GrantmakersCalifornia

Iola Foundation

Los Angeles, CA · EIN 26-1906629. Reported 124 grants totalling $1,237,418 to 108 organizations across tax years 2022-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.

108organizations funded
$10,000median reported grant
$1,237,418granted, 2022-2024
16%of grantees funded again the next year
2%of dollars to its largest recipient

Does this grantmaker accept applications?

Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.

Three things in the filing do bear on it:

  1. What kind of organization it is. For Iola Foundation, the IRS classifies it as a philanthropy and voluntarism organization (NTEE T50).
  2. How spread out its giving is. 108 distinct organizations, with 2% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
  3. How much its list changes. 16% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 2 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.

How big are its grants?

The median reported grant is $10,000. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $9,100 and the largest $10,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.

Schedule I only reports grants over $5,000. Form 990 requires a charity to list recipients it paid more than that and lets it omit the rest, so every grant-size figure on this page describes the grants it reported, not all of them. Its real median is lower and its real recipient count is higher. This is also why these numbers cannot be compared with the private-foundation figures elsewhere on this site -- Form 990-PF has no reporting floor, so the two are different populations rather than two samples of one.
$5,000 - $10,000
11 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
113 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Apac A3 - Artists Advocates & AccoladesJackson, MS$29,952332024
Ansonia Public SchoolAnsonia, CT$20,000222023
Baldwin Park High School Asb GSABaldwin Park, CA$20,000222023
Board of Education of Howard County Maryland Dba Howard County Public SchoEllicot City, MD$20,000222024
Central Arkansas PrideLittle Rock, AR$20,000222024
Coalition for a Drug-Free HawaiiHonolulu, HI$20,000222024
City of Salem SchoolsSalem, VA$20,000222023
Fairness Wv Institute IncCharleston, WV$20,000222024
Magic City Acceptance Academy Charter SchoolHomewood, AL$20,000222023
Maine West High SchoolDes Plaines, IL$20,000222023
Milwaukee Board of School Directors Dba Milwaukee Public SchoolsMilwaukee, WI$20,000222024
Montour School District GSAMckees Rocks, PA$20,000222024
Pride FoundationSeattle, WA$20,000222024
Phoenix Elementary School District #1Phoenix, AZ$20,000222024
Students for Educational Equity in the United StatesBridgeville, DE$20,000222023
Arawakan IncMaywood, NJ$10,000112023
Armadillo Community Charter SchoolPhoenix, OR$10,000112022
Arts in College Preparatory AcademyColumbus, OH$10,000112023
Asmsa FoundationHot Springs, AR$10,000112022
Anaheim High SchoolAnaheim, CA$10,000112023
Boise Public Schools Education Foundation IncBoise, ID$10,000112024
Birmingham Public SchoolsBeverly Hills, MI$10,000112023
Boston Prepatory Charter Public School Dba Boston PrepHyde Park, MA$10,000112024
Brookfield YdaBrookfield, MO$10,000112022
Center City Public Charter SchoolsWashington, DC$10,000112022
Columbia Public School District FoundationColumbia, MO$10,000112022
Communities in Schools of Whatcom CountyBellingham, WA$10,000112023
Cape Elizabeth School DepartmentCape Elizabeth, ME$10,000112022
Centennial GSA (genders and Sexualities Alliance)Las Cruces, NM$10,000112022
Cleveland Municipal School DistrictCleveland, OH$10,000112022
Colchester School DistrictColchester, VT$10,000112023
Community High SchoolGrand Forks, ND$10,000112023
Cumberland Regional High SchoolBridgeton, NJ$10,000112023
Davis Education FoundationFarmington, UT$10,000112022
Delano Public High SchoolDelano, MN$10,000112023
Dreamhouse Ewa Beach PcsKapolei, HI$10,000112022
Dubuque Community School DistrictDubuque, IA$10,000112024
Dutchess BocesPoughkeepsie, NY$10,000112023
Edward Smith School PTO OrganizationSyracuse, NY$10,000112022
Encircle Family and Youth Resource CenterSalt Lake Cty, UT$10,000112023
Envision Education IncOakland, CA$10,000112023
Fremont High School AlumniSunnyvale, CA$10,000112022
Friends of Ben Franklin Charter High SchoolNew Orleans, LA$10,000112023
Friends of Haynes AcademyMetairie, LA$10,000112022
Franklin High School Pace GSA ClubFranklin Township, NJ$10,000112023
Gaay SportsLansing, MI$10,000112023
Grand Island Public Schools FoundationGrand Island, NE$10,000112022
Goshen High School GSAGoshen, IN$10,000112022
Green Bay Area Public SchoolsGreen Bay, WI$10,000112022
Howard County Public Schools Educational Foundation IncEllicott City, MD$10,000112022
Hackensack Board of EducationHackensack, NJ$10,000112022
Hanford High School AsbRichland, WA$10,000112022
Hines Middle SchoolNewport News, VA$10,000112022
Idea Public SchoolsWeslaco, TX$10,000112022
Indiana Online Learning Options IncIndianapolis, IN$10,000112023
Intrepid College Preparatory IncorporatedNashville, TN$10,000112022
Jamieson Education Family and FriendsChicago, IL$10,000112023
Junius H Rose High SchoolGreenville, NC$10,000112022
Kansas City Center for InclusionKansas City, MO$10,000112023
Le Monde ImmersionPortland, OR$10,000112023
Los Angeles County High School for the Arts FoundationLos Angeles, CA$10,000112024
Lewiston Public SchoolsLewiston, ME$10,000112023
Martha Obryan Center IncNashville, TN$10,000112023
Mountain PrideAvon, CO$10,000112024
Mountain-Plains Youth Services CoalitionBismarck, ND$10,000112022
Maricopa Unified School DistrictMaricopa, AZ$10,000112022
North Kingstown School DepartmentNorth Kingstown, RI$10,000112023
Partnership Academy IncRichfield, MN$10,000112022
Portage Public Schools Education FoundationPortage, MI$10,000112022
Prism UnitedMobile, AL$10,000112024
Pocomoke High SchoolPocomoke City, MD$10,000112023
Potsdam Central School DistrictPotsdam, NY$10,000112023
Racine Unified School District Veba Health Savings TrustRacine, WI$10,000112022
Realistic Education in Action Coalition to Foster HealthLos Angeles, CA$10,000112024
Renaissance Academy Charter SchoolPhoenixville, PA$10,000112022
River View Middle SchoolKaukauna, WI$10,000112023
Rockland BocesWest Nyack, NY$10,000112023
Safe Schools Desert Cities CorpPalm Springs, CA$10,000112024
Safe Schools South Florida IncNorth Miami, FL$10,000112024
Sdusd Office of Youth AdvocacySan Diego, CA$10,000112022
Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund a Charitable FoundationSpokane, WA$10,000112023
Surry Village Charter SchoolSurry, NH$10,000112022
Small Town Open Hearts ProjectRamseur, NC$10,000112024
Sommerville Public SchoolsSomerville, MA$10,000112022
South Summit School DistrictPark City, UT$10,000112023
Tonys PlaceHouston, TX$10,000112024
Telluride School DistrictTelluride, CO$10,000112022
Town of CarverCarver, MA$10,000112022
Vermillion Public Schools FoundationVermillion, SD$10,000112022
Waterloo ListensWaterloo, IL$10,000112023
We Are FamilyNorth Charleston, SC$10,000112023
Western North Carolina Annual Conference of the United MethodistHuntersville, NC$10,000112023
Woodstown-Pilesgrove School Foundation IncWoodstown, NJ$10,000112022
Waukee Community School DistrictWaukee, IA$10,000112023
Westland Middle SchoolBethesda, MD$10,000112022
Wyoming EqualityCheyenne, WY$10,000112022
Young Womens Preparatory NetworkDallas, TX$10,000112024
Youth Celebrate DiversityDenver, CO$10,000112023
Ypsilanti Community Schools FoundationYpsilanti, MI$10,000112022
Kentucky Youth Law Project IncLexington, KY$9,994112022
Putnam City North High SchoolOklahoma City, OK$9,985112022
The Highlander Charter SchoolProvidence, RI$9,950112024
Indy Pride IncIndianapolis, IN$9,923112022
Muscatine Community School DistrictMuscatine, IA$9,814112024
City Schools of DecaturDecatur, GA$9,750112023
Prairie Hills Middle School GSAHutchinson, KS$9,750112023
Piper Usd 203Kansas City, KS$9,200112023
Richardson Independent School District Pearce Hs GSA ClubRichardson, TX$9,100112023

15 of 108 (14%) received money in more than one year over the 3 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 48 of 108 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.

Education
28 orgs
Civil Rights
7 orgs
Human Services
5 orgs
Recreation & Sports
2 orgs
Arts & Culture
1 org
Religion
1 org
Mental Health
1 org
Mutual Benefit
1 org

Giving by year

Tax yearGrants reportedTotalMedian grant
202249$489,857$10,000
202352$517,797$10,000
202423$229,764$10,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.

Where its money goes

7% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.

California
$90K
Maryland
$50K
Wisconsin
$50K
Washington
$50K
New Jersey
$50K
Illinois
$40K
Michigan
$40K
New York
$40K

Down to the city

Jackson, MS
$30K
Ansonia, CT
$20K
Baldwin Park, CA
$20K
Ellicot City, MD
$20K
Little Rock, AR
$20K
Honolulu, HI
$20K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available 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 Fund22 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc18 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc15 shared recipientsShare Our Strength14 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust11 shared recipientsProject Lead the Way Inc10 shared recipients

How to approach this grantmaker

  1. Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
  2. Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $10,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
  3. Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
  4. Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Iola Foundation's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.

On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 23 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.

Address of record on the latest return: 7190 W Sunset Blvd 504, Los Angeles, CA, 90046.

EIN 26-1906629 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Form 990 is published about a year after the tax year it covers. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this organization has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next.

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