Funders › California

Zolla Family Foundation

Santa Monica, CA · EIN 52-2365200. Reported 73 grants totalling $2,331,016 to 24 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$15,000median grant
$2,331,016granted, 2021-2024
24recipients, as named on its returns
87%of grantees funded again the next year
$7,957,556assets, 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. Zolla 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 $15,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $42,000; the smallest was $6 and the largest $342,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
2 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
5 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
10 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
29 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
11 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
13 grants
$100,000 and Up
3 grants

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Determined to Succeed (dts)Santa Monica, CA$951,000742024
Bucknell University (bucknell)Lewisburg, PA$205,000332023
Franklin & Marshall College (fran&mar)Lancaster, PA$200,000432024
Bright Prospect (brigpros)Pomona, CA$196,000642024
One Voice (onevoice)Santa Monica, CA$166,000642024
Los Angeles Philharmonic Association (laphilar)Los Angeles, CA$105,000442024
Bucknell UniversityLewisburg, PA$90,000112024
Airport Marina Counseling Service (amcs)Los Angeles, CA$72,000442024
Happy Trails for Kids (happy)Santa Monica, CA$62,000442024
Marines Corps Scholarship Foundation (marines)Alexandria, VA$62,000442024
Coalition for Clean Air (coalition)Los Angeles, CA$51,000442024
La Opera (laopera)Los Angeles, CA$45,000442024
Children Hospital of Los Angeles (chla)Los Angeles, CA$41,000442024
Planned Parenthood Los Angeles(ppla)Los Angeles, CA$37,000442024
Palisades Charter High SchoolPacific Palisades, CA$14,000222024
GriefhavenPacific Palisades, CA$10,000222022
Pali High Booster ClubPacific Palisades, CA$8,000222024
Jvs SocalLos Angeles, CA$5,000112022
Springboard CollaborativePhiladelphia, PA$5,000112022
Heart of Los AngelesLos Angeles, CA$2,000112022
Los Angeles Regional Food BankLos Angeles, CA$2,000112021
Social and Environmental EntrepeneursCalabasas, CA$1,000112023
TreepeopleLos Angeles, CA$1,000112022
Kayne Anderson Mlp Fund Lp - From K-1Los Angeles, CA$16222022

17 of 24 (71%) 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 87%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 30 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.

Education
6 grants
Environment
5 grants
Human Services
5 grants
Mental Health
4 grants
Arts & Culture
4 grants
Health Care
4 grants
Youth Development
1 grant
Employment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202121$579,010$15,000
202219$621,006$15,000
202315$641,000$15,000
202418$490,000$18,000

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

76% 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.

California
$1.8M
Pennsylvania
$500K
Virginia
$62K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund11 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc10 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc10 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust8 shared recipientsCharities Aid Foundation America8 shared recipientsThe Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc8 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $15,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  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 education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding environment in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in PennsylvaniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Zolla Family Foundation'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: 2601 Ocean Park Blvd Suite 300-a, Santa Monica, CA, 90405. 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 52-2365200 · 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.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.