The Roger I & Ruth B Macfarlane Fndn
Berkeley, CA · EIN 26-6157610. Reported 50 grants totalling $5,287,137 to 43 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. The Roger I & Ruth B Macfarlane Fndn 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 $75,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $50,000 and $150,000; the smallest was $15,000 and the largest $250,000. 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fistula Foundation | San Jose, CA | $300,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Better Block Foundation | Dallas, TX | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Building Skills Partnership | Los Angeles, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cultivate Culinary School & Catering Inc | South Bend, IN | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Housing for New Hope Inc | Durham, NC | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Join Freeworld Inc | San Jose, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Khmer Girls in Action | Long Beach, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Los Angeles Room & Board | Los Angeles, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| North Carolina Justice Center | Raleigh, NC | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Waves Project | Temecula, CA | $225,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Center for Natural Lands Management | Temecula, CA | $222,137 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Archcity Defenders | St Louis, MO | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bright Prospect | Pomona, CA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Caring House Inc | Torrance, CA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| City House | Minneapolis, MN | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Global Emergency Relief Recovery and Reconstruction | Millwood, VA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| United Way of St Joseph County | South Bend, IN | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Walking Shield Inc | Costa Mesa, CA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| We Care Solar | Berkeley, CA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Make Good Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $115,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| St Margaret's House | South Bend, IN | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Angel Flight South Central | Addison, TX | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| CASA of Collin County | Mckinney, TX | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Emma's Torch | Brooklyn, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Habitat for Paws | Frisco, TX | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Medical Debt Resolution Inc | Long Island City, NY | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| New North Carolina Project | Concord, NC | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St Margarets House | South Bend, IN | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Thrive Scholars | Boston, MA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| United American Indian Involvement | Los Angeles, CA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Watch Duty | Santa Rosa, CA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Apla Health and Wellness | Los Angeles, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Community Work Services | Madison, WI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Meals on Wheels | Anderson, SC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Eastern Sierra Arts Alliance | Mammoth Lakes, CA | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Beyond Fences Inc | Durham, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Communities in Partnership | Durham, NC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Downtown South Bend Inc Foundation | South Bend, IN | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Habitat for Paws | Hendersonville, TN | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Our Stories Our Future Inc | South Bend, IN | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| We Need Diverse Books | Bethesda, MD | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Wild Iris Family Counseling | Bishop, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Unity Gardens | South Bend, IN | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
4 of 43 (9%) 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 18%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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.
- Los Angeles Room & Board
CHARITABLE PURPOSES - RESIDENTIAL INTERN PROGRAM - Archcity Defenders
LEGAL ADVOCACY ORGANIZATION THAT COMBATS THE CRIMINALIZATION OF POVERTY AND STATE VIOLENCE ESPECIALLY IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR - Bright Prospect
EMPOWER HIGH POTENTIAL LOW INCOME STUDENTS TO GAIN ADMISSION TO PERSIST IN AND GRADUATE FRP, FOUR YEAR COLLEGES - City House
TO INSPIRES HOPE TRUST AND HEALING THROUGH SPIRITUAL LISTENING WITH PEOPLE WHO FEEL UNSEEN AND UNHEARD - United Way of St Joseph County
BE A CONVENER THOUGHT LEADER AND DRIVER OF TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE - CASA of Collin County
TO PROTECTS THE BEST INTEREST OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE BEEN ABUSED OR NEGLECTED BY TRAINING VOLUNTEER ADVOCATES TO IMPROVE THE CHILD'S QUALITY OF LIFE
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 42 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 | 13 | $1,100,000 | $75,000 |
| 2022 | 11 | $1,140,000 | $75,000 |
| 2023 | 13 | $1,375,000 | $50,000 |
| 2024 | 13 | $1,672,137 | $75,000 |
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
51% 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.
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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 $75,000. 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 California.
- 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 Roger I & Ruth B Macfarlane Fndn'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: Po Box 7063, Berkeley, CA, 94707. 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 26-6157610 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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