David R. and Patricia D. Atkinson Foundation

Private foundation · EIN 22-3753685 · since 2000davidrandpatriciadatkinsonfoundation.org·Georgia, New Jersey, New York·Updated 13 October 2026

At a glance

$7.3M

Annual giving, 2024 tax year

From the Form 990-PF filing

$5,000 to $200k

Grant range

From grants in the 990-PF filings

$55,000

Typical grant (median)

26 grants in the latest filing

Invitation only

Unsolicited applications are not accepted

This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.

Key takeaways

The foundation accepts no unsolicited requests and makes grants only to organisations it has preselected, so a small charity without an existing link should not send a cold application, and the filing gives no route to seek selection.
Where a connection does exist, a request of around $40,000 sits at the middle of its grants, since half of its grants to organisations were $40,000 or less, while about 8 in 10 fall between $5,000 and $200,000, a typical band rather than a limit, as its largest grant was about $3,800,000.
Its funding is general support spread across many fields, including humanitarian, health, environmental, education and cultural causes, so fit depends more on the relationship than on subject.
No geographic focus is stated, although the filing shows grants mainly in New York, Georgia and New Jersey.
Repeat funding is common, with 47% of its grant dollars to organisations going to recipients it had also funded in an earlier filing.

Overview

David R. and Patricia D. Atkinson Foundation is a US private foundation based in Princeton, NJ.

What they fund

Profile based on the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) only. Every statement is checked against the filings. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The filings describe grants as general support and show recipients across a wide range of charitable work. Grants went to humanitarian and international relief organisations, food and housing charities, environmental and climate organisations, medical and health institutions, universities and schools, journalism and public media, cultural institutions, faith communities and local emergency services. The grant purposes do not identify a narrower shared field. Recipients are spread across many states, while New York and Georgia together account for most of the recorded grant dollars.

Geographic Focus

No geographic focus is stated; the filings show grants mainly in New York, Georgia and New Jersey.

How to apply

The filing says contributions are made only to preselected charitable organisations and unsolicited requests are not accepted. It gives no route for organisations to seek selection.

Application success factors

Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 47% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 148 grants to organisations were $40,000 or less.

Where grants go

From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2024.

Grant dollars by state

New York62%

Georgia14%

New Jersey13%

Pennsylvania4%

Illinois4%

California<1%

6 other states: 2%

The largest single recipient received 17% of grant dollars to organisations.
In tax year 2024, 47% of grant dollars went to organisations David R. and Patricia D. Atkinson Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
No grants were paid directly to organisations outside the US.
18% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.

Grants

26 grants in the latest filing analysed · median $55,000

How much do they typically give?

Share of 26 grants in tax year 2024 by size

$2.5k–$5k8%

$5k–$10k4%

$10k–$25k8%

$25k–$50k23%

$50k–$100k27%

$100k–$250k19%

$250k–$500k0%

$500k–$1M0%

$1M and over12%

Median $55,000 (tax year 2024)

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

GS Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund · General
$3,775,0002024 tax year
Doctors Without Borders · General
$1,100,0002024 tax year
CARE · General
$1,000,0002024 tax year
HomeFront · General
$200,0002024 tax year
Feeding America · General
$200,0002024 tax year
Environmental Defense Fund · General
$175,0002024 tax year
ProPublica · General
$100,0002024 tax year
Climate Central · General
$100,0002024 tax year

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

Officers and directors

Paul D Atkinson — Trustee
Steven R Atkinson — Trustee
Patricia D Atkinson — Trustee
David R Atkinson — Trustee

From the latest Form 990-PF filing

3 years of tax filings

Year	Total expenses	Grants paid	Assets	Filing document
2022 tax year	$7,518,594	$6,951,633	$136,822,468	Filing for 2022 tax year
2023 tax year	$7,873,690	$7,309,063	$145,884,044	Filing for 2023 tax year
2024 tax year	$8,181,692	$7,311,000	$193,359,120	Filing for 2024 tax year

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.