The Good Works Foundation
Aspen, CO · EIN 95-4471685. Reported 177 grants totalling $2,288,624 to 69 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
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. The Good Works 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $10,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $284,999. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ica La | Los Angeles, CA | $882,499 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Hammer Museum | Los Angeles, CA | $146,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Cap UCLA | Los Angeles, CA | $115,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Tacaw | Basalt, CO | $95,060 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Friends of the La Philharmonic | Los Angeles, CA | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Los Angeles Opera | Los Angeles, CA | $60,165 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Performance Art Museum | Lost Angeles, CA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Sarah Lawrence College | Bronxville, NY | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Fractured Atlas | New York, NY | $41,700 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Aspen Music Festival and School | Aspen, CO | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| World Central Kitchen | Washington, DC | $37,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Los Angeles Philharmonic | Los Angeles, CA | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of California San Diego | La Jolla, CA | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Art Base | Basalt, CO | $27,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Aspen Musical Festival and School | Aspen, CO | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Beth Morrison Projects | Brooklyn, NY | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Center for Art and Advocacy | Philadelphia, PA | $25,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Doctors Without Borders | Hagerstown, MD | $25,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Portland Art Museum | Portland, OR | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Builders Association | New York, NY | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Anderson Ranch Art Center | Snowmass Village, CO | $20,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences | Santa Monica, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Site Santa Fe | Santa Fe, NM | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Streb Lab for Action Mechanics | Brooklyn, NY | $20,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Enviromental Defense Fund | Washington, DC | $17,500 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| JAPANCRAFT21 | Alexandria, VA | $17,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Aspen Center for Environmental Studies | Aspen, CO | $15,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Clockshop | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Museum of Contemporary Art | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Planned Parenthood | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Industry | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| ACLU | New York, NY | $12,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Land Trust Alliance | Washington, DC | $12,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| National Parks Conservation Association | Washington, DC | $12,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Asian Society | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Center for Biological Diversity | Tuscon, AZ | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Center for Humans and Nature | Chicago, IL | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Friends of the La River | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Kpccscpr | Pasadena, CA | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Land Institute | Salina, KS | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Venice Family Clinic | Venice, CA | $9,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Women Rising Radio | Mill Valley, CA | $9,200 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project | Los Angeles, CA | $8,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Redcat | Los Angeles, CA | $7,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Aspen Public Radio | Aspen, CO | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Southern Poverty Law Center | Montgomery, AL | $6,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Aspen Art Museum | Aspen, CO | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Friends of the Stuart Collection UC San Diego Foundation | La Jolla, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ploughshares Fund | Washington, DC | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Raices | San Antonio, TX | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Roaring Fork Conservancy | Basalt, CO | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Texas Tech University System | Lubbock, TX | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Women's Center for Creative Work | Los Angeles, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Aspen Institute | Washington, DC | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Aspen Community Foundation | Basalt, CO | $4,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Project Angel Food | Los Angeles, CA | $3,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Amref Health Africa | New York, NY | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Aspen Words | Aspen, CO | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Youthentity | Carbondale, CO | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Mepkin Abbey | Moncks Corner, SC | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Texas Civil Rights Project | Austin, TX | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art | Charleston, SC | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Library Foundation of Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Nemours Wildlife Foundation | Yemassee, SC | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| American Forests | Washington, DC | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Good Shephard Manor | Momencei, IL | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
53 of 69 (77%) 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 61%, across 4 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.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 91 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 | 43 | $499,700 | $5,000 |
| 2022 | 45 | $406,865 | $5,000 |
| 2023 | 37 | $485,860 | $2,500 |
| 2024 | 34 | $433,700 | $5,000 |
| 2025 | 18 | $462,499 | $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
67% 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.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in California.
- 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.
- 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
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Good Works 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 Reese Henry 400 E Main St 2, Aspen, CO, 81611. 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 95-4471685 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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