California · Nonprofit
MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION
MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $253,000 to it, the largest being ROBERT AND RUTH HALPERIN FOUNDATION ($150,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $37k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $253k
- Net assets
- $14k
What Making Waves Foundation does
Mission
Provide vehicles for young athletes to suceed in sports and life
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Program
Provide education for student athletes
$0 spent
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $0.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2021: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $90k → $10k.
From the IRS filings of MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 53% · 2019 99% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
93% of MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 13,282 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 13,282 recreation & sports nonprofits under $100k, FY2024
Organizations like MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION?
- MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $253,000 to it, the largest being ROBERT AND RUTH HALPERIN FOUNDATION ($150,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $253,000 in grants to MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION?
- ROBERT AND RUTH HALPERIN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $150,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MAKING WAVES FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Making Waves →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2024–2024), and the filings of 4 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing