Skip to content

California · Private foundation

The David Geffen Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$112M
Granted FY2024(still arriving)
93
Grants FY2024
80
Organizations funded FY2023
13%
First-time grantees FY2023
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2024
$10,000
Largest grant, FY2024
$50,000,000
Organizations funded a year
80 to 148
FY2018 to FY2023
States reached, FY2024
9
Total assets, FY2024
$333M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2023, 13% of the organizations The David Geffen Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 48% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 52% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50M went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureHealthEducationPhilanthropyInternationalHuman ServicesOther
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
FY2024still arriving89$94M21%
FY202380$106M13%
FY202298$64M16%
FY202189$69M19%
FY2020139$50M34%
FY2019137$14M37%
FY2018148$14Mn/a
98% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$306MEducation$242MHealth$23MCivil Rights$7.0MReligion$3.7MHuman Services$1.4MInternational$1.3MCrime & Legal$584kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
NE
VA
MD
NM
TN
NC
DC
LA
TX

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Museum of Modern Art$80,000,000613%
Yale University$45,000,0003n/a
Academy Foundation$20,000,00046%
Yale University$15,000,0001n/a
World Trade Center Performing Arts Center Inc$10,000,000129%
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration$7,000,000712%
The Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association$3,047,50052%
Nli USA Inc$2,800,00048%
Elton John AIDS Foundation Inc$2,073,00065%
Prostate Cancer Foundation$2,000,00032%
Show all 245 grantees
All grantees of The David Geffen Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Museum of Modern Art$80,000,000613%
Yale University$45,000,0003n/a
Academy Foundation$20,000,00046%
Yale University$15,000,0001n/a
World Trade Center Performing Arts Center Inc$10,000,000129%
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration$7,000,000712%
The Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association$3,047,50052%
Nli USA Inc$2,800,00048%
Elton John AIDS Foundation Inc$2,073,00065%
Prostate Cancer Foundation$2,000,00032%
Young Eisner Scholars$1,700,000538%
Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation Inc$1,500,00032%
Motion Picture and Television Fund$1,000,00011%
The American Film Institute$505,00050%
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces$370,00030%
World Jewish Congress (American Section) Inc$250,00071%
Simon Wiesenthal Center Inc$225,00050%
Friends of United Hatzalah Inc$205,00030%
The Hetrick-Martin Institute Inc$175,00070%
City Year Inc$155,00070%
American Friends of Magen David Adom$150,00010%
International Rescue Committee INC$150,00020%
Save The Children Federation Inc$150,00020%
American Friends of Soroka Medical Center Inc$150,00011%
Jewish Healing and Hospice Center of Los Angeles Inc$140,000715%
Skirball Cultural Center$130,00030%
Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center Inc$125,00050%
The ONE Campaign$125,00050%
Success Academy Charter Schools Inc$125,00020%
West Hollywood Community Housing Corp$110,00071%
Hillel at Ucla$105,00031%
Anti-Defamation League$103,50030%
Venice Family Clinic$102,00050%
The Bridge School$100,00014%
Awakening Recovery Inc$100,00022%
Glaad Inc$100,00040%
Project Angel Food$100,00060%
People for the American Way$100,00050%
Harlem School of the Arts Inc$100,00012%
Safe Horizon Inc$100,00060%
Whitney Museum of American Art$100,00010%
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles$90,00050%
God's Love We Deliver Inc$85,00040%
Chrysalis$75,0005n/a
One Archives Foundation$75,00034%
Children's Diabetes Foundation$75,00031%
America Needs You$75,00031%
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc$75,00030%
Proyecto Pastoral$72,50041%
Buck's Rock Camp Inc$72,00031%
Angels at Risk$70,000620%
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation Inc$70,00070%
Homeless Not Toothless$60,00052%
Housing Works Inc$60,00020%
Food Forward Inc$60,00060%
New York Restoration Project$60,00070%
The Rape Foundation$60,00061%
Downtown Women's Center$55,00070%
The Los Angeles Free Clinic$53,00030%
Fcancer$50,00022%
Film Forum Inc$50,00011%
Cfda Foundation Inc$50,00011%
Food Bank for New York City$50,00010%
Movement Advancement Project$50,00012%
Charles B Wang Community Health Center Inc$50,00010%
The Foundation for AIDS Research$50,00040%
Community Health Project Inc$50,00010%
The Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles$50,00011%
The Institute for Family Health$50,00010%
Malaria No More Fund$50,00050%
Altamed Health Services Corporation$50,00010%
AIDS Project Los Angeles$50,0001n/a
Services and Advocacy for Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Elders Inc$50,00030%
Navy Seal Foundation Inc$50,00010%
New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation$50,0001n/a
J Street Education Fund Inc$50,00040%
American Friends of Hebrew University Inc$50,00020%
The New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations$50,00050%
Foundation for the AIDS Monument$50,000111%
Clooney Foundation for Justice$50,00011%
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank$50,00010%
Federation of Jewish Communities of the Cis Inc$50,00010%
Exceptional Minds$50,00011%
American Friends of the Israel Sport Center for the Disabled$45,00060%
The Actors' Fund of America$41,00070%
Hollywood Community Housing Corporation$40,00040%
National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center$40,00040%
Equality California Institute$40,00040%
Los Angeles Conservancy$40,00040%
Path$40,00020%
Women in Film & Video Inc$40,000111%
Harmony Project$37,50011%
Broadway Caresequity Fights AIDS Inc$35,33430%
American Theatre Wing Inc$35,00060%
Human Rights Campaign Foundation$35,00070%
Algemeiner Inc$35,00070%
Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles$35,00042%
Beverly Hills Police Officers Assn Inc$35,00071%
Bet Tzedek$35,00070%
St Joseph Center$33,00070%
American Cinematheque$32,00060%
Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project$30,00022%
Musicares Foundation Inc$30,00030%
Los Angeles Brotherhood Crusade - Black United Fund Inc$30,00020%
The Doe Fund Inc$30,00030%
Holocaust Museum La$30,00060%
Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation$29,33360%
Debbie Allen Dance Inc Debbie Allen Dance Academy$28,00040%
Songwriters' Hall of Fame Inc$27,50051%
ACLU Foundation of Southern California$26,00070%
Trevor Project Inc$25,00030%
United Friends of the Children$25,00050%
Apla Health & Wellness$25,00010%
Safe Space Pictures Foundation$25,00013%
Mlk Health and Wellness Community Development Corporation$25,00015%
Hias Inc$25,00010%
Share Our Strength$25,00010%
American Society for Yad Vashem Inc$25,00010%
Ikhodi Inc$25,000136%
Facing Addiction$25,0001n/a
City Harvest Inc$25,00010%
Friends of the High Line Inc$25,00010%
Reaching Out Community Services Inc$25,00011%
Laurel Foundation$25,00057%
St John's Community Health$25,00010%
Baby2baby$25,00030%
New York Landmarks Conservancy Inc$25,00070%
Teach for America Inc$25,00010%
Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center Inc$25,00010%
Conservation International Foundation$25,00010%
Tikva Corp$25,00010%
Jazz Foundation of America Inc$25,00010%
Feeding America$25,00010%
Human Rights Watch Inc$22,00030%
Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute$20,00020%
Los Angeles Police Foundation$20,00040%
Inner City Law Center$20,00020%
Camp Bravo Inc$20,000311%
Save Venice Inc$20,00020%
Children's Defense Fund$20,00030%
Western Center on Law & Poverty Inc$20,00010%
Ali Forney Center Inc$20,00030%
Feminist Majority Foundation$20,00040%
Pride Live Inc$20,00019%
The Sola Foundation$20,00011%
Hollywood Food Coalition$20,00011%
People for the American Way Foundation$20,00010%
Greenway Arts Alliance$20,00040%
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Inc$17,50020%
Juilliard School$15,00030%
Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center Inc$15,00021%
National Lgbtq Task Force$15,00010%
We Are Laurel Canyon$15,0001n/a
National Institute for Reproductive Health Inc$15,00020%
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation$15,00010%
Los Angeles County Police Canine Assoc$15,00035%
United Negro College Fund Inc$15,00010%
Alcott Center for Mental Health Services$15,00011%
Heal the Bay$15,00030%
Los Angeles Press Club$13,10041%
Pen American Center Inc$12,50020%
Race to Erase Ms$12,00060%
Roundabout Theatre Company Inc$12,00060%
Exceptional Children's Foundation$10,00010%
La Promise Fund$10,00020%
Los Angeles Mission Inc$10,0001n/a
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum$10,00010%
Institute of American Indian Arts Trust$10,00010%
Legal Action Center of the City of New York Inc$10,00010%
Kennedy's Disease Association Inc$10,00015%
St Jude Children's Research Hospital Inc$10,00010%
True Colors United Inc$10,00010%
National Breast Cancer Coalition$10,00022%
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law$10,00010%
Foundation Thinkagain$10,00014%
Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media$10,0001n/a
The National World War II Museum Inc$10,00010%
American Heart Association Inc$10,00010%
Sansum Clinic$10,00010%
American Jewish Committee$10,00010%
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation$10,00010%
Museum of the City of New York$10,00020%
Tierra del Sol Foundation$10,00010%
Los Angeles Ballet Inc$10,00010%
Guild Hall of East Hampton Inc$10,00010%
New York Shakespeare Festival$10,00010%
Creative Time Inc$10,00011%
Los Angeles City College Foundation$10,00010%
Los Angeles Youth Network$10,00010%
The Farrah Fawcett Foundation$10,00011%
Public Counsel$8,00040%
Municipal Art Society of New York$7,50010%
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles$7,50020%
American Museum of the Moving Image$7,50010%
International Myeloma Foundation$7,00030%
Anderson Center for Autism$5,00010%
Committee to Protect Journalists Inc$5,00010%
Epilepsy Foundation of America$5,00010%
Sero Project Inc$5,0001n/a
Westside Family Health Center$5,00010%
Ava's Heart$5,00012%
Theatre Hall of Fame Inc$5,00063%
Studio in a School Association Inc$5,00010%
Chabad of California$5,0001n/a
Project Sunshine Inc$5,00010%
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History$5,00010%
Mass General Brigham Incorporated$5,0001n/a
Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center$5,00011%
National Queer Theater$5,00012%
Xavier Mission Inc$5,00010%
Lambda Literary Foundation$5,00011%
Union Rescue Mission$5,00010%
NAMI National$5,00010%
Step Up on Second Street Inc$5,00010%
Gracie Mansion Conservancy$5,0001n/a
Cancer Care Inc$5,00010%
The Hawn Foundation$5,00010%
Shed NYC Inc$5,00010%
Bloom Again Foundation$5,0001n/a
World of Children Inc$5,00010%
Earth League International$5,00010%
Santa Barbara International Film Festival Inc$3,50020%
The Vida School$3,25030%
The Great American Songbook Foundation Inc$3,00010%
Raise A Child Incorporated$2,50010%
Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Inc$2,50010%
Discovery Science Center of Los Angeles$2,50010%
The Gatehouse Corporation$2,50018%
International Friends of Elton John AIDS Foundation UK$2,27010%
Gay Men's Health Crisis Inc$2,00010%
Malaria Consortium US Inc$2,00010%
Angel Force USA$2,0001n/a
Junior Achievement of Southern California Inc$2,00010%
Bailey House Inc$2,00020%
Wikimedia Foundation Inc$2,00020%
Children's Hospital Los Angeles$1,50030%
The Garry Marshall Theatre$1,00010%
Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles$1,00010%
Bang on a Can$1,00010%
Arts in the Armed Forces Inc$1,00010%
Joslyn Art Museum$1,00010%
Homeboy Industries$1,00010%
The Ladies Village Improvement Society of East Hampton$1,00010%
Para Los Ninos$1,00010%
Blood Cancer United Inc$10010%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 63 recipients with no EIN on record ($210M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

The David Geffen Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 3 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 200 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMuseum of Modern Art: $80,000,000 over 6y, 13% of budgetAcademy Foundation: $20,000,000 over 4y, 6.4% of budgetWorld Trade Center Performing Arts Center Inc: $10,000,000 over 1y, 29% of budgetThe Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration: $7,000,000 over 7y, 12% of budgetThe Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association: $3,047,500 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetNli USA Inc: $2,800,000 over 4y, 8.5% of budgetElton John AIDS Foundation Inc: $2,073,000 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetProstate Cancer Foundation: $2,000,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetYoung Eisner Scholars: $1,700,000 over 5y, 38% of budgetStatue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation Inc: $1,500,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetMotion Picture and Television Fund: $1,000,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetThe American Film Institute: $505,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetFriends of the Israel Defense Forces: $370,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWorld Jewish Congress (American Section) Inc: $250,000 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetSimon Wiesenthal Center Inc: $225,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetFriends of United Hatzalah Inc: $205,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Hetrick-Martin Institute Inc: $175,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetCity Year Inc: $155,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Friends of Magen David Adom: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $150,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $150,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Friends of Soroka Medical Center Inc: $150,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetJewish Healing and Hospice Center of Los Angeles Inc: $140,000 over 7y, 15% of budgetSkirball Cultural Center: $130,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetArmand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center Inc: $125,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe ONE Campaign: $125,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSuccess Academy Charter Schools Inc: $125,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWest Hollywood Community Housing Corp: $110,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetHillel at Ucla: $105,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetAnti-Defamation League: $103,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetVenice Family Clinic: $102,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Bridge School: $100,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetAwakening Recovery Inc: $100,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetGlaad Inc: $100,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetProject Angel Food: $100,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetPeople for the American Way: $100,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHarlem School of the Arts Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetSafe Horizon Inc: $100,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWhitney Museum of American Art: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJewish Family Service of Los Angeles: $90,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetGod's Love We Deliver Inc: $85,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetOne Archives Foundation: $75,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetChildren's Diabetes Foundation: $75,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetAmerica Needs You: $75,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetNatural Resources Defense Council Inc: $75,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetProyecto Pastoral: $72,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetBuck's Rock Camp Inc: $72,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetAngels at Risk: $70,000 over 6y, 20% 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 200.

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.

The Ahmanson FoundationCA50.3× affinity25 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ahmanson Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · The Annenberg Foundation · California Community Foundation · Weingart Foundation · The Stanley & Joyce Black Family Foundation · The Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Foundation · The Rose Hills Foundation · The Katie McGrath & Jj Abrams Family Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles · Hobsonlucas Family Foundation · Broadway Caresequity Fights AIDS 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 The David Geffen Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The David Geffen Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The David Geffen 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 The David Geffen Foundation

How much does The David Geffen Foundation give?
The David Geffen Foundation reported 93 grants totaling $112,492,683 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 80 and 148 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2023.
What does The David Geffen Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2024, its largest causes are Arts & Culture (52%), Education (41%), Health (4%).
Who are The David Geffen Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2018 to FY2024: Museum of Modern Art ($80M), Yale University ($45M), Academy Foundation ($20M).
Does The David Geffen Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2023, 13% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does The David Geffen 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 The David Geffen Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Ahmanson Foundation, The Ralph M Parsons Foundation, The Annenberg Foundation.
Where is The David Geffen Foundation based?
The David Geffen 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 315 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on David Geffen’s filings →

More from the funding graph