The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation

• This foundation funds across three programme areas: Empowering Youth, Empowering Women and Empowering Innovation, so check your work sits within one of these before considering an approach.
• It operates by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited requests, so a small nonprofit cannot simply submit a proposal; you would need to be identified or approached by the foundation itself.
• Typical grants to organisations range from $50,000 to $1,550,000, with a median of $200,000, so a mid-sized request in that region would be realistic if you were ever invited to apply.
• The pattern of giving looks strongly relationship-led rather than open-competition: in its latest filing, 93% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its two prior filings, suggesting it favours sustained partnerships with grantees over one-off applicants.
• Because it does not accept unsolicited requests, organisations hoping to apply cold should not expect to do so through a standard application process.

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

• Cardinal Hayes High School · Youth and education-"bridgeup" 2.0 grant: purpose: "bridgeup: core", and "bridgeout" programs-to work collaboratively to support selected "bridgeup" scholars from cardinal hayes high school, st. catherine academy, and the academy of mount st. ursula by providing innovative programming, scholarships, post-graduation college prep and job assistance, and alumni support.
  $1,510,0002024 tax year
• Dana-Farber Cancer Center · Leadership-the helen gurley brown presidential initiative grant: purpose: funding "helen fellows", "helen mentors", and "helen trailblazer" awards at dana-farber cancer institute to develop an initiative which is a supportive environment and network for researchers, and to advance their careers to help shepherd the next era of breakthroughs in cancer medicine and discovery.
  $1,385,3232024 tax year
• Northern Stage Company · Leadership-"bold circle" grant: purpose: to create a network of artistic directors as well as associate artistic directors, producers, and fellows, who in turn will support innovative writers, directors, and designers, and the development of new pieces of artistic work written for the theater stage.
  $1,260,6522024 tax year
• School Seed Foundation · Youth and education- "bridgeup" "giddy up" grant:purpose: to offer under-resourced children a unique track to personal development, empowerment, academic excellence, and the pursuit of higher education through the medium of horseback riding.
  $857,7432024 tax year
• National Center for Women and Information Technology · Youth and education-"bridgeup" stem grant:purpose: to provide opportunities for underserved individuals of all backgrounds to learn the skills of computer science in small groups with their peers.
  $624,1982024 tax year
• Immigrant Justice Corps · Empowering innovation-robert a. katzmann fellowship grant:purpose: to support ijc in recruiting, training and mentoring katzmann fellows. in addition, the grant supports up to three katzmann fellows through examination preparation, application fees, and scholarship support to attend law school.
  $525,6692024 tax year
• Middlebury College · Leadership-"bold leadership network" grant:purpose: to establish and fund the "bold leadership network" program at middlebury college, the purpose of which is to develop leadership and support scholars within higher education.
  $403,7932024 tax year
• Student Conservation Association · Youth and education-"bridgeup" environment grant:purpose: to provide new york city high school youth with the opportunity to learn about environmental conservation, gain professional experience during summers between school years, and to develop, strengthen, and cultivate their skill sets into future conservation leaders.
  $389,4282024 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.