Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund is a Bearsville, New York–based private foundation that supports individual feminist women writers and visual artists. Founded in 1975 by writer and social justice activist Barbara Deming, the Fund describes itself as the oldest ongoing feminist granting agency in the US and Canada.
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund at a glance
In short: Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund gave $28K across 19 grants in 2025 (avg $1K), top state Massachusetts. 100% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $28,000
- +0.0% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 19
- +5.6% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $1,474
- -5.3% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $1,100
- Total assets
- $172,439
- +27.7% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 100% first-time grantees (19 of 19, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- Massachusetts (18% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).
How to apply to Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
- How to Apply
-
The Fund accepts applications through its online application process during the designated submission window; it does not accept applications by email. Filing-year 2024 instructions specify a 400-word project description, a budget, a 100-word explanation of why the applicant is applying to a feminist fund, a two-page résumé, and up to 20 pages of writing. Visual artists submit four work samples in JPG format instead of writing samples; mixed-genre applicants submit up to 20 pages of text and illustration in JPG format. The website specifies that applicants must be women who are cis, transgender, or nonbinary, with a primary residence in the US or Canada. The filing instructions additionally specify US or Canadian citizenship. The website says the portal closes after 250 submissions in each genre.
- Review Cycle
- The stated application window is January 1–31. Fiction and visual art are scheduled for even-numbered years; nonfiction and poetry for odd-numbered years. The next stated window is January 1–31, 2027, for nonfiction and poetry.
- Deadline
- The stated application window is January 1–31.
- Contact
Application contact: Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Inc
Mailing address: 30 Pond Park Road, Woodstock, NY 12498
Phone: (845) 594-9550
Website: http://demingfund.org
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Jada Allen ($2K). Together the top 10 received $19K.
Grant Size Distribution
78 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 78 grants of 78 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
The Fund’s website specifies applicants with primary residence in the US or Canada. In filing year 2025, the largest shares of grant dollars by recipient state went to Massachusetts and New York (18% each), California (15%), New Jersey (11%), and Arizona (7%).
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 19 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Is Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund open to new grantees?
100%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 19 of 19 grantees (100%) were first-time recipients. With only 19 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 5 points. First grants averaged $1K. How we count
- 0% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 380% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2021–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Giving History
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2021 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $20K (2021) to $28K (2025). In 2025 it made 19 grants totaling $28K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Jada Allen Phoenix, AZ | Artist Support Grants | $2,000 |
| Kinsale Drake Heuston Nashville, TN | Artist Support Grants | $2,000 |
| Suji Kwock Kim Princeton, NJ | Artist Support Grants | $2,000 |
| Crystal Valentine Dorchester, MA | Artist Support Grants | $2,000 |
| Adele Failes-Carpenter Berkeley, CA | Artist Support Grant | $2,000 |
| ROZ Galtz Bronx, NY | Artist Support Grant | $2,000 |
| Sheree Greer Tampa, FL | Artist Support Grant | $2,000 |
| Jessica McHugh Cambridge, MA | Artist Support Grant | $2,000 |
| Sarah Wang Bronx, NY | Artist Support Grant | $2,000 |
| Chisara Asomugha Torrance, CA | Artist Support Grants | $1,100 |
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Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $172,439 | $56,669 | $45,543 | $28,000 | 19 | $28,000 | $19,380 | $7,365 |
| 2024 | $135,029 | $65,907 | $44,251 | $28,000 | 18 | $43,197 | $17,391 | — |
| 2023 | $113,372 | $32,137 | $39,856 | $22,000 | 22 | $39,106 | $6,767 | — |
| 2022 | $121,091 | $21,442 | $1,942 | — | — | $1,302 | $7,216 | — |
| 2021 | $100,964 | $27,349 | $35,393 | $19,950 | 19 | — | — | — |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund reported a distributable amount of $7K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.
Mission & Focus Areas
The Fund’s mission is to provide financial and moral support to creative women. It awards support grants to writers and visual artists whose work is original, uses feminism as a central interpretive lens, and advances an inclusive vision of social justice focused on justice for women. The Fund especially encourages applications from artists and writers in the early and middle stages of their development, for projects already well underway. Translation and hybrid projects are eligible.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2025, the Fund awarded 19 grants totaling $28,000. Individual grants ranged from $500 to $2,000, with a median of $1,100. Examples include $2,000 grants to Jada Allen, Kinsale Drake Heuston, Suji Kwock Kim, Crystal Valentine, and Roz Galtz, each listed in the filing for artist support.
The Fund’s website says awards are for individual applicants, not generally groups. It excludes film, video, theatre, dance, music, performance, scripts, musical compositions, self-published work, and work generated by AI without acknowledgment or artistic rationale. It also does not fund loans, educational assistance, dissertation work, research except research for a book, editing services, business projects, or emergency needs; it says it rarely funds groups. Former grantees must wait three years before reapplying, and applicants may submit in only one genre each year.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Daisy Hernandez as president; Lori Ostlund as treasurer; Ruthann Robson as secretary; and Kay Kenny, Sa’dia Rehman, Alice Templeton, and Samantha Tetangco as directors. The Fund’s website says its board is volunteer-run and works with volunteer judges to review applications and make award decisions.
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund is led by Daisy Hernandez, President since 2025 (on filings since 2021); none of the 7 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Daisy Hernandez
President
Director → President, 2025
On filings since 2021
4 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Alice Templeton
Director
President → Director, 2025
On filings since 2021
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Kay Kenny
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Sa'dia Rehman
Director
On filings since 2023
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Samantha Tetangco
Director
On filings since 2024
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Lori Ostlund
Treasurer
Director → Treasurer, 2023
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Ruthann Robson
Secretary
On filings since 2022
1 hr/week
No compensation reported
Former officers (7)
- Former: Karen St Pierre (2021–2024) — Grant Administrator
- Former: Nicole Dennis-Benn (2022–2024) — Director
- Former: Gabbrielle Calvoressi (2021–2022) — Director
- Former: Michaela Pilar Brown (2022) — Director
- Former: Carol Moldaw (2021) — Treasurer
- Former: Crystal A Williams (2021) — Director
- Former: Maureen Brady (2021) — Secretary
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2021–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Frequently asked questions about Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
How much does Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund give each year?
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund gave $28K across 19 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $28K across 18 grants.
What is Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's typical grant size?
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's median grant in 2025 was $1,100, and its average grant was $1,474, across 19 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund that year got $1K on average.
Where does Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund give grants?
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's top state is Massachusetts, with 18% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. The next largest states were New York (18%) and California (15%). The most frequent recipient cities were Bronx, NY (2 grants).
Does Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 19 grants with a stated purpose on Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Artist Support Grant" (11 grants) and "Artist Support Grants" (8 grants).
Who are Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's largest grantees?
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's largest 2025 grantees include Jada Allen ($2,000), Kinsale Drake Heuston ($2,000) and Suji Kwock Kim ($2,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 21% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund?
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund reported $172K in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $28K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $7K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund fund?
The Fund’s mission is to provide financial and moral support to creative women. It awards support grants to writers and visual artists whose work is original, uses feminism as a central interpretive lens, and advances an inclusive vision of social justice focused on justice for women. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund?
The Fund accepts applications through its online application process during the designated submission window; it does not accept applications by email. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's EIN?
Money For Women Barbara Deming Memorial Fund's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 51-0176956. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2021–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(6)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS November 10, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS May 7, 2024)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 1, 2025)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS March 3, 2026)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS June 24, 2024)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2021–2025
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