IBM International Foundation

• IBM International Foundation funds educational and skills programmes aimed at 21st-century jobs, including the P-TECH model, community-college credentials, A+ training and certification, digital and professional skills, African American history education, and in some cases disaster recovery and food security, so nonprofits working in these areas are a closer fit than others.
• Most grants to organisations fall between $10,000 and $1,150,000, with a median grant of $70,000, so a modest request in that range is realistic; the largest grant, about $8,500,000, went to American Online Giving Foundation, an organisation that regrants to others, rather than a typical applicant.
• The foundation makes contributions only to preselected organisations and does not accept unsolicited requests, so a cold application is unlikely to work; an existing connection or relationship seems to be the practical route in.
• No geographic focus is stated, though recorded grants are mainly in Delaware, Massachusetts and South Carolina.
• With 90% of its grant dollars going to organisations it had already funded in earlier filings, this looks like a relationship-led funder that favours continuing partners, so a new applicant should be realistic about the odds of a first approach succeeding.

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

• American Online Giving Foundation · Operations
  $8,480,0002024 tax year
• Jobs for the Future · Operations
  $1,121,2352024 tax year
• Ushers New Look · Operations
  $500,0002024 tax year
• Junior Achievement Worldwide · Operations
  $474,0002024 tax year
• Goodwill Industries International · Operations
  $275,0002024 tax year
• Strada Collaborative · Operations
  $270,1852024 tax year
• Business in the Community · Operations
  $140,0002024 tax year
• International Association for Volunteer Effort · Operations
  $100,0002024 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.