The Candelaria Fund
Little River, CA · EIN 94-3246086. Reported 72 grants totalling $2,450,000 to 41 organizations 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. The Candelaria Fund 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 $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $35,000; the smallest was $2,500 and the largest $200,000. 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. 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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Broad Top Foundation | Rock Hill Furnace, PA | $500,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bay Area Electric Railroad Association | Suisun City, CA | $275,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Center of Southwest Culture | Albuquerque, NM | $275,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Nashville Steam Preservation Society | Nashville, TN | $172,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Rr Commission | Antonito, CO | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Congress of Country Music | Philadelphia, MS | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation | Portland, OR | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Rr | Alma, ME | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Historic Pullman Foundation | Chicago, IL | $95,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Community Foundation of Mendocino County | Ukiah, CA | $55,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Oregon Rail Historical Foundation | Portland, OR | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Railroaders Memorial Museum | Altoona, PA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| San Francisco Chronicle Season of Sharing | San Francisco, CA | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Rr | Albuquerque, NM | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pacific Locomotive Society | Sunol, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Archaeological Consevancy | Albuquerque, NM | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Chinese Historical Society of America | San Francisco, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| New Mexico Steam Locomotive and Railroad Historical Society | Albuquerque, NM | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Railroading Heritage of Midwest America | Inver Grove Heights, MN | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society | San Bernardino, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Wiscasset Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum | Alan, ME | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Forney Museum of Transportation | Denver, CO | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| New Mexico Heritage Rail | Albuquerque, NM | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Salvation Army Del Oro Division | Sacramento, CA | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Think New Mexico | Santa Fe, NM | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Tucumcari Main Street | Tucumcari, NM | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| California Budget & Policy Center | Sacramento, CA | $17,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| American Red Cross Gold Country Region | Sacramento, CA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Archaeological Conservancy | Albuquerque, NM | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Durango Railroad Historical Society | Durango, CO | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Sf Chronicle Season of Sharing | San Francisco, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Salvation Army Golden State Division | San Francisco, CA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Colorado Railroad Museum | Golden, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Friends of the East Broad Top | Sarver, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of the Railroad Museum | Strasburg, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Indiana University Press | Bloomington, IN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| John W Barriger III National Railroad Library-University of Missouri St L | St Louis, MO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Mendocino County Healthcare Foundation | Fort Bragg, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Red Cross | San Francisco, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Beltrami County Historical Society | Bemidji, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Salvation Army Golden Gate Division | San Francisco, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
15 of 41 (37%) 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 56%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 40 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 16 | $300,000 | $15,000 |
| 2022 | 21 | $675,000 | $15,000 |
| 2023 | 15 | $660,000 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 20 | $815,000 | $20,000 |
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. 23% of this one's giving went to organizations in Pennsylvania. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
Find more foundations like The Candelaria Fund
We email you newly filed foundations whose giving matches your state and cause, as the IRS publishes them. Free.
No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.
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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Pennsylvania.
- 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 The Candelaria Fund's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: P O Box 398, Little River, CA, 95456. 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 94-3246086 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.