Missouri · Private foundation
The Bellwether Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- $6.7M
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 39
- Grants FY2025
- 27
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 11%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $5,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $2,000,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 27 to 60
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 6
- Total assets, FY2025
- $79M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 11% of the organizations The Bellwether Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 32% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.0M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 39 | $6.7M | 23% |
| FY2024 | 27 | $6.2M | 11% |
| FY2023 | 60 | $7.3M | 42% |
| FY2022 | 41 | $4.8M | 22% |
| FY2021 | 39 | $2.7M | 38% |
| FY2020 | 50 | $3.1M | 30% |
| FY2019 | 40 | $3.9M | 45% |
| FY2018 | 45 | $3.9M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Saint Louis Zoo Association | $5,685,998 | 8 | 9% |
| Donald Danforth Plant Science Center | $5,095,000 | 4 | 4% |
| Missouri Botanical Garden Board of Trustees | $3,701,000 | 4 | 3% |
| Cardinal Glennon Children's Foundation | $3,000,000 | 2 | 3% |
| Forest Park Forever Inc | $2,125,000 | 4 | 4% |
| Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra | $2,030,043 | 2 | 4% |
| Municipal Theatre Association of St Louis | $2,000,000 | 2 | 6% |
| Center of Creative Arts | $1,125,000 | 3 | 6% |
| The Sheldon Arts Foundation | $1,110,000 | 7 | 10% |
| City Academy Inc | $1,094,500 | 8 | 2% |
Show all 112 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 27 recipients with no EIN on record ($3.1M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
The Bellwether Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 107 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: St Louis Community Foundation · St Louis Community Foundation Inc · United Way of Greater St Louis Inc · Employees Community Fund of the Boeing Company · Brown Dana Charitable Trust · Commerce Bancshares Foundation · Trio Foundation of St Louis · Berges Family Foundation · Moneta Group Charitable Foundation · Youthbridge Community Foundation · Jordan Mary R & Ettie a Charitable · Norman J Stupp Foundation
How this is measured
About The Bellwether Foundation
- How much does The Bellwether Foundation give?
- The Bellwether Foundation reported 39 grants totaling $6,651,500 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 27 and 60 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does The Bellwether Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2025, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (23%), Animals (15%), Environment (14%).
- Who are The Bellwether Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2018 to FY2025: The Saint Louis Zoo Association ($5.7M), Donald Danforth Plant Science Center ($5.1M), Missouri Botanical Garden Board of Trustees ($3.7M).
- Does The Bellwether Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 11% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Bellwether Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Bellwether Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include St Louis Community Foundation, St Louis Community Foundation Inc, United Way of Greater St Louis Inc.
- Where is The Bellwether Foundation based?
- The Bellwether Foundation is based in MO.
Play a game based on Bellwether’s filings →