Funder Spotlight: Ralph M. Parsons Foundation is Laser-Focused on Angelenos and Open to Pitches
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IP Funder Spotlights offer quick rundowns of the grantmakers that are on our radar, including a few key details on how they operate and what they’re up to right now. Today, we take a look at an L.A.-based funder that boasts “responsive DNA”—it encourages organizations to submit funding requests—and an impressive portfolio of collaborations.
What this funder cares about
The Los Angeles-based Ralph M. Parsons Foundation backs projects and organizations in L.A. County that advance the well-being of Angelenos, especially economically disadvantaged citizens and young children.
The foundation has four priority areas: Civic and Cultural, Education, Health, and Human Services. This conventional list belies a refreshing grantmaking strategy in which the foundation actively solicits proposals from L.A. County-based organizations on a rolling basis.
Funding flows to a broad array of organizations and projects, including capital support to construct a new performing arts center, general support for dental health services, legal services for low-income individuals, and journalism focused on early childhood issues.
Better yet, more than half of its grantmaking is for general support—a breath of fresh air at a time when many funders are still beholden to restricted giving, despite pleas from organizations to permanently change course once the pandemic subsides.
There are, of course, limits to the foundation’s grantmaking. It doesn’t fund organizations outside of L.A. County, nor does it fund requests for environmental causes, animal welfare, or direct aid to individuals, including scholarship support.
Why you should care
Angelenos are all too familiar with the old refrain, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” And grantmakers rely on it, perhaps even more than Hollywood casting directors. The overwhelming majority of foundations simply do not accept unsolicited proposals, leaving most fundraisers high and dry.
The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation takes a different approach. It says, “If you’re an organization based in L.A. County and addressing one of our four priorities, drop us a line, and if we like your idea, we’ll fund it.” All an L.A.-based organization needs to do is fill out a simple LOI. Applicants can expect a response within about six weeks. If the foundation likes what it reads, it will invite the organization to submit a full proposal. There is one big catch, however: The foundation considers only one request per organization annually, so make it count.
Driven by what it calls its “responsive DNA,” the foundation also engages collaborations and special initiatives that complement its grantmaking efforts. For example, it helped launch the Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative, a pooled fund designed to help Los Angeles-area nonprofits implement formal partnerships, leading to greater organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Where the money comes from
Born in 1896, Ralph Parsons went from working at a machine shop with his brother in Long Island to founding an engineering and construction company in 1944, the Parsons Company, that built projects in more than 30 countries. He created the foundation in 1961 as the charitable giving arm of the Parsons Company. Upon his death, Parsons—who married twice and had no children—left the foundation 600,000 shares in company stock and $4 million in cash. In 1976, the foundation became fully independent from the company, with no shared financial interests.
Where the money goes
There are L.A.-based funders with more total assets and larger grantmaking budgets than the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation. But it punches far above its weight, thanks to the sheer breadth of its giving. According to the foundation’s 2019 Form 990, it made a total of $18.5 million in disbursements for charitable purposes to a whopping 348 mostly small and mid-size organizations in fields like health, arts and education.
Open door or barbed wire?
Open floodgate is more like it. The foundation’s site checks off all the boxes for maximal transparency—FAQ page, a searchable grants database, a listing of its board members and staff, most recent tax return and audit, and even an investment policy that governs how its endowment is managed. If one could quibble, it would be useful to provide returns from previous years, as well.
Similarly, the news section on the foundation’s website only lists one item for 2021—the launch of the L.A. Arts Recovery Fund back in early February. According to a foundation rep, a website refresh that will include more information is in the works.
Latest big moves
Driven by CEO and President Wendy Garren’s premise that “wicked problems require collective impact,” the foundation has been busy on the partnership front these past few months.
It is a member of the Los Angeles Post Secondary Education Funders Collaborative, which focuses on improving community college student enrollment and transfer rates during COVID. In early June, the collaborative announced its first joint initiative, Transfer Success L.A., which includes two grants to improve transfer pathways between two California State University campuses and eight community colleges in L.A. County.
That announcement came a week after the L.A. Arts Recovery Fund announced that 90 arts organizations would share more than $36 million in operating support grants, ranging from $5,000 to $2 million over two to three years. The Parsons Foundation joined forces with the California Community Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, and more than a dozen local and national funders back in February to launch the fund.
The foundation also made adjustments to its online application and related portal on the website in June 2021 in response to its most recent Center for Effective Philanthropy Grantee Perception Report.
One cool thing to know
The foundation works closely with the county government. For example, back in 2014, a Blue Ribbon Commission on L.A. County’s foster care system found that “on our watch, many of Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable children are unseen, unheard and unsafe.” In response, the foundation helped launch the Foster Together Network, focused on strengthening foster family recruitment and retention in collaboration with private and public partners, including the L.A. County Department of Children and Family Services.
The foundation is a member of the L.A. County Arts Education Collective, a 20-year-old endeavor designed to ensure that all K-12 students receive high-quality in-school and after-school arts instruction. The foundation has also provided financial support to the L.A. County Center for Strategic Partnerships, a public-private entity designed to break down silos among county departments, nonprofits, funders and systems serving youth and families.
What we hope it does next
The foundation has taken on issues affecting the most vulnerable Angelenos—foster children, community college students, and arts practitioners recovering from the pandemic. Looking ahead, we’re curious to see if the foundation can export its collaborative approach to other segments of the population that are in need, as its budget allows.
