The J Clawson Mills Charitable Trust concentrates its giving almost exclusively in arts and culture, providing substantial unrestricted operating support to major cultural institutions. Giving is narrowly focused and national in reach—rather than local—supporting established museums and professional arts organizations that advance visual arts and architecture. Grants are sizable and repeated, indicating long-term, core support rather than one-off project funding.
Highly concentrated: two large, equal-sized grants account for all giving; repeat multi-grant support to the same national arts institutions; preference for unrestricted/general operating funding.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Architectural League of New York
J Clawson Mills Charitable Trust gives at a level that supports core operations at major cultural institutions rather than one-time projects. Its recent grants show a repeated pattern of unrestricted support to New York arts organizations, with identical awards going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Architectural League of New York across multiple years. Those two recipients account for the trust’s visible recent giving pattern, and both are supported through general operating grants. The trust’s annual grantmaking is substantial relative to its size, with $924,388 in grants against $5,361,550 in assets. The latest 990 year on file is 2025, and the grant history points to a narrow institutional strategy: fund established organizations with broad public missions in visual arts and architecture. The largest recent grants were $177,767 apiece in 2023, followed by $148,107 apiece in 2025. The consistency of those amounts suggests a recurring relationship with grantees rather than a rotating portfolio of many smaller awards.
The trust’s clearest theme is support for major art museums and related cultural institutions. It gave $177,767 to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2023 for general operating support, and later repeated that support with a $148,107 grant in 2025. Architecture and design professional organizations are another visible focus. The Architectural League of New York received the same $177,767 operating grant in 2023 and a $136,320 general operating grant in 2024, followed by $148,107 in 2025. The trust also appears to favor established New York-based cultural organizations over project-specific funding. The repeated operating-grant language across the recent awards shows a preference for sustaining institutional capacity rather than underwriting a single program or exhibition.
Grant sizes cluster tightly around the mid-six-figure range: p25 is $139,267, median is $148,107, and p75 is $170,352. That narrow band points to a fairly standardized award size. The recent record also shows recurrence. Both named grantees received funding in multiple years, including repeated awards in 2023, 2024, and 2025. The trust gives as a charitable trust and does not make program-related investments. The available data also indicates no grants to individuals and no evidence of an application process in the provided record.
$924K
$5.4M
$705K
$361K
Most grants fall between $139K and $170K, with a median of $148K.
25th Percentile
$139K
Median
$148K
75th Percentile
$170K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in NY.
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Giving is heavily concentrated in New York City, where the recent grants went to recipients in New York, NY. The recipient country distribution is entirely U.S.-based, with 6 grants to U.S. organizations and none outside the country in the provided sample. The trust’s HQ is in Pittsburgh, PA, but 0% of grants in the data went to recipients in Pennsylvania. The visible giving footprint is therefore separate from its headquarters and centered on a small set of New York cultural institutions.
The trust supports established arts and culture institutions, especially major art museums and architecture-related professional organizations. The recent grants show general operating support to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Architectural League of New York, both in New York City.
Typical grants are relatively consistent: p25 is $139,267, median is $148,107, and p75 is $170,352. Recent awards also cluster around those figures, including $136,320 and $177,767 grants.
Yes. The same recipients appear across multiple years in the recent grants list. Both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Architectural League of New York received awards in 2023, 2024, and 2025, which points to repeated operating support rather than one-off gifts.
The recent grants are concentrated in New York City. The top state by grant count is New York, and the recipient country distribution is entirely U.S.-based in the provided data.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART | NEW YORK, NY | $148,107 | 2025 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK | NEW YORK, NY | $148,107 | 2025 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK | NEW YORK, NY | $136,320 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART | NEW YORK, NY | $136,320 | 2024 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART | NEW YORK, NY | $177,767 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING |
| ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK | NEW YORK, NY | $177,767 | 2023 | GENERAL OPERATING |
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
$148,107GENERAL OPERATING
ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK
$148,107GENERAL OPERATING
ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK
$136,320GENERAL OPERATING
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
$136,320GENERAL OPERATING
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART
$177,767GENERAL OPERATING
ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK
$177,767GENERAL OPERATING