Lena Foundation
Louisville, CO · EIN 26-3784465. Reported 66 grants totalling $1,990,720 to 58 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 Lena Foundation, the IRS classifies it under education rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE B90) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 58 distinct organizations, with 19% 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. 17% 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 $18,876. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $27,500; the smallest was $5,808 and the largest $369,188. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
9 of those grants were non-cash -- goods, property or services worth $505,029 in total. In-kind giving is real support but it is not a cheque.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Learning Indiana Inc | Indianapolis, IN | $369,188 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Small Magic | Birmingham, AL | $261,642 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| City of Virginia Beach | Virginia Beach, VA | $101,545 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Institute for Child Success Inc | Greenville, SC | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Womens Housing and Economic Development Corporation | Bronx, NY | $72,600 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Catholic Charities and Community Services of the Archdiocese of Den | Denver, CO | $58,600 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| City of Hartford | Hartford, CT | $58,574 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Grand Street Settlement Inc | New York, NY | $54,896 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Appletree Institute for Education Innovation Inc | Washington, DC | $54,612 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Memphis | Memphis, TN | $51,425 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| National Center for Families Learning Inc | Louisville, KY | $38,981 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Acelero Learning | New York, NY | $32,768 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Brilliant Detroit | Detroit, MI | $32,201 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Episcopal Childrens Services Inc | Jacksonville, FL | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| District of Columbia Head Start Association | Washington, DC | $28,511 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Easter Seals Serving DC-MD-Va Inc | Silver Spring, MD | $28,206 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| South Side Early Learning | Columbus, OH | $27,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Louisiana Dept of Education | Baton Rouge, LA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb, IL | $23,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Jefferson County | Golden, CO | $22,628 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Little Einstein's Academy | Denver, CO | $22,246 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bay County Library System | Bay City, MI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Early Childhood Partnership of Adams County | Thornton, CO | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Family Services Inc | Gaithersburg, MD | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mesquite Isd | Mesquite, TX | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Next Door Foundation Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| San Jose Public Library | San Jose, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Washington County Opportunities Inc | Greenville, MS | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Gunnison-Hinsdale Early Childhood Council | Gunnison, CO | $19,439 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Space Kids Academy | Brighton, CO | $19,407 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cornerstone Church | Brookhaven, MS | $18,665 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Garrett County Maryland Community Action Committee Inc | Oakland, MD | $18,562 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Global Connection Learning Center | Jackson, MS | $18,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Colorado Department of Human Services | Denver, CO | $18,454 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Connect Care | Gypsum, CO | $17,600 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maryland Family Network Inc | Baltimore, MD | $17,300 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Batesville Chamber of Commerce | Batesville, AR | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Phoenix Public Library Foundation | Phoenix, AZ | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Denver Early Childhood Council | Denver, CO | $13,241 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wild Plum Center for Young Children and Families Inc | Longmont, CO | $12,800 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Arapahoe County Early Childhood Council | Centennial, CO | $12,492 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Early Childhood Partners Inc | Avon, CO | $11,003 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Assumption Parish Schools | Napoleonville, LA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Childcaring Inc | Mosinee, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Children and Families First Delaware Inc | Wilmington, DE | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hopes Community Action Partnership Incorporated | Hoboken, NJ | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Mile High United Way Inc | Denver, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Polk County School Readiness Coalition Inc | Lakeland, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Preschool Promise Inc | Dayton, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| San Joaquin County Office of Education | Stockton, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| United Way of Central New Mexico | Albuquerque, NM | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Young Mens Christian Association of Central Ohio | Columbus, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Families and Children | Cleveland, OH | $9,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| First 5 Riverside | Riverside, CA | $9,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Jubilee Jumpstart | Washington, DC | $9,149 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Workforce Solutions of North Central Texas | Arlington, TX | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Early Childhood Council for Yuma Washington & Kit Carson Counties I | Yuma, CO | $7,406 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| New Deal Design LLC | San Francisco, CA | $6,079 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
5 of 58 (9%) 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.
- Early Learning Indiana
ELI LILY FOUNDATION GRANT - Birmingham Talks
LENA START PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION - City of Virginia Beach
LENA GROW, HOME AND START IMP - City of Hartford
LENA GROW PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION - National Center for Families Learning
LENA HOME AND START PROGRAM IMP - Grand Street Settlement
VIKING GLOBAL FOUNDATION GRANT
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 30 of 58 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 | 24 | $690,626 | $20,000 |
| 2022 | 18 | $313,610 | $16,727 |
| 2023 | 15 | $481,455 | $20,000 |
| 2024 | 9 | $505,029 | $18,500 |
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
19% of its giving went to organizations in Indiana. 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.
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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 $18,876 -- 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 Indiana.
- 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 Lena 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 7 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 2 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: 361 Centennial Parkway 100, Louisville, CO, 80027.
EIN 26-3784465 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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