Wasserman Foundation
ActiveMutual & Membership BenefitFunds Individuals
About Wasserman Foundation
The Wasserman Foundation is a highly focused higher-education funder that directs all of its recorded giving to UCLA, primarily supporting the UCLA CARES program. Its grants concentrate on university-based initiatives, likely student support and institutional priorities tied to the campus. The foundation appears to be a single-beneficiary donor whose philanthropic identity is closely aligned with UCLA.
Focus Areas
University support at UCLA (campus-wide philanthropy)Student emergency aid / CARES-style assistance programsHigher education institutional priorities (research, scholarships, programmatic support)
Who They Fund
Universities and academic departments (UCLA, UT Austin, MIT-related events)Arts and museum organizations (LACMA, The Shed, film/arts festivals)Medical institutions and patients (children's hospitals, surgical research/clinical programs)Students and scholars (scholarship recipients, endowed chairs)Athletics programs and athletes (college sports teams, stadium projects)
About Wasserman Foundation
Wasserman Foundation’s giving is defined by a sustained, multi-year commitment to UCLA, with the largest recent gift recorded at $3,000,000 for the Pauley Pavilion and Athletics Capital Campaign. Across the recent grants list, UCLA Foundation appears repeatedly, including support for UCLA CARES, the Wasserman Endowed Dean, and athletics-related priorities tied to the campus. That pattern makes the foundation read less like a broad, dispersed grantmaker and more like a concentrated university benefactor with a close institutional relationship to one recipient. The foundation also supports campus-linked athletics and student-support initiatives in large blocks, including $1,500,000 gifts for UCLA CARES and Pauley Pavilion and a $2,000,000 grant for UCLA CARES in 2024 and again in 2025. Beyond UCLA, the record shows selected support for major arts, civic, and philanthropic institutions, including LACMA, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Bill Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles. The overall profile is one of large, targeted gifts rather than a broad portfolio of many small grantees.
What Wasserman Foundation Funds
Higher education support is the clearest theme in the recent grants record. Wasserman Foundation gave $700,000 to UCLA Foundation for the Wasserman Endowed Dean and $600,000 for the same purpose in 2023, alongside other UCLA-directed gifts for campus athletics and CARES. Student support also appears as a recurring priority. In 2024 and 2025, the foundation made $2,000,000 grants to UCLA Foundation for UCLA CARES, and earlier it gave $1,500,000 for the same program. Outside the university setting, the foundation backs arts institutions and cultural campaigns. It gave $500,000 to Lacma for the LACMA Momentum Campaign, $500,000 for the Building LACMA Campaign, and $757,000 to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for the 2024 Costume Institute Benefit. Civic and public-facing work also appears through a $550,000 grant to Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles for Summit of the Americas.
How Wasserman Foundation Gives
Typical awards are in the low five figures at the middle of the distribution: p25 is $5,000, median grant size is $10,000, and p75 is $30,938. The recent record also includes much larger capital and institutional gifts, which create a wide spread between routine support and flagship commitments. The foundation’s grant history shows recurring support across multiple years for the same recipients and programs, especially UCLA-linked awards and select arts and civic beneficiaries. It funds individuals and does not make program-related investments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$13.7M
Total Assets
$113.7M
Total Revenue
$3.7M
Total Expenses
$15.7M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $5K and $31K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$31K
Geographic Reach
National37 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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