Tongs Charity Foundation

Private foundation · Grantmaker San Francisco, CA EIN: 20-5730270

Tongs Charity Foundation is a private foundation focused on Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness & Relief, based in San Francisco, CA. IRS filing data is available from 2020 through 2025. As of 2025, the organization holds $4.7M in total assets. In 2025, it awarded 2 grants totaling $317K. Net investment income was $343K.

Tongs Charity Foundation at a glance

In short: Tongs Charity Foundation gave $317K across 2 grants in 2025 (avg $159K). Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.

Annual giving (2025)
$317,208
-46.7% vs 2024
Grants made (2025)
2
+100.0% vs 2024
Average grant
$158,604
-73.4% vs 2024
Median grant
$158,604
Total assets
$4,702,069
-3.0% vs 2024
Latest 990 filing
Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing

Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated September 2026.

Who Tongs Charity Foundation funds

How this funder distributes its grants

Top Recipients

Top 2 recipients in 2025

China Voluntary Group: $307KChina Voluntary Group$307KBuckwheat Blossom Branch Student Aid Association: $10KBuckwheat Blossom BranchStudent Aid Association$10K

The largest 2025 recipient was China Voluntary Group ($307K). Together the top 2 received $317K.

Grant Size Distribution

9 grants across all recorded years

4<$50K$50–100K$100–250K3$250–500K2$500K–1M$1–5M$5M+

The most common grant size was under $50K: 4 grants of 9 (44%).

Geographic Focus

Where this funder awards grants

Grant Distribution by State

2states

Cities

NewarkNew YorjFremontNew York

How Tongs Charity Foundation gives

  • Giving held roughly steady from 2022 to 2025 (−14%). Method
  • In 2025 it paid out 98% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Foundations have until the end of the next year to meet it. Method

From the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings. Methodology.

Giving History

Giving Over Time

Total grant dollars and number of grants per year

$0$200K$400K$600K$800K1 grant2020 2 grants2021 2 grants2022 2 grants2023 1 grant2024 2 grants2025

From 2020 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $4K (2020) to $660K (2023). In 2025 it made 2 grants totaling $317K.

Grants by year

Grant recipients and amounts by year

RecipientPurposeAmount
China Voluntary Group Donation of winter jackets to the china voluntary group to help distribute jackets to the children and elderly of china in need.$306,934
Buckwheat Blossom Branch Student Aid Association Donation of school supplies to the buckwheat blossom branch student aid association to assist students with their academics.$10,274
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Financial History

Multi-year comparison from IRS filings

Figures from IRS filings, by filing year
Filing yearTotal AssetsRevenueExpensesGrants paidGrantsQualifying DistributionsNet Investment IncomeDistributable Amount
2025$4,702,069$376,811$483,440$317,2082$317,208$343,256$323,543
2024$4,845,726$565,198$740,259$595,6831$595,683$441,349$327,174
2023$5,068,280$264,332$772,252$660,0752$660,075$174,654$326,472
2022$5,481,135$411,321$479,592$369,0432$369,043$321,877$335,669
2021$5,563,837$437,701$442,554$297,0502$297,050$305,863$353,750
2020$5,466,953$267,734$88,103$3,7541—$191,883$297,050

Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Tongs Charity Foundation reported a distributable amount of $324K for 2025 — the minimum it must pay out in qualifying distributions.

Leadership & Key People

Officers and directors from IRS filings

Tongs Charity Foundation is led by Helen Tong Lam, CEO on every filing since 2020; none of the 6 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.

Officers on the 2025 filing

  • Helen Tong Lam

    CEO

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Franklin Tong

    President

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Colina Tong

    Secretary

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Janyu Tong

    Officer

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • John Tong

    CFO

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/week

    No compensation reported

  • Peter Tong

    Officer

    On filings since 2020

    1 hr/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 Tongs Charity Foundation

How much does Tongs Charity Foundation give each year?

Tongs Charity Foundation gave $317K across 2 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $596K across 1 grant.

How large is Tongs Charity Foundation?

Tongs Charity Foundation reported $4.7M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $317K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $324K (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 is Tongs Charity Foundation?

Tongs Charity Foundation is a private foundation focused on Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness & Relief, based in San Francisco, CA. It holds $4.7M in total assets as of 2025.

Where does Tongs Charity Foundation operate?

Tongs Charity Foundation has awarded grants in California, New York.

What is Tongs Charity Foundation's EIN?

Tongs Charity Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 20-5730270. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2020–2025.

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

Data update history

(2)

When this profile's IRS filing data changed on Grantable

  1. Added Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS June 19, 2026)
  2. IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2020–2024

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Cite this profile

Grantable. (2026). Tongs Charity Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/tongs-charity-foundation-morg_0631dba0f7394ec99aa51de508b65f18

BibTeX
@misc{grantable_205730270_2026,
  author       = {{Grantable}},
  title        = {{Tongs Charity Foundation funder profile}},
  howpublished = {GrantGraph},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://grantable.co/funders/tongs-charity-foundation-morg_0631dba0f7394ec99aa51de508b65f18},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-23. 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 Tongs Charity 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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