The Elizabeth R & William J Patterson
Ross, CA · EIN 38-3667071. Reported 98 grants totalling $28.8M to 46 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation told the IRS it does not accept unsolicited requests: it contributes only to organizations it selects itself.
Does this foundation accept applications?
No -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation to check a box if it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds". The Elizabeth R & William J Patterson checked it on its most recent filing, as 78% of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered did. An unsolicited request is unlikely to go anywhere.
Organizations it funds that make grants of their own
3 of the organizations The Elizabeth R & William J Patterson funded make grants themselves, and it reported 4 grants totalling $1,900,000 to them. That is 7% of the $27.7M of its giving we could match to a registered organization. Each is classified by the IRS as a philanthropy or grantmaking organization, reported grants to at least 25 organizations of its own, and has at least 10 funders behind it.
1 of them file Form 990-PF and did not check the box saying it funds only organizations it picks. The other 2 file Form 990, which never asks, so for those there is no answer on record either way. The last column says which is which.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application to any of them reaches this foundation's money. A private foundation's grant to a community foundation or a federated campaign is often a donor-advised fund or a gift designated for a purpose the foundation chose, and has nothing to do with any open programme the receiving organization runs. Its return's purpose text sometimes names a family fund or a designated purpose, which is the plainest case of money no applicant can reach; where it names none, neither return says which. The list is who this foundation paid that also makes grants. Whether any of them would fund you is a question for its own page.
| Grantmaker | Kind | State | Received | Grants | Years | Last | Only funds organizations it picks? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation | grantmaking organization | California | $1,000,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 | No, on its 990-PF |
| Community Foundation Santa Cruz | community foundation | California | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 | Its form does not ask |
| Community Initiatives | grantmaking organization | California | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 | Its form does not ask |
A floor, not a full list. A grantmaker appears here only where this foundation's return named it clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows, and only where that grantmaker has a page on this site. There may be more. Dollars here are summed by EIN across every spelling on its returns, so a figure can differ from the matching row in the full list below, which groups names as written. And the IRS classification cannot tell a grantmaker from a funders' association or a donor-advised fund sponsor, so a payment to one of these may be dues or an account rather than support for a grants programme.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $250,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $125,000 and $300,000; the smallest was $15 and the largest $2,000,000.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer Search | Oakland, CA | $3,000,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Save the Redwoods League | San Francisco, CA | $2,500,000 | 3 | 2 | 2022 |
| Urban Tilth | Richmond, CA | $1,650,000 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| California Academy of Sciences | San Francisco, CA | $1,562,753 | 4 | 2 | 2022 |
| First Nations Development Institute | Longmont, CO | $1,409,042 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Conservation | San Francisco, CA | $1,100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Npx Charitable Inc | San Francisco, CA | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| PBS Foundation | Arlington, VA | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation | Menlo Park, CA | $1,000,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Daily Acts Organization | Petaluma, CA | $950,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation | Bozeman, MT | $900,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| California Assoc of Resource Conservation District | Folsom, CA | $900,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Carbon Cycle Institute | Petaluma, CA | $900,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Climate Center | Santa Rosa, CA | $900,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Peer Health Exchange Inc | Oakland, CA | $800,001 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods | Sherburne, NY | $750,000 | 4 | 3 | 2023 |
| Community Foundation Santa Cruz County | Aptos, CA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Multiplier | San Francisco, CA | $500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Ten Strands | San Rafael, CA | $500,000 | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| Trust for Public Land | San Francisco, CA | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Marin Agricultural Land Trust | Point Reyes Station, CA | $407,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Bay Area Discovery Museum | Sausalito, CA | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Caremessage | San Francisco, CA | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Initiatives | Oakland, CA | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mad Agriculture | Boulder, CO | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Point Blue Conservation Science | Petaluma, CA | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Point Reyes Bird Observatory | Petaluma, CA | $390,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Civil Eats | Cotati, CA | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Foodcorps Inc | Portland, OR | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Pie Ranch | Pescadero, CA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Conservation International Foundation | Arlington, VA | $283,480 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Accountability Counsel | San Francisco, CA | $275,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Foundation for National Progress | San Francisco, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kitchen Table Advisors | Berkeley, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mulitiplier | Oakland, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| San Francisco Botanical Garden Society at Strybing | San Francisco, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Center for Investigative Reporting Inc | Emeryville, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Occidental Arts and Ecology Center | Occidental, CA | $225,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Center on Rural Innovation Inc | Hartland, VT | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods | Mount Pleasant, TX | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fibershed | San Geronimo, CA | $180,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Extrafood Org | Kentfield, CA | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Protect Our Winters | Boulder, CO | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Wild Farm Alliance | Aromas, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Real Organic Project Inc | East Thetford, VT | $100 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| First Look Institute Inc | Washington, DC | $15 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
26 of 46 (57%) 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 68%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one, and this foundation told the IRS it does not.
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.
- Save the Redwoods League
Lost Coast Redwoods Project - Summer Search
Summer Search No Ceilings Campaign - Npx Charitable Inc
Bay Area Donor Impact Fund (DIF) - Urban Tilth
The North Richmond Farm Project: Creating a hub for community driven regenerative agriculture, education, health and empowerment in Richmond - California Academy of Sciences
Academy's Vision for a New Membership Framework - The Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation Fund IV
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 88 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.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 26 | $9,375,411 | $250,000 |
| 2022 | 21 | $6,581,658 | $250,000 |
| 2023 | 25 | $6,158,834 | $200,000 |
| 2024 | 26 | $6,726,988 | $200,000 |
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
81% of its giving went to organizations in California.
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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. Unlike this foundation, none of them is on record as funding only organizations it picks, and each page says what its filings show.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Elizabeth R & William J Patterson'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: Po Box 1072, Ross, CA, 94957. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS.
EIN 38-3667071 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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