Arlington Foundation

Important data note: this funder's own IRS record (EIN 86-1279040, 2 20th St N Ste 700, Birmingham, AL 35203) is a distinct organization from the similarly-named, unrelated Arlington Tomorrow Foundation of Arlington, Texas. Web enrichment on this database record had pulled in the Texas foundation's website and application process by name-collision error; this report instead reflects the actual entity behind this ID — the corporate foundation of Arlington Properties Inc., a Birmingham-based multifamily real estate developer and manager. Founded in 2021 (IRS ruling November 2021) by Chairman William C. Hulsey and President James M. Dixon, the Arlington Foundation is a company-sponsored giving vehicle, not an independent community foundation. Its uncompensated five-person board — Hulsey, Dixon, Executive VP Marilyn Dixon, Secretary David G. Ellis, and VP/Treasurer Jennifer Ross Renshaw — is drawn directly from Arlington Properties leadership, and the company states its associates (employees) are represented in grantmaking decisions. That structure matters strategically: this is a relationship-driven funder, not an open-RFP one. Grantees skew toward established, operationally mature nonprofits with track records the board can vet quickly — Brother Bryan Mission (a 1940-founded Birmingham rescue mission), YMCA of Greater Birmingham, United Way of Central Alabama, and Birmingham Promise are all long-tenured, well-known local institutions, not early-stage or newly formed groups. First-time applicants should not expect a cold portal submission to be the primary path in; the more productive route is a warm introduction through an Arlington Properties community/property team member or direct outreach to the Birmingham corporate office, paired with a concise case built around one of the foundation's three stated pillars: Engaging Associates, Fostering Dignity, and Stewarding Resources. Organizations working on workforce reentry, affordable housing stability, and youth economic mobility in cities where Arlington Properties owns or manages apartment communities are the closest fit to what has actually been funded.

Across the available Form 990 grant sample (16 individual grants totaling $3,046,012, average $190,376 per grant), giving is sharply bimodal rather than evenly distributed. The median individual grant is $100,000, but the picture is dominated by one relationship: Brother Bryan Mission received 5 separate grants totaling $2,500,000 (82% of all sampled dollars) to renovate its Birmingham facility serving impoverished individuals — each installment appears to have run roughly $500,000. Outside that flagship commitment, typical single-year grants cluster at $100,000 (The Dannon Project, Birmingham Promise, East Lake Initiative, Urban Ministry all received exactly $100,000 for workforce, education-pathway, and community-development programs), stepping down to $50,000 (Atlanta Community Food Bank), $45,000 across 3 payments to YMCA of Greater Birmingham (~$15,000 each), $25,000 each to McKemie Place (homeless women's shelter, Mobile) and Flourish Community Foundation (girls' career training, Mobile/Baldwin counties), and a token $1,012 to United Way of Central Alabama. Geographically, the sampled grants are 94% Alabama (15 of 16 grants) with one Georgia grant (Atlanta Community Food Bank, $50,000); by program theme, roughly two-thirds of dollars target homelessness/housing and workforce reentry, with the remainder split across youth education pathways, food security, and general human-services capacity. Financial trajectory shows a young but rapidly scaling funder: total assets grew from a $1.0 million seed contribution in FY2020 to $3.0 million (FY2022) to $4.15 million (FY2023) to $4.59 million currently reported, while annual grants paid rose from $0 (2020) to roughly $1.02 million (FY2022) and $1.05 million (FY2023); the foundation's own 2024 reporting cites $1.5 million distributed to 13 nonprofits across 4 states, suggesting continued growth and geographic diversification beyond the Alabama-heavy historical sample.

| Foundation | Assets | Annual Giving | Primary Focus | Application |\n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| Arlington Foundation | $4.59M | ~$1.0-1.5M | Workforce, housing stability, youth mobility (AL-based, expanding to company markets) | No public portal — relationship-based |\n| Tahoe Blue Foundation | $4.59M | Not disclosed | Environment/conservation (Lake Tahoe) | Website exists; process unconfirmed |\n| Andrew H Previti Charitable Fund | $4.59M | Not disclosed | Undisclosed (private fund, NJ) | No public website |\n| Evercore Charitable Foundation | $4.59M | Not disclosed | Corporate giving (Evercore employees, NY) | No public website |\n| The Power Of Giving Foundation | $4.59M | Not disclosed | Undisclosed (private fund, PA) | No public website |\n| Loni And Jeff Rush Family Foundation | $4.59M | Not disclosed | Undisclosed (family fund, CA) | No public website |\n\nArlington Foundation sits in a near-identical asset tier (roughly $4.59 million) to all five listed peers, but it is the only one with public, verifiable grant activity, dollar figures, and a stated three-pillar giving philosophy — most peers are quiet private or corporate-employee funds with no public grantee data. Structurally, Arlington Foundation most resembles the Evercore Charitable Foundation pattern (a company-sponsored vehicle tied to one employer's workforce and markets) rather than an independent grantmaking foundation, which explains the absence of an open application process common among peers of similar size that do publish one.

The clearest recent data point is the foundation's own 2024 impact claim: roughly $1.5 million distributed to 13 nonprofit partners across 4 states, an increase from the $1.05 million in grants paid reported on its FY2023 Form 990. No 2025 or 2026 grant announcements, press releases, or news coverage specific to the Arlington Foundation (Birmingham) could be located in web search as of this research — the foundation does not appear to issue press releases for individual grants the way some larger institutional funders do. (Note: numerous 2025-2026 grant-announcement articles exist for the unrelated Arlington Tomorrow Foundation of Arlington, Texas — a city-affiliated funder with a different EIN, funded by natural gas royalty revenue — but those do not pertain to this organization and are excluded here to avoid conflating the two.) The most recent substantive activity on record is the multi-year Brother Bryan Mission facility renovation commitment ($2.5 million across 5 installments), which appears to represent the foundation's largest and most visible project to date. Leadership has been stable since founding: William C. Hulsey (Chairman), James M. Dixon (President), Marilyn Dixon (Executive VP), David G. Ellis (Secretary), and Jennifer Ross Renshaw (VP/Treasurer) all appear consistently across the available filing years with no compensation drawn, consistent with a lean, volunteer-governed corporate foundation rather than a staffed institutional grantmaker.

Because no public Letter of Inquiry portal, grant guidelines page, or stated deadline exists for this foundation, standard 'submit an LOI online' advice does not apply here — treat it as a relationship-first corporate funder. Concretely: (1) Determine whether your organization operates in a market where Arlington Properties owns or manages apartment communities (the company operates across roughly 10 states); proximity to an Arlington Properties community appears to correlate with funding, since the foundation explicitly states its own associates help select causes in the neighborhoods where they work. (2) Identify a warm path in — a local Arlington Properties community/property manager, or direct contact with the Birmingham corporate office (2 20th St N Ste 700, Birmingham, AL 35203; foundation line (205) 328-9600) — rather than waiting for an open call for proposals, since none has been found. (3) Lead your case with fiscal responsibility and measurable outcomes; the foundation's stated 'Stewarding Resources' pillar explicitly screens for organizations with 'proven track records of meaningful, measurable impact,' so include audited financials, outcome metrics, and other funding partners in any initial outreach. (4) If proposing a capital project, structure the ask as phased/multi-year rather than a single lump sum — the foundation's largest known commitment (Brother Bryan Mission, $2.5 million) was paid across 5 installments, suggesting comfort with milestone-based capital support once trust is established. (5) Frame the request around workforce development, housing stability, or youth economic mobility — the categories that account for the large majority of known grant dollars — rather than arts, environment, or general operating requests, which do not appear in the sample. (6) A common mistake to avoid: treating this like a large institutional foundation with a formal RFP cycle; its board of five uncompensated company executives (Hulsey, J. Dixon, M. Dixon, Ellis, Renshaw) makes decisions informally, so persistence through direct relationship-building will likely outperform a cold digital application.