The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a private foundation based in two individual recipients It makes grants primarily for original research and education related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics.
Key facts about Alfred P Sloan Foundation
In short: Alfred P Sloan Foundation gave $89.0M across 522 grants in 2024 (avg $171K), top state California. 22% of 2024 grantees were new. Source: 2024 IRS Form 990-PF.
- EIN
- 13-1623877
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2024
- Annual giving (2024)
- $89,001,751
- Grants made (2024)
- 522
- Average grant
- $170,501
- Median grant
- $98,105
- New grantees (estimate)
- 22% first-time grantees (51 of 232, 2024)
- Total assets
- $2,173,558,178
- Primary geography
- California (22% of itemized 2024 grant dollars)
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- Yes
- How to apply
- The Foundation accepts unsolicited requests through its grant application process. Full details ↓
- Deadline
- The 2024 filing states that there are no deadlines.
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2024; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology). Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Financial Overview
From 2024 IRS Form 990-PF · View filing
Total Assets
$2.2B
+2.7% YoY
Annual Giving
$89.0M
-0.8% YoY
Grant Count
522
-0.8% YoY
Avg Grant Size
$171K
-0.1% YoY
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Alfred P Sloan Foundation reported a distributable amount of $105.1M for 2024 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.
Is Alfred P Sloan Foundation open to new grantees?
22%
first-time grantees, 2024
In 2024, 51 of 232 grantees (22%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $196K; repeat grants $433K. How we count
Medians: $93K first-time, $250K repeat.
- 63% of 2024 grantees were also funded in 2023. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2021 to 2024 (+3%). Method
- In 2024 it paid out 100% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Foundations have until the end of the next year to meet it. Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2020–2024). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.
Mission & Focus Areas
The Foundation’s mission is to improve the welfare of all through the advancement of scientific knowledge. Its website says it primarily supports original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics. It seeks original initiatives led by outstanding individuals or teams, with methodological rigor and high expected returns to society, where other sources of funding are not yet widely available.
The 2024 grants illustrate support for research, education, and related activities. For example, Carnegie Mellon University received a grant for research on the techno-economics of critical industries and supply chains, and the Research Foundation of the City University of an individual recipient received one for research experience and mentoring for students transferring from CUNY community colleges. The grantees’ own descriptions also show a range of organizational missions: the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering says it prepares undergraduates for STEM success, while the Social Science Research Council says it fosters innovative research and nurtures new generations of social scientists. Ensemble Studio Theatre describes its mission as developing and producing new plays; the Foundation’s grant to it was specifically for science plays.
Grantmaking
In filing year 2024, the Foundation awarded 522 grants totaling $89,001,751. Grants ranged from $10,000 to $1,479,024, with a median of $98,105.
Among the largest 2024 grants were $1,479,024 to Carnegie Mellon University for research on the techno-economics of critical industries and their supply chains; $1,332,967 to PERI Support Fund for data on the U.S. care economy; and $1,030,788 to Convergent Research for open-source proof-assistant software. Other large awards included $1,025,621 to the Research Foundation of the City University of an individual recipient for student research experience and mentoring, and $1,001,000 to the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering to administer scholarships for the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership.
The Foundation’s website directs applicants to identify a relevant grantmaking program and submit a Letter of Inquiry to that program’s director. If invited, applicants may submit a full proposal; the Foundation says proposals undergo rigorous review and may receive outside expert review. Its published exclusions include political campaigns and activities, lobbying, grants to individuals except through its Books program, grants in religion, medical research, or humanities, and most projects aimed at pre-college students except through its an individual recipient City initiative. It also excludes most creative or performing-arts projects unless related to public education about science, technology, or economics, as well as endowments, fundraising, and building or laboratory construction or renovation.
Review Cycle
The 2024 filing states that there are no deadlines.
How to Apply
The Foundation accepts unsolicited requests through its grant application process. Applicants should review the relevant program’s requirements and submit a Letter of Inquiry to the program director.
Open Grants
13 open opportunities from Alfred P Sloan Foundation
Alfred P. Sloan Economics Grant Program
Alfred P Sloan Foundation
Amount
Varies
Deadline
Deadline not published
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship Grant
Alfred P Sloan Foundation
Amount
US $75,000
Deadline
Deadline not published
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: Exploratory Grantmaking in Technology Grant
Alfred P Sloan Foundation
Amount
Varies
Deadline
Deadline not published
Ready to take the next step with Alfred P Sloan Foundation?
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2024, the largest shares of grant dollars went to recipients in California (22%), an individual recipient (15%), Massachusetts (14%), Washington, D.C. (8%), and Pennsylvania (5%).
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2024 grant dollars across all 522 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Giving Over Time
Total grant dollars and number of grants per year
From 2020 to 2024, annual grant giving ranged from $83.2M (2020) to $90.8M (2022). In 2024 it made 522 grants totaling $89.0M.
Grant Insights
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2024
The largest 2024 recipient was University of California Berkeley ($4.5M across 21 grants). Together the top 10 received $20.8M.
Organizations only. It also paid 26 grants to individuals ($891,072), which are not listed by name.
Grant Size Distribution
2,566 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was in the $50–100K range: 963 grants of 2,566 (38%).
Giving History
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA | To study the techno-economics of critical industries and their supply chains | $1,479,024 |
| Peri Support Fund Amherst, MA | To improve the availability, accessibility, and accuracy of data on the U.S. care economy | $1,332,967 |
| Convergent Research Cambridge, MA | To make mathematics more reliable, searchable, understandable, and accessible by developing open source proof-assistant software of great value for research, applications, and education | $1,030,788 |
| Research Foundation of the City University of NY New York, NY | To provide research experience and mentoring to promising students transferring from cuny community colleges to cuny senior colleges | $1,025,621 |
| National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering Inc Alexandria, VA | To administer scholarships for the sloan indigenous graduate partnership (SIGP) program | $1,001,000 |
| University of California Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA | To launch a sustainable network of open source program offices across the university of California system | $925,775 |
| Harvard University Cambridge, MA | To enable the safe analysis of private data by expanding both an open-source library of software tools as well as a growing community of users | $875,419 |
| University of California Berkeley Berkeley, CA | To improve the user experience (UX) of scientific software through development of an open source design system, infrastructure for collaborative prototyping on user interfaces, and training curriculum | $843,319 |
| Social Science Research Council New York, NY | To provide professional development opportunities to sloan scholar alumni of the legacy, ucem, and sigp programs via the sloan scholars mentoring network, track scholar outcomes, and facilitate connectivity between current sloan scholars and alumni | $767,551 |
| Wikimedia Foundation San Francisco, CA | To leverage ai for the benefit of wikipedias readers and contributors, including tools to address vandalism | $715,000 |
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,173,558,178 | $189,111,556 | $109,585,787 | $89,001,751 |
| 2023 | $2,116,962,267 | $118,438,028 | $119,175,597 | $89,745,363 |
| 2022 | $2,056,912,312 | $118,541,925 | $110,822,424 | $90,775,695 |
| Metric | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets | $2,173,558,178 | $2,116,962,267 | $2,056,912,312 |
| Revenue | $189,111,556 | $118,438,028 | $118,541,925 |
| Expenses | $109,585,787 | $119,175,597 | $110,822,424 |
| Qualifying Distributions | $104,675,446 | $103,083,683 | $104,108,839 |
| Net Investment Income | $124,089,849 | $68,124,700 | $73,451,677 |
| Distributable Amount | $105,092,422 | $102,059,746 | $104,476,627 |
Data update history
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2024 filing lists Adam Falk as trustee and president, Ruth Brenner as treasurer, secretary, and senior vice president of finance and operations, and Frederick Henderson as trustee and chairman. Other listed trustees are Cynthia Barnhart, Bonnie L. Bassler, Francine Berman, Judith Chevalier, Thad Hill, Paul Jacobson, and Ray Jayawardhana.
Alfred P Sloan Foundation is led by Adam Falk, Trustee & President on every filing since 2020; all 15 officers listed in 2024 are compensated.
Officers on the 2024 filing
Adam Falk
Trustee & President
On filings since 2020
40 hrs/week
$1.1M (2020) → $1.2M (2024)
Frederick Henderson
Trustee & Chairman
Trustee → Trustee & Chairman, 2021
On filings since 2020
4 hrs/week
$32K (2020) → $38K (2024)
Bonnie L. Bassler
Trustee
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$31K (2020) → $25K (2024)
Cynthia Barnhart
Trustee
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$31K (2020) → $25K (2024)
Francine Berman
Trustee
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$31K (2020) → $25K (2024)
Jeff Knight
Trustee
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$15K (2020) → $35K (2024)
Michael Purugganan
Trustee
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
$31K (2020) → $25K (2024)
Diana Wagner
Trustee
On filings since 2021
2 hrs/week
$15K (2021) → $29K (2024)
Judith Chevalier
Trustee
On filings since 2021
2 hrs/week
$15K (2021) → $32K (2024)
Ray Jayawardhana
Trustee
On filings since 2021
2 hrs/week
$10K (2021) → $25K (2024)
Paul Jacobson
Trustee
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
$12K (2022) → $32K (2024)
Susan Tierney
Trustee
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
$12K (2022) → $29K (2024)
Valerie Smith
Trustee
On filings since 2022
2 hrs/week
$10K (2022) → $25K (2024)
Thad Hill
Trustee
New on the 2024 filing
2 hrs/week
$10K (2024)
Ruth Brenner
Treasurer, Secretary & Senior Vice President Finance
On filings since 2021
40 hrs/week
$151K (2021) → $552K (2024)
Former officers (8)
- Former: Freeman A. Hrabowski III (2020–2023) — Trustee
- Former: Richard Bernstein (2020–2022) — Trustee
- Former: Robert Litterman (2020–2022) — Trustee
- Former: James M. Poterba (2020–2021) — Trustee
- Former: Kevin Burke (2020–2021) — Trustee
- Former: Leisle Lin (2020–2021) — Treasurer, Secretary & Senior Vice President Finance
- Former: Marta Tienda (2020–2021) — Trustee & Chairman
- Former: Mary Schmidt Campbell (2020) — Trustee
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2024. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.
Compensation Overview
From 2024 IRS filing
The highest reported compensation on the 2024 filing was $1.2M, to Adam Falk (Trustee/President). 15 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.
Contact
Application contact: Grants
Mailing address: 630 Fifth Avenue Suite 2200, New York, NY 10111
Phone: (212) 649-1649
Website: https://sloan.org
Frequently asked questions about Alfred P Sloan Foundation
How much does Alfred P Sloan Foundation give each year?
Alfred P Sloan Foundation gave $89.0M across 522 grants in 2024, according to its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2023 it gave $89.7M across 526 grants.
What is Alfred P Sloan Foundation's typical grant size?
Alfred P Sloan Foundation's median grant in 2024 was $98,105, and its average grant was $170,501, across 522 grants on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Alfred P Sloan Foundation that year got $196K on average.
Where does Alfred P Sloan Foundation give grants?
Alfred P Sloan Foundation's top state is California, with 22% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. The next largest states were New York (15%) and Massachusetts (14%). The most frequent recipient cities were New York, NY (51 grants), Cambridge, MA (39 grants), Washington, DC (32 grants) and Berkeley, CA (23 grants).
Does Alfred P Sloan Foundation give general operating support?
Occasionally: 0% of Alfred P Sloan Foundation's 2024 grants with a stated purpose (1 of 522) were for general or operating support, per its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF.
Who are Alfred P Sloan Foundation's largest grantees?
Alfred P Sloan Foundation's largest 2024 grantees include University of California Berkeley ($4,476,960 across 21 grants), National Bureau of Economic Research Inc ($2,861,539 across 13 grants) and Carnegie Mellon University ($2,568,625 across 9 grants), according to its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. It also paid 26 grants to individuals ($891,072), which are not listed by name. Together they received 11% of its itemized 2024 grant dollars.
How large is Alfred P Sloan Foundation?
Alfred P Sloan Foundation reported $2.2B in total assets on its 2024 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $104.7M in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $105.1M (roughly 5% of its investment assets). Falling short in one year is not a violation: foundations have until the end of the next year to meet the minimum.
What does Alfred P Sloan Foundation fund?
The Foundation’s mission is to improve the welfare of all through the advancement of scientific knowledge. Its website says it primarily supports original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Alfred P Sloan Foundation?
The Foundation accepts unsolicited requests through its grant application process. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Alfred P Sloan Foundation's EIN?
Alfred P Sloan Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 13-1623877. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2024.
Does Alfred P Sloan Foundation accept unsolicited proposals?
Yes, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated October 2026.
Here's the math on researching Alfred P Sloan Foundation by hand.
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