Napa Institute Foundation
Irvine, CA · EIN 81-1190021. Reported 131 grants totalling $12.4M to 55 organizations across tax years 2021-2025, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Napa Institute Foundation, by its IRS classification it raises and distributes funds for education (NTEE B12).
- How spread out its giving is. 55 distinct organizations, with 29% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 68% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is about the 56% median for grantmaking charities -- lower than the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $25,000. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $100,000; the smallest was $5,400 and the largest $2,900,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic University of America | Washington, DC | $3,614,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Napa Institute | Irvine, CA | $2,239,982 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Napa Institute Legal Foundation | Irvine, CA | $1,069,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St Michaels Abbey Foundation | Silverado, CA | $837,650 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| University of Notre Dame Du Lac | Notre Dame, IN | $712,796 | 6 | 5 | 2025 |
| Ethics and Public Policy Center Inc | Washington, DC | $430,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Spitzer-Magis Center | Garden Grove, CA | $393,600 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center | Mission Viejo, CA | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Jserra Catholic High School | San Juan Capistrano, CA | $235,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Saint Kilian Church | Mission Viejo, CA | $232,893 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| The Obria Group Inc | Santa Ana, CA | $165,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Becket Fund | Washington, DC | $133,476 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Guadalupe Associates Incorporated | San Francisco, CA | $130,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine | Oklahoma City, OK | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Fellowship of Catholic University Students | Golden, CO | $107,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Chennault Council for International | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Dominican House of Studies | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Friends of Vancouver Foundation | Seattle, WA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Saint Dominics Monastery | Linden, VA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| J & M Ford Foundation | Scottsdale, AZ | $85,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Sacred Story Institute | Houston, TX | $85,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| St Anne School | Laguna Niguel, CA | $84,795 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Saint Francis De Sales Seminary | St Francis, WI | $81,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty | Grand Rapids, MI | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| St Paul Center for Biblical Theology | Steubenville, OH | $80,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Augustine Institute Inc | Florissant, MO | $70,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Peninsula Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | $56,500 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of Eucharist | Ann Arbor, MI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Duc in Altum Schools Collaborative | San Juan Capistrano, CA | $50,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| St John Paul II Life Center | Austin, TX | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| University of Mary | Bismarck, ND | $43,328 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Laurence School | Upper Darby, PA | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Cristo Rey Orange County High School Inc | Santa Ana, CA | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| American Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies Corp | Plymouth, MI | $29,440 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Sacred Heart Church of Palm Desert | Palm Desert, CA | $28,600 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Friends of the Bridegroom Ltd | Milwaukee, WI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Museum of the Bible Inc | Oklahoma City, OK | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Roman Catholic Bishop of Orange a Corporation Sole | Garden Grove, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| American College of the Roman Catholic Church of the US | Washington, DC | $23,500 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Knights of Columbus Charities Inc | Deer Lodge, MT | $20,750 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Benedict Xvi Institute for Sacred Music and Divine Worship | San Francisco, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Path to Peace Foundation | New York, NY | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Congregation of Norbertine Sisters | San Pedro, CA | $19,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fidelis Center for Law and Policy | Carmel, IN | $17,914 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Community of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal | Bronx, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Dia Summit | San Juan Capistrano, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Diocese of San Bernardino Education & Welfare Corporation | Sn Bernrdno, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal | Denver, CO | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Cardinal's Appeal | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Center for Discovery Inc | Harris, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Youth Leadership Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa | Santa Rosa, CA | $9,600 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Marian Sister of Santa Rosa | Santa Rosa, CA | $6,600 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sacred Heart School | Palm Desert, CA | $6,250 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The California Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums | Los Angeles, CA | $5,400 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
30 of 55 (55%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- St Paul Center for Biblical Theology
PROGRAM SUPPORTPROGRAM SUPPORT - St Laurence Parish
MSGR. THOMAS J. HERRON SCHOLARSHIP FUND
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 30 of 55 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | $4,548,313 | $22,500 |
| 2022 | 28 | $1,764,895 | $32,500 |
| 2023 | 25 | $1,929,378 | $43,328 |
| 2024 | 31 | $2,320,315 | $25,000 |
| 2025 | 29 | $1,806,173 | $25,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
48% of its giving went to organizations in California. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. 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 grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $25,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in California.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Napa Institute Foundation's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: 2532 Dupont Drive, Irvine, CA, 92612.
EIN 81-1190021 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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