Open Philanthropy Action Fund
Palo Alto, CA · EIN 81-2644663. Reported 122 grants totalling $150.1M to 68 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, 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 Open Philanthropy Action Fund, by its IRS classification it is an alliance or advocacy organization in community improvement (NTEE S01).
- How spread out its giving is. 68 distinct organizations, with 33% 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. 35% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 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 $200,000. Half of what it reported fell between $85,000 and $611,000; the smallest was $7,441 and the largest $48.0M. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breakthrough Energy Action Inc | Kirkland, WA | $49.8M | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Accountable Justice Action Fund | San Francisco, CA | $37.1M | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Californians Against Pandemics | Los Angeles, CA | $11.1M | 4 | 2 | 2022 |
| Malnutrition Advocacy Fund | Raleigh, NC | $7,897,860 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Plant Based Foods Association | San Francisco, CA | $6,000,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| California Yimby | Sacramento, CA | $5,800,001 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Open New York Inc | Wilmington, DE | $3,496,392 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Vital Strategies Action Fund Inc | New York, NY | $3,240,378 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Americans for Responsible Innovation | Washington, DC | $2,948,728 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ifp Action | Washington, DC | $2,041,660 | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| Economic Innovation Group Inc | Washington, DC | $1,223,935 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Competitive Markets Action Inc | Washington, DC | $1,209,000 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Abundant Housing Massachusetts | Boston, MA | $1,195,667 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Federation of American Scientists | Washington, DC | $1,011,000 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| 1DAY Sooner Action Project Inc | Claymont, DE | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Employ America Action Fund | Washington, DC | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cambridge Boston Alignment Initiative Inc | Cambridge, MA | $975,986 | 6 | 2 | 2024 |
| Effective Ventures Foundation USA | San Francisco, CA | $855,000 | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| Global Challenges Project Inc | Lewes, DE | $800,800 | 4 | 2 | 2023 |
| Charak Foundation | Las Vegas, NV | $799,600 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Beyond Impact | W Hollywood, CA | $748,729 | 4 | 1 | 2021 |
| Greater Greater Washington | Washington, DC | $707,700 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Colorofchange Org | New York, NY | $700,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Polaris Research Institute Inc | Berkeley, CA | $697,268 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ea Retreats | Escondido, CA | $654,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Redwood Research Group Inc | Berkeley, CA | $627,201 | 2 | 1 | 2021 |
| Regional Plan Association Inc | New York, NY | $525,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Global Animal Partnership | Austin, TX | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Yimby Action | San Francisco, CA | $420,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Centre for the Governance of Ai Inc | New York, NY | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Vegan Women Summit | Woodland Hills, CA | $398,179 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Farm Action Fund Inc | Mexico, MO | $286,800 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Digital Harbor Foundation Inc | Baltimore, MD | $246,718 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| Leap Laboratories Inc | Richmond, CA | $230,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Center for Responsible Commerce | Bethlehem, PA | $220,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Fairvote Washington | Bothell, WA | $217,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sightline Institute | Seattle, WA | $208,214 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Gch Consulting LLC | Raleigh, NC | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Good Forever Foundation | New Orleans, LA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Futurewise | Seattle, WA | $198,647 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ml for Good LLC | Cambridge, MA | $192,349 | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rethink Priorities | San Francisco, CA | $180,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Berryville Institute of Machine Learning | Bluemont, VA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Leverage Debate LLC | Los Angeles, CA | $135,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Apart Research Syndicate | Wilmington, DE | $130,050 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Stonier Scholarship Inc | Towson, MD | $110,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Zeteo Tech Inc | Sykesville, MD | $108,785 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Dharma Voices for Animals | San Francisco, CA | $101,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Future Tech Insights Inc | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Horizon Institute for Public Service | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Karuna Foundation | Niwot, CO | $85,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Prometheus Science Bowl Inc | Pleasanton, CA | $85,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Abundant Housing La | Los Angeles, CA | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Center for Policy Opportunities | Washington, DC | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Panorama Global | Seattle, WA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Center for Building Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $62,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Effective Altruist Communications Fellowship Inc | Glendale, CA | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Mary Ann Liebert Inc | New Rochelle, NY | $50,400 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| A World of Good Initiative Inc | Dover, DE | $39,400 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Optic Forecasting Inc | Wilmington, DE | $39,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Action Fund on Technology and Emerging Risk | Silver Spring, MD | $34,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ashgro Inc | Wilmington, DE | $31,495 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Virtue Ai Inc | San Francisco, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Gryphon Scientific LLC | Takoma Park, MD | $29,870 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Power Interfaith | Harrisburg, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ai Safety Corporation at UCLA | Los Angeles, CA | $24,978 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | $17,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Workstream Business Systems LLC | Columbia, MD | $14,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
24 of 68 (35%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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.
- Malnutrition Advocacy Fund
ADVOCACY FOR COST-EFFECTIVE MALNUTRITION INTERVENTIONS - Californians Against Pandemics
SUPPORT BALLOT INITIATIVE - Plant Based Foods Association
WORK RELATED TO PLAN BASED FOOD ALTERNATIVES - Vital Strategies Action Fund Inc
WORK TO REDUCE ALCOHOL HARMS IN LOW AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES - Ifp Action
DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH ON VARIOUS PUBLIC POLICIES - Centre for Effective Altruism USA Inc
EUROPEAN FARMED ANIMAL POLICY
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 40 of 68 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 24 | $78.4M | $357,500 |
| 2022 | 31 | $19.2M | $200,000 |
| 2023 | 38 | $35.7M | $215,000 |
| 2024 | 29 | $16.8M | $106,800 |
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
44% 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.
Down to the city
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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.
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 $200,000 -- 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 Open Philanthropy Action Fund'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 11 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 17 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: 314 Lytton Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94301.
EIN 81-2644663 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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