Funders › Colorado

National Endowment for

Denver, CO · EIN 84-0632115. Reported 43 grants totalling $2,810,106 to 27 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$51,168median grant
$2,810,106granted, 2021-2025
27recipients, as named on its returns
46%of grantees funded again the next year
$209.2Massets, 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. National Endowment for 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 $51,168. Half of everything it gave fell between $23,000 and $100,000; the smallest was $1,250 and the largest $234,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
4 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
2 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
5 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
9 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
12 grants
$100,000 and Up
11 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
The Rand CorporationSanta Monica, CA$440,624332024
St Louis UniversitySt Louis, MO$295,631332025
The University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, AL$241,137552025
Montana State UniversityBozeman, MT$234,388332025
Indiana University OfficeDetroit, MI$234,000112022
Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA$228,559222024
The Urban InstituteWashington, DC$170,000332024
University of TennesseeKnoxville, TN$103,124222024
The University of ArizonaTuscon, AZ$101,077112021
AfcpeWesterville, OH$100,000112021
Indiana University Office of the TreasuryDetroit, MI$100,000112021
Education NorthwestPortland, OR$99,759112024
Lewis and Clark CollegePortland, OR$96,212222025
Morgan State UniversityBaltimore, MD$85,970112025
Texas Tech University SysLubbock, TX$69,134112022
University of CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA$33,000112025
Stevens Institutes of TechnologyHoboken, NJ$31,083112021
KnologyNew York, NY$30,000112021
Council for Economic EducationNew York City, NY$26,500222025
University of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN$23,000112025
Texas Tech UniversityLubbock, TX$22,283112023
Texas Tech University SystemLubbock, TX$20,000112021
Champlain CollegeBurlington, VT$10,000112024
Jumpstart CoalitionHolleywood, MD$10,000112025
Hayes Lewis Elementary SchoolYeaddiss, KY$1,875112021
Iowa JumpstartDes Moines, IA$1,500112025
Calhan School DistrictCalhan, CO$1,250112024

9 of 27 (33%) 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 46%, across 4 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.

Plus 11 grants to individuals totalling $56,600 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 17 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
7 grants
Social Science
5 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
4 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20218$416,662$31,855
20226$786,411$127,064
20237$590,568$90,000
202412$627,452$50,978
202510$389,013$28,000

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.

Already committed for future years

Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. National Endowment for has 17 of them, worth $2,614,689. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.

OrganizationLocationApproved
St Louis UniversitySt Louis, MO$295,632
Gallaudet UniversityWashington, DC$246,233
Rand CorporationSanta Monica, CA$241,210
Indiana University Office of the TreasuryDetroit, MI$234,000
Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA$220,559
Montana State UniversityBozeman, MT$200,000
The Rand CorporationSanta Monica, CA$166,414
Morgan State UniversityBaltimore, MD$130,037
Chaminade University of HonoluluHonolulu, HI$128,000
University of Wisconsin MadisonMadison, WI$127,645
The University of AlabamaTuscaloosa, AL$123,588
Lewis and Clark CollegePortland, OR$116,265
University of TennesseeKnoxville, TN$103,689
Society for Financial Education and Professional Development IncAlexandria, VA$100,000
Texas Tech University SystemLubbock, TX$91,417

Where its money goes

17% of its giving went to organizations in California. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

California
$474K
Michigan
$334K
Missouri
$296K
Alabama
$241K
Montana
$234K
Massachusetts
$229K
Oregon
$196K
District of Columbia
$170K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund7 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc7 shared recipientsGs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund7 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc7 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program6 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust5 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $51,168. 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 California.
  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 CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in MichiganEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from National Endowment for'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: 1550 Market Street Suite 475, Denver, CO, 80202. 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 84-0632115 · 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.