Occidental College
Los Angeles, CA · EIN 95-1667177. Reported 56 grants totalling $3,123,060 to 39 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
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:
- What kind of organization it is. For Occidental College, the IRS classifies it under education rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE B420) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 39 distinct organizations, with 17% 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.
- How much its list changes. 39% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $24,453. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $98,710; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $224,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Water Fund | Washington, DC | $540,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Harambee House Inc | Savannah, GA | $427,160 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice | Commerce, CA | $415,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services | Houston, TX | $343,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Silent Spring Institute Inc | Newton, MA | $239,020 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Cleanairnow Association | Lawrence, KS | $192,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Prosperity Collective | Los Angeles, CA | $189,140 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ironbound Community Corporation | Newark, NJ | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Trustees of Columbia University | New York, NY | $124,197 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Farmer Ken LLC | Hemet, CA | $114,651 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | $53,305 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Louisiana State University A&m Coll | Baton Rouge, LA | $38,450 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $34,434 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Community Partners | Los Angeles, CA | $25,352 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of Florida | Gainesville, FL | $22,633 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Wellesley College | Wellesley, MA | $17,252 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| George Washington University | Ashburn, VA | $16,342 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Research Foundation of the City University of New York | New York, NY | $15,258 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Citizens for a Sustainable Future Inc | Tallahassee, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Clinton Hill Community Action | Newark, NJ | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Groundwork Northeast Revitalization Group Inc | Kansas City, KS | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Huston-Tillotson University | Austin, TX | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition | Mobile, AL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance Inc | Newark, NJ | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Rushmere Community Development Corp | Smithfield, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc | Calabasas, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| South Mountain Community College | Tempe, AZ | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Tallahassee Food Network | Tallahassee, FL | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| West Long Beach Association | Long Beach, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska | Lincoln, NE | $7,905 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Strategic Earth Consulting | Los Angeles, CA | $7,200 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Adelphi University | Garden City, NY | $5,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| California Lutheran University | Thousand Oaks, CA | $5,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Utah Tech University | St George, UT | $5,161 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of South Carolina - Beaufort | Columbia, SC | $5,077 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of Louisiana at Lafayette Foundation | Lafayette, LA | $5,012 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Unversity of North Carolina at Willmington | Willmington, NC | $5,007 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Montana State University | Billings, MT | $5,004 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Howard University | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
10 of 39 (26%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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.
- Clean Water Fund
SUPPORT THE "COALITION FOR HEALTH PORTS NY NJ: FRONTLINE SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS THE CLIMATE CRISIS" PROJECT OF THE COLLEGE, WHICH IS FOCUSED ON ACCELERATING THE WIDESPREAD USE OF ZERO-EMISSION TECHNOLOGY IN FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION IN THE NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY REGION TO REDUCE GREEN HOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH. - Prosperity Collective
COLLABORATING PARTNER IN THE LA SUBREGION, WORKING WITH URBAN GROWERS AND SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE FROM HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, THROUGH OUTREACH, TRAINING, AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. - Harambee House Inc
SUPPORT THE "ZERO-EMMISSIONS NOW: FRONTLINE SOLUTIONS TO ADDRESS THE CLIMATE CRISIS" PROJECT OF THE COLLEGE FOCUSED ON PROTECTING PUBLIC HEALTH BY STRENGTHENING THE GRASSROOTS-LED NATIONAL MODEL, EFFECTIVELY PROMOTING FRONTLINE SOLUTIONS TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS, AND ACCELERATING THE WIDESPREAD USE OF ZERO EMISSION TECHNOLOGY. - Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy
ASSIST WITH LEADERSHIP AND DECISION MAKING AS A REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE MOVING FORWARD NETWORK ADVISORY BOARD. ASSIST IN CONVENING THE MONTHLY REGIONAL MEETINGS FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO SHARE INFORMATION, DISCUSS DEVELOPMENT OF THE NETWORK, IDENTIFY AREAS WHERE THE NETWORK COULD SUPPORT THE REGION, AND PLAN JOINT ACTIVITIES. PLAY A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN DEVELOPING LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND/OR STATE STRATEGIES FOR ADVANCING AND IMPLEMENTING NETWORK CAMPAIGNS - Silent Spring Institute
RESEARCH PARTNER ASSISTING WITH CONDUCTING STUDY PROTOCOLS FOR IN-HOME PRODUCT USE, DEVELOPING SURVEY INSTRUMENT FOCUS GROUP MATERIALS, DATA ANALYSIS, CONDUCTING ANALYTICAL TESTING OF PRODUCTS, AND PREPARING PEER-REVIEW MANUSCRIPTS. - Columbia University
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY BRINGS EXPERTISE IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND METABOLOMICS ANALYSES. THEY HAVE SUPPORTED THE PROJECT THROUGH PROVIDING INPUT ON ALL STUDY PROTOCOLS, SUPPORTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE IN-DEPTH STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES, AND WILL BE CONDUCTING THE ANALYTICAL TESTING OF URINE SAMPLES AT THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LABS. THEY SUPPORT DATA ANALYSIS, POST-DOCTORAL TRAINING, AND PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 21 of 39 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 12 | $127,203 | $5,250 |
| 2021 | 15 | $968,855 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 14 | $915,358 | $34,225 |
| 2023 | 7 | $589,290 | $92,750 |
| 2024 | 8 | $522,354 | $48,507 |
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
28% 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.
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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 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 grantmaker
- 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.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $24,453 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- 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.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Occidental College's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 5 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 3 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: 1600 Campus Road, Los Angeles, CA, 90041.
EIN 95-1667177 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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