Funding search
Find who already funds work like yours.
Private foundations don’t post open calls, so nobody can search them. We read IRS filings instead — 9.6 million grants from 174,053 foundations and grantmaking charities, searchable by what the money was actually for.
12 funders with a record of paying for “cognition”
Where the money went
Largest: $750,000 to COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY — sex-specific differences in cognitive and brain aging; spi murphy: conserved regulatory pathways in age-related loss of plasticity and cognitive function
United Way of New York CityNew York, NYCharity · may take applications
104 matching grants · $26.1M · through 2022Largest: $5.5M to JUSTICE INNOVATION INC — atlas/ons - led by uwnyc and ons, atlas will work in collaboration with uwnycs extensive list of community based organizations (cbo) to provide a suite of services including mentor…
John Templeton FoundationWest Conshohocken, PA
21 matching grants · $14.5M · through 2024Largest: $1.9M to REHABILITATION INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO — the cognitive neuroscience of religious cognition
Largest: $213,938 to REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNES — educational research on issues related to the role of cognitive ability in higher education and employment.
Alzheimer'S Disease Research FoundationWellesley Hills, MACharity · may take applications
11 matching grants · $2.3M · through 2025Largest: $252,076 to MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL — menopause and related midlife risk factors and their impact on pathology and cognition - the whimsyad study
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and RightsChicago, ILCharity · may take applications
11 matching grants · $12.2M · through 2023Largest: $1.6M to NORTH LAWNDALE EMPLOYMENT NETWORK — to provide innovative transitional jobs and cognitive behavioral targeted to those at risk for gun violence.
Largest: $250,000 to METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES — to support readi chicago, a program that provides transitional jobs and cognitive behavioral therapy for people who are at the highest risk of being victims or perpetrators of gun …
John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation (Consolidated)Chicago, IL
10 matching grants · $1.3M · through 2024Largest: $125,000 to Damien Fair — macarthur foundation fellow award - cognitive neuroscientist, fellows
Largest: $500,000 to UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO — to support a randomized controlled trial of working on womanhood, a cognitive-behavioral therapy program for female high school students at high risk of mental illness.
Largest: $50,000 to BCM - Dr Nuo Li — at baylor, li's research is aimed at understanding the neural circuits involved in the planning and execution of voluntary movements. through this work, he aims to develop a platfo…
Largest: $457,999 to INDIANA UNIVERSITY — teacher cognition and learning about incorporating science representations in elementary classrooms
The McKnight Endowment Fund for NeuroscienceMinneapolis, MN
5 matching grants · $475,000 · through 2024Largest: $100,000 to St Jude's Research Hospital — identifying brain circuits that connect respiration and cognitive state. principal investigator: lindsey schwarz
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Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV and Form 990 Schedule I, tax years 2019–2025. These are grants already paid, a record of what an organization funds rather than an open call. Private foundations rarely accept unsolicited applications and the route in is usually a program officer; grantmaking charities and associations more often run real application cycles, so check their website. How this data is built, and its limits →