Donald M James Family Foundation

Private foundation · Grantmaker Pensacola, FL EIN: 81-3930067

The Donald M James Family Foundation is a private foundation based in Pensacola, Florida. Its 2025 filing reports 37 grants totaling $1,847,076, with listed recipients including charitable, educational, cultural, and community organizations.

Key facts about Donald M James Family Foundation

In short: Donald M James Family Foundation gave $1.8M across 37 grants in 2025 (avg $50K), top state District of Columbia. 3% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

EIN
81-3930067
Latest 990 filing
Form 990-PF, 2025
Annual giving (2025)
$1,847,076
Grants made (2025)
37
Average grant
$49,921
Median grant
$5,000
New grantees (estimate)
3% first-time grantees (1 of 37, 2025)
Total assets
$19,262,249
Primary geography
District of Columbia (48% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Accepts unsolicited proposals
No
How to apply
The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Full details ↓

Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated September 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology). Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.

Financial Overview

From 2025 IRS Form 990-PF · View filing

Total Assets

$19.3M

-0.8% YoY

Annual Giving

$1.8M

+27.6% YoY

Grant Count

37

-11.9% YoY

Avg Grant Size

$50K

+44.8% YoY

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Donald M James Family Foundation reported a distributable amount of $2.0M for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

Is Donald M James Family Foundation open to new grantees?

3%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 1 of 37 grantees (3%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $881K; repeat grants $27K. How we count

Medians: $881K first-time, $5K repeat.

  • 97% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving grew 45% from 2022 to 2025. Method
  • In 2025 it paid out 94% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Foundations have until the end of the next year to meet it. Method

Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.

Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.

Mission & Focus Areas

No foundation mission statement is provided. Its 2025 grants include support for organizations whose stated work spans several areas. For example, United Way of Central Alabama says its mission is to increase people’s organized capacity to care for one another and improve their community. The Birmingham Zoo says it exhibits animals for education, conducts conservation programs and research, and sponsors educational activities. STAIR of Birmingham says it provides after-school reading assistance to children in Birmingham City Schools.

Grantmaking

In 2025, the foundation made 37 grants totaling $1,847,076. Grant amounts ranged from $1,000 to $881,000, with a median of $5,000. The largest listed grants were $881,000 to JGJ Gene Research, $446,000 to Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, $105,000 to Mountain Brook Schools Foundation, $100,100 to Independent Presbyterian Church, and $100,000 to Rand Corp. Each was listed for “Support of programs.”

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Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

In 2025, grant dollars went to recipients in Washington, DC (48%), Alabama (44%), California (6%), Virginia (1%), and Florida (1%).

Grant Distribution by State

9states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 37 itemized grants.

Cities

BirminghamMontgomeryPensacolaTuscaloosaDarienLouisvilleSan FranciscoSanta MonicaMountain BrookCharlottesvilleRussellvilleTalladegaWashingtonGainesvilleFairfieldDecaturNew York

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$500K$1M$1.5M$2M24 grants2019 26 grants2020 30 grants2021 35 grants2022 37 grants2023 42 grants2024 37 grants2025

From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $430K (2019) to $1.8M (2025). In 2025 it made 37 grants totaling $1.8M.

Grant Insights

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

JGJ Gene Research: $881KJGJ Gene Research$881KCommunity Foundation of Greater Birmingham: $446KCommunity Foundation ofGreater Birmingham$446KMountain Brook Schools Foundation: $105KMountain Brook SchoolsFoundation$105KIndependent Presbyterian Church: $100KIndependent PresbyterianChurch$100KRand Corp: $100KRand Corp$100KUnited Way of Central Alabama: $40KUnited Way of Central Alabama$40KBirmingham Museum of Art: $25KBirmingham Museum of Art$25KUniversity of Virginia: $25KUniversity of Virginia$25KUnited Way of Escambia County: $20KUnited Way of Escambia County$20KBirmingham Zoo: $12KBirmingham Zoo$12K

The largest 2025 recipient was JGJ Gene Research ($881K). Together the top 10 received $1.8M.

Grant Size Distribution

181 grants across all recorded years

163<$50K6$50–100K6$100–250K1$250–500K4$500K–1M1$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 163 grants of 181 (90%).

Giving History

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
JGJ Gene Research Washington, DCSupport of programs$881,000
Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Birmingham, ALSupport of Programs$446,000
Mountain Brook Schools Foundation Mountain Brook, ALSupport of programs$105,000
Independent Presbyterian Church Birmingham, ALSupport of programs$100,100
Rand Corp Santa Monica, CASupport of programs$100,000
United Way of Central Alabama Birmingham, ALSupport of programs$40,000
Birmingham Museum of Art Birmingham, ALSupport of programs$25,300
University of Virginia Charlottesville, VASupport of programs$25,000
United Way of Escambia County Pensacola, FLSupport of programs$20,000
Birmingham Zoo Birmingham, ALSupport of programs$12,176

Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Filing year Assets Revenue Expenses Grants
2025 $19,262,249 $1,818,053 $1,979,033 $1,847,076
2024 $19,423,229 $1,716,667 $1,549,139 $1,447,685
2023 $19,255,701 $652,693 $1,343,593 $1,266,000
Revenue
Expenses
Qualifying Distributions
Net Investment Income
$0$2M$4M$6M2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Metric202520242023
Total Assets$19,262,249$19,423,229$19,255,701
Revenue$1,818,053$1,716,667$652,693
Expenses$1,979,033$1,549,139$1,343,593
Qualifying Distributions$1,848,420$1,452,559$1,268,678
Net Investment Income$1,735,271$1,743,716$577,778
Distributable Amount$1,964,250$1,846,786$1,454,785

Data update history

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS July 7, 2020)
  2. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS June 23, 2026)
  3. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

The 2025 filing lists Donald M James as President/Director and Clarence W James as Secretary/Director.

Donald M James Family Foundation is led by Donald M James, President & Director on every filing since 2019; none of the 2 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Donald M James

    President & Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Clarence W. James II

    Secretary & Director

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.

Contact

Mailing address: 16497 Perdido Key Drive Unit 602, Pensacola, FL 32507
Phone: (205) 492-4420

Frequently asked questions about Donald M James Family Foundation

How much does Donald M James Family Foundation give each year?

Donald M James Family Foundation gave $1.8M across 37 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $1.4M across 42 grants.

What is Donald M James Family Foundation's typical grant size?

Donald M James Family Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $5,000, and its average grant was $49,921, across 37 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Donald M James Family Foundation that year got $881K on average.

Where does Donald M James Family Foundation give grants?

Donald M James Family Foundation's top state is District of Columbia, with 48% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. The next largest states were Alabama (44%) and California (6%). The most frequent recipient cities were Birmingham, AL (20 grants), Mountain Brook, AL (2 grants), Pensacola, FL (2 grants) and Montgomery, AL (2 grants).

Does Donald M James Family Foundation give general operating support?

Not in 2025: none of the 37 grants with a stated purpose on Donald M James Family Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Support of programs" (37 grants).

Who are Donald M James Family Foundation's largest grantees?

Donald M James Family Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include JGJ Gene Research ($881,000), Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham ($446,000) and Mountain Brook Schools Foundation ($105,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 78% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

How large is Donald M James Family Foundation?

Donald M James Family Foundation reported $19.3M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $1.8M in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $2.0M (roughly 5% of its investment assets). Falling short in one year is not a violation: foundations have until the end of the next year to meet the minimum.

What does Donald M James Family Foundation fund?

No foundation mission statement is provided. Its 2025 grants include support for organizations whose stated work spans several areas. For example, United Way of Central Alabama says its mission is to increase people’s organized capacity to care for one another and improve their community. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from Donald M James Family Foundation?

The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑

What is Donald M James Family Foundation's EIN?

Donald M James Family Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 81-3930067. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.

Does Donald M James Family Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?

No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑

Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.

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