LS Foundation

OVERVIEW:  The LS Foundation’s grantmaking supports education, medical research and the arts. 

IP TAKE: The LS Foundation keeps a low public profile, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. The foundation supports many of the same grantees each year, so new grantseekers will find it difficult to get on this this funder’s radar. It does not provide an easy way to get in touch, but a mailing address is listed below.

PROFILE: Established in 1968, the LS foundation is steered by tech veteran Laurence L. Spitters and family. Spitters held a B.A. from Western Michigan University, a J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In 1961, he founded Memorex Corporation, which manufactured chromium dioxide cassettes and produced the first read-write floppy disk drive. Unfortunately, the foundation lacks transparency and does not maintain a website or public grantmaking interests or strategies; however, tax filings suggest it prioritizes education, medical research and the arts. 

Grants for Higher Education

The LS Foundation does not have clearly defined grantmaking programs, but tax records show that higher education is one of its priority areas. It supports Spitters’ alma maters the University of Michigan Law School, Harvard University and Western Michigan University. Other recent grantees include Kalamazoo College, the University of California at Davis, the University of California at Berkeley and Santa Clara University, which awarded Spitters with an honorary degree.

Grants for Global Development, and Humanitarian and Disaster Relief

Humanitarian aid is a smaller area of giving, but grants have gone to organizations including Mercy Corps, the Seed Program International, Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam America and Save the Children.

Grants for Public Health and Access, Science Research

The LS Foundation does not name specific priorities for its public health giving, but recent tax filings suggest broad interest in this area. Grants have gone to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, the UCSF Department of Ophthalmology, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, Breast Cancer Connections and Pathways Home Health and Hospice in Sunnyvale, California.

Grants for Arts and Culture

The Spitters family supports Bay Area arts and cultural institutions including San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, the American Conservatory Theatre, the San Francisco Ballet, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, San Francisco Symphony, and Computer History Museum. In New York City, the foundation has given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.

Important Grant Details

According to tax filings, grants range from a low of $1,000 to high of $50,000, with $25,000 as the most common amount. It gave away just over $600,000 in a recent year.

The foundation accepts unsolicited applications; however, there appears to be no prescribed form and no apparent deadlines or restrictions.

PEOPLE:

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CONTACT:

L L Spitters, President

555 Byron Street

Palo Alto, CA 94301

(650) 324-1775