Dorene and Lee Butler Family Foundation
Newport Beach, CA · EIN 47-0816345. Reported 59 grants totalling $1,585,271 to 36 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Dorene and Lee Butler Family Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,102. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,030 and $25,000; the smallest was $480 and the largest $250,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laguna Beach Seniors Inc | Laguna Beach, CA | $439,095 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Sanctuary Springs Inc | Winchester, KY | $342,300 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Air Force Academy Foundation | Usaf Academy, CO | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Redwood Project | Winchester, KY | $160,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Park City Community Foundation | Park City, UT | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Railroad Passengers Association | Washington, DC | $92,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Glow Global | Santa Ana, CA | $35,957 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The Rector and Visitors of the University of | Charlottesville, VA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation | Bozeman, MT | $21,040 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Covellite Presents | Butte, MT | $17,306 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Moveable Feast Lexington Inc | Lexington, KY | $13,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ronald Mcdonald House Charities Bay Area | Palo Alto, CA | $11,381 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Crystal Cove Conservancy | Newport Coast, CA | $10,250 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| San Francisco Food Bank | San Francisco, CA | $10,075 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Lexarts Inc | Lexington, KY | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Share Ourselves | Costa Mesa, CA | $6,480 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Cornerstone Housing for Adults With Disabilities | North Hollywood, CA | $5,203 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Grandparent Autism Network | Tustin, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Omaha Zoo Foundation | Omaha, NE | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sierra Madre Search & Rescue Team | Sierra Madre, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| California State Parks Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $3,098 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Alzheimer's Association | Chicago, IL | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Park City Performances Dba Egyptian Theatre | Park City, UT | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| City Harvest Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| National Park Foundation | Washington, DC | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Park City Ski & Snowboard Llcutah Athletic Fdtn | Park City, UT | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| ONE805 | Santa Barbara, CA | $1,950 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Twin Cities Pride | Minneapolis, MN | $1,561 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Make a Wish Foundation of America | Phoenix, AZ | $1,050 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Balboa Island Museum Newport Beach | Balboa Island, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Community Action Partnership of Orange County | Garden Grove, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sierra Watch | Nevada City, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Shepherds House Inc | Lexington, KY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Make a Wish | Phoenix, AZ | $525 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New York Shakespeare Festival- the Public Theater | New York, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| UCLA Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
14 of 36 (39%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 41%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Air Force Academy Foundation
To further programs of the organization. - Railroad Passengers Association
To fund employee salary and association staff costs. - The Rector and Visitors of the University of
In support of the William G. Butler Student Fund in Art Criticism. - Cornerstone Housing for Adults With Disabilities
To be used toward construction of The Village. - Omaha Zoo Foundation
In support of the Lee G. Simmons Legacy Fund. - UCLA Foundation
In support of Men's Ultimate Frisbee.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 33 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | $315,020 | $7,601 |
| 2022 | 11 | $203,894 | $1,064 |
| 2023 | 11 | $419,341 | $5,250 |
| 2024 | 14 | $335,325 | $5,051 |
| 2025 | 9 | $311,691 | $12,204 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
34% of its giving went to organizations in California. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,102. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in California.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Dorene and Lee Butler Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 201 Crystal Avenue, Newport Beach, CA, 92662. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 47-0816345 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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