FundersDistrict of Columbia

Blue Sands Foundation

Washington, DC · EIN 37-1797396. Reported 91 grants totalling $7,508,236 to 68 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$12,621median grant
$7,508,236granted, 2021-2024
68organizations funded
32%of grantees funded again the next year
$17.6Massets, 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. Blue Sands 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 $12,621. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $34,110; the smallest was $454 and the largest $1,810,712. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
19 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
22 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
13 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
19 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
5 grants
$100,000 and Up
12 grants

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
Great Ormond Street Hospital Childrens CharityLondon, WC1N 1LE$3,328,652222024
Boston Children's HospitalBoston, MA$1,000,000222022
Aiglon College AssociationChesieres$774,909442024
Children's Hospital IdeBoston, MA$500,000112023
GoshLondon$353,575112021
Stars in the Dark By the Giving Back FundLos Angeles, CA$250,000332024
Prior's Field SchoolWashington, DC$135,699442024
Georgetown UniversityWashington, DC$125,000112023
Swiss School of TourismPassugg$122,510442024
Eton CollegeBerkshire SL4 6DB$86,147222024
Hospital for Special Surgery FoundationNew York, NY$55,000222023
Georgetown - Msb Dean's Leadership FundWashington, DC$50,000222022
Georgetown - Steers Center for Global Real EstateGeorgetown, SC$50,000112021
Barnard College - Columbia UniversityNew York, NY$46,061112024
The College of WoosterWooster, OH$42,000112024
Churchers College Gabriella JonesGU30 7HT$34,210112023
Tufts UniversityMedford, MA$33,764112021
The Royal Bank of Scotland Gold Std Charitable TrustEdinburgh$33,624112021
Madame Francoise StoltzWashington, DC$32,372442024
New York UniversityNew York, NY$30,000112024
University of LeedsLeeds, LS2 9JT$26,900112023
Frensham Heights SchoolFarnham, Surrey$26,330112024
Hospital for Special SurgeryNew York, NY$25,000112021
Massachusetts General HospitalBoston, MA$25,000112022
Make Life Skate LifeRidgway, CO$18,800112022
Kings College (western Union)Wilkes Barre, PA$17,889112021
Coutts and O Fao Tate FoundationLondon SW1P 4RG$15,834112023
Tate Americas FoundationNew York, NY$15,294112023
Al Stoneacre Property Developers Ltd Ricardo MoraisChapel Allerton, Leeds, West Yorks$15,008112023
The University of Law LtdLondon, England$14,673112024
University of LeedsNew York, NY$12,651112021
Chelsea and Westminster Health CharityLondon$12,621112022
Cancer Research UkOxford$12,600222023
The George Washington UniversityWashington, DC$12,000222024
Sarl Cap Immo VarLe Beausset, Var$10,823112024
Help for Ukraine (ukraine Humanitarian Fund)Clearwater, FL$10,000112022
Refugee InternationalWashington, DC$10,000112021
Feather Smailes & Scales LlpNorth Yorkshire$9,725112021
Verity Frearson LtdHarrogate$9,163112022
Churcher's College Junior SchoolHampshire$8,751112024
The Lee Strasberg Theatrical and Film InstituteNew York, NY$8,420112024
Emilleis Banque Societe Monique Cardi06000 Nice$8,039222024
O'africaLos Angeles, CA$7,821112021
Olympiades GestionParis$7,706112021
L'ecole De Marketing Communication Digital InsideParis$7,669112024
Churcher's College Senior SchoolPetersfield$7,517112022
Campus InternationalCleveland, OH$6,606222022
Lyce'e Francais De MadridAlcobendas, Madrid$6,496112024
Swiss Red CrossBern$5,402112022
Societe Monique CardiNice, Alpes-Maritimes$5,251112024
American Near East Refugee AidWashington, DC$5,000112022
Lebanese American UniversityChouran Beirut$5,000112022
L'equipe Method Acting CenterParis$4,741112022
Helene Thais Albouy75004 Paris$4,350112023
L'equipe De Method Acting CenterParis$3,738112021
University Saint Joseph (beirut)West Hartford, CT$3,640112021
Middle East InstituteWashington, DC$3,000112021
Sports Humanitarian Group IncNew York, NY$3,000112023
Schweiz Esmie Ag WwfCh-1206 Geneva$2,239112023
Caisse Regi Nale De Credit Agricole Mutuel De Aris Et Dile De France Fao Ml75004 Paris$1,703112023
Chamos - in Aid of the Children of VenezuelaLondon$1,426112021
Foncia Toulon - Toulon MontebelloTouicon$1,280112024
Consiente - Support Association for El SalvadorBerkeley, CA$1,080112021
Agricole Mlenatter Helene Thais Albouy75004 Paris$1,073112023
Africa FoundationJohannesburg$1,000112022
Room to ReadSan Francisco, CA$1,000112024
Tree Love LtdLondon$1,000112022
Association Show Vivant Che M Sidibe Thais AlbouyLognes$454112024

14 of 68 (21%) 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 32%, across 3 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 8 grants to individuals totalling $33,562 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 14 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
7 grants
International Affairs
3 grants
Health Care
2 grants
Recreation & Sports
1 grant
Arts & Culture
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202123$1,304,469$12,651
202222$1,112,988$9,295
202323$3,110,005$15,834
202423$1,980,774$10,823

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. 54% of this one's giving went to organizations in LONDON, WC1N 1LE. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

London, WC1N 1LE
$3.3M
Massachusetts
$1.6M
District of Columbia
$373K
California
$260K
New York
$195K
Berkshire SL4 6DB
$86K
South Carolina
$50K
Ohio
$49K

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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 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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund8 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc8 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program8 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc8 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust7 shared recipientsThe Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund7 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $12,621. 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 District of Columbia.
  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 MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Blue Sands 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: 1212 New York Ave Nw 1000, Washington, DC, 20005. 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 37-1797396 · 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 [email protected] and we will correct it.