Phillip & Edith Leonian Foundation
New York, NY · EIN 36-3204862. Reported 138 grants totalling $2,099,394 to 72 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. Phillip & Edith Leonian 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $12,250. Half of everything it gave fell between $7,500 and $20,000; the smallest was $3,520 and the largest $51,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronx Documentary Center | Bronx, NY | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Fotofest International | Houston, TX | $120,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Eddie Adams Workshop Organization Inc | Jeffersonville, NY | $105,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nyc Salt | New York, NY | $105,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| William Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Co International Center for Photography | New York, NY | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| United Photo Industries | Brooklyn, NY | $96,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Museum of Contemporary Photography | Chicago, IL | $95,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts-Dba Blue Sky Gallery | Portland, OR | $90,750 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Center for Photography at Woodstock | Woodstock, NY | $90,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| En Foco Inc | Bronx, NY | $65,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Penumbra Foundation | New York, NY | $54,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| International Center for Photograph | New York, NY | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Center Santa Fe-the Project | Santa Fe, NM | $47,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| National Museum of Mexican Art | Chicago, IL | $45,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Baxter St at the Camera Club of New York | New York, NY | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Museum of the City of New York | New York, NY | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Proof Media for Social Justice | New York, NY | $37,900 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Bethel Wood Center for the Arts Inc | Liberty, NY | $32,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Case Art Fund Inc | Chicago, IL | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Houston Center for Photography | Houston, TX | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Josephine Herrick Project Inc | New York, NY | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Studio Museum in Harlem | New York, NY | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Visual Studies Workshop | Rochester, NY | $29,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Magnum Photos Foundation | New York, NY | $24,800 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Evanston Art Center | Evanston, IL | $22,727 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Katherine E Nash Gallery University of Minnesota | Minneapolis, MN | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Photo Legacy Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Photography Collections Preservation Project | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Silver Eye Center for Photography (radial Survey Vol 3) | Pittsburgh, PA | $17,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Halide Project | Philadelphia, PA | $16,600 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Fractured Atlas (back to Lab & Two By Two Media) | Hartsdale, NY | $16,417 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Museum of Fine Arts Houston | Houston, TX | $15,900 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Aperture Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Brooklyn Arts Council | Brooklyn, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Kioo Project | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Las Foto Project of Community Partners | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Trustees of Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tilt Institute for Contemporary Image | Philadelphia, PA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| WNET- the Bigger Picture Project | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Women Photojournalists of Washington (wpow Speaker Series) | Takoma Park, MD | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Magnum Foundation | New York, NY | $10,600 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bethel Woods Center for the Arts Inc | Liberty, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brooklyn Darkroom (artist-in-Residence Program) | Brooklyn, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Curtis Legacy Foundation (descendants Project) | Buena Vista, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| East Bay Photo Collective (2023-2024 Exhibitions Program) | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Four Youth Production | Wilmington, DE | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| George Eastman Museum | Rochester, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Milwaukee Art Museum | Milwaukee, WI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Museum of Photographic Arts | San Diego, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New York Foundation for the Arts (ba Van Sise) | Long Island City, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Photography Network | Washington DC, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Photojournalism Archive Project | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Print Center (artist-in-Schools Program) | Philadelphia, PA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Somerville Museum( Padres Latinos De Somerville) | Somerville, MA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Atlanta Celebrates Photography | Atlanta, GA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Center for Exploratory & Perceptual Art ( Portrait of Buffalo Ii) | Buffalo, NY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Jewish Creativity International | Orrick, MO | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Photographic Center School | Seattle, WA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Tides Center | Los Angeles, CA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Historic Neighborhood Trust | Williamsport, PA | $5,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cincinnati Art Museum | Cincinnati, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Community Artists Collective | Houston, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Edge for Torrow(photography Enrichment Programming) | Wilmington, DE | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Flower City Arts Center | Rochester, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Griffin Museum of Photography | Winchester, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Inliquid | Philadelphia, PA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lens on Life | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Louisville Visual Art (picture This) | Louisville, KY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Queer Art | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Women Photograph | New Orleans, LA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Brattleboro Museum & Art Center | Brattleboro, VT | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
33 of 72 (46%) 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 61%, across 3 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.
- Milwaukee Art Museum
TRUE STORY: PHOTOGRAPHY, JOURNALISM AND MEDIA EXHIBIT - Tides Center
FIRST EXPOSURES ACADEMIC YEAR MENTORSHIP PROGRAM - Queer Art
2024 COMMUNITY PORTRAIT PROJECT - Flower City Arts Center
STUDIO 678 YOUTH PHOTOGRAPHY AND WRITING PROGRAM - Community Artists Collective
THE COLLECTIVE ARCHIVING PROJECT - Cincinnati Art Museum
NANCY REXROTH COLLECTION CONSERVATION
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 63 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 31 | $515,420 | $15,000 |
| 2022 | 29 | $503,000 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 36 | $566,674 | $11,000 |
| 2024 | 42 | $514,300 | $9,250 |
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. 63% of this one's giving went to organizations in New York. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $12,250. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Phillip & Edith Leonian 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: 130 W 25TH Street 12A, New York, NY, 10001. 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 36-3204862 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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