Woodlawn Foundation
San Mateo, CA · EIN 94-0661414. Reported 193 grants totalling $12.1M to 62 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 Woodlawn Foundation, by its IRS classification it raises and distributes funds for public & societal benefit (NTEE W12).
- How spread out its giving is. 62 distinct organizations, with 5% 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. 76% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 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 $45,000. Half of what it reported fell between $30,000 and $80,000; the smallest was $10,000 and the largest $300,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mbolden Change | Palo Alto, CA | $585,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| On Lok Day Services | San Francisco, CA | $490,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Wildcare | San Rafael, CA | $490,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Jobtrain Inc | Menlo Park, CA | $460,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Okizu Foundation | Novato, CA | $435,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $415,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Lifemoves | Santa Clara, CA | $400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Berkeley Repertory Theatre | Berkeley, CA | $390,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Bread Project | Berkeley, CA | $375,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Richmond District Neighborhood Center Inc | San Francisco, CA | $370,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Foundation for Hearing Research Inc | Redwood City, CA | $360,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Daly City Youth Health Center | Daly City, CA | $355,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Holy Family Day Homes of San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $355,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Curiodyssey | San Mateo, CA | $350,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Mission Graduates | San Francisco, CA | $335,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Ageup Inc | Redwood City, CA | $325,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Rising Sun Center for Opportunity | Oakland, CA | $320,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund | San Francisco, CA | $305,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation a Charitable Corporation | Fresno, CA | $265,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Rebuilding Together Peninsula | Redwood City, CA | $265,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Vallejo Senior Citizens Council | Vallejo, CA | $260,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| World Learning Inc | Brattleboro, VT | $250,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| City of Ssf Project Read | South San Francisco, CA | $240,500 | 7 | 5 | 2025 |
| Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center | San Francisco, CA | $240,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy | Woodside, CA | $235,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| CASA of San Mateo County | Redwood City, CA | $225,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Canine Companions for Independence | Santa Rosa, CA | $200,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula | Menlo Park, CA | $190,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Dyf | Concord, CA | $190,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| San Francisco Zoological Society | San Francisco, CA | $180,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| The Marsh a Breeding Ground for New Performance | San Francisco, CA | $170,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Community Music Center | San Francisco, CA | $165,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Peninsula Volunteers Inc | Menlo Park, CA | $165,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Mission High Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $160,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Sonrisas Dental Health Inc | San Mateo, CA | $160,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Shriners Hospitals for Children | Tampa, FL | $135,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Pacifica School Volunteers | Pacifica, CA | $125,000 | 5 | 5 | 2025 |
| Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center | San Francisco, CA | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Samaritan House | San Mateo, CA | $105,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| San Mateo-Foster City Community Education Foundation | Foster City, CA | $95,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Make It Home | San Rafael, CA | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Health Connected | E Palo Alto, CA | $71,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Dress for Success San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | $65,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| St Anthony Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Bay Area Community Resources | El Cerrito, CA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| County of San Mateo Jobs for Youth | Belmont, CA | $50,000 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Pediatric Dental Initiative of the North Coast | Windsor, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Senior Coastsiders Inc | Half Moon Bay, CA | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| California Scottish Rite Foundation | Santa Ana, CA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Mid-Peninsula Boys & Girls Club | San Mateo, CA | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Daly City Peninsula Partnership Collaborative | Daly City, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| NAMI San Mateo County | Redwood City, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| There With Care of the Bay Area | Redwood City, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Close Up Foundation | Arlington, VA | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Coastside Adult Day Health Center | Half Moon Bay, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Food Bank Contra Costa and Solano | Concord, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Pacifica Resource Center | Pacifica, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| San Francisco Food Bank | San Francisco, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation | San Mateo, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Second Harvest of Silicon Valley | San Jose, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Alameda County Community Food Bank Inc | Oakland, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Mission Hospice & Home Care Inc | San Mateo, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
48 of 62 (77%) 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.
- On Lok Day Services
$260,000 FOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT AND $10,000 FOR FOOD INSECURITY PROGRAM - Richmond District Neighborhood Center
$210,000 FOR GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT AND $10,000 FOR FOOD INSECURITY PROGRAM - Wildcare
$145,000 FOR TERWILLIGER NATURE EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND $50,000 FOR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN MATCHING GRANT - Bread Project
FOOD PREP & TRAINING PROG. - World Learning Inc
THE EXPERIMENT IN INTERNATIONAL LIVING: BAY AREA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM FOR STUDENTS FROM JEFFERSON UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOLS. - Job Train Inc
CAREER TRAINING AND PLACEMENT SERVICES, GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 47 of 62 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 | 44 | $2,105,000 | $40,000 |
| 2022 | 37 | $1,560,000 | $40,000 |
| 2023 | 41 | $3,056,000 | $70,000 |
| 2024 | 26 | $1,345,500 | $37,500 |
| 2025 | 45 | $4,060,000 | $75,000 |
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
97% 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
Get funders for your state and cause by email
We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.
Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.
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 $45,000 -- 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 Woodlawn 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.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 44 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 1 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: 205 De Anza Boulevard 190, San Mateo, CA, 94402.
EIN 94-0661414 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your organization? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.