California · Nonprofit
WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION
WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,873,827 to it, the largest being WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA WEST INC ($2,732,955). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.0M
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $3.9M
- Net assets
- $2.4M
What Writers Guild Foundation does
Mission
Founded in 1966, the Writers Guild Foundation's mission is to preserve and promote the history and craft of writing for the screen. Through its library and archive, community programs, and educational events, the foundation engages, educates, and inspires emerging writers-especially those belonging to underserved populations-and preserves the rich history of writing in hollywood for future generations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Writers Guild Foundation shavelson-webb library & archivethe shavelson-webb library provides a quiet space for anyone-not just writers guild of america (wga) members-to read scripts, consult with our librarians, and write. It is free to visit, open to the public, and home to over 50,000 items available to review, primarily film, television, radio, and video game scripts, including online resources like virtual events and blog series. The archive is home to rare and unique collections that tell the story of the past 110 years of screenwriting history, including guild historical materials, produced and unproduced scipts, memorabilia, oral histories, and personal items of film, television and radio writers.
$659,164 spent64% of program spendingWriters access support staff training programsthe writers access support staff training program provides writers from historically underrepresented backgrounds (bipoc, lgbtq+, disabled, over of the age of 50, etc.) with tools and education to become a writers' assitant and script coordinator, ultimately resulting in meaningful employment opportunities. These positions often serve as the first step on the ladder of a successful screenwriting career; as such, this program aims to be a step towards greater inclusivity at both the "entry level and in the future, on all writing staffs. Wgf provides all components of the vwp at no cost to program participants.
$209,032 spent20% of program spendingVeterans writing projectthe veterans writing project develops the writing skills of military veterans for professional advancement and personal fulfillment. Serving 60-80 veterans each year, participants are educated on the fundamentals of screenwriting and mentored by wga-enrolled writers. Upon completion of the yearlong program, participants leave with a finished screenplay or tv pilot and the skills and tools needed for meaningful employment opportunities with the entertainment industry. Wgf provides all components of the vwp at no cost to program participants.
$166,508 spent16% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,034,704.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $2.6M to $3.1M (+18%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 9% · 2022 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $424k → $466k.
9 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 funders by total. 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
WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 71% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
82% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 72% · 2018 69% · 2019 71% · 2020 65% · 2021 56% · 2022 82% · 2023 65% — diversifying over time.
“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.
How long its funders stay
25% of WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
88% of WRITERS GUILD 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. $377k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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
WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION's funding base is broadening — from 11 funders to 15 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $75k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$75k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like WRITERS GUILD 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.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WRITERS GUILD 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 WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION?
- WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,873,827 to it, the largest being WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA WEST INC ($2,732,955). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $3,873,827 in grants to WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WRITERS GUILD FOUNDATION?
- WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA WEST INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,732,955 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WRITERS GUILD 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 Writers Guild →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 40 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