GrantmakersDistrict of Columbia

US Russia Foundation for Economic

Washington, DC · EIN 01-0732928. Reported 192 grants totalling $148.8M to 76 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.

76organizations funded
$67,785median reported grant
$148.8Mgranted, 2021-2024
80%of grantees funded again the next year
90%of dollars to its largest recipient

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:

  1. What kind of organization it is. For US Russia Foundation for Economic, the IRS classifies it under international affairs rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE Q32) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
  2. How spread out its giving is. 76 distinct organizations, with 90% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is extreme concentration. A grantmaker sending three quarters of its money to one organization is in practice a support fund for that organization, whatever its classification says, and an unsolicited request is very unlikely to go anywhere.
  3. How much its list changes. 80% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and above the 67% private foundations manage. This list is close to settled, so a newcomer has to displace someone rather than fill a gap.

How big are its grants?

The median reported grant is $67,785. Half of what it reported fell between $41,225 and $111,000; the smallest was $5,500 and the largest $133.2M. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.

Schedule I only reports grants over $5,000. Form 990 requires a charity to list recipients it paid more than that and lets it omit the rest, so every grant-size figure on this page describes the grants it reported, not all of them. Its real median is lower and its real recipient count is higher. This is also why these numbers cannot be compared with the private-foundation figures elsewhere on this site -- Form 990-PF has no reporting floor, so the two are different populations rather than two samples of one.
$5,000 - $10,000
4 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
9 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
44 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
76 grants
$100,000 - $250,000
57 grants
$250,000 Or More
2 grants

1 of those grants was non-cash -- goods, property or services worth $133.2M 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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Ukraine-Moldova American Enterprise FundChicago, IL$133.2M112023
Cerge-Ei FoundationNew York, NY$752,222442024
Wild Salmon CenterPortland, OR$669,032442024
University of WisconsinMadison, WI$577,623542024
Polestar Video Ventures IncRedwood City, CA$554,565542024
George Washington UniversityAshburn, VA$513,640542024
PilnetNew York, NY$491,705442024
Free Russia FoundationWashington, DC$464,367332024
Bard CollegeAnnandale, NY$415,771442024
American Bar Association Rule of Law InitiativeWashington, DC$415,000332023
Indiana UniversityBloomington, IN$401,747332023
Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT$375,000442024
American Councils for International Education Actr Accels IncWashington, DC$374,809442024
Pen American Center IncNew York, NY$359,116332023
University of Kansas Center for Research IncLawrence, KS$348,758442024
Russian-American Science Association CorpChapel Hill, NC$324,099442024
Eurasianet IncNew York, NY$318,701222024
University of Texas at AustinAustin, TX$304,638332024
Foundation for Democratic DevelopmentWashington, DC$299,810442024
Arizona State University Foundation for a New American UniversityTempe, AZ$290,246642024
New York UniversityNew York, NY$289,725332024
International Documentary Association IncLos Angeles, CA$288,617442024
Association for Slavic East European and Eurasian Studies IncPittsburgh, PA$280,034442024
University of ArizonaTucson, AR$276,171332024
Center for European Policy AnalysisWashington, DC$275,664332024
Pure Land LLCBrooklyn, NY$269,001432023
Trustees of Tufts CollegeMedford, MA$262,500532023
University of South Florida Foundation IncTampa, FL$261,045332023
Howard UniversityWashington, DC$234,648332023
Trustees of Columbia UniversityNew York, NY$229,630332023
Case Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, OH$229,211222023
AatseelBoulder, CO$207,400442024
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior UniversityStanford, CA$201,000222024
Impact HubVashon, WA$194,265222022
Utah Valley UniversityOrem, UT$167,225332024
University of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, NC$166,029432023
Street Law IncSilver Spring, MD$154,235442024
Emory UniversityAtlanta, GA$149,735222022
Regents Univ of CaliforniaLos Angeles, CA$145,743222022
Supporters of Civil Society in Russia IncSaint Louis, MO$144,033222024
Tamizdat Project IncAstoria, NY$142,290222024
Oregon State UniversityCorvallis, OR$135,207112021
Post Truth IncTorrance, CA$130,000222022
Aesf Production IncLong Island City, NY$127,808222022
Center for Independent Social Research IncOdenton, MD$124,183332023
Neo Philanthropy IncNew York, NY$120,656112024
Fort Ross ConservancyJenner, CA$116,735222023
Indigenous Peoples Rights IncW Boothby Hbr, ME$115,035222024
University of Maine School of Law FoundationPortland, ME$107,686222024
American Business Association of Russian-Speaking ProfessionalsPalo Alto, CA$105,100222022
Pacific Sound and Vision Foundation IncLos Angeles, CA$103,980112021
Fordham UniversityBronx, NY$100,000112024
Institute of Current World Affairs IncWashington, DC$100,000332024
World Justice ProjectWashington, DC$99,204222022
International Indigenous Fund for Development and Solidarity BataniYarmouth, ME$93,643222024
Georgia Tech Research CorporationAtlanta, GA$89,935222022
New Times Foundation USA IncBrooklyn, NY$85,000112024
Woodrow Wilson International Center for ScholarsWashington, DC$82,542222023
Astrea LLCChevy Chase, MD$81,500112024
Regents of the University of MichiganAnn Arbor, MI$80,569212021
The Order GroupWilmington, DE$70,500112022
President and Fellows of Harvard CollegeCambridge, MA$67,571112023
University of AlaskaFairbanks, AK$66,618222023
American Bar AssociationChicago, IL$60,000112024
Eurasia Foundation IncWashington DC, DC$60,000112024
The Ohio State UniversityColumbus, OH$54,000112024
Great Lakes Community Action PartnershipFremont, OH$50,000112021
International Law InstituteWashington, DC$50,000112021
Uarzazat Media IncPalo Alto, CA$50,000112024
Wayusa IncBrooklyn, NY$50,000112024
Trustees of Amherst CollegeAmherst, MA$48,000222023
Rebuild for Peace IncHarvest, AL$44,725112021
Depaul UniversityChicago, IL$31,000112021
Bloomsburg University of PennsylvaniaBloomsburg, PA$18,000222022
Council for US-Russia RelationsSeattle, WA$17,734112021
Russian America for Democracy in Russia IncWashington, DC$10,000112023

55 of 76 (72%) 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 kind of organizations it funds

By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 53 of 76 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.

Education
21 orgs
International Affairs
9 orgs
Arts & Culture
5 orgs
Social Science
3 orgs
Human Services
3 orgs
Crime & Legal
2 orgs
Civil Rights
2 orgs
Public & Societal Benefit
2 orgs

Giving by year

Tax yearGrants reportedTotalMedian grant
202147$2,713,476$50,000
202254$4,046,612$66,102
202351$138.0M$78,604
202440$3,997,161$78,335

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

90% of its giving went to organizations in Illinois. 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.

Illinois
$133.3M
New York
$3.8M
District of Columbia
$2.5M
California
$1.7M
Oregon
$804K
Wisconsin
$578K
Virginia
$514K
North Carolina
$490K

Down to the city

Chicago, IL
$133.3M
New York, NY
$2.6M
Washington, DC
$2.4M
Portland, OR
$669K
Madison, WI
$578K
Redwood City, CA
$555K

Find more funders like US Russia Foundation for Economic

We read newly filed IRS returns and email you the grantmakers whose giving matches your state and cause, as they are published. Free.

No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.

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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund20 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc17 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc16 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation11 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust10 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program9 shared recipients

How to approach this grantmaker

  1. 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.
  2. Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $67,785 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
  3. Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Illinois.
  4. 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

Foundations funding education in IllinoisEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from US Russia Foundation for Economic'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 36 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 4 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: 500 Lenfant Plaza Sw 1025, Washington, DC, 20024.

EIN 01-0732928 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Form 990 is published about a year after the tax year it covers. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this organization has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next.

Is something here wrong about your organization? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.