Question
What is a private foundation?
A private foundation is a 501(c)(3) funded from one source — a family, an individual or a company — rather than from the public, and it usually makes grants instead of running programs in 2026, according to the IRS.
The IRS lists 136,500 of them. The 136,500 this site holds figures for paid $134.3 billion in grants. 121,231 are grantmaking and 9,573 run their own charitable work.
Data retrieved
The figures behind this
| Measure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Private foundations | 136,500 |
| Of those, with rows on this site | 136,500 |
| Charitable organizations, 501(c)(3) | 1,650,468 |
| Grants paid | $134.3 billion$134,328,190,310 |
Where to go next
Sources
- Exempt Organizations Business Master File — Internal Revenue Service · Public domain — U.S. Government work · retrieved October 14, 2026
- Form 990 series e-file data
Compiled automatically from Exempt Organizations Business Master File and Form 990 series e-file data by a checked SQL query · Editor: Kian O'Connor · How this site is built