James S Mcdonnell Foundation
Historical FunderSt Louis, Missouri · EIN 54-2074788 · Private foundation · Website
Grants paid (2024)$30.1M
Organizations funded82
Typical grant$110,000
Total assets$647M
Half of its grants to organizations were between $40,000 and $331,516.
From the return
How to apply
The foundation filed the following application information (Form 990-PF Part XV, tax year 2024):
| Contact | JASON PURNELL |
|---|---|
| Address | 1034 S BRENTWOOD 1850, ST LOUIS MO 631171284 |
| Phone | 3147211532 |
| Form and materials | REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS(RFP) SUBMISSION INFORMATION ON FUNDING PROGRAMS CAN BE OBTAINED AT THE FOUNDATION'S WEBSITE ADDRESS: WWW.JSMF.ORG |
| Deadlines | SEE 2.B. ABOVE AND THE FOUNDATION'S WEBSITE |
| Restrictions | NONE |
Copied as filed. Deadlines on a tax return describe the foundation's usual process; they are not confirmation of a current open cycle.
What it funds
Share of grant lines on the latest return, classified from the purpose each grant states.
Where it gives
21% of grants went outside Missouri.
Grants paid in tax year 2024
| Recipient | Location | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Park Forever Inc | St Louis, MO | In support of "forever: the campaign for forest park's future" | $5,120,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | St Louis, MO | Umsl school of engineering & student support | $3,361,590 |
| Federation of American Scientists | Washington, DC | In support of the economic mobility initiative | $2,250,000 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Building a framework for lasting wealth: a proposal for baby bonds in st. louis | $1,950,000 |
| Davis & Elkins College | Elkins, WV | Endowment F/T secure the future campaign, phase II | $1,160,000 |
| Small Business Empowerment Center | St Louis, MO | St. louis low-income investment fund and technical assistance (st. louis lift) | $1,000,000 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Guaranteed basic income pilot | $1,000,000 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Guaranteed basic income pilot | $966,000 |
| Habitat for Humanity International Inc | St Louis, MO | Building our financial future | $900,000 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Clayton, MO | In support of staffing, pilot program costs, evaluation, and dissemination of findings | $782,500 |
| Wepower | St Louis, MO | Developing a data-driven, community-centric strategy to coordinate & transform the st. louis early childhood system | $637,539 |
| St Louis Science Center Foundation | St Louis, MO | For the st. louis science center campaign to be launched in 2024, with the specific purpose of this gift to be decided later | $575,000 |
| Biostl | Saint Louis, MO | Bioscience workforce collaborative: catalyzing equitable career pathways and enhancing the workforce system to improve economic mobility… | $565,297 |
| Biostl | Saint Louis, MO | Bioscience workforce collaborative: catalyzing equitable career pathways and enhancing the workforce system to improve economic mobility… | $565,297 |
| Biostl | Saint Louis, MO | Biogenerator: building innovation economy leaders through the bioscience equitableleadership (bel) venture fellows program | $514,985 |
| Biostl | Saint Louis, MO | Biogenerator: building innovation economy leaders through the bioscience equitableleadership (bel) venture fellows program | $514,985 |
| University of Washington | Seattle, WA | Preparing teachers to facilitate asset-based science & literacy discourse in dual and multilingual elementary classrooms | $503,325 |
| Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia, PA | Facilitating digital discourse: teachers as learners in a digital age | $494,831 |
| Iff | Chicago, IL | Joyful spaces | $350,000 |
| Temple University-Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Educ | Philadelphia, PA | The development of novice teachers role-identities as discussion facilitators in social studies classrooms | $345,562 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Advancing st. louis early childhood education priorities through convening and capacity building | $331,516 |
| Arizona Board of Regents University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ | Teachers as thinkers: improving classroom communication in mathematics | $318,097 |
| Missouri Historical Society Jefferson Memorial Building | St Louis, MO | For exhibit gallery renovation and exhibit endowment. | $303,500 |
| The Regents of the University of Colorado | Boulder, CO | Developing a model of teacher learning to support computationally rich communication in science classrooms | $300,026 |
| Entrepreneur Startup Business Development Corporation | St Louis, MO | Arch grants community capital fund | $300,000 |
| International Institute of Metropolitan St Louis | St Louis, MO | General support of the mission | $275,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | St Louis, MO | To support undergraduates aiming toward and marticulated in the umsl/wustl joint engineering program | $235,000 |
| Goalsetter Foundation | Brooklyn, NY | Ferguson florissant financial empowerment project | $227,000 |
| Goalsetter Foundation | Brooklyn, NY | Ferguson florissant financial empowerment project | $227,000 |
| St Louis Life Sciences Project | St Louis, MO | General purposes | $225,000 |
| Cortex | St Louis, MO | Assessing impact of first year of missouri tech first | $200,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | St Louis, MO | St. louis anchor action network capacity building grant | $193,329 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | St Louis, MO | St. louis anchor action network capacity building grant | $193,329 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Regional response team capacity building grant | $166,985 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Regional response team capacity building grant | $166,985 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Regional response team capacity building grant | $166,985 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | Regional response team capacity building grant | $166,985 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | North star community partners capacity building grant | $155,182 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | St Louis, MO | North star community partners capacity building grant | $155,182 |
| Arizona Board of Regents University of Arizona | Tucson, AZ | Teachers as thinkers: improving classroom communication in mathematics | $131,472 |
| St Louis Zoo Foundation | St Louis, MO | The campaign for the st. louis zoo | $120,000 |
| The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital | St Louis, MO | Challenge grant - to endow and support the new initiative in palliative care and formation of the institute for supportive care at bjc… | $110,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri | Columbia, MO | Civic collaboration fellows: building leadership capacity for economic mobility | $104,727 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Clayton, MO | In support of staffing, pilot program costs, evaluation, and dissemination of findings | $100,750 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Clayton, MO | In support of staffing, pilot program costs, evaluation, and dissemination of findings | $100,750 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Clayton, MO | In support of staffing, pilot program costs, evaluation, and dissemination of findings | $100,750 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Clayton, MO | In support of staffing, pilot program costs, evaluation, and dissemination of findings | $100,750 |
| Masters Chancellor and Scholars of the University of Cambridge | Cambridge, UK | Emergence and self-organization of patterns in planetary polar atmospheres | $100,000 |
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | Boston, MA | Integrative theory of memory and cognitive processes | $91,478 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri | Columbia, MO | Civic collaboration fellows: building leadership capacity for economic mobility | $77,381 |
| The Clark-Fox Family Foundation | St Louis, MO | For blueprint4 to provide STEM scholarships | $75,000 |
| Eisenhower Fellowships Inc | Philadelphia, PA | To endow on named st. louis USA fellowship annually | $67,000 |
| Univeridad Adolfo Ibooez | CI | A method for studying shared meaning in cultural groups | $62,500 |
| Boston College Trustees | Chestnut Hill, MA | Planning, implementation, and evaluation of city connects in the school district of university city in st. louis, mo | $58,134 |
| Boston College Trustees | Chestnut Hill, MA | Planning, implementation, and evaluation of city connects in the school district of university city in st. louis, mo | $58,134 |
| Arch Grants | St Louis, MO | Campaign to endow the grant-making to attract start-up companies in st. louis | $50,000 |
| Harris-Stowe Foundation Inc | St Louis, MO | Harris-Stowe university strategic assessment and planning initiative: visiting committee support - part 1 | $50,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | St Louis, MO | St. louis anchor action network capacity building grant | $49,920 |
| A Red Circle | St Louis, MO | Exploring and creating a cooperative kitchen and ecosystem for food entrepreneurs | $40,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | St Louis, MO | Umsls climb program support | $40,000 |
Showing the 60 largest of 82 grants to organizations.
Grants approved for future payment
| Recipient | Location | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Louis Community Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | In support of the regional collaboration conversation action plan | $30,000,000 |
| Washington University School of Medicine | Saint Louis, MO | Accelerating discovery at the mcdonnell genome institute | $13,000,000 |
| Washington University School of Medicine | Saint Louis, MO | Endowment of research fund in the neuroscience building | $12,500,000 |
| Forest Park Forever Inc | Saint Louis, MO | In support of "forever: the campaign for forest park's future" | $10,000,000 |
| Hollins University | Roanoke, VA | Unrestricted endowment | $8,617,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | Umsl school of engineering & student support | $8,004,070 |
| Federation of American Scientists | Washington, DC | In support of the economic mobility initiative | $8,000,000 |
| St Louis Zoo Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | The campaign for the st. louis zoo | $7,500,000 |
| Biostl | Saint Louis, MO | Biogenerator: building innovation economy leaders through the bioscience equitableleadership (bel) venture fellows program | $5,149,844 |
| Donald Danforth Plant Science Center | Saint Louis, MO | Endowment "future forward" campaign | $5,000,000 |
| Missouri Historical Society Jefferson Memorial Building | Saint Louis, MO | For exhibit gallery renovation and exhibit endowment. | $4,706,000 |
| St Louis Science Center Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | St. louis science center campaign to be launched in 2024 | $4,500,000 |
| Biostl | Saint Louis, MO | Bioscience workforce collaborative: catalyzing equitable career pathways and enhancing the workforce system to improve economic mobility… | $4,088,147 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | St. louis translational fellowships in education | $4,062,395 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Bridging the gap: a collaborative mortgage model for accelerated equity accumulation and affordability | $3,574,225 |
| Washington University in St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | St. louis translational fellowships in education | $3,562,246 |
| Davis & Elkins College | Elkins, WV | Endowment F/T secure the future campaign, phase II | $3,250,000 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Saint Louis, MO | In support of staffing, pilot program costs, evaluation, and dissemination of findings | $3,000,000 |
| St Louis Science Center Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | For the st. louis science center campaign to be launched in 2024, with the specific purpose of this gift to be decided later | $3,000,000 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Building a framework for lasting wealth: a proposal for baby bonds in st. louis | $2,674,500 |
| The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital | Saint Louis, MO | Challenge grant - to endow and support the new initiative in palliative care and formation of the institute for supportive care at bjc… | $2,500,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri-St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | St. louis anchor action network capacity building grant | $2,369,948 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Regional response team capacity building grant | $2,053,818 |
| Brookings Institution | Washington, DC | Comparative effectiveness analysis: using agent-based models to simulate pathways to increased workforce preparedness and wealth in st.… | $2,000,000 |
| St Louis Life Sciences Project | Saint Louis, MO | General purposes | $1,935,000 |
| Small Business Empowerment Center | Saint Louis, MO | St. louis low-income investment fund and technical assistance (st. louis lift) | $1,919,356 |
| Washington University in St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | Endowment for the "empower: career success for refugees" program in the school of continuing and professional studies (caps) | $1,830,000 |
| The Trustees of Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | Create an "innovation fund for the sustainability of our planet" | $1,600,000 |
| Goalsetter Foundation | Brooklyn, NY | Ferguson florissant financial empowerment project | $1,377,125 |
| International Institute of Metropolitan St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | General support of the mission | $1,215,000 |
| Show-Me School-Based Alliance of Missouri | Olivette, MO | School based clinic in the university city school district | $1,188,008 |
| Boston College Trustees | Chestnut, MA | Planning, implementation, and evaluation of city connects in the school district of university city in st. louis, mo | $1,102,381 |
| Eisenhower Fellowships Inc | Philadelphia, PA | To endow on named st. louis USA fellowship annually | $1,000,000 |
| Gateway Arch Park Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Gateway arch park foundation capital campaign | $1,000,000 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Saint Louis, MO | Provide direct cash assistance to individuals and families affected by the tornado. | $1,000,000 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Upward mentoring | $1,000,000 |
| Curators of the University of Missouri | Columbia, MO | Civic collaboration fellows: building leadership capacity for economic mobility | $928,567 |
| The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf | Madison, IL | Economic mobility lab | $903,750 |
| Entrepreneur Startup Business Development Corporation | Saint Louis, MO | Arch grants community capital fund | $900,000 |
| Friends of Kwmu Inc | Saint Louis, MO | One small step - st. louis | $824,917 |
| Iff | Chicago, IL | Support facility rehab or relocation for early childhood centers to maintain operations and avoid long-term loss of care availability. this… | $637,940 |
| John Burroughs School | Saint Louis, MO | Increase the endowment of the fiftieth anniversary scholarship fund, a tax-exempt support organization of jbs | $625,000 |
| Washington University in St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | For the endowment of the danforth scholars program in honor of william H. danforth | $500,000 |
| Legal Services of Eastern Mo Inc | Saint Louis, MO | In support of staffing, technology, initiative operations, stipends to partnering home repair organizations | $471,796 |
| Missouri Botanical Garden Board of Trustees | Saint Louis, MO | Renovation of the mcdonnell education and exhibit area | $375,000 |
| St Louis Integrated Health Network | Saint Louis, MO | Increase capacity for home repairs in tornado-affected neighborhoods by building and refining a model for a coordinated and scalable… | $366,000 |
| Entrepreneur Startup Business Development Corporation | Saint Louis, MO | Campaign to endow the grant-making to attract start-up companies in st. louis | $250,000 |
| Kids Win Missouri | Merriam, KS | Supporting missouri's early childhood system | $250,000 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Support an emergency assistance fund to help ece centers make needed repairs to reopen (repair support can be coordinated with iff), retain… | $250,000 |
| St Louis Regional Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center | Saint Louis, MO | Amicstl high quality and sustainable workforce initiative - phase 1 | $200,000 |
| St Louis Integrated Health Network | Saint Louis, MO | In support of staffing, technology, initiative operations, stipends to partnering home repair organizations | $165,761 |
| Action St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | Support trusted, community-based organization capacity for coordinating immediate relief efforts for tornado-affected residents. capacity… | $160,000 |
| Neighborhood Solidarity Fund | Saint Louis, MO | Support neighborhood-level coordination and access to resources in hard-hit communities. jsmf funds would support an additional staff… | $150,000 |
| World Wildlife Fund | Washington, DC | Phase 2 of wwf addressing invasive carp by market-based solutions in st. louis | $108,000 |
| Greater St Louis Inc Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Membership - executive level investor (2025) | $100,000 |
| Maryville University | Saint Louis, MO | Support for the after-school STEM club and coding camp of the center for access and achievement | $100,000 |
| St Louis Community Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | To sustain and expand the alliances capacity to lead the implementation of the st. louis early childhood implementation plan | $100,000 |
| Stl Youth Jobs | Saint Louis, MO | Planning grant - development of youth career exposure and training program in healthcare | $83,648 |
| Action St Louis | Saint Louis, MO | In support of action st louis | $50,000 |
| The Clark-Fox Family Foundation | Saint Louis, MO | Provide STEM scholarships by blueprint4, which provides easy access to diverse and enriching summer and out-of-school-time programs for… | $50,000 |
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants paid | Grant lines |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $30,094,150 | 153 |
| 2023 | $27,600,515 | 3 |
Sources
- IRS Form 990-PF, tax year 2024, filed Nov 12, 2025 - IRS e-file batch, object ID 202523169349102707
- IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for EIN 54-2074788
- Profile updated Nov 4, 2026
Facts on this page come from the foundation's own IRS Form 990-PF filings as published by the IRS. Grantvello does not know whether a foundation is accepting proposals right now: a past grant is not an open opportunity. Always confirm current guidelines with the funder before applying.