Funders › California

Bergman Family Foundation

Laguna Beach, CA · EIN 33-0743999. Reported 68 grants totalling $660,260 to 49 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$9,000median grant
$660,260granted, 2021-2024
49recipients, as named on its returns
29%of grantees funded again the next year

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. Bergman 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.

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 $9,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $3,000 and $10,550; the smallest was $500 and the largest $50,000. 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
19 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
14 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
27 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
6 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
1 grant

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Laguna Presbyterian ChurchLaguna Beach, CA$80,000222022
Medical Teams Int'lPortland, OR$60,000332023
Fuller FoundationPasadena, CA$50,000222023
Segerstrom CenterCosta Mesa, CA$40,000332023
St Francis HouseBoston, MA$28,000332024
Emerson Health FoundationConcord, MA$27,500222024
Concord-Carlisle Community ChestConcord, MA$26,350112024
Fuller SeminaryPasadena, CA$25,000112024
Momentous InstituteDallas, TX$20,550222024
Back on My FeetPhiladelphia, PA$20,000112023
Venice Design SeriesVenice, CA$20,000442024
Foundation for Senior ServicesGlendale, CA$20,000112024
Africa New DaySeal Beach, CA$15,000222022
The Schwartz Center for Compassionate HealthcareBoston, MA$15,000222024
Windrider InstituteEagle, ID$15,000222023
Brain Health BootcampNew York, NY$12,500112024
Christian Center of Park CityPark City, UT$10,000112022
Doughmain Educational FoundationPrinceton, NJ$10,000112021
Every Monday MattersBurbank, CA$10,000112024
Hoag Hospital FoundationNewport Beach, CA$10,000112024
IjmWashington, DC$10,000112021
Northrise University$10,000112021
Northrise University InitiativeScottsdale, AZ$10,000112022
Opportunity InternationalCarol Stream, IL$10,000112023
Think Give IncConcord, MA$10,000112024
Windridge InstituteTucson, AZ$10,000112021
World VisionTacoma, WA$10,000112022
With My Own Two HandsLaguna Beach, CA$10,000222024
Active MindsWashington, DC$6,250112023
Nc State Engineering FoundationRaleigh, NC$5,610112024
Breaktime United IncBoston, MA$5,000112023
Concordia UniversityIrvine, CA$5,000222023
The Master's ProgramCorona, CA$5,000112022
Unsilenced ProjectRancho Mission Viejo, CA$5,000112022
The Greater Boston Food BankBoston, MA$4,500222023
UCLA FoundationLos Angeles, CA$3,500112021
Kylecares IncNorth Attleboro, MA$3,000112023
ThinkSanta Ana, CA$3,000112023
Boston Food BankBoston, MA$2,500112021
Inseparable IncWashington, DC$2,500112023
Mariners Christian SchoolCosta Mesa, CA$2,500112021
Veritas ForumCambridge, MA$2,500112023
Homeboy IndustriesLos Angeles, CA$2,000112021
Think TogetherSanta Ana, CA$2,000112021
Wycliff Bible TranslationOrlando, FL$2,000112021
Goodwill of Orange CountySanta Ana, CA$1,000112022
Open DoorsSanta Ana, CA$1,000112022
Priority Living IncCorona, CA$1,000112021
Bridge to SkateCosta Mesa, CA$500112024

14 of 49 (29%) 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. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 37 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Human Services
7 grants
Education
6 grants
Youth Development
4 grants
Religion
4 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
3 grants
Health Care
3 grants
Mental Health
3 grants
Arts & Culture
2 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202117$133,000$5,000
202217$185,000$5,000
202319$154,800$5,000
202415$187,460$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

48% of its giving went to organizations in California. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

California
$312K
Massachusetts
$124K
Oregon
$60K
Texas
$21K
Pennsylvania
$20K
Arizona
$20K
District of Columbia
$19K
Idaho
$15K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc27 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund26 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc22 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation21 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust21 shared recipientsNatl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc17 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $9,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  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 human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding youth development in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding religion in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Bergman Family Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 1217 Emerald Bay, Laguna Beach, CA, 92651. 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 33-0743999 · 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.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.