Schwartz Family Foundation
Fairfield, IA · EIN 43-6900504. Reported 116 grants totalling $11.1M to 50 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. 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. Schwartz 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 $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $6,000 and $100,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $1,291,889. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maharishi International University Foundation | Fairfield, IA | $3,411,364 | 9 | 4 | 2024 |
| Maharishi International University | Fairfield, IA | $1,841,482 | 10 | 4 | 2024 |
| David Lynch Foundation | New York, NY | $1,322,389 | 8 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Foundation of Jackson Hole | Jackson, WY | $900,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Maharishi School | Fairfield, IA | $633,544 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Rip Medical Debt | Boston, MA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Raam Raj Foundation | Fairfield, IA | $390,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Africa College Fund | Fairfield, IA | $305,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sri Devi Mandir Temple | Fairfield, IA | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation | Fairfield, IA | $201,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Protect Our Water Jackson Hole | Wilson, WY | $200,000 | 3 | 2 | 2022 |
| Ptsd Relief Now | Fairfield, IA | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Maharishi Foundation International | Fairfield, IA | $175,811 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The People Concern | Los Angeles, CA | $110,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Leading From Within | Santa Barbara, CA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Manavata Mandir Dba Sri Devi Mandir | Fairfield, IA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Barack Obama Foundation | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education | Saratoga, CA | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Maharishi Purusha Program | Romney, WV | $27,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Mission Blue | Napa, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Olive Crest | Santa Ana, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pathfinders Rc&d | Fairfield, IA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Jefferson County Farmers and Neighbors Inc | Fairfield, IA | $24,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Collateral Repair Project | Brooklyn, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Nature Conservancy | Arlington, VA | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Environmental Defense Fund | New York, NY | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| World Resources Institute | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sieda Community Action | Ottumwa, IA | $13,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Maharishi Foundation USA Inc | Fairfield, IA | $10,100 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Collateral Repair | Brooklyn, NY | $10,000 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| Everglades Foundation | Palmetto Bay, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Forest Trends Association | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Natural Resources Defense Council | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Neo Philanthropy | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| One Earth Philanthropy | Culver City, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rainforest Trust | Warrenton, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| City of Fairfield | Fairfield, IA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Dharmalaya Inc | Cambridge, MA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Doctors Without Borders | New York, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Domestic Violence Solutions | Santa Barbara, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rachel's Network | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Student Conservation Association | Arlington, VA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Waterislife | Oklahoma City, OK | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wilson Volunteer Fire Department Association Inc | Wilson, WY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Care Foundation | Atlanta, GA | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Maharishi Global Admin Through Natural Law | Livingston Manor, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maharishi Global Administration Through Natural Law | Livingston Manor, NY | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Maharishi Global Administration Through Natural Law | Washington, DC | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Noah's Ark Foundation | Fairfield, IA | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Environmental Defense Fund | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
24 of 50 (48%) 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 61%, across 3 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.
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.
- Maharishi International University Foundation
SUPPORT FOR THE DHAMMACHARINEE WITTAYA SCHOOL IN THAILAND - Maharishi International University
SUPPORT FOR DIGITAL DELIVERY AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT - Community Foundation of Jackson Hole
SUPPORT FOR THE HOUSING INITIATIVE - Rip Medical Debt
SUPPORT FOR ERASING MEDICAL DEBT - David Lynch Foundation
SUPPORT FOR TTC SCHOLARSHIPS - Maharishi School
SUPPORT FOR 5 YEAR PLAN, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 80 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 | 25 | $1,575,740 | $25,000 |
| 2022 | 26 | $2,511,760 | $27,500 |
| 2023 | 27 | $3,309,955 | $25,000 |
| 2024 | 38 | $3,731,235 | $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
69% of its giving went to organizations in Iowa. 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 $25,000. 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 Iowa.
- 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 Schwartz Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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: 1776 Pleasant Plain Road, Fairfield, IA, 52556. 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 43-6900504 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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