The Hamer Foundation
Kenova, WV · EIN 23-7349926. Reported 83 grants totalling $500,471 to 50 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. The Hamer 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 $1,500 and $7,500; the smallest was $200 and the largest $55,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Baptist Church Kenova | Kenova, WV | $67,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| First Baptist Church of Kenova | Kenova, WV | $58,631 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| 20TH Street Baptist Church | Kenova, WV | $45,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Kenova Volunteer Fire Dept | Kenova, WV | $41,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Life Outreach International | Fort Worth, TX | $26,280 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Good Samaritan Center | Kenova, WV | $24,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Salvation Army | Clarksburg, WV | $23,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Billy Graham Evangelistic Association | Charlotte, NC | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Hospice of Huntington | Huntington, WV | $16,610 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| St Labre Indian School | Ashland, MT | $14,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| George W Bush Presidential Center | Dallas, TX | $12,750 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Jerusalem Prayer Team | Phoenix, AZ | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| K-Love Ministries | Omaho, NE | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Loxahatchee Club Educational Foundation | Jupiter, FL | $11,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Special Olympics | Hurricane, WV | $11,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| International Fellowship of Christians & Jews | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Samaritans Purse | Boone, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| C-K Autumn Fest | Kenova, WV | $7,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Facing Hunger Foodbank | Huntington, WV | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Huntington City Mission | Huntington, WV | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Spring Valley High School | Huntington, WV | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ceredo Kenova Middle School | Ceredo, WV | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| International Fellowship of Christians & Jews | Chicago, IL | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Jason Lovins Ministries | Russell, KY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Judicial Watch | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| First Independent Baptist Church | Kenova, WV | $3,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| First Baptist Church of Ashland | Ashland, KY | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Haggai Institute | Peachtree Corners, GA | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wycliffe Associates | Orlando, FL | $3,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Corrie Ten Boom Fellowship | Phoenix, AZ | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Haggai Intl | Peachtree Corners, GA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Intl Fellowship of Christians & Jews | Washington, DC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Lilly's Place | Huntington, WV | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mercy Ships | Garden Valley, TX | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Samaritan's Purse | Boone, NC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sanctuary of Grace | Proctorville, OH | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Walk Fm | Ashland, KY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Campus Crusade for Christ | Orlando, FL | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Loxahatchee Education Foundation | Jupiter, FL | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| St Joseph Indian School | Chamberlain, SD | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Billy Graham Evangelistic Assoc | Charlotte, NC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Facing Hunger Food Bank | Huntington, WV | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Jews for Jesus | San Francisco, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| K-Love | Rocklin, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Mary's Angels | Stuart, FL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Turning Point | San Diego, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Alzheimers Association | Chicago, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Leadership Institute | St Arlington, VA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| National Foundation for Gun Rights | Loveland, CO | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Play for Pink | New York, NY | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
19 of 50 (38%) 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 51%, 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.
- First Baptist Church Kenova
HAMER SCHOLARSHIP FUND AND CHURCH MAINTENANCE - First Baptist Church of Kenova
HAMER SCHOLARSHIP FUND AND CHURCH PROJECTS - St Labre Indian School
SERVE THE EDUCATIONAL AND SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF LAKOTA CHILDREN - Life Outreach International
SUPPORT OF MISSIONS AND RELIEF PROGRAMS - Kenova Volunteer Fire Dept
REPLACING EQUIPMENT FOR FIREFIGHTING - Hospice of Huntington
PROVIDE COMPASSIONATE PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL & SPIRITUAL CARE FOR THOSE WITH LIFE-LIMITING ILLNESS & THEIR FAMILIES
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 25 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 | 20 | $77,750 | $1,000 |
| 2021 | 13 | $49,700 | $2,000 |
| 2022 | 12 | $109,411 | $6,000 |
| 2023 | 17 | $128,305 | $7,000 |
| 2024 | 21 | $135,305 | $6,000 |
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
65% of its giving went to organizations in West 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 West 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.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Hamer 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: Po Box 418, Kenova, WV, 25530. 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 23-7349926 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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