The Oak Foundation USA
New York, NY · EIN 13-3321196. Reported 66 grants totalling $41.2M to 41 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 Oak Foundation USA 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 $299,562. Half of everything it gave fell between $192,532 and $430,281; the smallest was $26,208 and the largest $7,731,500. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii Community Foundation | Honolulu, HI | $16.6M | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Harlem Children's Zone | Cambridge, MA | $6,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Book Harvest | Durham, NC | $1,500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Cast Inc | Lynnfield, MA | $1,500,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Upstream USA Inc | Boston, MA | $1,500,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| New Teacher Center | Santa Cruz, CA | $1,102,621 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| East Durham Childrens Initiative | Durham, NC | $1,000,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Nature Conservancy | Arlington, VA | $967,438 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Proteus Fund | New York, NY | $900,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Center for Learner Equity | New York, NY | $875,667 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Project Home | Philadelphia, PA | $800,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Vocal-Ny | Brooklyn, NY | $800,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| World Resources Institute | Washington, DC | $622,699 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| President & Fellows of Harvard College | Cambridge, MA | $503,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| As You Sow | Berkeley, CA | $418,071 | 2 | 1 | 2022 |
| Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence -University of Melbourne | Melbourne, Victoria | $414,415 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Center for Digital Democracy | Washington, DC | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Heartland Alliance | Chicago, IL | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Heartland Alliance | New York, NY | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Army of Survivors Inc | Lansing, MI | $390,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| City Year | Boston, MA | $350,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Climateworks Foundation USA | San Fransisco, CA | $333,334 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Compass Working Capital | Boston, MA | $276,899 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| National Domestic Workers Alliance (ndwa) | New York, NY | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Student U | Durham, NC | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| International Justice Mission | Arlington, VA | $245,816 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Darkness to Light | North Charleston, SC | $228,560 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| International Justice Mission | Washington, DC | $214,120 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Donors Choose | New York, NY | $212,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs | New York, NY | $202,692 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Bassuk Center (center for Social Innovation) | Needham, MA | $200,093 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | Boston, MA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| National Housing Institute Dba Shelterforce | Montclair, NJ | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| ARC4JUSTICE Inc | Needham, MA | $196,993 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Native American Rights Fund | Anchorage, AK | $192,532 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Association for Progressive Communications (apc) | Melville, Johannesburg | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Public Interest Law Center | Philadelphia, PA | $100,674 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The African Wildlife Foundation | Washington, WA | $97,883 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Exchange Clubs Child Abuse Prevention Center in Durham Inc | Durham, NC | $90,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Exchange Clubs Child Abuse Prevention Center in Durham Inc Dba Exchange | Durham, NC | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Chatham Education Foundation | Pittsboro, NC | $26,208 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
17 of 41 (41%) 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 41%, across 4 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 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.
- Hawaii Community Foundation
TO CREATE A BETTER HAWAII BY INSPIRING GENEROSITY, ADVOCATING FOR EQUITY, BUILDING CONNECTIONS, AND INVESTING IN THE COMMUNITY - Harlem Children's Zone
TO PROVIDE CORE SUPPORT TO HARLEM CHILDREN'S ZONEHCZ AND ITS PIPELINE OF PROGRAMMES THAT OFFER EDUCATION, SOCIAL SERVICE AND WELLNESS SERVICES TO OVER 12,000 CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES IN CENTRAL HARLEM, NEW YORK THE 97-BLOCK ZONE EACH YEAR. HCZ STRIVES TO BREAK THE CYCLE OF POVERTY IN CENTRAL HARLEM BY WORKING AT SCALE TO BUILD COMMUNITY, STRENGTHEN FAMILIES, AND ENSURE CHILDREN SUCCEED FROM BIRTH THROUGH COLLEGE GRADUATION. HCZ'S STRATEGY IS A MODEL FOR COMMUNITIES STRUGGLING WITH POVERTY AND FAILING EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS. - Book Harvest
TO PROMOTE LITERACY FOR EVERY COMMUNITY BY ENSURING EVERY CHILD HAS BOOKS AND PARENTS RECEIVE SUPPORT - World Resources Institute
TO STRENGTHEN WRI'S GLOBAL NETWORK BY EXPANDING THE CAPACITY AND RESILIENCE OF ITS INTERNATIONAL OFFICES IN BRAZIL, CHINA AND INDIA. THE WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE IS A GLOBAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION THAT WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1982. - The Nature Conservancy
TO GLOBAL MANGROVE WATCH PHASE 2: HARNESSING THE POWER OF TECHNOLOGY TO PROTECT PEOPLE AND MANGROVES - Cast Inc
TO CREATE FAIR AND INCLUSIVE LEARNING EXPERIENCES WORLDWIDE USING THE UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING FRAMEWORK
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 48 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 | 17 | $10.3M | $250,000 |
| 2022 | 18 | $4,138,758 | $209,035 |
| 2023 | 15 | $12.5M | $347,531 |
| 2024 | 9 | $7,423,074 | $401,520 |
| 2025 | 7 | $6,892,320 | $390,000 |
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.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Oak Foundation USA has 9 of them, worth $23.2M. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii Community Foundation | Honolulu, HI | $14.3M |
| Upstream USA Inc | Boston, MA | $2,000,000 |
| Cast Inc | Lynnfield, MA | $1,500,000 |
| Vocal-Ny | Brooklyn, NY | $1,200,000 |
| New Teacher Center | Santa Cruz, CA | $1,152,470 |
| Student U | Durham, NC | $1,000,000 |
| Book Harvest | Durham, NC | $750,000 |
| The Army of Survivors Inc | Lansing, MI | $680,000 |
| Proteus Fund | New York, NY | $600,000 |
Where its money goes
40% of its giving went to organizations in Hawaii. 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 $299,562. 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 Hawaii.
- 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 Oak Foundation USA'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: 1 Rockefeller Plaza 18TH Floor, New York, NY, 10020. 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 13-3321196 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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