FundersPennsylvania

Mary J Donnelly Foundation

Pittsburgh, PA · EIN 25-6037469. Reported 189 grants totalling $1,289,000 to 56 organizations across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,289,000granted, 2020-2024
56organizations funded
71%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,768,551assets, 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. Mary J Donnelly 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 $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $50,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
36 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
105 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
44 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
4 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
Women's Center and Shelter of Greater PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$210,000552024
Rosemont CollegeBryn Mawr, PA$75,000552024
Carlow UniversityPittsburgh, PA$60,000652024
Jesuit Volunteer CorpsPittsburgh, PA$60,000542024
Gregorian University FoundationPittsburgh, PA$55,0001052024
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food BankDuquesne, PA$50,000552024
Oakland Catholic High SchoolPittsburgh, PA$50,000552024
St Paul Cathedral ParishPittsburgh, PA$50,000552024
Catholic Relief ServiceBaltimore, MD$40,000422022
Jesuit Refugee ServiceWashington, DC$30,000552024
St Mary Magdelene ParishPittsburgh, PA$30,000222024
Boston College School of Theology and MinistryBrighton, MA$25,000552024
Bread for the World InstituteWashington, DC$25,000552024
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande ValleyMccallen, TX$25,000532024
De Paul School for Hearing and SpeechPittsburgh, PA$25,000532023
Elizabeth Seton CenterPittsburgh, PA$25,000552024
Focus on RenewalMckees Rock, PA$25,000552024
Future ChurchCleveland, OH$25,000542024
Hospital Albert Schweitzer - HaitiPittsburgh, PA$25,000532022
Just Faith MinistriesLouisville, KY$25,000532024
Maryknoll Lay MissionersMaryknoll, NY$25,000552024
Maryknoll SistersOssining, NY$25,000552024
National Leadership Roundtable on Church MgmtWashington, DC$25,000542024
Catholic Charities of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$20,000442024
Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona IncTucson, AZ$20,000432024
Catholic Extension Hispanic Lay Leadership PartnerChicago, IL$20,000422022
Central Catholic High SchoolPittsburgh, PA$15,000332023
City MissionWashington, PA$15,000332022
Vincentian Charitable FoundationPittsburgh, PA$15,000332024
FadicaWashington, DC$14,000442024
New Ways MinistryMt Rainier, MD$11,000532024
Angel's PlacePittsburgh, PA$10,000552024
Catholic Relief ServicesBaltimore, MD$10,000112024
Duquesne UniversityPittsburgh, PA$10,000112024
Hope Border InstiuteEl Paso, TX$10,000112024
Marian Manor CorporationPittsburgh, PA$10,000222021
Ministry Center of St Magdalene ParishPittsburgh, PA$10,000112021
Taasc InternationalWashington DC, DC$10,000222024
Nph USAChicago, IL$7,500332024
Holy Family AcademyEmsworth, PA$6,500222023
National Catholic Community FoundationCrownsville, MD$6,000332024
Nazareth PrepEmsworth, PA$6,000222021
Catholic Charities of Southern ArizonaTucson, AZ$5,000112022
Catholic ExtensionChicago, IL$5,000112024
Central Catholic Forensic SocietyPittsburgh, PA$5,000112020
Central Catholic HsPittsburgh, PA$5,000112022
Discerning DeaconsSaint Paul, MN$5,000112020
Family Links FoundationPittsburgh, PA$5,000532024
Hopital Albert Schweitzer HaitiPittsburgh, PA$5,000112024
Caritas InternationalisNew York, NY$4,000222021
Holy Family FoundationPittsburgh, PA$3,500112024
Diocese of Pittsburgh Catholic Campus MinistriesPittsburgh, PA$3,000112021
Girls Inc Sarasota CountySarasota, FL$2,500112023
Discerning DeaconsDurnham, NC$2,000112024
Mary Queen of Peace ParishPittsburgh, PA$2,000112024
St Paul of the Cross MonasteryPittsburgh, PA$1,000112020

40 of 56 (71%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 71%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 55 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

International Affairs
11 grants
Education
11 grants
Human Services
9 grants
Religion
6 grants
Community Improvement
5 grants
Food & Nutrition
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Employment
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202051$276,500$5,000
202127$207,500$5,000
202248$303,000$5,000
202325$202,500$5,000
202438$299,500$5,000

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.

Already committed for future years

Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Mary J Donnelly Foundation has 41 of them, worth $215,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.

OrganizationLocationApproved
Catholic Relief ServicesBaltimore, MD$15,000
Jesuit Volunteer CorpsBaltimore, MD$10,000
Catholic Relief ServicesBaltimore, MD$10,000
Catholic Relief ServiceBaltimore, MD$10,000
Jesuit Volunteer CorpsPittsburgh, PA$10,000
Catholic Charities of PittsburghPittsburgh, PA$5,000
Catholic Community Services of Southern ArizonaTucson, AZ$5,000
Gregorian University FoundationWashington, DC$5,000
Just Faith MinistriesLouisville, KY$5,000
Hopital Albert Schweitzer HaitiPittsburgh, PA$5,000
National Leadership Roundtable on Church MgmtWashington, DC$5,000
Catholic ExtensionChicago, IL$5,000
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande ValleyMcallen, TX$5,000
Central Catholic High SchoolPittsburgh, PA$5,000
De Paul School for Hearing and SpeechPittsburgh, PA$5,000

Where its money goes

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 69% 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
$887K
District of Columbia
$104K
Maryland
$67K
New York
$54K
Texas
$35K
Illinois
$32K
Massachusetts
$25K
Kentucky
$25K

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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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc19 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund18 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program16 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust14 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc13 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc13 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. 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 education in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Mary J Donnelly Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 2901 Smallman Street Apt 5B, Pittsburgh, PA, 15201. 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 25-6037469 · 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.