FundersIowa

Wolf Foundation

West Des Moines, IA · EIN 39-1869906. Reported 44 grants totalling $195,376 to 23 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$2,118median grant
$195,376granted, 2021-2024
23organizations funded
73%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,641,588assets, 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. Wolf 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 $2,118. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,036 and $6,888; the smallest was $180 and the largest $24,800. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
7 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
24 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
8 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
5 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
United HatzalahNew York, NY$45,300442024
Holocaust Heroes WorldwideAventura, FL$37,000442024
Chabad of South BeachMiami Beach, FL$20,348442024
Jewish Federation of Broward CoDavie, FL$11,620442024
Asl Cancer Research FundGolden Valley, MN$10,000112024
Chevra Simchas Shabbos V'yom TBrooklyn, NY$10,000112024
Food Bank of IowaDes Moines, IA$9,697442024
Friends of Asor Fund USAColorado Srpings, CO$8,000112024
Pef Israel Endowment FundsNew York, NY$8,000112024
Hidabroot CorpEncino, CA$7,200112024
Lubavitch of IowaDes Moines, IA$5,260442024
Gush Etzion FoundationBrookline, MA$5,000112024
Chabad of AmesAmes, IA$3,590332024
Als AssociationWest Des Moines, IA$3,500112022
JoppaDes Moines, IA$3,000112024
Redwood Empire Food BankSanta Rosa, CA$3,000222023
Klm InternationalDes Moines, IA$1,667112023
World Central Kitchen IncWashington, DC$1,000112022
Ia Jewish Historical SocietyWaukee, IA$974112024
Matter of Trust IncSan Francisco, CA$500112021
Temple IsraelVestal, NY$360112021
Dor LdorRichardson, TX$180112022
Susan G KomenWashington, DC$180112023

8 of 23 (35%) 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 73%, 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 23 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Arts & Culture
8 grants
Food & Nutrition
6 grants
Religion
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
2 grants
International Affairs
1 grant
Human Services
1 grant
Community Improvement
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20218$54,257$2,848
202211$50,278$3,000
202310$23,031$1,583
202415$67,810$3,000

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. 35% 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.

Florida
$69K
New York
$64K
Iowa
$28K
California
$11K
Minnesota
$10K
Colorado
$8K
Massachusetts
$5K
District of Columbia
$1K

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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 Inc7 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust6 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc5 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund5 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program4 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $2,118. 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 Florida.
  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 arts & culture in FloridaEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding arts & culture in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding religion in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Wolf 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: 4350 Westown Pkwy Ste 100, West Des Moines, IA, 50266. 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 39-1869906 · 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.