STEM grants for nonprofits in California
772 private foundations reported 1,736 stem grants to organizations in California on IRS 990-PF returns for tax year 2022 or later, $459.3M in all. 355 of them are based in California.
Foundations772
Grants on record1,736
Total granted$459.3M
Their typical grant$15,000
Foundations that fund stem in California
20 of the 772: profiles in our foundation directory first, then by the number of stem grants to California organizations on their latest return. Each shows its largest such grants.
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Amazonsmile Foundation
Seattle, WA · latest return: tax year 2023- Sylvia Earle Alliance Mission Blue, Napa - General support$3,154
- Mozilla Foundation, San Francisco - General support$2,743
- Machine Intelligence Research Institute Inc, San Francisco - General support$2,547
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Gave $350M in 2024
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Los Altos, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- ClimateWorks Foundation, San Francisco - Environment and Science$10,500,000
- ClimateWorks Foundation, San Francisco - Environment and Science$10,000,000
- Climate Breakthrough Inc, Berkeley - Environment and Science$7,500,000
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Gave $69M in 2024
The Ahmanson Foundation
Beverly Hills, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Pitzer College, Claremont - Toward construction of the third floor of the new science building$1,000,000
- Abode Communities, Los Angeles - Toward phase II of the technology infrastructure modernization project$493,000
- A Window Between Worlds, Los Angeles - Toward technology infrastructure upgrades$150,000
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Gave $89M in 2024
Alfred P Sloan Foundation
New York, NY · latest return: tax year 2024- Sundance Institute, Los Angeles - To support a science and technology film program at the nation's pre-eminent independent film center that…$600,000
- Dynamicland Foundation, Berkeley - To support the development of realtalk as a mode of communal computing in scientific contexts$425,000
- Community Initiatives, Oakland - To continue enabling academic data science communities to share knowledge, ideas, and lessons learned via the…$375,000
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Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation
Palo Alto, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Regents of the University of California, Berkeley - To support strategic efforts to enhance visitor experience at the public science center.$2,361,675
- Climateworks Foundation, San Francisco - To advance the designation of public lands in the amazon to secure forest protection and the territorial…$1,440,000
- The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Stanford - To support scientific research and development of novel, science-based enabling solutions for wildfire…$1,297,000
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The Simons Foundation Inc
New York, NY · latest return: tax year 2024- University of Southern California, Los Angeles - Simons investigator in computer science$324,000
- Stanford University, Stanford - Simons investigator in mathematics$192,000
- Stanford University, Stanford - Simons investigator in computer science$192,000
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Gave $625M in 2024
The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
Menlo Park, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Climateworks Foundation, San Francisco - For general operating support$10,000,000
- Climateworks Foundation, San Francisco - For the global industrial decarbonization program$4,000,000
- Climateworks Foundation, San Francisco - For support of u.s. foreign economic policy for global green industrial policy$3,500,000
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Gave $6.3B in 2024
Gates Foundation
Seattle, WA · latest return: tax year 2024- Particella Inc, San Francisco - Create novel technology platform capabilities$1,500,000
- Regents of the University of California at San Diego, LA Jolla - Create novel technology platform capabilities$1,200,000
- Numenta Inc, Redwood City - Create novel technology platform capabilities$1,100,000
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The Heising-Simons Foundation
Los Altos, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Climateworks Foundation, San Francisco - To advance climate finance$700,000
- Tides Center, San Francisco - For the starfish institute's STEM education work$625,000
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena - For the development of skipper technology$500,288
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Gave $844.7M in 2024
The Ford Foundation
New York, NY · latest return: tax year 2024- Mozilla Foundation, San Francisco - For the ford-mozilla fellowship program in the global south to strengthen organizations in the global south…$1,400,000
- Mozilla Foundation, San Francisco - Core support for the mozilla fellowships program to build a robust field of public interest technologists in…$583,000
- Aspiration, San Francisco - Core support for the coalition for independent technology research to advance, defend, and sustain ethical…$400,000
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The Kenneth T and Eileen L Norris Foundation
Torrance, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Altasea at the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro - Ocean STEM education programs$100,000
- Mount Wilson Institute, Pasadena - Education into the future$100,000
- Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach - Ocean science education program$75,000
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The Patrick J Mcgovern Foundation Inc
Boston, MA · latest return: tax year 2024- Room to Read, San Francisco - To advance literacy and gender equality outcomes through enhanced technology and data integration.$750,000
- The American Ai Forum, San Francisco - For support to close the opportunity gap in ai education, literacy, and skills development.$750,000
- Meedan Inc, San Francisco - To use ml to help media organizations collaboratively respond to misinformation with verified fact checks$500,000
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Good Ventures Foundation
Palo Alto, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Mats Research Inc, Berkeley - Ml alignment & theory scholars winter 24-25 cohort$3,038,300
- Mats Research Inc, Berkeley - Ml alignment & theory scholars winter 24-25 cohort$1,520,150
- Center for Humane Technology, San Francisco - Hire an ai safety expert and provide support for ai safety communications$750,000
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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation
Palo Alto, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Cz Biohub Sf LLC, San Francisco - Science: cz biohub san francsico core support$60,000,000
- Cz Biohub Chicago LLC, San Francisco - Science: cz biohub chicago core support$18,000,000
- Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biological Imaging LLC, San Francisco - Science: cz imaging institute core support$12,236,199
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Sergey Brin Family Foundation
San Francisco, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- Climateworks Foundation, San Francisco - General operating support$7,594,234
- Earth Fire Alliance, San Francisco - Wildfire technology$5,000,000
- Climateworks Foundation, San Francisco - General operating support$4,993,962
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Samueli Foundation
Corona Del Mar, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- University of California Irvine Foundation, Irvine - Uci samueli school of engineering$9,698,874
- Orange County Superintendent of Schools, Costa Mesa - Math initiative across orange county$1,100,000
- STEM Next Opportunity Fund, San Diego - Support STEM learning transitions for middle school girls research project in oc$400,000
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Gave $9M in 2024
Edwards Lifesciences Foundation
Irvine, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- University of California Irvine Foundation (Circ), Irvine - Engineering in cardiovascular health equity by faculty recruiting and undergraduate research$100,000
- Easter Seals Southern California, Irvine - Accessibility partner program assistive technology (at) and augmentative and alternative communications (aac)…$20,000
- Achievement Institute for STEM Scholars, Santa Ana - College to career readiness STEM program$15,000
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Tenacre Foundation
Princeton, NJ · latest return: tax year 2024- Berkeley Hall School Foundation, Los Angeles - Christian science-based schools$1,300,000
- Arden Wood, San Francisco - Christian science programs$253,251
- Olive Glen Foundation Inc, Sacramento - Christian science programs$160,225
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Gave $49.3M in 2024
The Henry Luce Foundation Inc
New York, NY · latest return: tax year 2024- Santa Clara University, Santa Clara - Support for the Clare Boothe Luce STEM program$458,200
- Villanova Preparatory School, Ojai - Support for the Clare Boothe Luce STEM program$458,200
- California Institute of Technology, Pasadena - Support for a Clare Boothe Luce STEM professorship$155,000
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128 Collective Foundation
Palo Alto, CA · latest return: tax year 2024- The Hack Foundation, West Hollywood - Common wealth$320,000
- The Hack Foundation, West Hollywood - Public grids$300,000
- The Hack Foundation, West Hollywood - Campus climate network$150,000
Search more stem funders giving in California →
Organizations several of these foundations fund
California organizations that received stem grants from two or more of the foundations above, on the same returns.
| Organization | Funders | Grants total |
|---|---|---|
| ClimateWorks Foundation San Francisco | 6 | $66,312,592 |
| California Institute of Technology Pasadena | 6 | $4,835,541 |
| Hack Foundation West Hollywood | 5 | $1,897,027 |
| Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University Stanford | 4 | $4,222,000 |
| Consultative Group on Biological Diversity San Francisco | 4 | $848,750 |
| Mozilla Foundation San Francisco | 3 | $2,489,301 |
| Multiplier San Francisco | 3 | $2,350,000 |
| STEM Next Opportunity Fund San Diego | 3 | $1,250,000 |
| Tides Center Los Angeles | 3 | $1,250,000 |
| University of Southern California Los Angeles | 3 | $700,681 |
How to use this list
A foundation is listed because its own latest tax return itemizes grants to organizations in California that we classify as stem, by the purpose the foundation wrote or by the recipient's IRS activity code. Their typical grant is the middle of the funders' own typical grants across everything they fund. Start with funders whose typical grant is close to what you need and whose past recipients look like your organization, then open the profile for all of its grants and any application instructions.
Of these 772 foundations, 214 describe how to apply on their latest return; many others give only to organizations they already know. A badge such as Gave $1.2M in 2024 repeats what the latest return reports; it does not mean the foundation is accepting proposals now.
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.