Brightfocus Foundation
Clarksburg, MD · EIN 23-7337229. Reported 230 grants totalling $50.6M to 88 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Brightfocus Foundation, the IRS classifies it under diseases & disorders rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE G00J) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 88 distinct organizations, with 6% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 43% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $200,000. Half of what it reported fell between $182,000 and $300,000; the smallest was $5,900 and the largest $600,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mass General Brigham Incorporated | Somerville, MA | $2,799,600 | 12 | 4 | 2024 |
| Washington University | St Louis, MO | $2,198,221 | 10 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Stanford, CA | $1,998,073 | 8 | 4 | 2024 |
| Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | $1,912,775 | 9 | 4 | 2024 |
| Indiana University | Indianapolis, IN | $1,825,222 | 9 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of California San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $1,532,000 | 8 | 4 | 2024 |
| Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | New York, NY | $1,493,526 | 6 | 3 | 2024 |
| Regents of the University of California at San Diego | La Jolla, CA | $1,464,000 | 6 | 2 | 2024 |
| Oregon Health & Science University | Portland, OR | $1,448,191 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| Regents of the University of California at Irvine | Irvine, CA | $1,316,396 | 8 | 3 | 2024 |
| Regents of the University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | $1,300,000 | 4 | 2 | 2023 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | $1,081,141 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Mayo Clinic | Rochester, MN | $1,005,486 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | $1,000,000 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | Madison, WI | $964,000 | 4 | 2 | 2024 |
| University of Washington | Seattle, WA | $891,339 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Duke University | Durham, NC | $868,649 | 6 | 4 | 2024 |
| The University of Iowa | Iowa City, IA | $850,000 | 3 | 2 | 2022 |
| Trustees of Columbia University | New York, NY | $833,333 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Trustees of Boston University | Boston, MA | $817,298 | 3 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jackson Laboratory | Bar Harbor, ME | $800,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Kentucky Research Foundation | Lexington, KY | $800,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Weill Medical College of Cornell University | New York, NY | $800,000 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| Georgia Tech Research Corporation | Atlanta, GA | $799,993 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| Regents of the University of Colorado | Denver, CO | $716,435 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| William Marsh Rice University | Houston, TX | $709,443 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Emory University | Atlanta, GA | $700,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| University of South Florida | Tampa, FL | $650,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc | Boston, MA | $599,838 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hebrew Rehabilitation Center | Roslindale, MA | $597,336 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Good Samaritan Foundation | Portland, OR | $581,790 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Regents of the University of California at Berkeley | Riverside, CA | $549,999 | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| Drusolv Theraputics Inc | Philadelphia, PA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Research Foundation for the State University of New York | Albany, NY | $500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | $500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, TN | $496,512 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Yale University | New Haven, CT | $468,917 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc | Athens, GA | $449,985 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Board of Regents Nevada System of Higher Education | Reno, NV | $446,943 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The University of Texas at Austin | Austin, TX | $436,312 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center | Oklahoma City, OK | $409,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| National Eye Institute Nih | Bethesda, MD | $408,701 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Baylor College of Medicine | Houston, TX | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Childrens Hospital Corporation | Boston, MA | $399,678 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Mass General Brigham Incorporated | Somerville, MA | $382,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| International Society for Molecularneurodegeneration Inc | Jacksonville, FL | $354,000 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $349,724 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Brigham Young University | Provo, UT | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Colorado State University | Fort Collins, CO | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| J David Gladstone Institutes | San Francisco, CA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| New York University | New York, NY | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Seattle Institute for Biomedical and Clinical Research | Seattle, WA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Shriners Hospitals for Children | Tampa, FL | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Louis University | Saint Louis, MO | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Ohio State University | Columbus, OH | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Trustees of Tufts College | Medford, MA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| University of Kansas Center for Research Inc | Lawrence, KS | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Helen Keller Foundation for Research & Education Inc | Birmingham, AL | $225,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Albany Med Health System | Albany, NY | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cornell University | Ithaca, NY | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Foundation for the National Institute of Health Inc | Rockville, MD | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mass General Brigham Incorporated | Somerville, MA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center | New York, NY | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | Cambridge, MA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia | Charlottesvle, VA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Regents Univ of California | Los Angeles, CA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Salk Institute for Biological Studies | La Jolla, CA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Seattle Childrens Hospital | Seattle, WA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine | Hershey, PA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | Dallas, TX | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of California Davis | Davis, CA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School | Worcester, MA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Rochester | Rochester, NY | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | $199,992 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cedars-Sinai Medical Center | W Hollywood, CA | $199,381 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mayo Clinic | Rochester, MN | $182,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Regents of the University of Idaho | Moscow, ID | $180,864 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology | Atlanta, GA | $171,122 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth | Fort Worth, TX | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Zachary and Elizabeth M Fisher Center for Alzheimers Research Fdn | New York, NY | $133,597 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium | N Bethesda, MD | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of Denver | Denver, CO | $81,710 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Arvo Foundation for Eye Research Inc | Gaithersburg, MD | $65,720 | 5 | 3 | 2024 |
| Lumind Idsc | Burlington, VT | $65,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The International Society for Eye Research | Coralville, IA | $43,900 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Mass General Brigham Incorporated | Somerville, MA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rd Meeting Inc | Sewickley, PA | $12,358 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
44 of 88 (50%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- University of Southern California
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH BY JINKOOK LEE, PHD, ENTITLED: (CA2023001) - The Jackson Laboratory
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH BY PATSY NISHINA, PHD, ENTITLED: (M2022016I) - Oregon Health & Science University
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH BY YALI JIA, PHD, ENTITLED: (M2023008I) - Drusolv Theraputics Inc
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH BY JOHN G. EDWARDS, MS/MBA, ENTITLED: (CM2022001) - University of Wisconsin-Madison
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH BY FREYA MOWAT, PHD, ENTITLED: (M2023010N) - The University of Iowa
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH BY KELLY MULFAUL, PHD, ENTITLED: (M2023011N)
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 61 of 88 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 80 | $18.2M | $200,000 |
| 2022 | 58 | $11.7M | $200,000 |
| 2023 | 35 | $7,478,202 | $200,000 |
| 2024 | 57 | $13.3M | $200,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
18% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available 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 grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $200,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Brightfocus Foundation's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 57 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 22512 Gateway Center Drive, Clarksburg, MD, 20871.
EIN 23-7337229 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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