FundersCalifornia

The Ronald Whittier Family Foundation

Portola Valley, CA · EIN 77-0525013. Reported 71 grants totalling $361,642 to 60 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,036median grant
$361,642granted, 2021-2024
60organizations funded
4%of grantees funded again the next year
$521,300assets, 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 Ronald Whittier 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.

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 $1,036. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $3,000; the smallest was $20 and the largest $119,478. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
15 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
40 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
8 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
5 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
2 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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
Various Artists Schools and Public Charities - ArtsPortola Valley, CA$124,495222023
The San Francisco PlayhouseSan Francisco, CA$41,300332024
Institute of Contemporary Art - San JoseSan Jose, CA$33,541112024
Sjica IcaSan Jose, CA$30,750112023
Socialgood FlipcauseOakland, CA$15,735112021
Cornell University Sethupathy Alumni Gift FundIthaca, NY$11,000222023
Resource Area for Teaching (raft)San Jose, CA$11,000222023
San Francisco BotanicalSan Francisco, CA$10,000112021
Familiescan - Individuals & Families Data on FilePortola Valley, CA$8,691222023
Woodside High SchoolWoodside, CA$5,560222023
Larkin Street ProjectSan Francisco, CA$5,000222023
San Jose Museum of ArtSan Jose, CA$5,000112024
The Playwrights CenterSan Francisco, CA$5,000112021
Playwright's FoundationSan Francisco, CA$3,700222024
Brava Theater CenterSan Francisco, CA$3,500222023
National Psoriasis FoundationAlexandria, VA$3,000112023
Karat FoundationPalo Alto, CA$2,648112023
Children's Organ Transplant AssociationBloomington, IN$2,600112024
Freight & SalvageBerkeley, CA$2,500112021
Magic TheaterSan Francisco, CA$2,500112021
Teatro VisionSan Jose, CA$2,500112021
BenevityCalcary, Alberta$2,000112023
UC Berkeley FoundationBerkeley, CA$2,000222023
ArtadiaBrooklyn, NY$1,500112024
Aurora TheatreBerkeley, CA$1,500112024
Palo Alto Art CenterPalo Alto, CA$1,500112024
PlaygroundSan Francisco, CA$1,100112024
Life MovesorgPalo Alto, CA$1,042112023
Ica SfSan Francisco, CA$1,036112023
Marin ShakespeareSan Rafael, CA$1,033112023
MocadaBrooklyn, NY$1,032112023
Victory MusicBristol, CT$1,030112023
Leslie Lohman MuseumNew York, NY$1,029112023
Old Skool CafeSan Francisco, CA$1,029112023
Co-Lab Theater GroupNew York, NY$1,023112021
Girl's Write KnowNew York, NY$1,023112023
Los Altos Stage CompanyLos Altos, CA$1,023112021
Art Shack BrooklynNew York, NY$1,000112023
City Team MinistrySan Francisco, CA$1,000112021
Montalvo Arts CenterSaratoga, CA$1,000112023
National Center for Family PhilanthropyWashington, DC$1,000112024
Playwrights HorizonsNew York, NY$1,000112023
San Jose Chamber of CommerceSan Jose, CA$1,000112023
The BcccNew York, NY$1,000112023
UC Berkeley School of JournalismBerkeley, CA$1,000112024
Headlands Center for the ArtsSausalito, CA$525112024
Foothill College Theatre ArtsLos Altos Hills, CA$500112021
Z SpaceSan Francisco, CA$500112024
Starr ScholarshipEast Lansing, MI$350112024
42ND Street MoonSan Francisco, CA$250112024
Califorians for the ArtsSacramento, CA$250112021
City Lights TheatreSan Jose, CA$250112024
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York, NY$210112024
Fine Arts Museum of San FranciscoSan Francisco, CA$209112024
Moma NycNew York, NY$200112024
The Nim Family FoundationDaly City, CA$198112024
Center for Photographic ArtCarmel By the Sea, CA$150112024
Legion of HonorSan Francisco, CA$75112024
Wikimedia FoundationSan Francisco, CA$35112021
2ND Act PlayersEvanston, IL$20112021

10 of 60 (17%) 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 4%, across 2 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.

Plus 3 grants to individuals totalling $18,707 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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 24 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
16 grants
Education
5 grants
Diseases & Disorders
1 grant
Youth Development
1 grant
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202120$83,616$2,500
20222$121,478$60,739
202327$92,240$1,033
202422$64,308$762

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. 92% 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
$332K
New York
$20K
Virginia
$3K
Indiana
$3K
Alberta
$2K
Connecticut
$1K
District of Columbia
$1K
Michigan
$350

Find more foundations like The Ronald Whittier Family Foundation

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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc18 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund18 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc17 shared recipientsSilicon Valley Community Foundation14 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc13 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,036. 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 youth development in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Ronald Whittier Family Foundation'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: 3130 Alpine Road Suite 288 Pmb 602, Portola Valley, CA, 94028. 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 77-0525013 · 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.