Funders › Virginia

The Imperial Charitable Trust

Lynchburg, VA · EIN 51-0172334. Reported 184 grants totalling $2,883,130 to 50 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,275median grant
$2,883,130granted, 2020-2024
50recipients, as named on its returns
91%of grantees funded again the next year

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 Imperial Charitable Trust 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 $1,275. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $2,500; the smallest was $100 and the largest $2,267,880. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
40 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
101 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
12 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
29 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
1 grant
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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 Ict DAFGIVING360 FundLynchburg, VA$2,267,880112024
Virginia Foundation for Independent CollegesRichmond, VA$89,500552024
Academy Center of the ArtsLynchburg, VA$56,500552024
Decorative Arts TrustMedia, PA$50,000552024
United Way of Central VirginiaLynchburg, VA$50,000552024
University of Charleston Patrick C Graney III Memorial FundCharleston, WV$50,000112024
Virginia Episcopal SchoolLynchburg, VA$50,000552024
Coker UniversityHartsville, SC$40,000442024
The Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar ForestForest, VA$25,000552024
Nc Botanical Garden Foundation IncChapel Hill, NC$22,500552024
MesdaWinstonsalem, NC$16,000552024
Centra Health FoundationLynchburg, VA$12,500552024
Virginia Center for the Creative ArtsAmherst, VA$12,500552024
West Virginia Independent Colleges & UniversitiesCharleston, WV$12,500552024
YMCA of Central VirginiaLynchburg, VA$9,000552024
Boys Home of VirginiaCovington, VA$7,800552024
EwvcfMartinsburg, WV$7,500332024
Buckskin Council Boy Scouts of AmericaCharleston, WV$7,000442023
Free Clinic of Central VirginiaLynchburg, VA$6,900552024
The Salvation ArmyLynchburg, VA$6,700552024
Lynchburg City Schools Education FoundationLynchburg, VA$5,650552024
Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum IncLynchburg, VA$5,000552024
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central VirginiaLynchburg, VA$5,000552024
James River Day SchoolLynchburg, VA$5,000552024
Jones Memorial LibraryLynchburg, VA$5,000552024
Lynchburg Beacon of HopeLynchburg, VA$5,000332024
Lynchburg Grows IncLynchburg, VA$5,000552024
Old City CemeteryLynchburg, VA$5,000552024
The Boys & Girls Club of Greater LynchburgLynchburg, VA$5,000552024
YMCA of Kanawha ValleyCharleston, WV$5,000112021
The Virginia College FundRichmond, VA$4,500332022
Friends of the Lynchburg Public LibraryLynchburg, VA$3,600552024
Patrick Henry Family ServicesLynchburg, VA$3,000332022
Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council IncRoanoke, VA$2,800552024
The Library Foundation of Kanawha CountyCharleston, WV$2,500112022
The Lynchburg Police FoundationLynchburg, VA$2,500112023
Commonwealth Alliance for Rural CollegesRichmond, VA$2,000112023
Rivermont Area Emergency Food PantryLynchburg, VA$1,700552024
Boonsboro Fire and Rescue CompanyLynchburg, VA$1,650552024
Park View Community MissionLynchburg, VA$1,350552024
Wvtf Public RadioRoanoke, VA$1,100552024
The Education AllianceCharleston, WV$1,000112021
The GatewayLynchburg, VA$1,000112020
The Lynchburg Humane SocietyLynchburg, VA$1,000222024
Episcopal Relief & DevelopmentMerrifield, VA$900332023
Meals on WheelsLynchburg, VA$750222022
Episcopal Relief & DevelopmentBoone, IA$500112024
Up FoundationLynchburg, VA$500112020
Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue CenterConcord, VA$250112021
James River AssociationRichmond, VA$100112022

38 of 50 (76%) 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 91%, 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 91 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
22 grants
Arts & Culture
20 grants
Human Services
15 grants
Youth Development
14 grants
Health Care
10 grants
Environment
6 grants
Animal Welfare
2 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202034$96,250$1,000
202138$115,200$1,000
202239$122,950$1,350
202337$118,150$1,600
202436$2,430,580$1,625

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

93% 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.

Virginia
$2.7M
West Virginia
$86K
Pennsylvania
$50K
South Carolina
$40K
North Carolina
$38K
Iowa
$500

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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 Fund26 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc25 shared recipientsGreater Lynchburg Community Foundation23 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc19 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program15 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation14 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,275. 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 Virginia.
  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 VirginiaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding arts & culture in VirginiaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Imperial Charitable Trust'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 638, Lynchburg, VA, 24505. 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 51-0172334 · 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.