Sketch Foundation

Sketch Foundation is a small, tightly held family foundation run day-to-day by a single uncompensated officer, CEO Christine L. Udvar-Hazy — officer compensation has been $0 in every year reported (2019-2023). It is a relationship-driven, low-volume funder, not an open pipeline: the tracked grant history shows just 63 grants totaling $871,500 (average $13,833 per grant), and the foundation's own typical-grant-size data centers on a $10,000-$35,000 band with a $15,000 median. Its published process is a classic cultivation funnel — a maximum two-page letter of inquiry (LOI), submitted year-round with no fixed deadline, followed by a 4-6 week staff review. Only LOIs that fit current priorities are invited to submit a full proposal, which the foundation pairs with a site visit before a funding decision. Unsolicited full proposals are explicitly discouraged, and organizations are limited to one request per 12-month period, with a mandatory 12-month wait after any decline.

Most important for any applicant right now: the foundation states directly on its 'How to Apply' page that grant applications are on hold 'until further notice' following its relocation from California to Southlake, Texas. Any outreach should begin with a status check (info@sketchfoundation.org) rather than a full LOI submission.

Once funded, Sketch Foundation behaves like a loyal, repeat partner rather than a one-off check-writer: the grantee data shows multiple organizations receiving 2-4 separate grants over the sample period (Treehouse: 4 grants totaling $75,000; Tunnel to Towers: 4 grants totaling $40,000; Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County: 3 grants totaling $70,000), suggesting that first-time grantees who deliver results have a real shot at renewed, multi-year support. Eligibility requires a 501(c)(3) at least three years old and in good financial standing, with demonstrated internal and external fundraising support — Sketch does not appear to fund brand-new or single-source-dependent organizations. First-time applicants should expect a slow, high-touch cultivation process (LOI, review, invited proposal, site visit) rather than a fast transactional grant, and should be prepared to wait out the current application freeze before engaging.

Sketch Foundation's own reported typical grant size is a median of $15,000, averaging $15,909, with an observed range of $10,000-$35,000 (based on 11 recently sized grants); its public FAQ page separately states a general working range of $5,000-$25,000 per grant depending on project need. Across the fuller 63-grant sample in this dataset, individual grants run from $500 (Yallwest) up to cumulative multi-grant relationships worth $75,000 (Treehouse, over 4 grants) — the average single grant across the sample is $13,833.

Total giving has grown steadily: $147,372 (FY2019) → $180,830 (FY2020) → $194,251 (FY2021) → $188,838 (FY2022) → $243,363 (FY2023), a roughly 65% increase over five years. Actual cash grants paid tell the same story: $140,250 (2019) rising to $190,000 (2023). This growth tracks a major balance-sheet recapitalization — total assets jumped from $702,100 in 2019 to $3.19M in 2020 (driven by a $2.66M contribution that year) and again to $3.98M in 2021 (an additional $802,364 contribution), before settling into slower, investment-driven growth to $4.07M by FY2024. In other words, this is a foundation whose giving capacity roughly tripled mid-decade on the back of new contributions rather than organic grantmaking expansion.

Geographically, despite the foundation's mailing address now being Southlake, TX, its funding remains overwhelmingly tied to its historical California and Washington base: of 63 tracked grants, 36 (57%) went to California organizations and 12 (19%) to Washington, with smaller pockets in New York (7), Texas (4), Pennsylvania (2), and New Jersey (1) — matching the foundation's own stated geographic_focus of CA and WA. All grants in the IRS data are coded simply 'CHARITABLE' rather than broken out by program area, so a precise Health/Education/Arts split cannot be computed from the 990 data; the foundation's own materials describe the three areas as roughly co-equal priorities rather than one dominant vertical.

Sketch Foundation sits squarely in the middle of this peer set by asset size — all five comparable foundations cluster tightly between $3.89M and $4.09M, suggesting Granted's peer-matching is grouping foundations of near-identical balance-sheet scale rather than similar mission focus (none of the five peers carry a classified NTEE focus area in available data, versus Sketch's explicit children/youth/health/education/arts mandate). Sketch is also the only foundation in this group with a detailed, publicly documented application process and grant history, making it comparatively transparent even while its intake is currently paused — most of these small, closely held family foundations (Sketch included, prior to its TX move) simply do not publish giving totals or focus areas in a way that supports direct benchmarking.

The single most consequential recent development is administrative, not programmatic: Sketch Foundation has relocated its base of operations from California to a PO Box in Southlake, Texas (zip 76092), and its website now states that grant applications are on hold 'until further notice' as a direct result. No public announcement, press release, or news coverage of this move was found in web search — the fact is only stated on the foundation's own 'How to Apply' page, and no resumption timeline is given.

Leadership remains unchanged and highly concentrated: Christine L. Udvar-Hazy continues as CEO and is the only officer identified in the data, drawing no compensation in any reported year (2019-2023) — consistent with a hands-on family-run operation rather than a staffed institutional foundation.

No new program announcements, large single gifts, or funding-priority changes were identified for 2025-2026; the foundation's stated focus on Health, Education, and the Arts for children, youth, and families appears unchanged from its founding language. The most recent financial year in this dataset (FY2024) shows total assets of $4,068,789 and revenue of $303,689, but total giving for that year was not yet reported at data-pull time, so the most current confirmed giving figure remains FY2023's $243,363 across an estimated cash outlay of $190,000. Given the application freeze and lack of outside coverage, the most actionable 'recent activity' for a prospective applicant is simply confirming, via a direct email to info@sketchfoundation.org, whether the Texas relocation and application hold have been resolved.

Start with a status check, not a submission. Because the foundation's own site states applications are on hold following its move to Southlake, TX, the single highest-value first step is a short email to info@sketchfoundation.org asking whether the foundation is accepting new letters of inquiry — submitting a full LOI into a paused pipeline wastes the one request you're allowed per 12 months.

Keep the LOI to two pages, no exceptions. The foundation is explicit that it does not want unsolicited full proposals or supplemental attachments at the inquiry stage — cover only organizational purpose/history, a concise project description, the specific geography and population served, and the requested amount with basic budget context. Anchor the ask inside the observed $10,000-$35,000 band (median $15,000); requests well outside that range, especially below $5,000 or well above $35,000, sit outside the foundation's demonstrated pattern.

Lead with sustainability and co-funding, not just need. The foundation's language explicitly screens for 'compelling needs...that have sustainable solutions' and requires applicants to show 'substantial support from internal sources as well as external sources and have a good record of additional fundraising' — an LOI that reads as one-time or single-source-dependent is a mismatch for their stated criteria. Organizations should be at least three years old and in good financial standing; new or unproven nonprofits are a weak fit.

Plan for a multi-step, multi-month cycle. Expect roughly 4-6 weeks for an initial LOI response, followed — if invited — by a full proposal and a site visit before any decision. Grants are disbursed at minimum twice yearly, in July and November, so an LOI submitted in the preceding winter/spring gives the best runway to clear review before a disbursement window.

Use the 'Boys & Girls Club / direct youth services' template as your positioning model. The grantee list is dominated by direct-service organizations for children and youth (Boys & Girls Clubs, Treehouse foster-youth services, School's Out Washington, Youth Eastside Services, Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County) rather than research, advocacy, or capital-campaign asks — frame the request as direct programmatic support with measurable youth outcomes. Finally, treat a first grant as the opening of a relationship: several grantees received 2-4 separate grants, so a strong stewardship report after year one meaningfully improves renewal odds. If declined, do not resubmit before the mandatory 12-month wait has passed.