FundersNew York

The Guido and Ellen Palma Foundation

Rochester, NY · EIN 16-1559984. Reported 161 grants totalling $993,815 to 71 organizations across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,150median grant
$993,815granted, 2020-2024
71organizations funded
59%of grantees funded again the next year
$2,175,350assets, 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. The Guido and Ellen Palma 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 $5,150. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $7,500; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $15,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
40 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
99 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
22 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
Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts CouncilBatavia, NY$35,000332024
Seneca Park Zoo SocietyRochester, NY$32,500442023
Writers & BooksRochester, NY$32,500442024
Genesee Country Village and MuseumMumford, NY$30,000332024
Rochester Philharmonic OrchestraRochester, NY$30,000442024
The Keys ProgramSherrill, NY$30,000442024
A Magical Journey Through StagesRochester, NY$27,500442023
Flower City Arts CenterRochester, NY$27,500332024
Boys & Girls Club of RochesterRochester, NY$26,500442024
Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture AllianceRochester, NY$26,000442024
Memorial Art Gallery of the University of RochesterRochester, NY$26,000442024
Deep Arts IncRochester, NY$25,000442024
Rochester City BalletRochester, NY$24,000332024
Landmark Society of Western New YorkRochester, NY$22,750442024
Hochstein School of MusicRochester, NY$22,500442023
Push Physical TheatreRochester, NY$22,000332024
The Strong Museum of PlayRochester, NY$21,653332024
Mary Cariola Children's CenterRochester, NY$21,240222024
Lollypop FarmFairport, NY$20,500442023
The Center for Teen EmpowermentRochester, NY$20,000442024
The Center for YouthRochester, NY$20,000222022
Finger Lakes Opera IncGeneseo, NY$19,500442024
Villa of HopeRochester, NY$17,920332024
Girls Rock Rochester IncRochester, NY$17,600332022
Spiritus Christi Church Prison OutreachRochester, NY$17,000332024
Canandaigua Lake Watershed AssociationCanandaigua, NY$16,500332024
Macedon Public LibraryMacedon, NY$16,490332024
Clyde Savannah Public LibraryClyde, NY$15,000442023
Corn Hill Waterfront & Navigation FoundationRochester, NY$15,000222024
AutismupRochester, NY$14,500222023
Merry-Go-Round Playhouse Dba the Rev Theatre CompanyAuburn, NY$14,000222023
Salvation Army of Greater RochesterRochester, NY$13,500222023
Borinquen Dance TheaterRochester, NY$12,500222021
Cayuga Museum of History & ArtAuburn, NY$12,500222024
Endless Highway IncRochester, NY$12,500332024
Rainbow Junction LtdPenn Yan, NY$12,250222024
Camp Puzzle Peace IncWalworth, NY$10,570442024
Rochester Museum & Science CenterRochester, NY$10,150222024
Dasap IncRochester, NY$10,000112023
Discovery Academy of Science and Art (dasa) PreschoolRochester, NY$10,000112024
Geva Theatre CenterRochester, NY$10,000222021
The Assisi InstituteRochester, NY$10,000112021
Auburn Public TheaterAuburn, NY$8,500222023
Girl Scouts of Western New YorkRochester, NY$8,500222024
Merry-Go-Round PlayhouseAuburn, NY$8,500222021
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Wayne CountyNewark, NY$8,000222024
Cornell University Cooperative Extension Yates CountyPenn Yan, NY$7,500112024
Eastman School of MusicRochester, NY$7,500112024
Geneva Music FestivalGeneva, NY$7,500112024
Hillside Family of AgenciesRochester, NY$7,500112023
Hope HallRochester, NY$7,500112024
ImageoutRochester, NY$7,500112024
Shake on the Lake IncSilver Lake, NY$7,500112023
Ant Alliance IncSilver Lake, NY$7,000112023
Jewish Community Center of Greater RochesterRochester, NY$6,000112023
Rochester Ecology PartnersRochester, NY$6,000112024
Women's Foundation of Genesee ValleyRochester, NY$6,000222023
Cameron Community MinistriesRochester, NY$5,000112020
Garth Fagan DanceRochester, NY$5,000112022
Gateways Music Festival IncRochester, NY$5,000112020
Golisano Autism CenterRochester, NY$5,000112023
Refugees Helping RefugeesRochester, NY$5,000112020
Sonnenberg Gardens and MansionCanandaigua, NY$4,442332023
Spiritus Christi ChurchRochester, NY$4,000112020
Livingston County Historical SocietyGeneseo, NY$3,500112022
Rose Free LibraryRose, NY$3,500112024
Wilson Commencement ParkRochester, NY$3,500112022
The Little TheatreRochester, NY$2,500112024
Rochester Oratorio SocietyRochester, NY$2,050112023
Chip Holt Nature CenterLakeville, NY$1,900112023
The Gatesinger Company LtdPultneyville, NY$1,800112024

45 of 71 (63%) 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 59%, 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 93 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
56 grants
Human Services
12 grants
Animal Welfare
8 grants
Youth Development
6 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
4 grants
Diseases & Disorders
2 grants
Environment
2 grants
Religion
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202028$119,469$5,000
202127$188,571$5,000
202233$215,412$6,000
202334$214,170$7,235
202439$256,193$7,500

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

Rochester, NY
$692K
Auburn, NY
$44K
Batavia, NY
$35K
Mumford, NY
$30K
Sherrill, NY
$30K
Geneseo, NY
$23K
Canandaigua, NY
$21K
Fairport, NY
$20K

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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.

Rochester Area Community Foundation39 shared recipientsMax and Marian Farash Charitable31 shared recipientsEsl Charitable Foundation22 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund22 shared recipientsDaisy Marquis Jones Foundation20 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc20 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,150. 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 New York.
  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 arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding animal welfare in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Guido and Ellen Palma 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: 130 East Avenue 540, Rochester, NY, 14604. 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 16-1559984 · 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.