Alabama · Private foundation
The Comer Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
- $976k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 37
- Grants FY2025
- 27
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 7%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $7,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $228,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 23 to 30
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 4
- Total assets, FY2025
- $14M
- Applications
- Takes unsolicited applications
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 7% of the organizations The Comer Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 3% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k 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 | 37 | $976k | 27% |
| FY2024 | 27 | $615k | 7% |
| FY2023 | 27 | $664k | 4% |
| FY2022 | 30 | $681k | 10% |
| FY2021 | 29 | $676k | 14% |
| FY2020 | 27 | $636k | 15% |
| FY2019 | 25 | $701k | 12% |
| FY2018 | 23 | $658k | 17% |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The State of Alabama Ballet Inc | $300,000 | 9 | 3% |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | $210,000 | 6 | n/a |
| Stair of Birmingham | $170,000 | 9 | 5% |
| Birmingham-Southern College | $168,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Better Basics Inc | $166,000 | 8 | 3% |
| Alabama Wildlife Federation | $52,500 | 9 | 0% |
| Teach for America Inc | $45,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Preschool Partners | $45,000 | 9 | 1% |
| Birmingham Zoo Inc | $45,000 | 9 | 0% |
| The Exceptional Foundation | $40,000 | 8 | 0% |
Show all 27 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The State of Alabama Ballet Inc | $300,000 | 9 | 3% |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | $210,000 | 6 | n/a |
| Stair of Birmingham | $170,000 | 9 | 5% |
| Birmingham-Southern College | $168,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Better Basics Inc | $166,000 | 8 | 3% |
| Alabama Wildlife Federation | $52,500 | 9 | 0% |
| Teach for America Inc | $45,000 | 9 | 0% |
| Preschool Partners | $45,000 | 9 | 1% |
| Birmingham Zoo Inc | $45,000 | 9 | 0% |
| The Exceptional Foundation | $40,000 | 8 | 0% |
| I3 Academy | $36,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Smile-A-Mile | $25,000 | 5 | 0% |
| Mitchell's Place Inc | $24,800 | 8 | 0% |
| Cahaba Foundation Inc | $20,000 | 2 | 8% |
| Ronald McDonald House Global | $20,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Vulcan Park Foundation | $20,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Special Equestrians Inc | $15,500 | 4 | 1% |
| The a Education Partnership | $15,000 | 2 | 0% |
| First Light Inc | $7,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Studio by the Tracks Inc | $6,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Birmingham Landmarks Inc | $5,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Birmingham Education Foundation | $5,000 | 2 | 0% |
| City of Mountian Brook | $3,500 | 1 | n/a |
| Bluff City Arts Alliance | $2,500 | 1 | 12% |
| Breakthrough Birmingham | $2,500 | 1 | 0% |
| Cahaba River Society Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Girlspring Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 25 recipients with no EIN on record ($4.8M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget The Comer Foundation supplied at peak.
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: The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · Protective Life Foundation · The Hugh Kaul Foundation · Robert R Meyer Foundation · The Joseph S Bruno Charitable Foundation · Hill Crest Foundation Inc · Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation · Altecstyslinger Foundation · The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Orlean & Ralph W Beeson Fund
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Comer Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Comer Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.
Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.
About The Comer Foundation
- How much does The Comer Foundation give?
- The Comer Foundation reported 37 grants totaling $976,214 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 23 and 30 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does The Comer Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (73%), Arts & Culture (13%), Health (5%).
- Who are The Comer Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: The State of Alabama Ballet Inc ($300k), University of Alabama at Birmingham ($210k), Stair of Birmingham ($170k).
- Does The Comer Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 7% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Comer Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The Comer Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Daniel Foundation of Alabama, Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust, Protective Life Foundation.
- Where is The Comer Foundation based?
- The Comer Foundation is based in AL.
Play a game based on Comer’s filings →