FundersCalifornia

The Robinson Foundation

Los Angeles, CA · EIN 95-3681443. Reported 117 grants totalling $788,875 to 49 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,500median grant
$788,875granted, 2021-2024
49organizations funded
79%of grantees funded again the next year
$4,617,712assets, 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. The Robinson 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 $2,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $5,000; the smallest was $875 and the largest $60,000. 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
74 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
16 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
18 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
6 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
2 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
California State University Fullerton Philanthropic FoundationFullerton, CA$180,000442024
The First Church of Christ Scientist BostonBoston, MA$124,387442024
Ylhs Baseball Boosters - Yorba Linda High SchoolYorba Linda, CA$55,000442024
Troy Baseball Boosters Co Troy High SchoolFullerton, CA$47,500442024
Ability Connection Colorado IncDenver, CO$45,000442024
Uci Foundation(the Leslie Ann Ferree Memorial Compassion Award)Irvine, CA$40,000442024
Ocfa Benevolent Association (maui Firefighters)Irvine, CA$17,000112023
Alpha Delta Pi FoundationAtlanta, GA$16,000442024
Orange County Riptide Baseball California Collegiate LeagueRancho Santa Margarita, CA$15,000222022
Spin(serving People in Need Inc)Costa Mesa, CA$15,000442024
Age Well Senior Services IncLake Forest, CA$12,500442024
Higher Ground Youth & Family Services IncAnaheim, CA$12,500332023
Peo Star Scholarship FundDes Moines, IA$10,500332024
Chorale Bel CantoWhittier, CA$10,000442024
Los Angeles Firemen's Relief AssociationLos Angeles, CA$10,000112024
Outward Bound AdventuresPasadena, CA$10,000442024
Pacific SymphonyIrvine, CA$10,000442024
Padre FoundationOrange, CA$10,000442024
Adventure Unlimiteddiscoverybound FoundationGreenwood Village, CO$9,250442024
Berkeley Hall School FoundationLos Angeles, CA$9,250442024
Clairbourn SchoolSan Gabriel, CA$9,250442024
The Cedars Camps IncManchester, MO$9,250442024
Diabetes Camping and Educational Services IncSignal Hill, CA$7,500332024
No Limits Learning CenterBrea, CA$7,500112022
Providence St Jude Memorial FoundationFullerton, CA$7,500332024
Whittier Regional SymphonyWhittier, CA$7,500332024
Concordia University IrvineIrvine, CA$5,000222022
Danny's Farm Petting Zoo Co Cal Poly PomonaShadow Hills, CA$5,000222022
MiraclefeetChapel Hill, NC$5,000112024
North Carolina Community FoundationRaleigh, NC$5,000112024
OneocSanta Ana, CA$5,000112024
Oneoc-Deed & TruthSanta Ana, CA$5,000222023
The Salvation ArmyTustin, CA$5,000112021
Think Together (in Memory of Mike Frobenius)Santa Ana, CA$5,000112023
First Church of Christ Scientist BerkeleyMoraga, CA$4,488442024
Swim With Mike FoundationYorba Linda, CA$4,000112023
Jessie Rees FoundationIrvine, CA$3,000112021
Assistance League FullertonFullerton, CA$2,500112024
BABY2BABYLos Angeles, CA$2,500112024
Concussion Legacy FoundationBoston, MA$2,500112022
Hope HarborTustin, CA$2,500112024
Mount of Olives ChurchMission Viejo, CA$2,500112023
Mount of Olives Church Robert H Lange PreschoolMission Viejo, CA$2,500112024
Project CampLos Angeles, CA$2,500112024
Steadfast LaLos Angeles, CA$2,500112024
Tara's ChanceFullerton, CA$2,500112021
The Lighthouse Project IncBig Bear Lake, CA$2,500112024
Volunteer Florida Foundationflorida Disaster FundTallahassee, FL$2,500112022
World Central KitchenWashington, DC$2,500112024

27 of 49 (55%) 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 79%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 46 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
10 grants
Diseases & Disorders
7 grants
Environment
4 grants
Arts & Culture
4 grants
Medical Research
4 grants
Youth Development
3 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202127$177,500$2,500
202228$169,500$2,500
202328$213,750$2,500
202434$228,125$2,500

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. 71% of this one's giving went to organizations in California. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

California
$557K
Massachusetts
$127K
Colorado
$54K
Georgia
$16K
Iowa
$10K
North Carolina
$10K
Missouri
$9K
District of Columbia
$2K

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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 Inc20 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund18 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc17 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program13 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust13 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,500. 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 California.
  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 CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding environment in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding education in MassachusettsEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from The Robinson 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: 515 South Figueroa St 2060, Los Angeles, CA, 90071. 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 95-3681443 · 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.