Visa Foundation

Private foundation · EIN 81-4503596 · since 2017corporate.visa.com/en/sites/visa-foundation.html·International·Updated 13 October 2026

At a glance

$35.8M

Annual giving, 2023 tax year

From the Form 990-PF filing

$10,000 to $1M

Grant range

From grants in the 990-PF filings

$250k

Typical grant (median)

89 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 states that it does not accept unsolicited requests, so a small charity should not send it a cold application and should only approach it through an invitation.
Its themes are financial inclusion, community impact, humanitarian assistance and women-owned small businesses, and its stated geographic priority is across the globe, so work in those areas is the best fit.
About 8 in 10 of its grants to organisations fall between $10,000 and $1,000,000 and half are $250,000 or less, so a request in that range is typical, though the band is not a ceiling: its largest grant was about $7,350,000, to a regranting organisation.
About 64% of its grant dollars to organisations went to groups it had funded before, so repeat funding carries weight.
Its Visa Foundation Gives strand concentrates on local issues where Visa employees live and work, with employees nominating and voting on causes, so local nonprofits should note that this route is aimed at those places.

Overview

Visa Foundation is a US private foundation based in San Francisco, CA.

What they fund

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

Visa Foundation promotes thriving communities through economic inclusion and creative solutions. It focuses on financial inclusion and community impact, working closely with partners and communities on programmes with the greatest promise of helping the most people. Its financial-inclusion work supports women-owned small businesses and underserved entrepreneurs worldwide with access to capital, digital skills and financial skills. It also addresses critical community needs, including humanitarian assistance during crises. Through Visa Foundation Gives, it makes multi-year nonprofit grants for social issues in locations where Visa employees live and work, concentrating on local issues and partnering with trusted nonprofits.

Themes

Financial inclusion
Community impact
Humanitarian assistance
Women-owned small businesses

Geographic Focus

Priority: Across the globe.

How to apply

The foundation states that it does not accept unsolicited requests.

Application success factors

Repeat giving: In its TY2023 filing, 64% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 filing.
Grant size: Across its TY2022 and TY2023 filings, half of its 154 grants to organisations were $250,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

For Visa Foundation Gives, Visa employees nominate and vote on causes.
Visa Foundation Gives concentrates on specific local issues and partners with trusted nonprofits.

Where grants go

From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2023.

Grant dollars by state

Delaware22%

California17%

New York13%

Virginia5%

District of Columbia5%

Texas4%

6 other states: 9%

Outside the US or with no state on the filing: 25%

The largest single recipient received 22% of grant dollars to organisations.
In tax year 2023, 64% of grant dollars went to organisations Visa Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
20% of grant dollars went directly to organisations outside the US (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ethiopia, Italy).
39% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.

Grants

89 grants in the latest filing analysed · median $250k

How much do they typically give?

Share of 89 grants in tax year 2023 by size

$2.5k–$5k2%

$5k–$10k1%

$10k–$25k6%

$25k–$50k7%

$50k–$100k6%

$100k–$250k18%

$250k–$500k30%

$500k–$1M17%

$1M and over13%

Median $250k (tax year 2023)

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

American Online Giving Foundation · General & Unrestricted
$4,168,7252023 tax year
Gudina Tumsa Foundation · To support community development in Addis Ababa through an unrestricted grant
$1,500,0002023 tax year
Tipping Point Community · For Tipping Point Community to address and prevent youth homelessness across the Bay Area
$1,200,0002023 tax year
Womens World Banking Inc · Empowering Women-Owned Small and Micro Businesses
$1,200,0002023 tax year
American Online Giving Foundation · General & Unrestricted
$1,164,8752023 tax year
Black Economic Alliance Foundation · the center for black entrepreneurship (CBE) program
$1,000,0002023 tax year
Friends of the World Food Program · To support Humanitarian Assistance efforts in Gaza
$1,000,0002023 tax year
VilCap · To support GreenTech Europe 2024: Accelerating Women-Led Sustainability SMBs
$1,000,0002023 tax year

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

Officers and directors

Kelly Mahon Tullier — Director, Chair of the Board
Chris Suh — Director
Colleen Ostrowski — Treasurer
Ryan McInerney — Director
Graham Macmillan — President, Director
Alfred F Kelly Jr — Director, Chair of the Board
Kathleen Kavanagh — Director
Oliver Jenkyn — Director
Frank Cooper — Director
Brooke D Arena — Secretary

From the latest Form 990-PF filing

2 years of tax filings

Year	Total expenses	Grants paid	Assets	Filing document
2022 tax year	$37,797,982	$35,053,968	$405,670,482	Filing for 2022 tax year
2023 tax year	$39,763,158	$35,777,048	$504,817,673	Filing for 2023 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.