The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Inc
New York, NY · EIN 13-3480472. Reported 44 grants totalling $6,121,912 to 27 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. 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 Robert Mapplethorpe 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $11,562. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,500 and $50,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $2,290,500. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The J Paul Getty Trust | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $720,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $305,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $112,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NJ | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| American Academy in Rome | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Whitney Museum of American Art | New York, NY | $43,125 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Foundation for AIDS Research | New York, NY | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| New York City AIDS Memorial Inc | New York, NY | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Bailey House | New York, NY | $17,500 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Currier Museum of Art | Manchester, NH | $16,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Kitchen | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Aperture Foundation | New York, NY | $13,200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Dallas Museum of Art | Dallas, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Iris House | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| National Galleries of Scotland | Edinburgh | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Research Foundation for State University of Ny | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Robert Wilson Arts Foundation | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| The Jewish Museum | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Planned Parenthood of Greater New York | New York, NY | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| International Center of Photography | New York, NY | $7,100 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Studio Museum in Harlem | New York, NY | $7,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| The Olana Partnership | Hudson, NY | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Visual Arts Foundation | New York, NY | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Katonah Museum of Art | Katonah, NY | $2,487 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Housing Works Health Services Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
9 of 27 (33%) 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 38%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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.
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art
FOR DONEE'S EXEMPT PURPOSE - Currier Museum of Art
NON-CASH DONATION OF ART FOR DONEE SUPPORT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 34 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 14 | $468,000 | $10,000 |
| 2021 | 13 | $4,933,625 | $10,625 |
| 2022 | 8 | $388,800 | $16,600 |
| 2023 | 9 | $331,487 | $12,500 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Inc has 15 of them, worth $6,571,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 |
| The J Paul Getty Trust | Los Angeles, CA | $2,290,500 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $525,000 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $350,000 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $250,000 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $175,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $150,000 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $125,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $112,500 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $100,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $75,000 |
| Bard College | Annandaleonhudson, NY | $65,000 |
| Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $37,500 |
| Bailey House | New York, NY | $15,000 |
| Dallas Museum of Art | Dallas, TX | $10,000 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 75% of this one's giving went to organizations in California. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $11,562. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in California.
- 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.
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Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation Inc's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 260 Madison Avenue 17TH Floor, New York, NY, 10016. 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 13-3480472 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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