Natural HistoryCleveland, OH$500112022
Family and Community ServicesRavenna, OH$500112021
Meals on WheelsWadsworth, OH$500112023
Mobile MealsAkron, OH$500112021
Rails to TrailsWashington, DC$225222024
Bath Township Historical SocietyBath, OH$200222024

29 of 43 (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 61%, 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 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 27 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Food & Nutrition
9 grants
Environment
5 grants
Education
4 grants
Youth Development
3 grants
Animal Welfare
2 grants
Health Care
2 grants
Arts & Culture
1 grant
Human Services
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202127$139,000$5,000
202223$112,600$5,000
202319$583,100$5,000
202431$383,452$5,000

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. 85% of this one's giving went to organizations in Ohio. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Ohio
$1.0M
District of Columbia
$110K
New York
$28K
New Jersey
$20K
Maryland
$8K
Illinois
$7K
California
$5K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund14 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc14 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsAkron Community Foundation14 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America13 shared recipientsFirstenergy Foundation10 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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 Ohio.
  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 OhioEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Milton James Foundation Inc'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: 3453 W Bath Rd, Akron, OH, 44333. 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 34-1924355 · 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.