WAVE SERVICES INC directs virtually all of its philanthropy to a single beneficiary: Pepperdine University. Its support is large-scale, unrestricted/institutional in nature, and appears focused on sustaining a private, faith-affiliated university in Malibu/Southern California. The foundation’s giving profile suggests a priority on higher-education capacity and local institutional stability rather than broad, diversified grantmaking.
Wave Services Inc directs virtually all of its philanthropy to Pepperdine University, with recent support that is institutional in scale rather than project-specific. The largest listed grant, $6,813,719 in 2023, went to the university in Malibu for institutional support, followed by another $607,512 in 2024 for the same purpose. That pattern points to a funder focused on sustaining a single higher-education institution over time. The foundation’s giving is closely tied to Pepperdine’s campus community and academic life. Active programs linked to the university include a Community Belonging Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, a Community Belonging Research Grant, and a Community-Based Research Program, all centered on faculty, students, and community partnerships. The named beneficiaries in the foundation’s profile include undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and researchers, and campus staff. Across the available record, the foundation’s philanthropy is local and concentrated in California, with all listed grants going to a recipient in Malibu. The overall picture is of a private foundation supporting a faith-affiliated university through both large institutional grants and targeted internal research and program support.
A central theme in Wave Services Inc’s grantmaking is community belonging. The foundation supports a Community Belonging Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for faculty-student research, a Community Belonging Research Grant for faculty scholarship, and a Community-Based Research Program for collaborations that include nonprofit partners and dissemination through presentations and publications. The other clear thread is higher-education capacity. The two largest recent grants in the record both went to Pepperdine University for institutional support, indicating continued backing for the university’s core operations rather than only short-term projects. Within that university setting, the foundation also backs research and academic development. The fellowship program provides student stipend support, housing and meals, and faculty stipends, while the research grant is designed to advance scholarship that creates new knowledge or strengthens existing inquiry in community belonging.
Wave Services Inc’s listed grants are large relative to many private foundations: the p25 grant size is $2,159,064, the median is $3,710,616, and the p75 is $5,262,167. The recent record shows repeated support to the same recipient across 2023 and 2024, both for institutional support at Pepperdine University, which suggests recurring institutional giving rather than one-off awards. The foundation is structured as a private grantmaker with no individual giving and no program-related investments. Its active programs also show that some support is available through named research initiatives that accept unsolicited applications.
$608K
$147.9M
$110K
$346K
Most grants fall between $2.2M and $5.3M, with a median of $3.7M.
25th Percentile
$2.2M
Median
$3.7M
75th Percentile
$5.3M
SARA COSENTINO
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Highly concentrated: very large, repeat grants to a single core grantee (Pepperdine), indicating focused, possibly long-term or endowment/capital support rather than distributed small grants.
Notable grantees: Pepperdine University
The foundation’s giving is geographically concentrated. All listed grants in the available record went to recipients in California, and the recipient-country distribution is entirely U.S.-based. Malibu is the only recipient city named in the recent grants list, reflecting a local pattern of support centered on Pepperdine University. The available data also identifies the top state by grant count as California, matching the recipient locations shown.
The foundation supports higher-education and research-oriented work centered on Pepperdine University, including institutional support, community belonging research, undergraduate research fellowships, and community-based research programs involving faculty, students, and nonprofit partners.
The reported grant-size distribution is high: p25 is $2,159,064, median grant size is $3,710,616, and p75 is $5,262,167. The two recent grants listed were $6,813,719 and $607,512.
The available record shows a very concentrated pattern of giving to Pepperdine University, including two recent institutional-support grants in 2023 and 2024. The active program descriptions also point to the same university community.
Yes, at least some of the active programs accept unsolicited applications. That includes the Community Belonging Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, the Community Belonging Research Grant, and the Community-Based Research Program.
The grant record is local and California-centered. All listed grants went to recipients in California, and the recent grants list names Pepperdine University in Malibu as the recipient.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Current and upcoming funding from Wave Services that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: University faculty applicants; intended for faculty scholarship and research projects. Exact eligibility details not fully specified on the source page.
Deadline: February 10, 2027
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Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY | MALIBU, CA | $607,512 | 2024 | INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT |
| PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY | MALIBU, CA | $6,813,719 | 2023 | INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT |
