Spirit for Life Foundation
Winchester, VA · EIN 20-8034787. Reported 81 grants totalling $453,000 to 45 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. 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. Spirit for Life 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $4,000 and $6,200; the smallest was $1,500 and the largest $20,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rockbridge High School | Lexington, VA | $33,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Tunnel to Towers Foundation | Staten Island, NY | $31,200 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Clean the World Foundation | Washington, DC | $31,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Fauquier SPCA | Midland, VA | $30,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| National Pku Alliance | Tomahawk, WI | $27,200 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Paws for Seniors | Bealeton, VA | $25,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| 4 Paws for Ability | Xenia, OH | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Willing Warriors | Haymarket, VA | $18,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation | Falls Church, VA | $16,000 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Saving Prince William Littles | Haymarket, VA | $13,700 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hero Dogs Inc | Brookeville, MD | $12,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hero's Bridge | Warrenton, VA | $11,200 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Folds of Honor Foundation | Owasso, OK | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| K9S for Warriors | Ponte Vedra, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mercy Corps Dept W | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care | Jacksonville, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Virginia Health System - the Lucas Fund | Charlottesville, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| First Responders Children's Foundation | New York, NY | $8,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Concerns of Police Survivors (cops) | Camdenton, MO | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Wings of Rescue | Van Nuys, CA | $7,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| National Organization for Rare Disorders | Washington, DC | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation | Staten Island, NY | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Wounded Warrior Project | Washington, DC | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Building Homes for Heroes Inc | Island Park, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| For the Cats Sake | Flint Hill, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Foundation for Feline Renal Research | Hicksville, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Gary Sinise Foundation | Nashville, TN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind Inc | Smithtown, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hospice Support of Fauquier County | Warrenton, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Paws 4 a Cure | Fall River, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pet Assistance Inc | New Preston, CT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rockbridge Area Hospice | Lexington, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| The Benjamin D Osborn Memorial Fund Inc | Queensbury, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Ibc Network Foundation | Sealy, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Virginia Women & Family Support Center | Gainesville, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Child Fund of America Inc | New Paltz, NY | $4,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Center for a Free Cuba | Falls Church, VA | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| World Central Kitchen | Washington, DC | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Aero Animal Rescue | Gainesville, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cat's Cradle | Harrisonburg, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of Homeless Animals | Aldie, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hma Ministries | Sapulpa, OK | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Making Everything Good | Haymarket, VA | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ashlie's Embrace | North Canton, OH | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mid-Atlantic Burn Camp | Clarksville, MD | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
18 of 45 (40%) 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 55%, 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.
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.
- Rockbridge High School
GENERAL SUPPORT OF CHARITABLE PROGRAM - The Foundation of Community Hospice & Palliative Care
GENERAL SUPPORT OF CHARITABLE PROGRAMS - Mercy Corps Dept W
GENERAL SUPPORT FOR CHARITABLE PROGRAM - K9S for Warriors
GENERAL SUPPORT OF CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION - Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind Inc
TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND - World Central Kitchen
FRONTLINE MEALS TO CRISIS AND DISASTER COMMUNITIES
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 16 | $76,000 | $5,000 |
| 2021 | 18 | $94,500 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 12 | $83,000 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 15 | $75,000 | $5,000 |
| 2024 | 20 | $124,500 | $5,500 |
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
42% of its giving went to organizations in Virginia. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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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 $5,000. 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 Virginia.
- 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.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Spirit for Life Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). 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: 202 N Loudoun St, Winchester, VA, 22601. 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 20-8034787 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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