Funders › California

Leon S Peters Foundation

Westlake Village, CA · EIN 94-6064669. Reported 163 grants totalling $4,730,445 to 53 recipients across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$4,730,445granted, 2020-2023
53recipients, as named on its returns
88%of grantees funded again the next year
$21.7Massets, 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. Leon S Peters 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 $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $465 and the largest $230,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
3 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
9 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
41 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
62 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
23 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
14 grants
$100,000 and Up
11 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Community Medical FoundationFresno, CA$746,600442023
Valley Children's HospitalMadera, CA$605,000332022
California State University FresnoFresno, CA$470,000442023
Ucsf FoundationSan Francisco, CA$320,000442023
State Center Community College DistrictFresno, CA$220,000442023
Break the BarriersFresno, CA$200,000442023
Office of Advancement ServicesFresno, CA$200,000112022
Hinds HospiceFresno, CA$151,500442023
Forward Fresno FoundationFresno, CA$150,000112023
Marjorie Mason CenterFresno, CA$130,000442023
Children's Muscial TheaterworksFresno, CA$100,000442023
Fresno PhilharmonicFresno, CA$100,000442023
Poverello HouseFresno, CA$100,000442023
Parents & Addicts in NeedFresno, CA$80,000442023
San Joaquin River ParkwayFresno, CA$80,000442023
Youth for ChristFresno, CA$80,000442023
Boys & Girls Club of Fresno CountyFresno, CA$75,000442023
Friends of the Big Fresno FairFresno, CA$65,000332022
Fresno Rescue MissionFresno, CA$60,000442023
Girl Scouts of Central California SouthFresno, CA$60,000442023
Fresno Pacific UniversityFresno, CA$55,000112020
Friends of Historic KingsburgKingsburg, CA$49,000442023
Leukemia & Lymphoma SocietyFresno, CA$45,000332023
Armenian Missionary AssociationParamus, NJ$40,000442023
First Armenian Presbyterian ChurchFresno, CA$40,000442023
Holy Trinity Armenian ChurchFresno, CA$40,000442023
Rose of Sharon ChurchFresno, CA$40,000442023
St Gregory Armenian ChurchFowler, CA$40,000442023
St Paul Armenian ChurchFresno, CA$40,000442023
California State UniversityLong Beach, CA$30,000112021
Central California Blood CenterFresno, CA$30,000332022
Armenian General Benevolent UnionNew York, NY$28,000442023
Court Schools PTAFresno, CA$25,000442023
Central Ca Food BankFresno, CA$20,000442023
Fellowship of Christian AthletesClovis, CA$20,000442023
Fresno Historical SocietyFresno, CA$20,000442023
Fresno State Alumni AssociationFresno, CA$20,000112021
San Joaquin College of LawClovis, CA$20,000442023
Ararat Armenian CemetaryFresno, CA$16,500222023
Fresno Art MuseumFresno, CA$15,000332022
Fresno Scottish RiteFresno, CA$15,000332022
Rotary StorylandFresno, CA$15,000332023
Cbmc FresnoFresno, CA$13,500222022
Antioch NetworkAustin, TX$10,000112022
Charlie Keyan ArmenianClovis, CA$10,000222021
Pilgrim Armenian Congretional ChurchFresno, CA$10,000112020
President's Circle of ExcellenceFresno, CA$10,000222021
Charlie Keyan Armenian Community SchoolClovis, CA$5,000112023
Sierra Meadows FoundationFresno, CA$5,000112023
The Discovery CenterFresno, CA$4,000442023
Cbwc (christian Business Women's Connection)Fresno, CA$3,500112023
Fresno Chamber of CommerceFresno, CA$2,245332023
Armenian Studies ProgramFresno, CA$600112022

42 of 53 (79%) 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 88%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

Plus 1 grants to individuals totalling $1,750 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 65 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.

Arts & Culture
10 grants
Education
9 grants
Youth Development
8 grants
Human Services
8 grants
Health Care
8 grants
Housing & Shelter
8 grants
Food & Nutrition
4 grants
Mental Health
4 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202040$1,222,000$10,000
202143$1,263,565$10,000
202242$1,269,065$12,500
202338$975,815$10,000

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

98% 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.

California
$4.7M
New Jersey
$40K
New York
$28K
Texas
$10K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund15 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc12 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsEnterprise Holdings Foundation10 shared recipientsBertha and John Garabedian Charitable8 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in California.
  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 arts & culture in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding youth development in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Leon S Peters Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). 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: 4026 Mariner Circle, Westlake Village, CA, 91361. 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 94-6064669 · 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.

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