The Sterling Donor Advised Fund
Reston, VA · EIN 27-0418124. Reported 99 grants totalling $6,261,403 to 71 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, 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 The Sterling Donor Advised Fund, the IRS classifies it as a federated giving programme -- a United Way, Jewish federation, Community Chest or similar (NTEE T70).
- How spread out its giving is. 71 distinct organizations, with 18% 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. 38% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below 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 $20,000. Half of what it reported fell between $10,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $1,000,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends of Faces | Reston, VA | $1,100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Brigham Young University-Hawaii | Laie, HI | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Roots of Humanity Foundation Inc | Lehi, UT | $877,200 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ampelis Foundation | Highland, UT | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Great Life Mentoring | Florence, OR | $280,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| American Endowment Foundation | Hudson, OH | $255,370 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Chehalis Foundation | Chehalis, WA | $200,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Young Americas Foundation | Reston, VA | $170,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Stanford Jewish Center Inc | Palo Alto, CA | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Indiana University Foundation | Bloomington, IN | $105,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Best Buddies International Inc | Miami, FL | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Central Fund of Israel | Cedarhurst, NY | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Discover Childrens Museum | Chehalis, WA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Smithsonian Institute | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St John the Evangelist | Lambertville, NJ | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Junior State of America | Oakland, CA | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| San Francisco Ballet Association | San Francisco, CA | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Trustees of Amherst College | Amherst, MA | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Young Mens Christian Association Booth Bay Region | Boothbay Hbr, ME | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Diocese of Metuchen | Piscataway, NJ | $70,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| San Francisco Ballet Endowment Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $65,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| American Conservatory Theatre Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation | Incline Vlg, NV | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Renown Health Foundation | Reno, NV | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Wing Luke Memorial Foundation | Seattle, WA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Institute for Justice | Arlington, VA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Merola Opera Program | San Francisco, CA | $33,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Kehillat Ma Arav-the Westside Congregation | Santa Monica, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Live Like Chasen Petcovic Foundation | Reston, VA | $28,483 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences | East Boothbay, ME | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne Inc | Alexandria, VA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rebuilding Together-Lincoln County | Boothbay Hbr, ME | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Chabad of Northern Nevada Inc | Reno, NV | $24,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Boothbay Region Community Resource Council | Boothbay Hbr, ME | $24,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Wheaton College | Norton, MA | $22,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ashland Care Center Inc | Ashland, OH | $20,000 | 2 | 1 | 2024 |
| P E F Israel Endowment Funds Inc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Emory Jewish Student Center Inc | Atlanta, GA | $18,600 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| United Way of Mid Coast Maine Inc | Bath, ME | $18,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| New Immigrant Community Empowerment | Jackson Heights, NY | $17,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Ave Maria University Inc | Ave Maria, FL | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Order of the Holy Cross Inc | Carrollton, OH | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Temple Knesset Israel | Los Angeles, CA | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| John Buz Gorman Charitable Trust | Reston, VA | $10,750 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Alzheimer's Music Project | Pelham, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ashoka | Arlington, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Assoc of Knights & Ladies of Equest Order of Holy Sepulchre-Jerusalem | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Bishop Museum | Honolulu, HI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boothbay Region Housing Trust | W Boothbay Ha, ME | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Crimsonrise Inc | Staten Island, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Emory University | Atlanta, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of the Israel Defense Forces | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Island Institute | Rockland, ME | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Kansas State University Foundation | Manhattan, KS | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Larkin Street Youth Services | San Francisco, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Malvern Retreat House | Malvern, PA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools Foundation | Manhattan, KS | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Bvm | Stockbridge, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Panebianco Family Foundation | Reston, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Roland Park Community Foundation Inc | Baltimore, MD | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Schooling for Life | Reston, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Society for Science and the Public | Washington, DC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Stanford, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Chesapeake Climate Action Network | Takoma Park, MD | $8,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Banner Health Foundation | Phoenix, AZ | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| ONE22 Inc | Jackson, WY | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Capital Area Food Bank | Washington, DC | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Destination Tomorrow Inc | Bronx, NY | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Transitional Housing Corporation | Washington, DC | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Providence Health & Services Foundation | Burbank, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| University of California San Francisco Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
22 of 71 (31%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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.
- Roots of Humanity Foundation
KING & DIANE HUSEIN SPHERE OF LIGHT - Ampelis Foundation
BYU STUDENT ATHLETE EDUCATION - Great Life Mentoring
TO SUPPORT ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW SITE IN PORTLAND, OR - Young America's Foundation
FOR THE MEESE FAMILY STUDENT SPONSORSHIP FUND, TO SPONOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN YOUNG AMERICA'S FOUNDATION ("YAF") CONFERENCES - Indiana University Foundation
JOHN AND A-LAN REYNOLDS FACULTY RESEARCH FUND & POST-BACCALAUREATE FELLOWSHIP - Chehalis Foundation
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT INITIATIVE (SAI)
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 56 of 71 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 | 12 | $2,413,970 | $21,800 |
| 2022 | 16 | $363,700 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 32 | $1,671,483 | $25,000 |
| 2024 | 39 | $1,812,250 | $20,000 |
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
22% of its giving went to organizations in Virginia. 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.
Down to the city
Foundations that fund only organizations they pick gave to this one
16 private foundations that told the IRS they contribute only to organizations they select themselves reported 22 grants totalling $6,011,181 to The Sterling Donor Advised Fund. That is 73% of the 22 funders we can see giving to it. Those 16 foundations do not take unsolicited requests -- their own returns say so. The IRS classifies this organization as a federated giving programme.
2 of them gave in more than one tax year, which is the only durability signal the filings carry.
What that does not mean. It does not mean an application here reaches that money. A grant from a closed foundation is often a designated gift or a donor-advised fund earmarked by whoever gave it, and has nothing to do with any open programme this organization runs. Neither tax return says which, so neither do we. The list below is who put money in. It is not a route to it.
| Foundation | State | Reported | Grants | Years | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Dacy Charitable Trust | Virginia | $4,670,250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Fred Perry Family Foundation | Virginia | $405,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Chris and Dee Dee Gibson Fndn | New Jersey | $280,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tagliabue Family Foundation | Virginia | $280,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| May Liang and James Lintott Foundation | Virginia | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Michael & Leah Weisberg Family | New York | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Brickell Family Foundation | Virginia | $76,350 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Helix Foundation | Virginia | $45,018 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Protect Your Sister Project | Virginia | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Devon Creek Foundation | Virginia | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
The 10 largest by reported dollars, of 16.
Both the count and the total are floors. A foundation appears here only where its return named this organization clearly enough for us to match the name to an EIN, which we manage for about two thirds of 990-PF grant rows. There are more; we cannot name them.
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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 $20,000 -- 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 Virginia.
- 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 The Sterling Donor Advised Fund's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). 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.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 39 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 12030 Sunrise Valley Drive 450, Reston, VA, 20191.
EIN 27-0418124 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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