FundersPennsylvania

Irene C Shea Foundation

Pittsburgh, PA · EIN 25-6410108. Reported 110 grants totalling $4,546,425 to 41 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$30,000median grant
$4,546,425granted, 2021-2024
41organizations funded
81%of grantees funded again the next year
$30.8Massets, latest filing

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. Irene C Shea Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $30,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $20,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $7,000 and the largest $270,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$5,000 - $10,000
3 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
30 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
37 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
33 grants
$100,000 and Up
7 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Carlow UniversityPittsburgh, PA$692,000542024
Women's Center & Shelter of Greater PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$400,000442024
Coalition for Christian OutreachPittsburgh, PA$285,000442024
Angel's PlacePittsburgh, PA$255,000442024
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pgh F/B/O St Joesph's HousePittsburgh, PA$200,000442024
The Pittsburgh ProjectPittsburgh, PA$200,000442024
KidsvoicePittsburgh, PA$190,000442024
Holy Family InstitutePittsburgh, PA$185,000442024
East End Cooperative MinistryPittsburgh, PA$170,000442024
Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh IncPittsburgh, PA$160,000442024
East Liberty Family Health Care Center IncPittsburgh, PA$150,000222023
The Blessing BoardPittsburgh, PA$135,000442024
Bethlehem Haven of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$130,000222023
Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania IncPittsburgh, PA$120,000442024
Pennsylvania Organization for WoPittsburgh, PA$115,000222024
City of AsylumPittsburgh, PA$105,000442024
City Theatre Company IncPittsburgh, PA$75,000332024
East Liberty Family Health CarePittsburgh, PA$75,000112024
Greater Valley Community Services IncBraddock, PA$75,000442024
Pittsburgh SymphonyPittsburgh, PA$75,000332024
The Campus Laboratory SchooPittsburgh, PA$75,000112022
The Center for Theater ArtsPittsburgh, PA$63,425332024
Family Guidance IncAurora, IL$60,000332024
Crossroads FoundationPittsburgh, PA$55,000332024
Cafe Momentum PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$50,000332024
Civic Light Opera AssociationPittsburgh, PA$50,000222022
Friends of Camp Kon-O-Kwee SpencerPittsburgh, PA$50,000222024
Miracle League of the South Hills IncBethel Park, PA$50,000222024
Tiger Pause Youth MinistryBeaver Falls, PA$50,000332024
YMCA of PittsburghFombell, PA$50,000222022
The Neighborhood AcademyPittsburgh, PA$30,000332024
Urban Impact FoundationPittsburgh, PA$30,000222024
Warriors of Holiness in PowerPittsburgh, PA$30,000112023
Saint Anne ParishPittsburgh, PA$25,000112021
Destiny of Faith ChurchPittsburgh, PA$24,000332024
Beaver Falls Youth Network IncBeaver Falls, PA$15,000112021
Allegheny Council to Improve Our Neighborhoods-Housing IncorporatedPittsburgh, PA$10,000112024
Carnegie InstituteTroy, MI$10,000112024
Open FieldPittsburgh, PA$10,000112024
St Anthony School ProgramsWexford, PA$10,000112024
Project Destiny IncPittsburgh, PA$7,000112022

31 of 41 (76%) 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 81%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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 kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 78 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Human Services
32 grants
Arts & Culture
12 grants
Education
8 grants
Crime & Legal
7 grants
International Affairs
5 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants
Religion
4 grants
Health Care
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202121$1,040,000$40,000
202227$1,157,000$35,000
202330$1,159,425$30,000
202432$1,190,000$25,000

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.

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 98% of this one's giving went to organizations in Pennsylvania. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Pennsylvania
$4.5M
Illinois
$60K
Michigan
$10K

Find more foundations like Irene C Shea Foundation

We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.

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

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.

The Pittsburgh Foundation26 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund22 shared recipientsThe United Way of Southwestern17 shared recipientsRichard King Mellon Foundation16 shared recipientsThe Grable Foundation15 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc15 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $30,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Pennsylvania.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Related guides

Foundations funding human services in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Irene C Shea Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 500 First Ave P7-Pfsc-03-Z, Pittsburgh, PA, 15219. 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 25-6410108 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.