The Wls Spencer Foundation
New York, NY · EIN 13-3799186. Reported 150 grants totalling $7,536,249 to 56 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 Wls Spencer 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 $30,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $1,000 and the largest $260,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art | North Adams, MA | $942,580 | 10 | 5 | 2025 |
| University of Oregon Foundation | Eugene, OR | $887,369 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| Surfrider Foundation | San Clemente, CA | $750,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Freshgrass Public Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $712,500 | 8 | 3 | 2024 |
| Freshgrass Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $452,500 | 5 | 1 | 2021 |
| Klcc Public Radio Foundation | Eugene, OR | $410,000 | 10 | 5 | 2025 |
| Teach for America Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc | Purchase, NY | $320,000 | 3 | 1 | 2025 |
| Lane County School District 4J | Eugene, OR | $155,591 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Lane Arts Council | Eugene, OR | $150,000 | 5 | 4 | 2025 |
| Peer Health Exchange Inc | Oakland, CA | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| 826 Valencia | San Francisco, CA | $140,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bay Area Scores | San Francisco, CA | $140,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation | New York, NY | $120,005 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Smart Reading | Portland, OR | $120,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| The John G Shedd Institute for the Arts | Eugene, OR | $110,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| San Francisco Friends School | San Francisco, CA | $105,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ten Strands | San Rafael, CA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Asia Society | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maude I Kerns Art Center | Eugene, OR | $83,979 | 6 | 4 | 2024 |
| Newport Beach Junior Lifeguard Foundation | Costa Mesa, CA | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Corporation of the Fine Arts Museums | San Francisco, CA | $65,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Eugene Contemporary Art | Eugene, OR | $65,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Charitable Partnership Fund | Portland, OR | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Corporation of the Fine Arts Museum | San Francisco, CA | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon | Eugene, OR | $60,000 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Eugene Southtowne Rotary Foundation | Eugene, OR | $50,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Museum Associates | Los Angeles, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The President & Trustees of Williams College | Williamstown, MA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Newport Harbor Educational Foundation | Newport Beach, CA | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| California College of the Arts | San Francisco, CA | $40,539 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hancock Shaker Village | Pittsfield, MA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Breakthrough Collaborative Inc | Oakland, CA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| The Robert W Woodruff Arts Center Inc | Atlanta, GA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Community Supported Shelters | Eugene, OR | $35,000 | 3 | 2 | 2022 |
| White Bird Clinic | Eugene, OR | $35,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Seattle Art Museum | Seattle, WA | $31,186 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Food for Lane County | Eugene, OR | $30,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fii National | Oakland, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Hudson River Museum of Westchester | Yonkers, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New School San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tallgrass Film Association | Wichita, KS | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Cascade Pacific Resource Conservation & Development | Corvallis, OR | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Japan Society Inc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Northern Berkshire Community Coalition Inc | North Adams, MA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Honolulu Biennial Foundation (hawaii Contemporary) | Honolulu, HI | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Vincent De Paul Society of Lane County Inc | Eugene, OR | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Burchfield Penney Art Center | Buffalo, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ditch Projects | Springfield, OR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Medecins Sans Frontiers USA Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Team Rubicon | Los Angeles, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Vermont Wilderness School Inc | Brattleboro, VT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Oregon Contemporary Theatre | Eugene, OR | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Mount Pisgah Arboretum | Eugene, OR | $2,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
28 of 56 (50%) 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 59%, 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 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.
- University of Oregon Foundation
FOR JSMA WADSWORTH CONTEMPORARY CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION - Surfrider Foundation
FOR PLASTIC POLLUTION INITIATIVE - Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art
DIGITAL STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION - The Surfrider Foundation
TO SUPPORT THE PLASTIC POLLUTION INITIATIVE - Freshgrass Public Foundation
FOR ARTIST AWARDS AND GENERAL SUPPORT - Freshgrass Foundation
FOR $100,000 FOR COVID RELIEF AND $100,000 DISCRETIONARY
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 130 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 | 39 | $1,481,447 | $25,000 |
| 2022 | 39 | $1,524,538 | $25,000 |
| 2023 | 29 | $1,554,171 | $40,000 |
| 2024 | 22 | $1,349,201 | $30,000 |
| 2025 | 21 | $1,626,892 | $50,000 |
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 Wls Spencer Foundation has 20 of them, worth $4,016,232. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| The Surfrider Foundation | San Clemente, CA | $1,000,000 |
| Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art | North Adams, MA | $750,000 |
| Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art | North Adams, MA | $400,000 |
| University of Oregon Foundation | Eugene, OR | $301,052 |
| Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc | Purchase, NY | $300,000 |
| Freshgrass Public Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $250,000 |
| Klcc Public Radio Foundation | Eugene, OR | $150,000 |
| Klcc Public Radio Foundation | Eugene, OR | $125,000 |
| The Asia Society | New York, NY | $100,000 |
| Teach for America Inc | Los Angeles, CA | $100,000 |
| Lane Arts Council | Eugene, OR | $100,000 |
| Eugene Southtowne Rotary Foundation | Eugene, OR | $70,000 |
| San Francisco Friends School | San Francisco, CA | $70,000 |
| Charitable Partnership Fund | Portland, OR | $60,000 |
| Lane County School District 4J | Eugene, OR | $50,180 |
Where its money goes
45% 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 $30,000. 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 Wls Spencer 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: 555 Madison Avenue 16TH Floor, New York, NY, 10022. 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 13-3799186 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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