Wisteria Foundation
Wisteria Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. Its 2025 filing reports 10 grants totaling $94,000 to charitable organizations, with listed purposes including education, cancer research, community care, and community food.
Wisteria Foundation at a glance
In short: Wisteria Foundation gave $94K across 10 grants in 2025 (avg $9K), top state California. Source: 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
- Annual giving (2025)
- $94,000
- +13.3% vs 2024
- Grants made (2025)
- 10
- -9.1% vs 2024
- Average grant
- $9,400
- +24.6% vs 2024
- Median grant
- $5,000
- Total assets
- $1,107,143
- -3.2% vs 2024
- Primary geography
- California (47% of itemized 2025 grant dollars)
- Latest 990 filing
- Form 990-PF, 2025 View filing
Data from IRS Form 990-PF, 2025; updated October 2026.
How to apply to Wisteria Foundation
- Accepts unsolicited proposals
- No
- How to Apply
-
The foundation states on its 2023 filing that it does not accept unsolicited requests and makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations. The filing says a request should be submitted in letter form, detailing the type of organization making the request, the organization’s purpose, and whom to contact. It lists Xin Liu as the contact for requests.
- Contact
Application contact: Xin Liu
Mailing address: 975 Stanley Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303
Phone: (408) 215-8246
Application details from Grantable's research on the foundation's public materials; confirm on its website before applying.
Who Wisteria Foundation funds
How this funder distributes its grants
Top Recipients
Top 10 recipients in 2025
The largest 2025 recipient was Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ($30K). Together the top 10 received $94K.
Grant Size Distribution
56 grants across all recorded years
The most common grant size was under $50K: 56 grants of 56 (100%).
Geographic Focus
Where this funder awards grants
In 2025, grant dollars went to recipients in California (47%), New York (32%), and Pennsylvania (21%).
Grant Distribution by State
Share of 2025 grant dollars across all 10 itemized grants.
Cities
How Wisteria Foundation gives
- 100% of 2025 grantees were also funded in 2024. Method
- Giving grew 34% from 2022 to 2025. Method
- In 2025 it paid out 108% of its IRS minimum distribution (the 5% rule). Method
Estimate from itemized grant lists in IRS Form 990-PF filings (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 2019 to 2025, annual grant giving ranged from $65K (2019) to $138K (2021). In 2025 it made 10 grants totaling $94K.
Grants by year
Grant recipients and amounts by year
| Recipient | Purpose | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY | Education | $30,000 |
| Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA | Education | $20,000 |
| UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA | Education | $15,000 |
| REEL2e San Jose, CA | Education | $6,000 |
| Palo Alto Art Center Foundation Palo Alto, CA | Education | $5,000 |
| St Jude Children's Research Hospita San Francisco, CA | Cancer Research | $5,000 |
| The Center for Health Care Services Palo Alto, CA | Community Care | $4,000 |
| Ada's Cafe Palo Alto, CA | Community Food | $3,000 |
| Boy Scouts of America Foster City, CA | Education | $3,000 |
| Youth Community Service Inc Palo Alto, CA | Education | $3,000 |
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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 | $1,107,143 | $62,937 | $99,086 | $94,000 | 10 | $98,772 | $62,623 | $91,709 |
| 2024 | $1,143,291 | $127,936 | $86,326 | $83,000 | 11 | $86,326 | $127,936 | $81,973 |
| 2023 | $1,101,681 | $28,325 | $82,611 | $76,000 | 10 | $82,611 | $28,325 | $70,145 |
| 2022 | $1,155,967 | $61,973 | $73,872 | $70,000 | 10 | $73,872 | $61,973 | $72,139 |
| 2021 | $1,167,866 | $26,266 | $146,391 | $138,000 | 15 | — | $26,266 | $81,081 |
| 2020 | $1,287,991 | $234,631 | $39,213 | — | — | — | $234,631 | — |
| 2019 | $1,092,573 | $56,537 | $77,899 | $65,000 | 1 | — | $44,733 | — |
Under IRS private-foundation payout rules, Wisteria Foundation reported a distributable amount of $92K 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 foundation mission statement is provided. Its 2025 grants show support for education, cancer research, community care, and community food. The grantees’ own descriptions illustrate the range of organizations supported: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute says it educates leaders for technology-based careers and applies technology to create knowledge and global prosperity. The Palo Alto Art Center Foundation says its mission is to expand the reach and impact of the Palo Alto Art Center through fundraising and advocacy. Ada’s Cafe describes its work as hiring, training, and empowering people with disabilities through its food-service business, while engaging local youth in cafe operations.
Grantmaking
In 2025, the foundation made 10 grants totaling $94,000. Grant amounts ranged from $3,000 to $30,000, with a median grant of $5,000. The largest awards were $30,000 to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and $20,000 to Carnegie Mellon University, both for education; $15,000 to UC Berkeley for education; and $6,000 to REEL2e for education. Other listed grants were $5,000 to the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation for education, $5,000 to St Jude Children's Research Hospita for cancer research, $4,000 to The Center for Health Care Services for community care, and $3,000 each to Ada’s Cafe for community food, Boy Scouts of America for education, and Youth Community Service Inc for education.
Leadership & Key People
Leadership team and compensation from IRS filings
The 2025 filing lists Xin Liu as President & CEO and Hua Ai as CFO.
Wisteria Foundation is led by Xin Liu, President & CEO on every filing since 2019; none of the 2 officers listed in 2025 report compensation.
Officers on the 2025 filing
Xin Liu
President & CEO
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/week
No compensation reported
Hua Ai
CFO
On filings since 2019
2 hrs/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 Wisteria Foundation
How much does Wisteria Foundation give each year?
Wisteria Foundation gave $94K across 10 grants in 2025, according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. In 2024 it gave $83K across 11 grants.
What is Wisteria Foundation's typical grant size?
Wisteria Foundation's median grant in 2025 was $5,000, and its average grant was $9,400, across 10 grants on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF.
Where does Wisteria Foundation give grants?
Wisteria Foundation's top state is California, with 47% of the grant dollars itemized on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. The next largest states were New York (32%) and Pennsylvania (21%). The most frequent recipient cities were Palo Alto, CA (4 grants).
Does Wisteria Foundation give general operating support?
Not in 2025: none of the 10 grants with a stated purpose on Wisteria Foundation's 2025 IRS Form 990-PF were described as general or operating support. Recurring purposes include "Education" (7 grants).
Who are Wisteria Foundation's largest grantees?
Wisteria Foundation's largest 2025 grantees include Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ($30,000), Carnegie Mellon University ($20,000) and UC Berkeley ($15,000), according to its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. Together they received 69% of its itemized 2025 grant dollars.
How large is Wisteria Foundation?
Wisteria Foundation reported $1.1M in total assets on its 2025 IRS Form 990-PF. It paid out $99K in qualifying distributions that year, against a required minimum of $92K (roughly 5% of its investment assets).
What does Wisteria Foundation fund?
No foundation mission statement is provided. Its 2025 grants show support for education, cancer research, community care, and community food. See mission & focus areas ↑
How do I apply for a grant from Wisteria Foundation?
The foundation states on its 2023 filing that it does not accept unsolicited requests and makes contributions only to preselected charitable organizations. Eligibility and process details are in the grantmaking section of this profile. See how to apply ↑
What is Wisteria Foundation's EIN?
Wisteria Foundation's EIN (Employer Identification Number) is 45-4008334. IRS Form 990 filing data is available on this page for 2019–2025.
Does Wisteria Foundation 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
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2019 (received by the IRS September 10, 2020)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2020 (received by the IRS July 29, 2021)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2021 (received by the IRS January 11, 2022)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2022 (received by the IRS February 9, 2023)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2023 (received by the IRS February 2, 2024)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2024 (received by the IRS February 27, 2025)
- Updated Form 990-PF for fiscal year 2025 (received by the IRS February 3, 2026)
- IRS filings on file for fiscal years 2019–2025
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Cite this profile
Grantable. (2026). Wisteria Foundation funder profile. GrantGraph. Retrieved October 15, 2026, from https://grantable.co/funders/wisteria-foundation-morg_aded4c01356643558b8f763d567c7f22
BibTeX
@misc{grantable_454008334_2026,
author = {{Grantable}},
title = {{Wisteria Foundation funder profile}},
howpublished = {GrantGraph},
year = {2026},
url = {https://grantable.co/funders/wisteria-foundation-morg_aded4c01356643558b8f763d567c7f22},
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 Wisteria 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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