Skip to content
Foundation Dossiers

California · Private foundation

Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$684k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
49
Grants FY2025
46
Organizations funded FY2024
20%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$10,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$66,000
Organizations funded a year
41 to 47
FY2022 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
11
Total assets, FY2025
$11M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 20% of the organizations Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 13% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $86k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’23’24
EducationPhilanthropyEnvironmentArts & CultureRecreation & SportsHealthOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving47$664k11%
FY202446$657k20%
FY202347$783k28%
FY202241$682kn/a
100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$1.5MPhilanthropy$913kHealth$486kArts & Culture$275kYouth Development$90kEnvironment$86kFood & Nutrition$65kInternational$37kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
WA
MT
IL
NY
MA
OR
WY
OH
CT
CA
DC

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2022 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Cate School$403,50040%
Harvard-Westlake School$231,26640%
Harvey Mudd College$168,28340%
Children's Hospital Los Angeles$154,00040%
Las Madrinas$145,00045%
Bandon School District$140,0004n/a
The College of Wooster$108,50030%
Grand Teton National Park Foundation$95,00040%
Saint John's Health Center Foundation$57,00020%
Great Beginnings Montessori School$50,50043%
Show all 45 grantees
All grantees of Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Cate School$403,50040%
Harvard-Westlake School$231,26640%
Harvey Mudd College$168,28340%
Children's Hospital Los Angeles$154,00040%
Las Madrinas$145,00045%
Bandon School District$140,0004n/a
The College of Wooster$108,50030%
Grand Teton National Park Foundation$95,00040%
Saint John's Health Center Foundation$57,00020%
Great Beginnings Montessori School$50,50043%
Museum Associates$50,00020%
Marlborough School$48,00040%
Gabriella Charter Schools$45,00030%
Portland Art Museum$41,00020%
Bandon Community Youth Center Inc$40,00047%
Southern Coos Health Foundation$40,00048%
Gallatin Valley Land Trust$33,00040%
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry$32,00040%
Curry Health Foundation$30,000312%
Thrive Scholars$30,00030%
Four Winds$28,50030%
The Head Royce School$25,00010%
National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States$25,00040%
The Trust for Public Land$25,00010%
St Anne School$22,50020%
Big Sky Youth Empowerment Project Inc$21,50040%
International Rescue Committee INC$20,00010%
Loyola Marymount University$20,00040%
Pacific Northwest College of Art$20,0002n/a
Evans Scholars Foundation$20,00020%
Bandon Library Friends and Foundation Inc$18,0002n/a
Medecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc$17,00030%
Upward Bound House$15,30030%
Stripping for a Cure$15,00032%
President and Fellows of Middlebury College$12,00020%
Eagle Mount$10,00020%
Friends of the Bridger-Teton$10,00030%
Bright Prospect$7,50030%
Santa Catalina School$6,50010%
Bozeman Deaconess Foundation$5,00010%
Healthy Alternatives to Violent Environm$5,0001n/a
Dale M Inouye Foundation$4,0002n/a
Chp 11-99 Foundation$3,70020%
Los Angeles Philharmonic Association$1,16710%
Village Christian School$1,0001n/a

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 23 recipients with no EIN on record ($485k), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation supplied at peak.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCate School: $403,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetHarvard-Westlake School: $231,266 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHarvey Mudd College: $168,283 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetChildren's Hospital Los Angeles: $154,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLas Madrinas: $145,000 over 4y, 4.9% of budgetThe College of Wooster: $108,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGrand Teton National Park Foundation: $95,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetSaint John's Health Center Foundation: $57,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGreat Beginnings Montessori School: $50,500 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetMuseum Associates: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMarlborough School: $48,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGabriella Charter Schools: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPortland Art Museum: $41,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBandon Community Youth Center Inc: $40,000 over 4y, 7.3% of budgetSouthern Coos Health Foundation: $40,000 over 4y, 8.1% of budgetGallatin Valley Land Trust: $33,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetOregon Museum of Science and Industry: $32,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCurry Health Foundation: $30,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetThrive Scholars: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFour Winds: $28,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetThe Head Royce School: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNational Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States: $25,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Trust for Public Land: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSt Anne School: $22,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBig Sky Youth Empowerment Project Inc: $21,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLoyola Marymount University: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEvans Scholars Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMedecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc: $17,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUpward Bound House: $15,300 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetStripping for a Cure: $15,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $12,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEagle Mount: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFriends of the Bridger-Teton: $10,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetBright Prospect: $7,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSanta Catalina School: $6,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBozeman Deaconess Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetChp 11-99 Foundation: $3,700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLos Angeles Philharmonic Association: $1,167 over 1y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 39.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Caryll M & Norman F S…The Bessemer Giving F…The Oregon Community …California Community …The San Francisco Fou…Community Foundation …The Annenberg Foundat…Orange County Communi…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…United Way WorldwideGs Donor Advised Phil…
Caryll M & Norman F Sprague Jr FoundationCA26.3× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Caryll M & Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation · The Bessemer Giving Fund · The Oregon Community Foundation · California Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Community Foundation of Jackson Hole · The Annenberg Foundation · Orange County Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · United Way Worldwide · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

About Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation

How much does Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation give?
Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation reported 49 grants totaling $684,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 41 and 47 organizations a year over FY2022 to FY2024.
What does Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2022 to FY2025, its largest causes are Education (42%), Philanthropy (26%), Health (14%).
Who are Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2022 to FY2025: Cate School ($404k), Harvard-Westlake School ($231k), Harvey Mudd College ($168k).
Does Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 20% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Caryll M & Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation, The Bessemer Giving Fund, The Oregon Community Foundation.
Where is Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation based?
Norman F Sprague Jr Foundation is based in CA.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 70 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Norman F Sprague Jr’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home