The West Marin Fund
Point Reyes Station, CA · EIN 27-4102086. Reported 135 grants totalling $5,189,943 to 53 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 West Marin Fund, the IRS classifies it as a community foundation (NTEE T31).
- How spread out its giving is. 53 distinct organizations, with 11% 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. 74% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is well above the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and above 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 $12,500. Half of what it reported fell between $7,500 and $50,000; the smallest was $6,000 and the largest $457,500. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Marin Community Services | Point Reyes Station, CA | $566,643 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bolinas Community Land Trust Inc | Bolinas, CA | $523,500 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Point Reyes National Seashore Association | Point Reyes Station, CA | $388,628 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Extrafood Org | Kentfield, CA | $373,500 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Marin Agricultural Land Trust | Point Reyes Station, CA | $301,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Community Land Trust Association of West Marin | Pt Reyes Sta, CA | $294,500 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| San Geronimo Valley Community Center | San Geronimo, CA | $177,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Parent Services Project Inc | San Rafael, CA | $175,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Huukuiko Inc | Brisbane, CA | $160,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| West Marin Scholarship Program | Inverness, CA | $159,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| 10000 Degrees | San Rafael, CA | $157,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Magnolia Global Academy for Leaders-Mgal | Santa Rosa, CA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Petaluma Health Center | Petaluma, CA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Point Reyes Bird Observatory | Petaluma, CA | $150,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Innovative Health Solutions | Benicia, CA | $132,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Marin Promise Partnership | San Rafael, CA | $120,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Papermill Creek Childrens Corner | Pt Reyes Sta, CA | $113,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Shoreline Unified School District | Tomales, CA | $105,945 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Postnatal Help | San Rafael, CA | $90,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Commonweal | Bolinas, CA | $85,716 | 9 | 3 | 2023 |
| Dance Palace | Pt Reyes Sta, CA | $73,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Multiplier | San Francisco, CA | $72,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bolinas Community Inc | Bolinas, CA | $58,850 | 7 | 3 | 2024 |
| Mesa Refuge | Pt Reyes Sta, CA | $54,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Gallery Route One | Point Reyes Statio, CA | $48,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| River Otter Ecology Project | Forest Knolls, CA | $41,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Bolinas-Stinson Beach School Foundation | Bolinas, CA | $38,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Marin County Free Library | San Rafael, CA | $36,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Environmental Action Committee of West Marin | Pt Reyes Sta, CA | $35,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Halleck Creek Ranch | Nicasio, CA | $34,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Audubon Canyon Ranch Inc | Stinson Beach, CA | $32,500 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Two Valleys Community Land Trust | Woodacre, CA | $29,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Kwmr | Pt Reyes Sta, CA | $27,282 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bolinas Museum | Bolinas, CA | $21,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Youth Cooking Services | Larkspur, CA | $20,406 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| California Council on Science and Technology | Sacramento, CA | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| West Marin Senior Services | Pt Reyes Sta, CA | $18,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Bolinas Film Festival Inc | Bolinas, CA | $15,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Greater Farallones Association | San Francisco, CA | $14,973 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| In Place | Inverness, CA | $14,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Natura International Inc | Washington, DC | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Movement Strategy Center | Oakland, CA | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Legal Aid of Marin | San Rafael, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Parent Institute for Quality Education Inc | National City, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Slide Ranch | Muir Beach, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Clean Coast California | San Diego, CA | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Nicasio School Foundation | Nicasio, CA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| PTA California Congress of Parents Teachers & Students Inc | Point Reyes Station, CA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| West Marin Field Committee | Point Reyes Station, CA | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| PTA California Congress of Parents Teachers & Students Inc | Tomales, CA | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| St Columbas Episcopal Church | Inverness, CA | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bolinas Civic Group | Bolinas, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Turtle Island Restoration Network | Forest Knolls, CA | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
33 of 53 (62%) 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.
- Bolinas Community Land Trust
GRANT ID # 3872: EMERGENCY HOUSING ON TACHERRA RANCH; GRANT ID # 3904: EMERGENCY HOUSING ON TACHERRA RANCH; GRANT ID # 4135: EMERGENCY HOUSING ON TACHERRA RANCH; GRANT ID # 4169: DEIJ FACILITATION FUNDS; GRANT ID # 4572: WEST MARIN HOUSING COLLABORATIVE JOINT AFFORDABLE HOUSING STRATEGY - West Marin Community Services
GRANT ID#4663: ANNUAL FUTURE FUND DISTRIBUTION TO TBYC - Community Land Trust Association of West Marin
GRANT ID#4861: CLAM LATINO ADVISORY COUNCIL AND RESIDENT GATHERINGS - Prnsa-Point Reyes National Seashore Association
GRANT ID # 3805: GENERAL SUPPORT; GRANT ID # 4174: MAPPING A PARK FOR ALL, BUILDING DEIJ STRENGTH AT PRNSA; GRANT ID # 4436: 2024 GIVING THROUGH YOUTH GRANT; GRANT ID # 4570: WEST MARIN ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING ALLIANCE - San Geronimo Valley Community Center
GRANT ID#4767: EQUITABLE ACCESS TO COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS - Huukuiko Inc
GRANT ID# 3706: PURCHASE OF LAND IN NICASIO, CA
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 44 of 53 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 | 37 | $957,429 | $12,000 |
| 2022 | 34 | $994,871 | $10,000 |
| 2023 | 32 | $1,631,622 | $16,000 |
| 2024 | 32 | $1,606,021 | $13,000 |
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
100% 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.
Down to the city
Foundations that fund only organizations they pick gave to this one
6 private foundations that told the IRS they contribute only to organizations they select themselves reported 17 grants totalling $321,021 to The West Marin Fund. That is 29% of the 21 funders we can see giving to it. Those 6 foundations do not take unsolicited requests -- their own returns say so. The IRS classifies this organization as a community foundation.
4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hendrickson Family Foundation Uad April 27 | Illinois | $178,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Sarlo Family Foundation | California | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Rock Foundation | California | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Woodland Foundation Inc | New York | $40,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Cox Family Fund | Minnesota | $3,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Amazonsmile Foundation | Washington | $21 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
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 $12,500 -- 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 The West Marin 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 41 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: Po Box 1496, Point Reyes Station, CA, 94956.
EIN 27-4102086 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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