Funders › California

Mara W Breech Foundation

Santa Monica, CA · EIN 95-4474892. Reported 261 grants totalling $2,866,540 to 64 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$7,500median grant
$2,866,540granted, 2021-2025
64recipients, as named on its returns
92%of grantees funded again the next year
$11.1Massets, 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. Mara W Breech 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 $7,500. Half of everything it gave fell between $5,000 and $16,500; the smallest was $3,000 and the largest $33,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$1,000 - $5,000
10 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
149 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
77 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
25 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
John Tracy ClinicLos Angeles, CA$159,000552025
Boy Scouts of AmericaVan Nuys, CA$132,500552025
Children's Art Village-SevalayaSanta Monica, CA$132,500552025
LeapNew Haven, CT$132,500552025
UC San Diego-Math for AmericaLa Jolla, CA$132,500552025
Blink NowMendham, NJ$106,000552025
Claremont Graduate UniversityClaremont, CA$106,000552025
Overland Avenue Elementary SchoolLos Angeles, CA$106,000552025
Scripps CollegeClaremont, CA$106,000552025
Teach for AmericaLos Angeles, CA$106,000552025
The World Is Just a Book AwaySanta Monica, CA$106,000552025
Stanford Center to Support Excellence in TeachingStanford, CA$100,000552025
Chime InstituteNorthridge, CA$79,500552025
Los Angeles County Museum of Art Museum AssociatesLos Angeles, CA$79,500552025
Mind Research InstituteSanta Ana, CA$76,500552025
Aha AttitudeharmonyachievementSanta Barbara, CA$53,000552025
Blind Childrens' CenterLos Angeles, CA$53,000552025
Csun FoundationNorthridge, CA$51,000552025
UC Berkeley Graduate School of EducationBerkeley, CA$50,000552025
Earth ExplorersBoulder, CO$47,900552025
EarthrootsTrabuco Canyon, CA$45,900552025
Smiling Calm Hearts Open Our LearningPasadena, CA$39,750552025
Star EducationLos Angeles, CA$39,750552025
Frostig CenterPasadena, CA$39,250552025
Ps ScienceSanta Monica, CA$38,250552025
Network for Teaching EntrepreneurshipNew York, NY$32,000332024
Edge FoundationSeattle, WA$30,600552025
A Noise WithinPasadena, CA$30,500552025
Mar Vista Family CenterCulver City, CA$28,250442025
Missoula Butterfly HouseMissoula, MT$27,500552025
Assistance League of Southern CaHollywood, CA$26,500552025
Center for Civic EducationCalabasas, CA$26,500552025
Children's InstituteLos Angeles, CA$26,500552025
Emily Shane FoundationMalibu, CA$26,500552025
Fowler Museum-UCLALos Angeles, CA$26,500552025
Geffen PlayhouseLos Angeles, CA$26,500552025
No LimitsCulver City, CA$26,500552025
Red Hen PressPasadena, CA$26,500552025
Santa Barbara School of SquashSanta Barbara, CA$26,500552025
Tierra Del Sol FoundationSunlandtujunga, CA$26,500552025
Vista Del Mar Child and Family ServicesLos Angeles, CA$26,500552025
Zoological Society of San DiegoSan Diego, CA$26,500552025
Enneagram Prison ProjectLos Gatos, CA$25,290442025
Girl Scouts of Greater Los AngelesInglewood, CA$21,500442025
St Mary's College of CaliforniaMoraga, CA$21,200552025
Dolores Mission ShoolLos Angeles, CA$20,500442025
Friends of Girls Academic Leadership AcademyLos Angeles, CA$16,000332024
Parentis FoundationLaguna Hills, CA$16,000332024
Sunsar MayaSan Francisco, CA$15,900552025
UCLA School of LawLos Angeles, CA$15,500332023
Child Creativity LabSanta Ana, CA$15,000332025
L a County Museum of Natural HistoryLos Angeles, CA$15,000222022
Strive FoundationLos Angeles, CA$15,000332025
Branches Atelier FundCulver City, CA$12,500222025
Actors' GangCulver City, CA$10,000222022
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural HistoryLos Angeles, CA$10,000222025
Palisades CharterPacific Palisades, CA$10,000222022
Two Bit Circustrash for TeachingGardena, CA$10,000112021
Emmeagram Prison ProjectLos Gatos, CA$7,000112024
Center for Council (community Partners)Los Angeles, CA$5,000112021
Fringe Benefits Theatre AllianceLos Angeles, CA$5,000112022
PBS SocalWhittier, CA$5,000112025
Regents of UC RiversideRiverside, CA$5,000112022
Wlacc Bsacamp WhitsettVan Nuys, CA$5,000112023

57 of 64 (89%) 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 92%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

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 activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 140 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
40 grants
Youth Development
30 grants
Arts & Culture
25 grants
Human Services
18 grants
Mental Health
5 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
5 grants
Employment
5 grants
Animal Welfare
5 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202151$544,400$7,500
202254$554,400$6,750
202353$599,840$8,250
202452$586,200$7,500
202551$581,700$7,500

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

87% 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
$2.5M
Connecticut
$132K
New Jersey
$106K
Colorado
$48K
New York
$32K
Washington
$31K
Montana
$28K

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund29 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc28 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc26 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust18 shared recipientsCalifornia Community Foundation18 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program18 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $7,500. 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 arts & culture in CaliforniaEvery funder in this groupFoundations funding human services in CaliforniaEvery funder in this group

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Mara W Breech Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: Co Docs 2120 Wilshire Bl 400, Santa Monica, CA, 90403. 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 95-4474892 · 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.