William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation

Private foundation · EIN 94-3148482 · since 1992wkbowesjrfoundation.org·California, New York·Updated 13 October 2026

At a glance

$18M

Annual giving, 2024 tax year

From the Form 990-PF filing

$15,000 to $1M

Grant range

From grants in the 990-PF filings

$183k

Typical grant (median)

48 grants in the latest filing

Invitation only

Unsolicited applications are not accepted

This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.

Key takeaways

The foundation makes grants by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited letters of interest or proposals, so a cold approach is unlikely to be considered.
It does not fund individuals, so requests for personal support should not go forward; it gives to nonprofit organisations in the arts, college access and medical research, which it frames as examples within a varied programme.
Most of its grants fall between $15,000 and $1,000,000, with a median of $200,000, though its largest grant was about $6,200,000, so the band is typical rather than a ceiling.
In the filing, all of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in the two filings before, so it leans heavily on existing relationships.
No geographic focus is stated; the filings show grants mainly in California and New York, which describes past giving rather than who may apply.

Overview

William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation is a US private foundation based in San Francisco, CA.

What they fund

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation supports a variety of nonprofit organisations working across several funding priorities, including the arts, college access and medical research. It works through nonprofit organisations rather than making grants to individuals. The foundation gives by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited letters of interest or proposals. Its statement frames the named priorities as examples within a varied programme of nonprofit giving, rather than limiting its support to a single field. Its filed grants also show support for universities and research bodies, schools, museums and other cultural organisations, health organisations and environmental organisations.

Themes

Arts
College access
Medical research

Geographic Focus

No geographic focus is stated; the filings show grants mainly in California and New York.

What They Don't Fund

Individuals

How to apply

The foundation makes grants by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited letters of interest or proposals.

Application success factors

Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 100% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 147 grants to organisations were $200,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

Its stated funding priorities include the arts, college access and medical research.

Where grants go

From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2024.

Grant dollars by state

California86%

New York5%

Massachusetts3%

Oregon2%

Texas2%

Washington1%

3 other states: 1%

The largest single recipient received 27% of grant dollars to organisations.
In tax year 2024, 100% of grant dollars went to organisations William K. Bowes, Jr. Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
No grants were paid directly to organisations outside the US.
1% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.

Grants

48 grants in the latest filing analysed · median $183k

How much do they typically give?

Share of 48 grants in tax year 2024 by size

$5k–$10k2%

$10k–$25k15%

$25k–$50k4%

$50k–$100k10%

$100k–$250k31%

$250k–$500k19%

$500k–$1M10%

$1M and over8%

Median $183k (tax year 2024)

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

Ucsf Foundation · Establish the william k. bowes, jr. biomedical investigator program, ucsf discovery fellows, cardiology council, osher center research support, the neural code of speech
$5,833,3332024 tax year
J. David Gladstone Institutes · To be used at the discretion of the president deepak srivastava, general support
$2,000,0002024 tax year
Exploratorium · Exploratorium gallery renewal
$1,000,0002024 tax year
Episcopal Diocese of California · Expanding horizons campaign
$1,000,0002024 tax year
Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · William k. bowes, jr. foundation: stanford bio-x bowes fellows, ute and bill bowes, jr. library and the department of art and art history in the school of humanities and sciences
$850,0002024 tax year
Episcopal Diocese of California · Annual fund
$500,0002024 tax year
Harvard University · For the grant seed program
$500,0002024 tax year
KIPP Bay Area Schools · General operating support for kipp public schools northern california
$500,0002024 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Officers and directors

Douglas Tinker — VP, Audit Chair
Chris Perkins — VP, Secretary-Treasurer, CFO
Ute Bowes — President

From the latest Form 990-PF filing

3 years of tax filings

Year	Total expenses	Grants paid	Assets	Filing document
2022 tax year	$14,800,904	$25,611,166	$235,253,719	Filing for 2022 tax year
2023 tax year	$12,136,135	$24,361,008	$231,390,225	Filing for 2023 tax year
2024 tax year	$11,864,149	$18,019,500	$236,755,476	Filing for 2024 tax year

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.