FundersCalifornia

The Jean and Alvin Sternlieb

Berkeley, CA · EIN 95-4852744. Reported 121 grants totalling $236,250 to 81 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,000median grant
$236,250granted, 2021-2024
81organizations funded
27%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,696,257assets, 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 Jean and Alvin Sternlieb 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 $2,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $2,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $9,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
6 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
109 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
6 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
Kilung FoundationLangley, WA$22,000442024
Feeding AmericaWashington, DC$10,000332024
Planned ParenthoodWashington, DC$10,000442024
Sb Organic Soup KitchenSanta Barbara, CA$8,000442024
Mediators FoundationBoulder, CO$7,000222024
ACLUWashington, DC$6,000332024
Mother MiracleSan Rafael, CA$6,000222022
African Schhols of KenyaSanta Barbara, CA$5,750332023
International Rescue CommitteeAlbert Lea, MN$5,000112023
Mother Miracle SchoolsSan Rafael, CA$5,000222024
Partners for Progressive IsraelNew York, NY$5,000112023
Save the ChildrenFairfield, CT$5,000332024
Southern Poverty Law CenterMontgomery, AL$5,000332023
St JudesMemphis, TN$5,000222022
Equal Justice InitiativeMontgomery, AL$4,000222022
Kqed IncSan Francisco, CA$4,000222024
Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinsons ResearchNew York, NY$4,000222022
NAACPBaltimore, MD$4,000222024
Women for Women InternationalCentral Islip, NY$4,000222024
African Schools of KenyaSanta Barbara, CA$3,000112024
American Jewish World ServicesEtna, NH$3,000222023
Direct ReliefSanta Barbara, CA$3,000222024
Hospice of Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA$3,000222024
Project Open HandSan Francisco, CA$3,000222023
UnicefWashington, DC$3,000222024
US Holocaust MuseumMerrifield, VA$3,000222022
Alameda County Community Fund BankOakland, CA$2,500112022
Sb HospiceSanta Barbara, CA$2,500222022
AdlNew York, NY$2,000112023
Alzheimers AssociationWaltham, MA$2,000112021
American Jewish World ServiceEtna, NH$2,000112021
American Parkinson Disease AssociationMerrifield, VA$2,000112024
Bay Area Hispano Institute for AdvancementBerkeley, CA$2,000112022
Climate RideMissoula, MT$2,000112023
David Lynch FoundationNew York, NY$2,000112023
Dignity PeriodSt Louis, MO$2,000112021
E Global FamilyHonolulu, HI$2,000112023
GlideLos Angeles, CA$2,000112024
Glide FoundationLos Angeles, CA$2,000112022
House of RuthWashington, DC$2,000112024
Human Rights CampaignWashington, DC$2,000112021
Insight LaSanta Monica, CA$2,000222024
Joyful Heat FoundationBrooklyn, NY$2,000112023
Kids in NeedNew York, NY$2,000112022
Leukemia and Lymphoma SocietySan Jose, CA$2,000222023
Life ChroniclesSanta Barbara, CA$2,000332024
Maharashtra Village School Transformation FoundationFairfield, IA$2,000112024
Moshe House - Ukraine FundEncinitas, CA$2,000112022
NAACPBaltimore, CA$2,000112023
New Israel FundPhiladelphia, PA$2,000112024
Oasis Legal ServicesBerkeley, CA$2,000222023
Parkinsons FoundationAlbert Led, MN$2,000112023
Sandy Hook Promise FoundationNewtown, CT$2,000112024
SevaBerkeley, CA$2,000112022
Seva FoundationBerkeley, CA$2,000112024
Southern Poverty Law CenterTopeka, KS$2,000112024
Spirit Rock CenterWoodacre, CA$2,000112022
St Judes Childrens HospitalMemphis, TN$2,000112024
UnicefNew York, NY$2,000112023
US Holocaust Memorial MuseumAnnapolis Junction, MD$2,000112024
Yellow Hammer FundBirmingham, AL$2,000112024
Young Chances FoundationPhiladelphia, PA$2,000112022
Oakland Elizabeth HouseBerkely, CA$1,500112023
Anti Defamation LeagueWashington, DC$1,000112024
Cancer Foundation of Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA$1,000112021
Eg Global FamilyHonolulu, HI$1,000112022
Eugene Zitwer FoundationBrooklyn, NY$1,000112023
First Place for YouthOakland, CA$1,000112023
Glide ChurchSan Francisco, CA$1,000112021
Leukemia and Lymphoma SocietyWashington, DC$1,000112024
Rose Foundation for CommunitiesOakland, CA$1,000112022
St Judes for ChildrenMemphis, TN$1,000112023
Swim Across AmericaCharlotte, NC$1,000112024
The Barack Obama FoundationChicago, IL$1,000112022
The Hope AlliancePark City, UT$1,000112021
Upward ScholarsRedwood City, CA$1,000112023
US Holocaust Memorial MuseumMerrifield, VA$1,000112023
Als ProjectHuntington, MD$500112021
Maitri Compassionate CareSan Francisco, CA$500112021
Meals on WheelsOakland, CA$500112023
Oakland ServiceOakland, CA$500112024

28 of 81 (35%) 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 27%, 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 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 recipient's own IRS classification, for the 53 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

International Affairs
12 grants
Religion
7 grants
Crime & Legal
6 grants
Health Care
4 grants
Food & Nutrition
4 grants
Civil Rights
3 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Diseases & Disorders
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202126$54,000$2,000
202233$59,250$2,000
202330$60,000$2,000
202432$63,000$2,000

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. 33% of this one's giving went to organizations in California. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

California
$78K
District of Columbia
$35K
New York
$24K
Washington
$22K
Alabama
$11K
Tennessee
$8K
Minnesota
$7K
Colorado
$7K

Find more foundations like The Jean and Alvin Sternlieb

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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund27 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc26 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc20 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program18 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation18 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust17 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,000. 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 international affairs in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding religion in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding international affairs in District of ColumbiaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Jean and Alvin Sternlieb'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: 111 Gravatt Drive, Berkeley, CA, 94705. 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 95-4852744 · 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.