California · Private foundation
The Thiel 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.
- $1.0M
- Granted FY2024(still arriving)
- 12
- Grants FY2024
- 58
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 59%
- First-time grantees FY2023
- Median grant, FY2024
- $65,000
- Largest grant, FY2024
- $426,775
- Organizations funded a year
- 12 to 100
- FY2017 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2024
- 4
- Total assets, FY2024
- $45M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 59% of the organizations The Thiel Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 55% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 45% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.7M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024still arriving | 11 | $586k | 18% |
| FY2023 | 58 | $3.1M | 59% |
| FY2022 | 69 | $4.7M | 49% |
| FY2021 | 57 | $6.8M | 53% |
| FY2020 | 33 | $5.2M | 73% |
| FY2019 | 12 | $3.8M | 75% |
| FY2018 | 82 | $4.7M | 35% |
| FY2017 | 100 | $7.5M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercatus Center Inc | $535,000 | 3 | 1% |
| The Cornerstone Forum | $430,000 | 7 | 71% |
| Lumen Christi Institute | $238,000 | 4 | 4% |
| Leo Strauss Foundation | $100,000 | 1 | 96% |
| Herbert and Ellen Levitt Foundation Inc | $75,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty | $50,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Colloquium on Violence and Religion Inc | $40,000 | 5 | n/a |
| Theology and Peace | $20,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Adeodatus | $15,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Catholic University of America | $5,000 | 1 | 0% |
Show all 11 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercatus Center Inc | $535,000 | 3 | 1% |
| The Cornerstone Forum | $430,000 | 7 | 71% |
| Lumen Christi Institute | $238,000 | 4 | 4% |
| Leo Strauss Foundation | $100,000 | 1 | 96% |
| Herbert and Ellen Levitt Foundation Inc | $75,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty | $50,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Colloquium on Violence and Religion Inc | $40,000 | 5 | n/a |
| Theology and Peace | $20,000 | 2 | n/a |
| Adeodatus | $15,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Catholic University of America | $5,000 | 1 | 0% |
| The Raven Foundation | $4,000 | 1 | 2% |
Plus 251 recipients with no EIN on record ($35M), not named here.
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Thiel Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Thiel 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 Thiel Foundation
- How much does The Thiel Foundation give?
- The Thiel Foundation reported 12 grants totaling $1,012,338 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 12 and 100 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2023.
- What does The Thiel Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2024, its largest causes are Philanthropy (40%), Religion (19%), Science & Tech (9%).
- Who are The Thiel Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2024: Mercatus Center Inc ($535k), The Cornerstone Forum ($430k), Lumen Christi Institute ($238k).
- Does The Thiel Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 59% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does The Thiel 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.
- Where is The Thiel Foundation based?
- The Thiel Foundation is based in CA.
Play a game based on Thiel’s filings →