W M Keck Foundation
Historical FunderLos Angeles, California · EIN 95-6092354 · Private foundation · Website
Grants paid (2024)$69.7M
Organizations funded260
Typical grant$10,000
Total assets$1.7B
Half of its grants to organizations were between $5,000 and $76,000.
From the return
How to apply
The foundation filed the following application information (Form 990-PF Part XV, tax year 2024):
| Contact | HTTPSWWWWMKECKORG |
|---|---|
| Address | 515 SOUTH FLOWER STREET SUITE 800, LOS ANGELES CA 90071 |
| Phone | 2136122000 |
| Form and materials | APPLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.WMKECK.ORG/ |
| Deadlines | HTTPS://WWW.WMKECK.ORG/ |
| Restrictions | RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS ON AWARDS INFORMATION ARE AVAILABLE AT: HTTPS://WWW.WMKECK.ORG/RESEARCH-APPLICATION-PROCESS/ AND HTTPS://WWW.WMKECK.ORG/SOCAL-APPLICATION-PROCESS/ |
Copied as filed. Deadlines on a tax return describe the foundation's usual process; they are not confirmation of a current open cycle.
What it funds
Share of grant lines on the latest return, classified from the purpose each grant states.
Where it gives
42% of grants went outside California.
Grants paid in tax year 2024
| Recipient | Location | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | To accelerate groundbreaking medical, clinical and translational research and education | $7,500,000 |
| Chapman University | Orange, CA | To enhance and elevate chapman universitys science and engineering | $4,000,000 |
| Claremont Mckenna College | Claremont, CA | To enhance claremont mckenna college's interdiciplinary science research and education | $4,000,000 |
| Linfield University | Mcminnville, OR | To enhance linfield university's interdiciplinary science research and education | $2,000,000 |
| Museum Associates | Los Angeles, CA | To improve access to art and art education | $2,000,000 |
| The Colburn School | Los Angeles, CA | To support the for the new colburn center and endow the youth ensemble | $2,000,000 |
| Salk Institute for Biological Studies | LA Jolla, CA | To develop mapping methods with generative manifold networks | $1,600,000 |
| Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution | Woods Hole, MA | To construct and field a self-deploying autonomous mooring system | $1,600,000 |
| Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center | New York, NY | To understand how a neuronal communication pathway also functions in the immune system | $1,500,000 |
| University of Oregon Foundation | Eugene, OR | To understand parameters that govern transcriptional adaptation to enable novel rna-based therapeutics | $1,500,000 |
| University of Utah | Salt Lake City, UT | To understand the genetic and epigenetic control of aging | $1,500,000 |
| George Washington University | Ashburn, VA | To investigate terrestrial locomotion in vertebrates | $1,400,000 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Stanford, CA | To develop bioluminescent probes for visualizing gpcr ligands | $1,400,000 |
| LA Jolla Institute for Immunology | LA Jolla, CA | To validate a novel function of histones as reservoirs of cellular energy | $1,300,000 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston, IL | To test for violation of quantum linearity due to gravity | $1,300,000 |
| University of California San Francisco | San Francisco, CA | To understand t cell immune-education outside of the thymus | $1,300,000 |
| University of California Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara, CA | To decipher coral regenerative biology | $1,300,000 |
| University of Central Florida Foundation Inc | Orlando, FL | To develop magnetic topological insulators for lossless electronics | $1,300,000 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill, NC | To understand network switching to rescue damage in the central nervous system | $1,300,000 |
| University of Wisconsin Madison | Madison, WI | To experimentally study nitrogen-fixing enzymes | $1,300,000 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville, TN | To understand the neural circuits that link oral sensation to feeding behavior | $1,300,000 |
| Emory University | Atlanta, GA | To study how heterogeneity contributes to the spread of pathogens | $1,200,000 |
| Regents of the University of California at Riverside | Riverside, CA | To decipher social communication in stress-tolerant honeybees | $1,200,000 |
| Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY | To study the causes of genome instability | $1,200,000 |
| Trustees of Princeton University | Princeton, NJ | To develop tools to measure neural signal propagation at the scale of a whole brain | $1,200,000 |
| Trustees of Purdue University | West Lafayette, IN | To realize a quantum spin liquid using strain | $1,200,000 |
| Trustees of Tufts College | Medford, MA | To understand and replicate living optical networks inspired by orchid leaves | $1,200,000 |
| William Marsh Rice University | Houston, TX | To harness superradiance in molecular aggregates for super-resolution imaging | $1,200,000 |
| Compton Community College District | Compton, CA | To create education and clinical training pathways to pursue careers in the healthcare professions | $1,000,000 |
| Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | To equip the discovery theater | $1,000,000 |
| Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles, CA | Engineering complex at lmu | $1,000,000 |
| Montana State University Bozeman | Bozeman, MT | To define the role of inflammation in vertebrate bone fusion | $1,000,000 |
| Regents of the University of California at Berkeley | Berkeley, CA | To develop molecular tools to probe and manipulate cytokine signaling in immune cells | $1,000,000 |
| Regents of the University of Colorado | Denver, CO | To understand molecular vulnerabilities in cells that produce large amounts of a single protein | $1,000,000 |
| Regents of the University of Colorado | Denver, CO | To test the role of extreme conditions in early animal adaptation | $1,000,000 |
| Trustees of Boston University | Boston, MA | To study how trees thrive in the urban biome | $1,000,000 |
| Able Arts Work | Long Beach, CA | To renovate a facility for the agencys first permanent home | $500,000 |
| Da Vinci Schools | El Segundo, CA | To provide new opportunities for students to gain in-demand STEM skills by creating a career and technical education studio | $500,000 |
| Friendship Educational Foundation | Redondo Beach, CA | To construct the friendship campus | $500,000 |
| LA Promise Fund | Los Angeles, CA | To construct a permanent campus and expand enrollment | $500,000 |
| Regents of the University of California at Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | Next-Generation technologies for studying chromatin folding dynamics in cancer and development | $500,000 |
| Regents of the University of California at Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | Neuropeptide regulation of activity in the central nervous system | $500,000 |
| Koreatown Youth and Community Center Inc | Los Angeles, CA | To expand free tax preparation services | $400,000 |
| Regents Univ of California | Los Angeles, CA | To strengthen families' financial well-being | $400,000 |
| Art of Problem Solving Initiative Inc | New York, NY | To support students interested in majoring in STEM by adding college success activities to an advanced mathematics enrichment program | $300,000 |
| Ready to Succeed | Santa Monica, CA | To support a program that will guide more foster youth through college graduation and into strong entry-level jobs | $300,000 |
| The Achievable Foundation | Culver City, CA | To renovate a health care facility | $300,000 |
| The Wende Museum of the Cold War Inc | Culver City, CA | To support educational programming at a new community center | $300,000 |
| Woodcraft Rangers | Los Angeles, CA | To expand a college and career pathways program | $300,000 |
| For the Child Inc | Long Beach, CA | To expand the agencys headquarters | $275,000 |
| Foothill Family Service | Pasadena, CA | To implement the new parents to professionals program | $265,000 |
| Pasadena Conservatory of Music | Pasadena, CA | To create more instructional and performance spaces on the conservatorys campus | $250,000 |
| Urban Peace Institute | Los Angeles, CA | To renovate and equip the agency's headquarters | $250,000 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | For general support of charitable purposes. | $231,250 |
| Southern California Institute of Architecture | Los Angeles, CA | For general support of charitable purposes. | $200,000 |
| The UCLA Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | For general support of charitable purposes. | $199,625 |
| California Institute of Technology | Pasadena, CA | For general support of charitable purposes. | $175,500 |
| Claremont Mckenna College | Claremont, CA | For general support of charitable purposes. | $165,000 |
| Kind Inc | Washington, DC | For general support of charitable purposes. | $150,000 |
| Harvard-Westlake School | Studio City, CA | For general support of charitable purposes. | $110,000 |
Showing the 60 largest of 260 grants to organizations.
Grants approved for future payment
| Recipient | Location | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA | To accelerate groundbreaking medical, clinical and translational research and education. | $7,500,000 |
| Claremont Mckenna College | Claremont, CA | To enhance claremont mckenna college's interdisciplinary science research and education. | $4,000,000 |
| Loyola Marymount University | Los Angeles, CA | Engineering complex at lmu | $4,000,000 |
| Los Angeles County Museum of Art | Los Angeles, CA | To improve access to art and art education for angelenos from all parts of our region. | $2,000,000 |
| Regents of the University of California at Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | Biomedical initiative grants or health sciences strategic fund | $1,000,000 |
| Door of Hope | Pasadena, CA | To renovate a newly acquired property to establish a transitional housing program | $500,000 |
| Olive Crest | Santa Ana, CA | To construct a transitional housing complex for youth aging out of foster care | $500,000 |
| Onegeneration | Van Nuys, CA | To construct a new facility to expand infant, toddler and preschool early learning and intergenerational programs | $500,000 |
| Heart of Los Angeles Youth Inc | Los Angeles, CA | To construct a facility in south los angeles to expand afterschool programming | $300,000 |
| Street Poets Inc | Los Angeles, CA | To renovate a facililty to expand arts and wellness programs | $250,000 |
| Young Mens Christian Association of Metropolitan Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA | To upgrade camp whittle to improve accommodate more campers | $250,000 |
| Ride on LA | Chatsworth, CA | To construct a covered arena to increase adaptive horseback riding lessons and therapeutic services | $200,000 |
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants paid | Grant lines |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $69,656,739 | 272 |
| 2023 | $64,486,669 | 242 |
Sources
- IRS Form 990-PF, tax year 2024, filed Nov 14, 2025 - IRS e-file batch, object ID 202523189349103687
- IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search for EIN 95-6092354
- Profile updated Nov 5, 2026
Facts on this page come from the foundation's own IRS Form 990-PF filings as published by the IRS. Grantvello does not know whether a foundation is accepting proposals right now: a past grant is not an open opportunity. Always confirm current guidelines with the funder before applying.