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Rippleworks Inc

Private foundation · Grantmaker San Francisco, CA EIN: 46-5604812 Website

Rippleworks Inc. is a private foundation based in San Francisco, California. It supports social impact organizations and mission-driven ventures with practical assistance and flexible funding to help them scale and improve more lives.

Key facts about Rippleworks Inc

In short: Rippleworks Inc gave $153.8M across 89 grants in 2025 (avg $1.7M), mostly in California. 72% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

EIN
46-5604812
Latest 990 filing
Form 990-PF, 2025
Annual giving (2025)
$153,837,539
Grants made (2025)
89
Average grant
$1,728,512
Median grant
$100,000
New grantees (estimate)
72% first-time grantees (54 of 75, 2025)
Total assets
$2,523,976,693
Primary geography
California (64% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
Accepts unsolicited proposals
No

Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated September 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 2025 IRS Form 990-PF · View filing

Total Assets

$2.5B

+77.9% YoY

Annual Giving

$153.8M

+281.0% YoY

Grant Count

89

-3.3% YoY

Avg Grant Size

$1.7M

+293.8% YoY

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Rippleworks Inc reported a distributable amount of $73.1M for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

Is Rippleworks Inc open to new grantees?

72%

first-time grantees, 2025

In 2025, 54 of 75 grantees (72%) were first-time recipients. First grants averaged $2.6M; repeat grants $633K. How we count

Medians: $100K first-time, $250K repeat.

  • 20% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
  • Giving grew 298% from 2022 to 2025. Method
  • In 2025 it paid out 236% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method

Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (2019–2025). Recipient names are matched across years, so a renamed or misspelled grantee can look new; grants to individuals are left out. Methodology.

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

Mission & Focus Areas

Rippleworks’ mission is to provide practical support to social impact organizations so they can scale faster and improve more lives. Its stated areas of interest include challenges related to access to education and healthcare, environmental resilience, and community development.

Rippleworks supports nonprofit and for-profit ventures. Its capital criteria include a clear path to growth, strong leadership, demonstrated impact, service to underserved populations, and a need for timely catalytic capital. It offers grants to nonprofits and flexible debt to for-profit or revenue-generating ventures, generally in the $1 million–$3 million range.

Examples among its 2025 grantees illustrate the range of work supported. Inkomoko describes its mission as supporting African entrepreneurs to grow businesses, create jobs, improve livelihoods, and foster economic development in their communities. Project Healthy Children describes work supporting food-fortification policy and flour millers in Eastern Africa. We Care Solar says it designs and implements solar energy programs to improve healthcare and education. Kheyti describes providing technology solutions to smallholder farmers in India.

Grantmaking

In 2025, Rippleworks reported 89 grants totaling $153,837,539. The median grant was $100,000; grants ranged from $550 to $91,808,000. The largest listed grants included $91,808,000 to A Khmer Buddhist Foundation for general support, $10 million to Windward Fund for general support, and $5 million each to Food for Education and Inkomoko for general support. Other listed grants included $3 million to Project Healthy Children (Sanku), We Care Solar, and several other organizations.

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Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

Rippleworks says it is open to funding any sector or geography. In 2025, 64% of grant dollars went to recipients in California, 7% to Washington, DC, 4% to Washington state, and 3% to New York; 11% was listed in an unidentified category. Its grantees’ stated work includes programs in multiple countries, including India and Eastern Africa.

Grant Distribution by State

35states

Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 89 itemized grants.

Cities

San FranciscoNew YorkWashingtonOaklandChicagoPortlandBerkeleyBostonBrooklynAtlantaWaylandWilmingtonMenlo ParkPalo AltoRedwood CityAustinCambridgeDenverGreenbraeLos Angeles

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$50M$100M$150M$200M23 grants2019 27 grants2020 78 grants2021 89 grants2022 106 grants2023 92 grants2024 89 grants2025

From 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $6.7M (2021) to $153.8M (2025). In 2025 it made 89 grants totaling $153.8M.

Grant Insights

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 10 recipients in 2025

A Khmer Buddhist Foundation: $91.8MA Khmer Buddhist Foundation$91.8MWindward Fund: $10.0MWindward Fund$10.0MInkomoko: $5.2M across 3 grantsInkomoko$5.2M · 3 grantsFood for Education: $5.0MFood for Education$5.0MWe Care Solar: $3.6M across 3 grantsWe Care Solar$3.6M · 3 grantsDevelopment Media International: $3.5M across 2 grantsDevelopment MediaInternational$3.5M · 2 grantsCovaagua: $3.1M across 2 grantsCovaagua$3.1M · 2 grantsProject Healthy Children (Sanku): $3.1M across 2 grantsProject Healthy Children(Sanku)$3.1M · 2 grantsSmartstart: $3.0MSmartstart$3.0MUjamaa DBA Manasseh's Children: $2.6M across 3 grantsUjamaa DBA Manasseh's Children$2.6M · 3 grants

The largest 2025 recipient was A Khmer Buddhist Foundation ($91.8M). Together the top 10 received $130.9M.

Grant Size Distribution

454 grants across all recorded years

227<$50K55$50–100K38$100–250K11$250–500K68$500K–1M50$1–5M5$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 227 grants of 454 (50%).

Giving History

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
A Khmer Buddhist Foundation San Francisco, CAGeneral Support$91,808,000
Windward Fund Washington, DCGeneral Support$10,000,000
Food for Education New York, NYGeneral Support$5,000,000
Inkomoko Clinton, WAGeneral Support$5,000,000
Covaagua Saint Paul, MNGeneral Support$3,000,000
Development Media International To support dmi in conducting evidence-based social behaviour change (SBC) campaigns$3,000,000
Project Healthy Children (Sanku) Westborough, MAGeneral Support$3,000,000
Smartstart To support grantees affordable, accessible, and high-quality early learning programs for low-resource communities in south africa.$3,000,000
We Care Solar Berkeley, CAGeneral Support$3,000,000
Mafisa Community Transformation Trust Ltd To expand mafisas climate and veterinary program in zambia.$2,500,000

Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Filing year Grant total Number of grants
2025 $153,837,539 89
2024 $40,379,366 92
2023 $53,489,869 106
Revenue
Expenses
Qualifying Distributions
Net Investment Income
$0$200M$400M$600M2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Metric202520242023
Total Assets$2,523,976,693$1,419,088,778$1,110,969,971
Revenue$437,395,417$149,419,625$144,469,459
Expenses$182,809,774$56,031,456$72,154,652
Qualifying Distributions$172,265,007$53,905,347$65,906,995
Net Investment Income$482,456,338$150,546,490$73,283,127
Distributable Amount$73,137,139$66,429,091$51,220,778

Data update history

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS February 3, 2020)
  2. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS March 11, 2021)
  3. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS March 14, 2022)
  4. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS October 4, 2023)
  5. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS March 15, 2024)
  6. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS March 15, 2025)
  7. Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS March 15, 2026)
  8. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025

Leadership & Key People

Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings

The 2025 filing lists Doug Galen as president/CEO, Christian Larsen as secretary/treasurer, Anushka Ratnayake as a board member, John Carroll as controller, and Alexa Parsons as director of finance/controller. Rippleworks’ website says Chris Larsen and Doug Galen co-founded the organization in 2015.

Rippleworks Inc is led by Doug Galen, President & CEO on every filing since 2019; 3 of 5 officers listed in 2025 are compensated.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Doug Galen

    President & CEO

    On filings since 2019

    40 hrs/week

    $660K (2019) → $970K (2025)

  • Alexa Parsons

    Director of Finance & Controller

    New on the 2025 filing

    40 hrs/week

    $26K (2025)

  • John Carroll

    Controller

    On filings since 2023

    40 hrs/week

    $207K (2023) → $245K (2025)

  • Christian Larsen

    Secretary & Treasurer

    On filings since 2019

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Anushka Ratnayake

    Board Member

    On filings since 2022

    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.

Compensation Overview

From 2025 IRS filing

Doug Galen — President/CEO: $970KDoug GalenPresident/CEO$970KJohn Carroll — Controller: $245KJohn CarrollController$245KAlexa Parsons — Director of Finance/Controller: $26KAlexa ParsonsDirector of Finance/Controller$26K

The highest reported compensation on the 2025 filing was $970K, to Doug Galen (President/CEO). 3 officers or directors reported compensation on that filing.

Contact

Mailing address: 889 Winslow Street 501, Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: (650) 499-3120
Website: https://rippleworks.org

Frequently asked questions about Rippleworks Inc

How much does Rippleworks Inc give each year?

Rippleworks Inc gave $153.8M across 89 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $40.4M across 92 grants.

What is Rippleworks Inc's typical grant size?

Rippleworks Inc's median grant in 2025 was $100,000, and its average grant was $1,728,512, across 89 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from Rippleworks Inc that year got $2.6M on average.

Where does Rippleworks Inc give grants?

Rippleworks Inc gives mostly in California: 64% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest state was District of Columbia (7%). The most frequent recipient cities were San Francisco, CA (5 grants), Washington, DC (5 grants), Wilmington, DE (5 grants) and Clinton, WA (3 grants).

Does Rippleworks Inc give general operating support?

Yes: 76% of Rippleworks Inc's 2025 grants with a stated purpose (68 of 89) were for general or operating support, per its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Who are Rippleworks Inc's largest grantees?

Rippleworks Inc's largest 2025 grantees include A Khmer Buddhist Foundation ($91,808,000), Windward Fund ($10,000,000) and Inkomoko ($5,237,958 across 3 grants), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 70% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.

How large is Rippleworks Inc?

Rippleworks Inc reported $2.5B in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $172.3M in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $73.1M (roughly 5% of its investment assets).

What does Rippleworks Inc fund?

Rippleworks’ mission is to provide practical support to social impact organizations so they can scale faster and improve more lives. Its stated areas of interest include challenges related to access to education and healthcare, environmental resilience, and community development. See mission & focus areas ↑

How do I apply for a grant from Rippleworks Inc?

Rippleworks Inc does not accept unsolicited proposals, according to Grantable's research on its published guidelines. Check rippleworks.org for any change to that policy.

What is Rippleworks Inc's EIN?

Rippleworks Inc's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 46-5604812. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.

Does Rippleworks Inc accept unsolicited proposals?

No, according to Grantable's research on the foundation's published guidelines. See how to apply ↑

Data last updated September 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.

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