The Wenger Family Foundation
Santa Barbara, CA · EIN 52-1744058. Reported 95 grants totalling $962,922 to 47 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. The Wenger Family 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 $1,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $2,500; the smallest was $200 and the largest $781,818. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund Daf | St Petersburg, FL | $781,818 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History | Santa Barbara, CA | $16,225 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Kidsave International | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| National Ms Society | Washington, DC | $14,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ganna Walska Lotusland | Santa Barbara, CA | $12,296 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Women's Fund of Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Direct Relief | Santa Barbara, CA | $9,900 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Santa Barbara Botanic Garden | Santa Barbara, CA | $9,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Art | Santa Barbara, CA | $8,800 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| National Multiple Sclerosis Society | Washington, DC | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Round House Theater | Bethesda, MD | $5,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood | Washington, DC | $5,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Santa Barbara Int'l Film Festival | Santa Barbara, CA | $5,086 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Grace Reproductive Fund | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Kidsave | Culver City, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood of Metro DC | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tradart Foundation | Santa Barbara, CA | $3,950 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| CASA | Santa Maria, CA | $3,750 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Food Bank of Santa Barbara County | Santa Barbara, CA | $3,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Elings Park Foundation | Santa Barbara, CA | $3,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Food Bank Santa Barbara County | Santa Maria, CA | $2,900 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Women's Board Sbma | Santa Barbara, CA | $2,750 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Greater Washington Community Foundation | Washington, DC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Santa Barbara International Film Festival | Santa Barbara, CA | $2,472 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Barnard College | New York, NY | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| So Others Might Eat | Washington, DC | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| University of Pa | Philadelphia, PA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Santa Barbara Zoo | Santa Barbara, CA | $1,825 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Graviota Coast Conservacy | Goleta, CA | $1,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Nature Conservancy | Arlington, VA | $1,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Climb for Hope | Towson, MD | $1,250 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| DC Abortion Fund | Washington, DC | $1,100 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Gaviota Coast Conservancy | Santa Barbara, CA | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Naral Pro-Choice Paragon Pa | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nature Conservancy of Marylanddc | Bethesda, MD | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Profant Foundation for the Arts | Santa Barbara, CA | $1,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Wildlife Conservation Society | Bronx, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute | Santa Barbara, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Chasing Hope Foundation | Winnetka, IL | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| John Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lafayette College | Easton, PA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Paralyzed Veterans of America | Washington, DC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Santa Barbara Public Library | Santa Barbara, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Teddy Bear Cancer Fund | Santa Barbara, CA | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence | Washington, DC | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Montecito Trails Foundation | Santa Barbara, CA | $400 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| SLO4HOME | San Luis Obispo, CA | $200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
25 of 47 (53%) 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 61%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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 kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 45 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 27 | $43,925 | $1,000 |
| 2022 | 28 | $51,974 | $1,250 |
| 2023 | 23 | $42,261 | $1,500 |
| 2024 | 17 | $824,762 | $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. 81% of this one's giving went to organizations in Florida. 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 $1,500. 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 Florida.
- 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 The Wenger Family 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: Co Wenger 2449 Calle Almonte, Santa Barbara, CA, 93109. 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 52-1744058 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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