The Good Works Foundation
The Good Works Foundation is a private foundation based in Aspen, Colorado. Its 2025 filing limits contributions to organizations represented in education, welfare, and the arts.
The Good Works Foundation at a glance
In short: The Good Works Foundation gave $462K across 18 grants in 2025 (avg $26K), mostly in California. 11% of 2025 grantees were new. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $462,499
- +6.6% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 18
- -47.1% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $25,694
- +101.4% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $7,500
- Total assets
- $1,275,982
- +2.6% vs 2024
- New grantees (estimate)
- 11% first-time grantees (2 of 18, 2025; small sample)
- Primary geography
- California (76% 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 The Good Works Foundation
- How to Apply
-
The filing says to contact Laura Donnelly and submit a personally signed letter and documentation explaining how the funds will be used. The foundation does not restrict giving to preselected organizations. Its stated restriction is that contributions are limited to organizations represented in education, welfare, and the arts.
- Review Cycle
- Quarterly.
- Deadline
- Quarterly.
- Contact
Application contact: Laura Donnelley
Mailing address: C/O Reese Henry Company 400 East, Main Street Suite 2, Aspen, CO 81611
Phone: (310) 471-1969
Email: ld@goodworks.org
Website: https://www.thegoodworks.foundation
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who The Good Works Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was ICA LA ($285K). Together the top 10 received $435K.
Grant Size Distribution
177 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 170 grants of 177 (96%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2025, 76% of grant dollars went to recipients in California, 8% to New York, 5% to Colorado, 4% to New Mexico, and 2% to Washington, DC.
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 18 itemized grants.
States
Cities
Is The Good Works Foundation open to new grantees?
11%
first-time grantees, 2025
In 2025, 2 of 18 grantees (11%) were first-time recipients. With only 18 grantees, that is a small sample: one grantee more or less moves the share by about 6 points. First grants averaged $23K; repeat grants $26K. How we count
Medians: $23K first-time, $5K repeat.
- 78% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (+14%). Method
- In 2025 it paid out 781% of 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
From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $407K (2022) to $500K (2021). In 2025 it made 18 grants totaling $462K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| ICA LA Los Angeles, CA | Donation | $284,999 |
| Friends of the La Philharmonic Los Angeles, CA | Donation | $25,000 |
| Performance Art Museum Lost Angeles, CA | Donation | $25,000 |
| The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, NY | Donation | $25,000 |
| Site Santa Fe Santa Fe, NM | Donation | $20,000 |
| Los Angeles Opera Los Angeles, CA | Donation | $15,000 |
| The Art Base Basalt, CO | Donation | $15,000 |
| Beth Morrison Projects Brooklyn, NY | Donation | $10,000 |
| JAPANCRAFT21 Alexandria, VA | Donation | $10,000 |
| Anderson Ranch Art Center Snowmass Village, CO | Donation | $5,000 |
Ready to take the next step with The Good Works Foundation?
Financial History
Multi-year comparison from IRS filings
| Filing year | Total Assets | Revenue | Expenses | Grants paid | Grants | Qualifying Distributions | Net Investment Income | Distributable Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $1,275,982 | $401,684 | $494,172 | $462,499 | 18 | $478,960 | $160,473 | $61,326 |
| 2024 | $1,244,047 | $409,511 | $466,615 | $433,700 | 34 | $451,761 | $44,759 | $60,596 |
| 2023 | $1,254,798 | $328,361 | $521,792 | $485,860 | 37 | $502,588 | $16,906 | $64,944 |
| 2022 | $1,314,081 | $188,789 | $434,209 | $406,865 | 45 | $420,362 | $11,699 | $64,137 |
| 2021 | $1,488,636 | $592,930 | $533,382 | $499,700 | 43 | $510,806 | $155,643 | $79,729 |
| 2020 | $1,492,497 | $619,299 | $494,388 | $471,000 | 47 | — | $54,344 | $76,472 |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, The Good Works Foundation reported a distributable amount of $61K 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
The foundation’s filing identifies education, welfare, and the arts as areas in which eligible organizations must be represented. Its 2025 grantees include arts organizations: ICA LA describes its work as fostering diversity, innovation, and discovery in contemporary art, while SITE Santa Fe says it celebrates contemporary creative expression. The Art Base describes its mission as supporting local artists and craftspeople and providing visual-arts learning opportunities.
Other grantees describe work in additional areas: World Central Kitchen says it provides meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises; Roaring Fork Conservancy says it works to inspire people to explore, value, and protect its watershed.
Grantmaking
In 2025, the foundation made 18 grants totaling $462,499. Grants ranged from $2,500 to $284,999, with a median of $7,500. The largest award was $284,999 to ICA LA. Other notable grants included $25,000 each to Friends of the LA Philharmonic, Performance Art Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; $20,000 to SITE Santa Fe; and $15,000 each to Los Angeles Opera and The Art Base.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
Laura Donnelly is listed as president on the 2025 filing.
The Good Works Foundation is led by Laura Donnelley, President on every filing since 2020 — the only officer listed, and uncompensated.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Laura Donnelley
President
On filings since 2020
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Data from IRS Form 990 filings, 2020–2025. "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 The Good Works Foundation
How much does The Good Works Foundation give each year?
The Good Works Foundation gave $462K across 18 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $434K across 34 grants.
What is The Good Works Foundation's typical grant size?
The Good Works Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $7,500, and its average grant was $25,694, across 18 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Organizations receiving their first grant from The Good Works Foundation that year got $23K on average.
Where does The Good Works Foundation give grants?
The Good Works Foundation gives mostly in California: 76% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF went to recipients there. The next largest states were New York (8%) and Colorado (5%). The most frequent recipient cities were Los Angeles, CA (3 grants), Washington, DC (3 grants), New York, NY (2 grants) and Basalt, CO (2 grants).
Does The Good Works Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 18 grants with a stated purpose on The Good Works Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Donation" (18 grants).
Who are The Good Works Foundation's largest grantees?
The Good Works Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include ICA LA ($284,999), Friends of the La Philharmonic ($25,000) and Performance Art Museum ($25,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 72% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is The Good Works Foundation?
The Good Works Foundation reported $1.3M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $479K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $61K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does The Good Works Foundation fund?
The foundation’s filing identifies education, welfare, and the arts as areas in which eligible organizations must be represented. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from The Good Works Foundation?
The filing says to contact Laura Donnelly and submit a personally signed letter and documentation explaining how the funds will be used. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is The Good Works Foundation's EIN?
The Good Works Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 95-4471685. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.
Data last updated October 2026. Sourced from IRS Form 990-PF filings. Research dossier generated September 2026.
Data update history
(2)
When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable
- Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS July 23, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024
Explore Open Grants
Browse active grant opportunities in The Good Works Foundation's focus areas in our free grants database
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). The Good Works Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 13, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/the-good-works-foundation-morg_5a8fc1bdd25942739cc6ee9afe5e8660
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_954471685_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{The Good Works Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/the-good-works-foundation-morg_5a8fc1bdd25942739cc6ee9afe5e8660},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-13. 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 The Good Works Foundation'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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