FundersCalifornia

The Donald and Constance Sperling

Laguna Beach, CA · EIN 91-2156345. Reported 36 grants totalling $541,067 to 21 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$10,000median grant
$541,067granted, 2021-2024
21organizations funded
50%of grantees funded again the next year
$3,445,027assets, 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. The Donald and Constance Sperling 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 $2,500 and $20,000; the smallest was $170 and the largest $50,572. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
8 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
3 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
5 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
12 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
3 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
5 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
Orangewood FoundationSanta Ana, CA$160,697442024
The Wooden FloorSanta Ana, CA$85,925332024
Laguna College of ArtLaguna Beach, CA$53,586332024
Silber Family Scholarship LcadLaguna Beach, CA$50,000112022
South County OutreachIrvine, CA$50,000112021
Laguna Art MuseumLaguna Beach, CA$40,930332024
Guide Dogs for the BlindSan Rafael, CA$25,270332024
Cristo Rey De La Salle East Bay High SchoolOakland, CA$20,000112023
44 Women for OrangewoodSanta Ana, CA$15,500222024
Laguna Food PantryLaguna Beac, CA$15,195222024
Points of CharityPlacentia, CA$5,025112023
Glennwood Housing AuthorityLaguna Beach, CA$5,000112024
Laguna Art Museum GalaLaguna Beach, CA$5,000112021
St Joseph Hospital FoundationOrange, CA$4,000222022
The Orangewood Ambassador CelebrationSanta Ana, CA$2,500112024
Newport Beach Library FoundationNew Port, CA$700222023
Pepperdine UniversityMalibu, CA$500112024
Planned ParenthoodSanta Barbara, CA$500112023
Women's Cancer ResearchNewport Beach, CA$310112021
Women's Cancer ResourceBerkeley, CA$259112022
Laguna Niguel Puppy Raisers for GdbSan Rafael, CA$170112024

9 of 21 (43%) 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 50%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 16 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
6 grants
Crime & Legal
4 grants
Education
3 grants
Health Care
2 grants
Human Services
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20218$123,435$10,000
20228$161,847$12,043
20239$126,290$15,000
202411$129,495$5,195

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

Santa Ana, CA
$265K
Laguna Beach, CA
$165K
Irvine, CA
$50K
San Rafael, CA
$25K
Oakland, CA
$20K
Laguna Beac, CA
$5K
Placentia, CA
$5K
Orange, CA
$4K

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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 Fund10 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc10 shared recipientsOrange County Community Foundation9 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc9 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation8 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. 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 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 group, rankedFoundations funding education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Donald and Constance Sperling'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: 121 Chiquita Street, Laguna Beach, CA, 92651. 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 91-2156345 · 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.