The Clara Lionel Foundation
New York, NY · EIN 45-5620521. Reported 83 grants totalling $23.3M to 70 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 The Clara Lionel Foundation, the IRS classifies it as a fundraising and fund-distribution organization (NTEE T12).
- How spread out its giving is. 70 distinct organizations, with 17% 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. 0% 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 $150,000. Half of what it reported fell between $60,000 and $300,000; the smallest was $10,000 and the largest $2,500,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center for Popular Democracy | Washington, DC | $4,000,000 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| Global Fund for Women Inc | San Francisco, CA | $3,000,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Takeaction Minnesota Education Fund | St Paul, MN | $1,500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Windward Fund | Washington, DC | $1,200,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ndn Collective Inc | Rapid City, SD | $1,150,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Common Counsel Foundation | Oakland, CA | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sponsors for Educational Opportunity | New York, NY | $750,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Popular Democracy Action Fund | Washington, DC | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Solutions Project Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Keep a Breast Foundation | Yucca Valley, CA | $480,000 | 3 | 2 | 2022 |
| Rocky Mountain Institute | Boulder, CO | $404,738 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Camfed U S a Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Internews Network | Arcata, CA | $350,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Boniface Haiti Foundation Inc | Newton, MA | $345,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Native Renewables Inc | Flagstaff, AZ | $325,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | $312,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Indian Cancer Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Asian American Coalition for Children and Families Inc | New York, NY | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Braven Incorporated | Chicago, IL | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Chinese American Planning Council Inc | New York, NY | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Chinese Community Center Inc | Houston, TX | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Deep South Center for Environmental Justice | New Orleans, LA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Indigenous Educational Network of Turtle Island | Bemidji, MN | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Leap Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| New Venture Fund | Washington, DC | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Stonier Scholarship Inc | Towson, MD | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Native Movement | Fairbanks, AK | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chinatown Community Development Center Inc | San Francisco, CA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Climate Justice Alliance | Los Angeles, CA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sakhi for South Asian Survivors Inc | New York, NY | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Fos Feminista Fund | New York, NY | $165,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Engineers Without Borders USA Inc | Denver, CO | $151,566 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Adhikaar for Human Rights and Social Justice | Woodside, NY | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Direct Relief | Santa Barbara, CA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hawaii Workers Center | Honolulu, HI | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| South Asian Council for Social Serv Ices Inc | Flushing, NY | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ayiti Demen | New York, NY | $145,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Project Medishare for Haiti Inc | Miami, FL | $145,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation | Boston, MA | $131,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hope for Haiti Inc | Naples, FL | $130,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Metavivor Research and Support Inc | Middleton, WI | $130,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Chinese for Affirmative Action | San Francisco, CA | $112,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Committee Against Anti Asian Violen Ce | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Haiti Air Ambulance Service Inc | Melville, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Send China Town Love Inc | Poughkeepsie, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Capracare Inc | New York, NY | $95,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Cancer Society Inc | Atlanta, GA | $90,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Arts Business Collaborative Inc | Elmhurst, NY | $90,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Hawaii Va Foundation | Honolulu, HI | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Translatin Coalition | Los Angeles, CA | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Black Trans Femmes in the Arts Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $55,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Api Rise | Los Angeles, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Asian Immigrant Women Advocates Inc | Oakland, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Austin Area Urban League Inc | Austin, TX | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Austin Street Center | Dallas, TX | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Heart of Dinner Inc | Beverly Hills, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| San Antonio Food Bank Inc | San Antonio, TX | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc | Calabasas, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Southeast Asian Community Alliance | Los Angeles, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Economic Stimulus Projects for Work and Action | Cambridge, MA | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Audre Lorde Project Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Glaad Inc | New York, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hetrick-Martin Institute Inc | New York, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| International Planned Parenthood Federation | New York, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Los Angeles Lgbt Center | Los Angeles, CA | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Pilipino Workers Center of Southern | Los Angeles, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Regents of the University of California | Oakland, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Montclair Early Childhood Corporation | Montclair, NJ | $17,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Caribbean Equality Project | S Ozone Park, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Transgender Law Center | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
8 of 70 (11%) 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.
- Center for Popular Democracy
TO SUPPORT THE ORGANIZING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE CAMPAIGN. - Takeaction Minnesota Education Fund
TO SUPPORT THE WORK OF BLACK VISIONS COLLECTIVE. - Global Fund for Women
FOR GENERAL SUPPORT OF THE BLACK FEMINIST FUND. - Common Counsel Foundation
TO SUPPORT THE MOVEMENT FOR BLACK LIVES. - Sponsors for Educational Opportunity
TO SUPPORT LEGACY-RELATED PROJECTS - Solutions Project
TO SUPPORT THE FIGHTER FUND GRANT PROGRAM.
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 61 of 70 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 | 48 | $6,764,304 | $100,000 |
| 2022 | 23 | $13.9M | $300,000 |
| 2023 | 7 | $1,130,000 | $200,000 |
| 2024 | 5 | $1,425,000 | $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
31% 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 $150,000 -- 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 The Clara Lionel 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 5 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 5 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: Co Ffo 545 Fifth Avenue 1103, New York, NY, 10017.
EIN 45-5620521 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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