Kimsey Foundation

The Kimsey Foundation is a Washington, DC-based private family foundation established in 1996 by James V. Kimsey — co-founder and first CEO of America Online — as a vehicle for his personal commitment to educating, strengthening, and serving underserved communities. Following Kimsey's death in 2017, three family members assumed full leadership: Michael P. Kimsey (President/Director), Raymond C. Kimsey (Secretary/Director), and Mark J. Kimsey (Treasurer/Director), all serving without compensation. Two professional staff members compensated at $246,627 and $118,573 annually as of FY2024 manage day-to-day operations from the foundation's 900 16th Street NW offices in downtown Washington.

The giving philosophy is relationship-first and invitation-only. The foundation's website is unambiguous: "we are not taking unsolicited requests at the moment or for the foreseeable future." This is not a temporary administrative hold — it reflects a structural preference for curated, long-term grantee partnerships. Every grant in the foundation's documented history of 309 awards is coded "GENERAL OPERATING," signaling that the Kimseys back organizations, not discrete projects. Top recipients such as Aspen Spark (6 grants totaling $622,700), Fair Chance (6 grants totaling $475,000), and Halcyon House (6 grants totaling $385,600) demonstrate decade-long relationships, not annual competitions.

Three programmatic pillars guide all grantmaking: (1) Improve Educational Outcomes, ensuring DC children receive academic preparation and community support; (2) Encourage Positive Change, supporting leadership initiatives and managerial training for DC educational institutions; and (3) Stimulate Creative Expression, expanding arts and cultural access for DC youth. A community framework adds geographic specificity: neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River (Wards 7 and 8) are an explicit priority for place-based grantees.

First-time applicants must understand there is no formal LOI, no RFP cycle, no grant portal, and no published deadlines. The only viable entry path is cultivating relationships within DC education, arts, and civic networks surrounding current Kimsey grantees — LearnServe International, 826DC, the DC Policy Center, and the McLean Project for the Arts are natural connector organizations. Patience is essential: relationship cultivation typically requires one to two years before any direct outreach to the foundation is appropriate. Cold proposals will not be reviewed.

The Kimsey Foundation has distributed between $640,000 and $860,000 in direct external grants annually from FY2019 through FY2023, while total program-related disbursements — including charitable activities operated directly by the foundation — have ranged from $1.53M to $1.99M per year. The consistent 2.5x gap between these two figures reflects a foundation that combines grantmaking with direct program operations.

Annual giving by fiscal year (direct grants paid / total giving including direct operations): - FY2019: $640,000 / $1,527,909 - FY2020: $749,549 / $1,690,430 - FY2021: $859,800 / $1,959,737 (peak for direct grants) - FY2022: $747,624 / $1,988,869 - FY2023: $672,732 / $1,849,415 - FY2024: ~$944,850 across 44 grants (per public filings; full total giving data pending)

The asset base has grown from $16.3M in FY2015 to $45.2M in FY2024 — a 177% increase over nine years. A dramatic 51% single-year asset jump between FY2023 ($29.85M) and FY2024 ($45.19M) suggests a major capital event that may expand future grantmaking capacity significantly.

Individual grant size data (from a 51-grant sample): median $5,000; average $16,859; range $900 to $176,600. This reflects a barbell distribution — many small grants ($1,000-$10,000) coexist with a small number of large flagship awards. Among top recurring grantees, per-grant averages range from approximately $50,000 (Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation at $300,000 across 6 grants) to roughly $103,800 (Aspen Spark at $622,700 across 6 grants).

Geographically, 51% of grants by count flow to DC-based organizations, 13% to Virginia, 11% to Maryland, and 10% to California. DC, Virginia, and Maryland combined account for 75% of all grants. California grantees (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Campbell Hall Episcopal School) appear tied to personal Kimsey family connections rather than a strategic expansion.

Sectorally, K-12 education dominates — LearnServe International, 826DC, Higher Achievement Program, KIPP DC, Education Forward DC — followed by arts and culture (McLean Project for the Arts, Dance Initiative), community development (DC Policy Center, Fresh Wind CDC, Genuine Sisters Supporting Sisters), and health (Foundation for AIDS Research, Sibley Memorial Hospital, Inova Life With Cancer). Every single grant on record across all fiscal years is unrestricted general operating support.

The five peer foundations matched to Kimsey by asset size and NTEE category each hold approximately $45.2M in assets, providing a baseline comparison for grantmakers of equivalent scale.

Among these asset-equivalent peers, Kimsey Foundation stands out in three ways. First, it is the only foundation with a public website that articulates specific programmatic pillars, geographic priorities, and an organizational mission — three of the five peers have no web presence at all. Second, Kimsey's Washington, DC geographic concentration and its exclusive use of unrestricted general operating grants create a distinctive identity as a community-embedded, long-relationship funder rather than a passive pass-through vehicle. Third, Kimsey's documented 177% asset growth since 2015 and the addition of two professional staff suggest active institutionalization, differentiating it from peer foundations that appear to remain static family holding vehicles. The Worthington Scholarship Foundation in Maine focuses on scholarships to individuals — a fundamentally different model from Kimsey's organizational grantmaking — making it less directly comparable despite equal asset size.

No press releases, news articles, or grant announcements from 2025 or 2026 were found in any web search or on the foundation's website. The Kimsey Foundation maintains an exceptionally low public profile — no news section, no press releases, and no public grant announcements.

The most significant recent development is financial: total assets increased 51% in a single year, from $29.85M (FY2023) to $45.19M (FY2024), with revenue of $2.48M in FY2024. This is the largest single-year asset jump in the foundation's recorded history and has not been accompanied by any public statement. FY2024 giving is estimated at approximately $944,850 across 44 organizations per public 990 filings.

On governance, the foundation transitioned from a compensated leadership model — officer compensation of $150,000-$200,000 annually in FY2012-FY2015, when founder James V. Kimsey was likely active — to an all-volunteer family board by FY2019. The founder died in 2017. Two professional staff were employed as of FY2024, compensated at $246,627 and $118,573 respectively, suggesting a modest operational infrastructure now supports the three Kimsey family directors.

The foundation's three flagship long-term grantees — Aspen Spark ($622,700 cumulative across 6 grants), Fair Chance ($475,000 across 6 grants), and Halcyon House ($385,600 across 6 grants) — appear to have maintained their relationships through the leadership transition intact. The Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation ($300,000 across 6 grants) and Washington International School ($170,000 across 6 grants) similarly reflect stable, multi-year commitments.

The Kimsey Foundation is not currently accepting unsolicited applications, and its website signals this may be a long-term posture. Organizations seeking access should adopt a multi-year relationship strategy, not an application strategy.

Timing and entry. There are no open grant cycles, no published deadlines, and no announced review periods. Do not time outreach to any calendar window — there is none. The only available channel is a brief introductory email to info@kimseyfoundation.org. Even this is acknowledged as low-response: the foundation notes it "will be unable to respond to each email individually."

Email protocol. Keep any introductory message to 3-4 sentences: (1) your organization's DC community role, (2) alignment with one specific Kimsey pillar (educational outcomes, positive change, or creative expression), (3) a single compelling impact metric, and (4) a request for a brief exploratory conversation — not a grant. Do not attach a proposal, budget, or deck.

What they fund. Every grant in the foundation's documented history is unrestricted general operating support. Position any eventual ask as operating funding, not program-specific money. Articulate impact on DC youth — particularly in Ward 7 or 8 neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River — with concrete data: students served, graduation outcomes, arts participation numbers. Leadership development programming for DC educational institutions aligns directly with the second pillar.

Alignment language. Use the foundation's own framing: "educational outcomes," "positive change," "creative expression," "east of the river," and "economically disadvantaged youth." These phrases signal familiarity with the foundation's framework and distinguish informed outreach from cold prospecting.

Common mistakes. Sending a cold proposal is explicitly discouraged and will not be reviewed. Requesting project-specific funding contradicts the foundation's 100% operating-grant track record. Organizations headquartered outside the DC metro area must demonstrate clear, direct DC community impact rather than peripheral connections to qualify even for relationship consideration.

Relationship pathways. Current Kimsey grantees — Aspen Spark, Fair Chance, Halcyon House, LearnServe International, 826DC, the DC Policy Center, and the McLean Project for the Arts — are natural referral pathways. Attending DC education and arts convenings where these organizations participate is a more effective strategy than digital outreach alone. Board members and staff with existing ties to the Northern Virginia arts or private school communities (Washington International School, Bullis School) may also provide indirect introductions.