Funders › California

Cabin Road Foundation

Redwood City, CA · EIN 30-6284988. Reported 40 grants totalling $234.4M to 35 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$3,289,762median grant
$234.4Mgranted, 2020-2024
35recipients, as named on its returns
12%of grantees funded again the next year
$233.0Massets, 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. Cabin Road 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 $3,289,762. Half of everything it gave fell between $498,000 and $10.0M; the smallest was $20,000 and the largest $20.0M. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$10,000 - $25,000
1 grant
$50,000 - $100,000
2 grants
$100,000 and Up
37 grants

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
Leland Stanford Junior UniversityStanford, CA$38.0M552024
Meharry Medical CollegeNashville, TN$20.0M112023
Morehouse CollegeAtlanta, GA$20.0M112023
North Carolina a & T State UniversityGreensboro, NC$20.0M112023
Paul Quinn CollegeDallas, TX$20.0M112023
Planned Parenthood Federation of AmericaNew York, NY$20.0M112023
Tuskegee UniversityTuskegee Institute, AL$20.0M112023
Alameda Emergency FoodAlameda, CA$10.0M112021
Friends of Earl Monroe Charter SchoolNew York, NY$10.0M112020
Greenpeace Fund IncWashington, DC$10.0M112020
Sunrise Movement Education FundWashington, DC$8,000,000112020
UC Berkeley FoundationAlameda, CA$7,360,000222022
Leland Stanford UniversityStanford, CA$6,375,000112023
The Innocence ProjectSan Diego, CA$4,000,000112020
University of California Berkeley FoundationBerkeley, CA$3,680,000112020
Alive & FreeSan Francisco, CA$3,579,525112020
Menlo School College OpportunityAtherton, CA$3,000,000112020
Habitat for Humanity San FranciscoSan Francisco, CA$2,000,000112020
Media Matters for AmericaWashington, DC$1,200,000112020
California Family FoundationPalo Alto, CA$1,000,000112020
Legal Services for Prisoners With ChildrenOakland, CA$1,000,000112020
National Center for Equine Facilitated TherapyWoodside, CA$1,000,000112020
San Francisco FoundationSan Francisco, CA$1,000,000112021
University of San FranciscoSan Francisco, CA$1,000,000112020
Live in Peace IncPalo Alto, CA$498,000112020
Pets in NeedPalo Alto, CA$300,000112020
Taft Community SchoolRedwood City, CA$300,000112020
100 College Prep Institute - Ycd IncSan Francisco, CA$280,000112020
Redwood City Police DepartmentRedwood City, CA$215,000112020
Kpfa RadioBerkeley, CA$180,000112020
Eastside College Preparatory School IncPalo Alto, CA$150,000112020
StriveNew York, NY$150,000112020
Great Waters Musical Festival IncWolfeboro, NH$75,000112020
YMCA of Silicon ValleySanta Clara, CA$50,000112020
Fit Kids FoundationRedwood City, CA$20,000112021

2 of 35 (6%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 12%, 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 19 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.

Education
9 grants
Youth Development
2 grants
Environment
2 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
1 grant
Food & Nutrition
1 grant
Crime & Legal
1 grant
Animal Welfare
1 grant
Employment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202024$55.7M$1,000,000
20215$24.9M$1,840,000
20222$13.5M$6,760,000
20238$130.4M$20.0M
20241$10.0M$10.0M

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

36% 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
$85.0M
New York
$30.1M
Georgia
$20.0M
Texas
$20.0M
Tennessee
$20.0M
North Carolina
$20.0M
Alabama
$20.0M
District of Columbia
$19.2M

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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.

American Online Giving Foundation Inc20 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund19 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc19 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc18 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust18 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program18 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $3,289,762. 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 education in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding youth development in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding environment in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Cabin Road Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). 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: C/O Baker Tilly 3 Lagoon Dr St 400, Redwood City, CA, 94065. 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 30-6284988 · 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.