Funders › District of Columbia
Breakthrough Prize Foundation
Washington, DC · EIN 46-0677985. Reported 165 grants totalling $134.3M to 125 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. Breakthrough Prize 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $25,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $8,646 and $1,000,000; the smallest was $2,594 and the largest $20.0M. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milky Way Research Foundation | Washington, DC | $61.1M | 30 | 4 | 2023 |
| Airbnborg | San Francisco, CA | $20.0M | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Charities Aid Foundation America | Alexandria, VA | $15.0M | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| National Academy of Sciences | Washington, DC | $5,400,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| International Rescue Committee (irc) | Albert Lea, MN | $4,070,000 | 3 | 1 | 2023 |
| Unicef | New York, NY | $4,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Red Cross | Boone, IA | $3,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Martin Hairer | Washington, DC | $3,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Steven Weinberg | Washington, DC | $3,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| University of California Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | $1,920,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| International Rescue Committee | Albert Lea, MN | $1,870,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Stanford University | Stanford, CA | $1,666,666 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors | New York, NY | $1,500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| All European Academies | Berlin | $1,440,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Blayne Heckel | Washington, DC | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Eric Adelberger | Washington, DC | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Jens Gundlach | Washington, DC | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| American Friends of the Tel Aviv University Inc | New York, NY | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Australian Academy of Science | Acton | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Khan Academy Inc | Mountain View, CA | $400,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge, MA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Social Impact Fund | Los Angeles, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Samay Godika | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh, PA | $120,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Aleksandr Logunov | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Burlingame High School | Burlingame, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bhargav Bhatt | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ecole Mctavish Public High School | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Le Bocage International School | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| National Public School Koramangala | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Song Sun | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Tracy Slatyer | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Katherine Vladicka | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Lisa Piccirillo | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Nina Holden | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Seti Institute | Mountain View, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Urmila Mahadev | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ahmed Almheiri | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Geoff Penington | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Henry Maxfield | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Javier Tiffenberg | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Needsmap | Istanbul | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Netta Engelhardt | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Rouven Essig | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Tien-Tien Yu | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Tomer Volansky | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Consulate General of Israel San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $16,250 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Jorge a Preciado-Lopez | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Joseph Crowley | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Juan-Carlos Algaba | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Karl M Menten | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Keiichi Asada | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Kenji Toma | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Kotaro Moriyama | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Koushik Chatterjee | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Kuan-Yu Liu | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Kuo-Chang Han | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Mahito Sasada | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Makoto Inoue | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Mark Derome | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Michael Kramer | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Motoki Kino | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Nicolas Pradel | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Patrick M Koch | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Philippe a Raffin | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Pim Schellart | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Qingwen Wu | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ranjani Srinivasan | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ruben Herrero-Illana | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Sascha Trippe | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Shoko Koyama | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Shuichiro Tsuda | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Silke Britzen | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Sjoerd T Timmer | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Svetlana Jorstad | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Taehyun Jung | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Thomas Bronzwaer | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Thomas M Crawford | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Tomohisa Kawashima | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ue-Li Pen | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Vincent Pietu | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Walter Alef | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Wilfred Boland | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Yusuke Kono | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Zhiyuan Li | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ziyan Zhu | Washington, DC | $8,646 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Aaron Faber | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Alan L Roy | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Alan R Whitney | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Arturo I Gomez-Ruiz | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Cm Violette Impellizzeri | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chen-Yu Yu | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chet Ruszczyk | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chi-Kwan Chan | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Christian M Fromm | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chung-Chen Chen | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Cornelia Mueller | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Daniel Michalik | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| David a Graham | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| David H Hughes | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| David M Gale | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Des Small | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Dirk Muders | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Eduardo Ros | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Elisabetta Liuzzo | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Feryal Ozel | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Frederic Gueth | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Freek Roelofs | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Fumie Tazaki | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| George N Wong | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Guangyao Zhao | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hector Olivares | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Heino Falcke | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hideo Ogawa | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hiroki Okino | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hugo Messias | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ilse Van Bemmel | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Izumi Mizuno | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Jinchi Hao | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Jirong Mao | Washington, DC | $8,645 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chao-Te Li | Washington, DC | $2,594 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chih-Cheng Chang | Washington, DC | $2,594 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Chih-Chiang Han | Washington, DC | $2,594 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Shu-Hao Chang | Washington, DC | $2,594 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ta-Shun Wei | Washington, DC | $2,594 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
7 of 125 (6%) 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 29%, 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.
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.
- National Academy of Sciences
TO SUPPORT UKRAINE REFUGEES AND UKRAINIAN SCIENTISTS AFFECTED BY THE CRISIS IN UKRAINE - American Red Cross
TO SUPPORT HUMANITARIAN RELIEF EFFORTS TO HELP PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE CRISIS IN UKRAINE - Steven Weinberg
Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics - Martin Hairer
Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics - Eric Adelberger
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics - Australian Academy of Science
PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR SHORT-TERM RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS BETWEEN UKRAINIAN SCIENTISTS AND RESEARCH FACILITIES IN AUSTRALIA AND EFFORTS TO PROVIDE UKRAINIAN SCIENTISTS ACCESS TO AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH FACILITIES FOR SAMPLE ANALYSIS.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 50 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 104 | $12.9M | $8,646 |
| 2021 | 17 | $24.4M | $1,237,914 |
| 2022 | 25 | $62.3M | $1,248,905 |
| 2023 | 19 | $34.7M | $1,133,740 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Breakthrough Prize Foundation has 8 of them, worth $5,940,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Unicef | New York, NY | $4,000,000 |
| All European Academies Co Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Sciences & Human | Berlin | $1,350,000 |
| Blue Valley High School | Washington, DC | $100,000 |
| Neev Academy | Bengalaru, Karnataka | $100,000 |
| Ecole Mctavish Public High School | Fort Mcmurray, Alberta | $100,000 |
| Le Bocage International School | Moka | $100,000 |
| National Public School Koramangala | Bangalore, Karnataka | $100,000 |
| All European Academies | Berlin | $90,000 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 59% of this one's giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $25,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in District of Columbia.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Breakthrough Prize Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 1900 N Street Nw, Washington, DC, 20036. 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 46-0677985 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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