Proper Giving

Private foundation · Grantmaker Santa Monica, CA EIN: 81-2502304

Proper Giving is a private foundation based in Santa Monica, California. In 2025, it gave 15 grants totaling $60,716 to charitable organizations, including organizations working on homelessness, emergency food relief, fire-victim assistance, and animal welfare.

Proper Giving at a glance

In short: Proper Giving gave $61K across 15 grants in 2025 (avg $4K), mostly in California. 53% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Annual giving (2025)
$60,716
+118.0% vs 2024
Grants made (2025)
15
+25.0% vs 2024
Average grant
$4,048
+74.4% vs 2024
Median grant
$2,170
Total assets
$74,472
+3.4% vs 2024
New grantees (estimate)
53% first-time grantees (8 of 15, 2025; small sample)
Primary geography
California (62% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Latest 990 filing
Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing

Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026. New grantees are estimated by matching recipient names across years (methodology).

How to apply to Proper Giving

Accepts unsolicited proposals
No
How to Apply

The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.

Contact

Mailing address: 225 Arizona Ave Suite 350, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: (818) 261-0014

Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.

Who Proper Giving funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

The People Concern: $16KThe People Concern$16KWorld Central Kitchen: $12KWorld Central Kitchen$12KCalifornia Fire Foundation: $7KCalifornia Fire Foundation$7KMobile Loaves & Fishes: $6KMobile Loaves & Fishes$6KCanine Rescue Club: $5KCanine Rescue Club$5KAsian Family Support Services: $3KAsian Family Support Services$3KFind Food Bank: $2KFind Food Bank$2KPalm Springs Animal Society: $2KPalm Springs Animal Society$2KBoys and Girls Center of Palm Springs: $1KBoys and Girls Center of PalmSprings$1KLarkin Street Youth Services: $1KLarkin Street Youth Services$1K

The largest 2025 recipient was The People Concern ($16K). Together the top 10 received $56K.

Grant Size Distribution

68 grants across all recorded years

67<$50K$50–100K1$100–250K$250–500K$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 67 grants of 68 (99%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

In 2025, grant dollars were distributed among recipients in California (62%), Washington, DC (20%), Texas (17%), and New York (1%).

Grant Distribution by State

8states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 15 itemized grants.

Cities

AustinSan FranciscoLos AngelesSanta MonicaPalm SpringsKanabNew YorkSeattleIndioCoral SpringsHonoluluMarina Del ReyMontaukSacramentoWashington

Is Proper Giving open to new grantees?

53%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 8 of 15 grantees (53%) were first-time recipients. With only 15 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 7 points. First grants averaged $4K; repeat grants $4K. How we count

Medians: $2K first-time, $1K repeat.

  • 40% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving fell 71% from 2022 to 2025. Method
  • In 2025 it paid out well above its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method

Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2020–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.

Giving History

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$100K$200K$300K0 grants2019 8 grants2020 9 grants2021 13 grants2022 19 grants2023 12 grants2024 15 grants2025

From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $14K (2020) to $208K (2022). In 2025 it made 15 grants totaling $61K.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
The People Concern Santa Monica, CAUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$15,965
World Central Kitchen Washington, DCUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$12,392
California Fire Foundation Sacramento, CAUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$7,000
Mobile Loaves & Fishes Austin, TXUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$6,338
Canine Rescue Club Santa Monica, CAUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$4,828
Asian Family Support Services Austin, TXUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$2,500
Find Food Bank Indio, CAUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$2,366
Palm Springs Animal Society Palm Springs, CAUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$2,170
Boys and Girls Center of Palm Springs Palm Springs, CAUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$1,494
Larkin Street Youth Services San Francisco, CAUnrestricted Grant to Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose$1,390
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsQualifying DistributionsDistributable Amount
2025$74,472$74,974$72,636$60,71615$70,561$963
2024$72,040$72,255$33,044$27,84712$31,169$303
2023$32,829$75,916$65,483$56,36419$63,783$914
2022$22,396$222,156$215,417$208,05713$213,485$543
2021$15,657$46,062$53,955$44,9009$48,029$358
2020$21,767$30,642$28,389$13,7068—$397
2019$18,844$22,324$5,378———$86

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Proper Giving reported a distributable amount of $963 for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

Research compiled by Grantable AI from public sources. Last updated September 2026.

Mission & Focus Areas

No mission statement for Proper Giving is provided. Its 2025 grants included support for organizations whose stated missions address homelessness and youth homelessness, food relief, fire safety and assistance to fire victims, and animal welfare. For example, The People Concern says it works to address homelessness, poverty, illness, abuse, and addiction; World Central Kitchen says it provides meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises; and Austin Pets Alive says it works to eliminate the killing of companion animals.

Grantmaking

In 2025, Proper Giving awarded 15 grants totaling $60,716. Grant amounts ranged from $426 to $15,965, with a median of $2,170. The largest grants included $15,965 to The People Concern, $12,392 to World Central Kitchen, $7,000 to California Fire Foundation, $6,338 to Mobile Loaves & Fishes, and $4,828 to Canine Rescue Club. The listed grant purposes were unrestricted support to further each recipient’s exempt purpose.

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

The 2025 filing lists Bradford Korzen as CEO, Brian De Lowe as secretary, and Serge Arutti as CFO.

Proper Giving is led by Bradford Korzen, CEO on every filing since 2019; none of the 3 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Bradford Korzen

    CEO

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Brian De Lowe

    Secretary

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Serge Arutti

    CFO

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2019–2025. "On filings since" is the earliest filing we hold that lists the person; hours are average hours per week as reported.

Frequently asked questions about Proper Giving

How much does Proper Giving give each year?

Proper Giving gave $61K across 15 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $28K across 12 grants.

What is Proper Giving's typical grant size?

Proper Giving's median grant in 2025 was $2,170, and its average grant was $4,048, across 15 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Proper Giving that year got $4K on average.

Where does Proper Giving give grants?

Proper Giving gives mostly in California: 62% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were District of Columbia (20%) and Texas (17%). The most frequent recipient cities were Austin, TX (4 grants), Santa Monica, CA (2 grants), Palm Springs, CA (2 grants) and San Francisco, CA (2 grants).

Does Proper Giving give general operating support?

Yes: 100% of Proper Giving's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (15 of 15) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Who are Proper Giving's largest grantees?

Proper Giving's largest 2025 grantees include The People Concern ($15,965), World Central Kitchen ($12,392) and California Fire Foundation ($7,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 58% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

How large is Proper Giving?

Proper Giving reported $74K in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $71K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $963 (roughly 5% of its investment assets).

What does Proper Giving fund?

No mission statement for Proper Giving is provided. Its 2025 grants included support for organizations whose stated missions address homelessness and youth homelessness, food relief, fire safety and assistance to fire victims, and animal welfare. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from Proper Giving?

The foundation states that it makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑

What is Proper Giving's EIN?

Proper Giving's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 81-2502304. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.

Does Proper Giving accept unsolicited proposals?

No, 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 September 2026.

Data update history

(8)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS April 4, 2020)
  2. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS June 22, 2021)
  3. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS April 2, 2022)
  4. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS November 7, 2023)
  5. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS April 1, 2024)
  6. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS May 15, 2025)
  7. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS March 13, 2026)
  8. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025

Explore Open Grants

Browse active grant opportunities in Proper Giving's focus areas in our free grants database

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Cite this profile

Grantable. (2026). Proper Giving funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/proper-giving-morg_60fddd977fd447f592d9b8a427ac1220

BibTeX
@misc{grantable_812502304_2026,
  author       = {{Grantable}},
  title        = {{Proper Giving funder profile}},
  howpublished = {GrantGraph},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://grantable.co/funders/proper-giving-morg_60fddd977fd447f592d9b8a427ac1220},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-15. Data licensed CC BY 4.0}
}

The figures on this page are open data under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with credit to Grantable and a link. Download the data.

Figures come from Proper Giving's IRS filings (methodology). AI-written summaries, news items and logos are not covered by the open licence. Spot an error? Email hello@grantable.co.

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