Defunct Foundations

July 10, 2018 5:03 PM

I'm looking for a list of defunct foundations. I can find gone political, educational or trade organizations. But I want those that gave money to support other organizations, like the Astor Foundation, that went broke around 2003. The Chronicle of Philanthropy, for example, provides articles but not lists. I can't find any defunct charities or philanthropy lists on Guidestar or with the I.R.S. Do any exist?
posted by CollectiveMind to Law & Government (2 answers total)

One problem is that a lot of essentially defunct foundations still "exist" with little or no budget, but with some clever number crunching (and maybe API access to Guidestar), you could find just foundations that had a sudden dip in budget.

Hundreds of thousands of organizations--many of them effectively defunct--lost their 501(c)(3) status in 2011 thanks to a new law that requires all nonprofits to file a 990 every year. That list might be a useful place to start.
posted by roll truck roll at 5:37 PM on July 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

Check with the Foundation Center.
posted by mogget at 5:54 PM on July 10, 2018 [2 favorites]