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Wasserman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Wasserman 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.

$14M
Granted FY2024still arriving
197
Grants FY2024still arriving
30
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$39MArts & Culture$12MHealth$5.2MRecreation & Sports$4.2MHuman Services$3.9MPhilanthropy$2.1MHousing & Shelter$1.8MInternational$1.7MOther$0
02FY2024 · 197 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k65 grants · $255k
  • $10k–50k96 grants · $1.6M
  • $50k–250k23 grants · $2.2M
  • $250k+13 grants · $9.6M
$10,000
Median grant
30
States reached
$114M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UCLA Foundation$2,000,000
UCLA Foundation$1,500,000
UCLA Foundation$1,500,000
Choose Chicago Foundation$1,000,000
The Metropolitan Museum of Art$757,000
LACMA$500,000
LACMA$500,000
Bill Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation$500,000
LACMA$340,000
Academy Museum Foundation$250,000
City of Hope$250,000
LA-Aretz$250,000
Brentwood School$250,000
UCLA Foundation$200,000
Edward Charles Foundation$200,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–24, $5.2M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Arms of Hope: $10k → 12%Begin Again Foundation: $25k → 10%Louisville Urban League: $10k → 15%Menlo Charity Horse Show: $20k → 7%Thompson Family Foundation: $25k → 9%LA-Aretz: $250k → 20%Arms of Hope: $10k → 12%Begin Again Foundation: $14k → 10%Juglife Foundation Inc: $20k → 14%Begin Again Foundation: $13k → 10%Begin Again Foundation: $13k → 10%Begin Again Foundation: $13k → 10%Marked As Winners Foundation: $10k → 11%JUGLIFE FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%Encircle Family and Youth Resource Center: $10k → 8%The Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation: $25k → 17%The Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation: $25k → 17%The Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation: $25k → 17%Juglife Foundation: $10k → 14%Worthy of Love: $10k → 14%Camp Kesem: $10k → 14%Motion Picture & Television Fund: $800k → 14%Motion Picture & Television Fund: $700k → 14%Motion Picture & Television Fund: $700k → 14%Motion Picture & Television Fund: $700k → 14%Innocence Project: $10k → 17%CharityWater: $10k → 17%Angel City Alliance: $10k → 14%She Ready Foundation: $25k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $120k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $50k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $21k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $20k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $15k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $15k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $13k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $12k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $10k → 14%Edward Charles Foundation: $10k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $200k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $200k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $200k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $200k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $200k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $120k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $120k → 14%Los Angeles Police Foundation: $10k → 14%Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles: $25k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 17% of Wasserman Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Wasserman Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$38M · 163 repeat orgs$7.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

163 repeat relationships: 92 still active in FY2024, 71 since wound down; 71 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

163
203

Total granted

$38M
$4.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+9%

Still filing today

84%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.2M went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthRecreation & SportsEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesPhilanthropyOther
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.

Backed again, and grew

  • BH
    BILL HILLARY & CHELSEA CLINTON FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $3.3M · revenue +13%
  • MP
    MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUND
    4× · 2019–2022 · $2.9M · revenue +67%
  • PF
    PARTNERSHIP FOR LOS ANGELES SCHOOLS
    6× · 2019–2024 · $2.6M · revenue +94%

Funded once

  • LA
    LOS ANGELES SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $1.0M · revenue +127%
  • FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCESgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $525k · revenue +115%
  • CJ
    CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue +20%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
California Dental Association Foundation

The foundation's mission is to improve the oral health of all californians by supporting the dental profession and its efforts to meet community needs.

Science & Tech
2
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
3
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
4
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

The Television Academy is dedicated to celebrating excellence, innovation and the advancement of the telecommunications arts and sciences through recognition, education and leadership, while fostering a diverse, inclusive and accessible…

—
5
United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee

Empowering the competitive excellence and well-being of team usa athletes, championing the power of sport, and inspiring the nation.

Recreation & Sports
6
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
7
Uc Santa Barbara Foundation

The uc santa barbara foundation actively works to further the goals of the university of california, santa barbara. the foundation seeks to maintain and nurture the university's quality and distinction. on behalf of the campus, the…

Education
8
University of California Irvine Foundation

The mission of the university of california, irvine foundation (uc irvine foundation) is to raise and manage private funds to support uc irvine's broader mission of excellence in teaching, research and public service. to this end, the uc…

Education
9
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
10
Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation

The samuel waxman cancer research foundation (the "foundation") funds innovative research to bring faster cures to patients. in addition to supporting ongoing collaborative research in specific cancers, our scientists are investigating the…

—
11
The Leadership Foundation

The leadership foundation, inc. (the foundation), established in 1990, is the mechanism by which iwf members advance the next generation of women leaders. the foundation accelerates the careers of top-performing women by offering…

—
12
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles; the most unlike its peers is The Kintsugi Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

365 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 365 of the 455 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
57
Early backer (in before they grew)
356/365
Grantees still filing
217/365
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UCLA FOUNDATION: $30,581,300 · EducationUCLA FOUNDATIONPARTNERSHIP FOR LOS ANGELES SCHOOLS: $2,631,764 · EducationPARTNERSHIP FOR LOS ANGELES SCHOOLSBRENTWOOD SCHOOL: $1,500,000 · Education+22 more: $2,618,878 · Education+22 moreLACMA: $4,595,000 · OtherLACMAFEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION: $625,000 · OtherCAMPBELL HALL -EPISCOPAL-: $600,000 · OtherCHOOSE CHICAGO FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · OtherCHOOSE CHICAGO FOUNDA…TONY BLAIR AFRICA GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE -US D/B/A TONY BLAIR FOUNDATION: $500,001 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $525,000 · Other+72 more: $6,292,096 · Other+72 moreSHED NYC INC: $1,600,000 · Arts & CultureSHED NYC I…MUSEUM ASSOCIATES: $1,300,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM ASS…METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $1,142,000 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLIT…ACADEMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · Arts & CultureACADEMY MU…ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $750,000 · Arts & CultureACADEMY FO…+16 more: $970,080 · Arts & Culture+16 moreMOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUND: $2,900,000 · Human ServicesLOS ANGELES POLICE FOUNDATION: $1,250,000 · Human ServicesEDWARD CHARLES FOUNDATION: $648,500 · Human ServicesLA-ARETZ: $250,000 · Human Services+10 more: $391,500 · Human ServicesBILL HILLARY & CHELSEA CLINTON FOUNDATION: $3,335,000 · HealthCHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY INC: $520,000 · HealthMARCH OF DIMES INC: $246,000 · Health+17 more: $722,030 · HealthLOS ANGELES SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSION: $1,000,000 · Recreation & SportsPGA TOUR FIRST TEE FOUNDATION INC: $750,000 · Recreation & SportsUNITED STATES OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC FOUNDATION: $300,000 · Recreation & SportsLIFE SKILLS FORE THE YOUTH OF COLORADO SPRINGS: $250,000 · Recreation & SportsUNITED STATES EQUESTRIAN TEAM FOUNDATION INC: $180,000 · Recreation & SportsUtah Sports Commission Foundation: $120,000 · Recreation & Sports+14 more: $700,500 · Recreation & SportsTHE MAYOR'S FUND FOR LOS ANGELES: $1,625,000 · PhilanthropyLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $275,000 · PhilanthropyENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $130,029 · PhilanthropyUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $108,000 · Philanthropy+18 more: $682,071 · Philanthropy
Education$37,331,942Other$14,137,097Arts & Culture$6,762,080Human Services$5,440,000Health$4,823,030Recreation & Sports$3,300,500Philanthropy$2,820,100

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUCLA FOUNDATION: $30,581,300 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetBILL HILLARY & CHELSEA CLINTON FOUNDATION: $3,335,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetMOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION FUND: $2,900,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR LOS ANGELES SCHOOLS: $2,631,764 over 6y, 7.0% of budgetTHE MAYOR'S FUND FOR LOS ANGELES: $1,625,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetSHED NYC INC: $1,600,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetBRENTWOOD SCHOOL: $1,500,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetLOS ANGELES POLICE FOUNDATION: $1,250,000 over 6y, 4.5% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $1,142,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHOOSE CHICAGO FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetACADEMY MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLOS ANGELES SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT COMMISSION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetACADEMY FOUNDATION: $750,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPGA TOUR FIRST TEE FOUNDATION INC: $750,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetEDWARD CHARLES FOUNDATION: $648,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetFEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION: $625,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $525,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY INC: $520,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetTONY BLAIR AFRICA GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE -US D/B/A TONY BLAIR FOUNDATION: $500,001 over 3y, 8.8% of budgetQualia The School for Deeper Learning: $500,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetLOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetCOLLEGE NOW GREATER CLEVELAND INC: $400,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetTHE MISSION CONTINUES: $385,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetCOLLEGE TRACK: $370,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetWOMEN IN SPORTS AND EVENTS INC: $345,900 over 4y, 19% of budgetUNITED STATES OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $275,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLA-ARETZ: $250,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES: $250,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLIFE SKILLS FORE THE YOUTH OF COLORADO SPRINGS: $250,000 over 1y, 70% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $246,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMUSICARES FOUNDATION INC: $225,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO LOS ANGELES: $184,250 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetUNITED STATES EQUESTRIAN TEAM FOUNDATION INC: $180,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetProject Scientist Inc: $165,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetGREATER LOS ANGELES ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION: $160,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $130,029 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNational Kidney Foundation Inc: $125,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $125,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $125,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $125,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $125,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHEART OF LOS ANGELES YOUTH INC: $120,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetUtah Sports Commission Foundation: $120,000 over 6y, 2.3% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $108,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE: $107,500 over 6y, 1.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

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.

Pga Tour IncPledgeling FoundationThe Goldman Sachs Cha…The Annenberg Foundat…The Ralph M Parsons F…California Community …Gibson Gives Foundati…The Eli and Edythe Br…Nfl Foundation IncThe Marilyn and Jeffr…National Basketball P…Weingart Foundation
Pga Tour IncFL34.9× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Pga Tour Inc · Pledgeling Foundation · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The Annenberg Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · California Community Foundation · Gibson Gives Foundation Dba Gibson Gives · The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation · Nfl Foundation Inc · The Marilyn and Jeffrey Katzenberg Foundation · National Basketball Players Association Foundation · Weingart Foundation

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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Wasserman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wasserman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 180%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Wefam United Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
18get no government money at all
42report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Wasserman Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Wasserman 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.

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 455 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 Wasserman’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