FundersCalifornia

Shemastella Foundation

Irvine, CA · EIN 65-1320584. Reported 52 grants totalling $3,274,200 to 37 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$12,600median grant
$3,274,200granted, 2020-2023
37organizations funded
36%of grantees funded again the next year
$8,173,333assets, 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. Shemastella 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 $12,600. Half of everything it gave fell between $6,200 and $31,500; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $1,000,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
9 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
7 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
18 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
7 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants
$100,000 and Up
8 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
World Village for ChildrenLanham, MD$1,130,000222021
Korea Hope FoundationIrvine, CA$745,900332023
Sisters of Mary World Villages forLanham, MD$500,000112023
Korean Martyrs Catholic CenterWestminster, CA$140,000332023
Kkottongnae IncLynwood, CA$130,000332022
Korea Hope FoundationMapogu, Seoul$75,000112020
Deul Kkot Ma EulPohang, Gyeongbook$60,000112020
The Sisters of the Society of OurCorpus Christi, TX$50,000112023
Deul Kkot Ma EulBuena Park, CA$40,000112021
Charitable Foundation of African CaTorrance, CA$37,800332023
Korean American Special EducationAnaheim, CA$37,400332023
Our Lady of Peach Korean CatholicIrvine, CA$33,000222022
Asociacion MirineGuatemala, CA$30,000112022
Christus CorpWestminster, CA$30,000222022
Home on the Green PleasuresTustin, CA$30,000112023
Korean Community ServicesGarden Grove, CA$30,000112022
Christus RetreatWestminster, CA$25,000112023
St Thomas Korean Catholic CenterAnaheim, CA$20,000112023
Dosan Memorial Foundation of AmericCerritos, CA$13,000112023
Charity Foundation for African CatholicTorrance, CA$12,600112020
Korea Town Senior and Community CenLos Angeles, CA$10,000112023
Korean American Special Education FoundationAnaheim, CA$10,000112020
Missionary of the Sacred HeartCenter Valley, PA$10,000112022
Sisters of Charity of Seton HillBethel Park, PA$10,000112021
St John the Evangelist Catholic ChClinton, MD$10,000112023
Spectrum of Hope FoundationFullerton, CA$9,000222023
St Thomas Catholic ChurchAnaheim, CA$7,500112023
Korean American Priest AssociationCypress, CA$6,500112021
St Raphael Korean Catholic CenterNorwalk, CA$5,500112022
Augustinian GuildSan Diego, CA$5,000112022
Korean American FoundationLos Angeles, CA$5,000112023
The Good Hands FoundationGarden Grove, CA$4,000112023
Global Children FoundationLos Angeles, CA$3,000222022
Grace Korean ChurchFullerton, CA$3,000112023
Soon Movement GlobalFullerton, CA$3,000112021
Korean Catholic Cursilla MovementBuena Park, CA$2,000112023
Radio SeoulLos Angeles, CA$1,000112021

10 of 37 (27%) 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 36%, 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 2 grants to individuals totalling $9,600 -- scholarships, hardship and emergency assistance. We deliberately do not publish the names of people who received them, even though the filings do.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 12 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Religion
4 grants
Human Services
3 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
International Affairs
1 grant
Education
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20206$297,600$36,300
202114$1,449,500$11,300
202214$649,300$18,100
202318$877,800$10,000

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. 50% of this one's giving went to organizations in Maryland. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Maryland
$1.6M
California
$1.4M
Seoul
$75K
Gyeongbook
$60K
Texas
$50K
Pennsylvania
$20K

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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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc3 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund3 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc2 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $12,600. 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 Maryland.
  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 religion in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding international affairs in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Shemastella 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: 10 Corporate Park Ste 305, Irvine, CA, 92606. 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 65-1320584 · 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.