Venable Foundation awards $1.175 million to 128 nonprofits in its second round of 2026

The Venable Foundation, the charitable arm of the law firm Venable LLP, has granted $1,175,000 to 128 nonprofits in its second round of 2026 giving, Attorney at Law Magazine reported on October 9. The grants support operations, programming and other community work. More than 60 percent of the money went to organizations in the Washington, D.C., area and Baltimore.

As of October 11, Venable had not posted its own announcement of this round on its news page, and the full grantee list is not yet public. The foundation's website lists recipients only through the cycle that ended in May 2026. The figures below are the magazine's.

Where the money went

Grants are limited to nonprofits in cities where Venable has offices. The magazine's breakdown, which adds up to the $1,175,000 total and the 128 grants:

• Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia: $470,000 to 45 organizations
• Baltimore: $265,000 to 20 organizations
• New York City: $167,500 to 21 organizations
• Los Angeles: $120,000 to 18 organizations
• San Francisco: $50,000 to eight organizations
• Miami: $40,000 to six organizations
• Chicago: $37,500 to seven organizations
• Denver: $25,000 to three organizations

Recipients must fit one of eight focus areas: arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, legal services, workforce development and youth impact. The magazine did not report how many grants went to each area.

What a typical grant looks like

The magazine and the foundation both put the average grant at about $10,000, and the foundation says first-time grants generally fall below that. By our arithmetic, $1,175,000 across 128 grants comes to about $9,180, and the city averages range from about $5,360 in Chicago to $13,250 in Baltimore. The foundation says its grants can support general operations or specific projects.

The round follows $770,000 to 101 nonprofits announced on May 6, which brings the foundation's 2026 giving so far to $1,945,000. A year earlier, Venable announced a second round of more than $1.1 million to 130 nonprofits in November 2025, and it put its 2025 giving at nearly $4.1 million. The foundation has noted that its totals may reflect more than one grant to the same organization, so we have not combined the two 2026 rounds into a count of distinct nonprofits.

Who can apply from 2027

The foundation's website says that, beginning in 2027, eligibility depends on location. In Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia, Baltimore, New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco, only recent grantees and invited organizations may submit full applications, and unsolicited requests from those cities will not be considered. By our calculation, those five cities received $1,072,500 of this round's money and 112 of its 128 grants.

A recent grantee is one that received a Venable Foundation grant within the past two calendar years. New organizations in Miami, Chicago and Denver can submit a letter of interest, which is reviewed on a rolling basis with no deadline. Full applications are accepted three times a year, with deadlines of February 1, June 1 and September 1, and decisions come about four months after each deadline. An organization may make one funding request per calendar year.

What other nonprofits should watch

In our view, the lesson is that firm-affiliated foundations often fund the organizations they already know. A small nonprofit in one of the five invitation-only cities cannot start with a cold application, so its route in is likely to be a relationship with the firm or a prior grant. The foundation's rules do not say how invitations are made; that is our inference from the structure.

Groups in Miami, Chicago and Denver can send a letter of interest now. All applicants should check the foundation's exclusions, which include research, individual schools or parent-teacher associations, and sponsorships for galas or other fundraisers. Grants go only to 501(c)(3) organizations. Grantees from 2026 should note the two-calendar-year window, which keeps them eligible to apply in 2027 and 2028.