About Mcdonald Agape Foundation
The McDonald Agape Foundation concentrates its philanthropy on advanced theological scholarship, funding endowed academic positions and institutional support for scripture and theology programs. Its grants are explicitly targeted to higher-education institutions that house theology faculties, spanning Catholic (Dominican/Angelicum) and broader divinity school contexts (Yale).
Focus Areas
Endowed professorships in New Testament studiesSupport for Catholic theological scholarship (Dominican/Angelicum)Funding for university divinity school programs and faculty positions
Who They Fund
academic scholars and faculty (theologians, law and medical faculty)doctoral and postgraduate studentsmedical practitioners engaged in bioethicsclergy and ministry/outreach groups (including campus ministry)
Giving Approach
Highly concentrated giving: very few, large grants directed to academic theology and scripture programs, focused on endowments or named professorships rather than broad programmatic or community-based grants.
About Mcdonald Agape Foundation
Mcdonald Agape Foundation’s giving is built around advanced theological scholarship, especially through endowed academic roles and institutional support for scripture, theology, and Christian thought. In the recent grants list, one of the clearest signals is a $683,000 grant to International Dominican Foundation for theology scriptural exegesis at Angelicum, alongside repeated support for Yale University Divinity School’s New Testament professorship. The foundation also backs university-based theological programs that cross into adjacent fields such as law, medicine, the arts, and religion-and-society study. That pattern shows a funder working through higher-education institutions rather than broad community grantmaking. Grants range from support for chair-like appointments and visiting scholar programs to fellowships and program support for divinity schools, law schools, and theological centers. Recent awards also reach Catholic and Anglican-linked institutions, including Dominican House of Studies and The Lambeth Trust, while continuing to fund academic theology inside major U.S. universities. The result is a profile centered on scholarship, faculty support, and institutional programs that shape teaching and research in theology and related disciplines.
What Mcdonald Agape Foundation Funds
A major thread in the foundation’s portfolio is New Testament and Christian theology scholarship. It gave $500,000 to Yale University - Divinity School for a New Testament professorship, and $300,000 to Emory University - Chandler School of Theology for a similar professorship. It also funded Duke University - Divinity School with $400,000 for DITA directorship support in theology and the arts. Another clear area is theology’s overlap with law and medicine. Mcdonald Agape Foundation awarded $289,000 to Georgetown University for a theology/medicine bioethics fellowship, $300,000 to Columbia University - Vagelos Medical College for a medical ethics fellowship, and $165,000 to Emory University School of Law for a racial justice fellowship. The foundation also supported law-and-religion work at Harvard and Emory, plus scholarship on Christian medical ethics. Catholic theological scholarship appears in the $683,000 grant to International Dominican Foundation for scriptural exegesis at Angelicum.
How Mcdonald Agape Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster in the middle six figures: p25 is $30,000, median is $65,876, and p75 is $123,872. The recent list shows repeated support to the same institutions across 2023 and 2024, including Yale University - Divinity School, Duke University - Divinity School, The Lambeth Trust, Emory University School of Law, Institute on Religion and Democracy, and Dominican House of Studies. That points to recurring institutional relationships rather than one-off awards. The foundation is classified as a Regular Funder, funds individuals, and its active programs do not accept unsolicited applications.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$6.4M
Total Assets
$42.5M
Total Revenue
$3.8M
Total Expenses
$8M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $30K and $124K, with a median of $66K.
25th Percentile
$30K
Median
$66K
75th Percentile
$124K
Geographic Reach
National20 states funded
About 1% of grants go to recipients in IN.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Where Mcdonald Agape Foundation Funds
Top 4 recipient countries by grant volume for Mcdonald Agape Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 84 | $8.6M | 78.5% |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 15 | $1.4M |
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