FundersCalifornia

Lakeshore Foundation

Redwood City, CA · EIN 30-6284987. Reported 101 grants totalling $81.3M to 33 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$500,000median grant
$81.3Mgranted, 2020-2023
33organizations funded
83%of grantees funded again the next year
$440.3Massets, latest filing

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. Lakeshore 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.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $500,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $150,000 and $1,000,000; the smallest was $20,000 and the largest $3,500,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$10,000 - $25,000
1 grant
$50,000 - $100,000
1 grant
$100,000 and Up
99 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
The Brennan Center for JusticeNew York, NY$12.9M442023
Oxfam AmericaBoston, MA$10.5M442023
The Innocence Project IncNew York, NY$7,350,000442023
Florence Immigrant & Refugees Rights ProjectFlorence, AZ$6,950,000442023
Center for Global DevelopmentWashington, DC$6,450,000442023
Southern Poverty Law CenterMontgomery, AL$6,200,000442023
The Leadership Conference Education FundWashington, DC$5,000,000222021
Immigrant Justice CorpsNew York, NY$4,300,000442023
Justice for Migrant WomenFremont, OH$2,300,000442023
New England Innocence ProjectBoston, MA$2,000,000442023
Energy FoundationSan Francisco, CA$1,750,000442023
Alliance for Safety and JusticeOakland, CA$1,600,000222022
Texas Civil Rights ProjectAustin, TX$1,600,000332022
Hesperian Health GuidesBerkeley, CA$1,350,000442023
Northern California Innocence ProjectSanta Clara, CA$1,350,000442023
Energy Foundation ChinaSan Francisco, CA$1,000,000222023
Georgia Innocence ProjectDecatur, GA$1,000,000222021
Washington Innocence ProjectSeattle, WA$850,000442023
National Center for Youth LawOakland, CA$800,000112020
Tides CenterSan Francisco, CA$800,000112020
Great North Innocence ProjectMinneapolis, MN$750,000332023
Fund for Investigative FoundationNew York, NY$700,000442023
Innocence Project New OrleansNew Orleans, LA$650,000442023
Innocence Project MinnesotaSt Paul, MN$500,000112020
EcoriseAustin, TX$480,000332022
Center for Integrity in Forensic ScienceMadison, WI$415,000442023
Asian Immigrant Women AdvocatsOakland, CA$400,000442023
Legal Outreach IncLong Island City, NY$400,000442023
Ecological Development FundCambridge, MA$300,000332022
Innocence Project of Florida IncTallahassee, FL$300,000332022
United States Energy FoundationSan Francisco, CA$250,000112020
Rocky Mountain Innocence CenterSalt Lake City, UT$80,000112021
Rare Trait Hope FundNew Orleans, LA$20,000112020

27 of 33 (82%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 83%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 62 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Crime & Legal
36 grants
Human Services
9 grants
International Affairs
8 grants
Education
4 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
2 grants
Civil Rights
1 grant
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 grant
Medical Research
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202029$21.9M$325,000
202127$18.0M$325,000
202225$20.7M$500,000
202320$20.8M$500,000

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 32% of this one's giving went to organizations in New York. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

New York
$25.7M
Massachusetts
$12.8M
District of Columbia
$11.4M
California
$9.3M
Arizona
$7.0M
Alabama
$6.2M
Ohio
$2.3M
Texas
$2.1M

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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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund18 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc18 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program11 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust11 shared recipientsTides Foundation8 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $500,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Foundations funding human services in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding international affairs in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Lakeshore Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: C/O Baker Tilly 3 Lagoon Dr Ste 400, Redwood City, CA, 94065. 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 30-6284987 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.