The Davenport Family Foundation

• The foundation is based in Southeastern, PA, and gives by invitation only: it does not accept unsolicited requests, so a charity that has not already been preselected should not send one.
• Its typical grants run from $10,000 to $215,000, with about 8 in 10 falling in that band and a median of $50,000, and half of its 95 grants to organisations are $50,000 or less, so a modest request fits its usual pattern; its largest grant was $435,000, so that band is not a ceiling.
• Repeat giving is strong, with 94% of its grant dollars in its most recent filing going to organisations it had also funded in earlier filings, so an existing relationship with the foundation matters more than anything else.
• The stated funding areas include schools, universities and scholarship programmes, museums and heritage organisations, food banks and meal services, community and health services, and youth and sporting organisations, and no geographic focus is stated, although the filing shows grants mainly in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware and North Carolina; that pattern is not a rule about who may apply.
• The filing gives no timing or application steps, so a small nonprofit should not expect an open call and should first check whether it is already known to the foundation or its trustees.

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

• Mercersburg Academy · Squash center renovation and scholorship support
  $435,0002025 tax year
• University of Richmond · Faculty fellow, scholorship, annual fund
  $420,0002025 tax year
• High Point University · Scholarship and annual fund
  $225,0002025 tax year
• Sanford School · Stem center and annual fund
  $213,0002025 tax year
• Chester County Food Bank · Meals on wheels and sunshine program support
  $150,0002025 tax year
• Philadelphia Museum of Art · Exhibition catalogue and support
  $140,0002025 tax year
• Brandywine River Museum and Conservancy · Renovations to the site of the battle of brandywine
  $130,0002025 tax year
• Malvern Preparatory School · Student counseling center and annual fund
  $120,0002025 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.