Funders › California

Ronald M Simon Family Foundation

Newport Beach, CA · EIN 27-2399226. Reported 53 grants totalling $2,886,470 to 37 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$2,886,470granted, 2020-2024
37recipients, as named on its returns
59%of grantees funded again the next year
$15.0Massets, 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. Ronald M Simon 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.

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 $2,510 and $34,171; the smallest was $274 and the largest $1,000,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
2 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
15 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
9 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
9 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
7 grants
$100,000 and Up
6 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
Orange County Music and Dance IncIrvine, CA$1,000,000112024
Simon Builders Program - See Attached DetailNewport Beach, CA$585,110222024
Pacific SymphonyIrvine, CA$325,000222023
Young Lives RedeemedFullerton, CA$125,000222024
Chapman UniversityOrange, CA$120,000222024
KherutAnaheim, CA$100,000112023
Community Service Project Hope AllianceCosta Mesa, CA$82,887332024
CASA Teresa IncOrange, CA$65,005222024
Teen ProjectSun Valley Ca, CA$53,000112024
Bracken's ChickenGarden Grove, CA$50,368112024
UC Irvine FoundationIrvine, CA$50,000222024
Veteran's Relief FoundationLaguna Hills, CA$50,000112024
Choc Children's FoundationOrange, CA$39,171222024
ImpactgivingMenifee, CA$31,557222024
Pretend City the Children's Museum of Orange CountyIrvine, CA$27,700112024
Choc FoundationOrange, CA$26,544112022
Hope BuildersSanta Ana, CA$20,000222024
The Literacy ProjectNewport Beach, CA$20,000112024
Charitable Ventures of Orange CountySanta Ana, CA$19,000222021
Hispanic 100 FoundationIrvine, CA$18,970222024
California Hispanic Chamber of CommerceSacramento, CA$10,000112024
Southern California Hospice FoundationCosta Mesa, CA$10,000112024
Simon Builders ProgramNewport Beach, CA$9,990112022
North Orange County Rop GrantsAnaheim, CA$9,098112022
City of HopeDuarte, CA$7,500112024
The Wooden FloorSanta Ana, CA$7,080222024
Charitable Ventures of Orance CountySanta Ana, CA$6,000222023
Simon Scholars FoundationNewport Beach, CA$3,028222024
Arts & Learning CorporationCosta Mesa, CA$2,510112024
Ceo Leadership Alliance Orange CountyLaguna Beach, CA$2,500112020
Miracles for KidsIrvine, CA$2,500112023
Orangewood FoundationSanta Ana, CA$1,780112022
Boys and Girls ClubAtlanta, GA$1,500112024
Illumination FoundationSanta Ana, CA$1,076112024
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County and the Inland EmpireSanta Ana, CA$1,061112024
Cannine CompanionSanta Rosa, CA$1,000112024
Orange County Community FoundationIrvine, CA$535112024

15 of 37 (41%) 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 59%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

Plus 8 grants to individuals totalling $7,967,166 -- 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 32 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.

Human Services
8 grants
Arts & Culture
7 grants
Education
4 grants
Community Improvement
4 grants
Health Care
3 grants
Mental Health
2 grants
Crime & Legal
1 grant
Recreation & Sports
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20202$15,000$7,500
20211$6,500$6,500
20227$256,330$9,098
202316$999,027$9,485
202427$1,609,613$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.

Already committed for future years

Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Ronald M Simon Family Foundation has 3 of them, worth $6,401,019. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.

OrganizationLocationApproved
Accrue Chapman Pa Pledge 2025-2029Orange, CA$5,810,879
Accrue Chapman Pa Pledge 2025-2029Orange, CA$409,590
Present Value Adjustment - Grants PayableNewport Beach, CA$180,550

Where its money goes

100% 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
$2.9M
Georgia
$2K

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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.

Orange County Community Foundation20 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund20 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc16 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc15 shared recipientsThe Devto Support Foundation14 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust12 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 human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding arts & culture in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Ronald M Simon Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). 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: 620 Newport Center Drive 12TH Floor, Newport Beach, CA, 92660. 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 27-2399226 · 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.

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