Span Foundation

Span Foundation is a small, closely held family foundation (Bountiful, Utah; EIN 87-6220698, ruled tax-exempt in 1993) governed by trustee Lynn G. Robbins and director Jan E. Robbins, both uncompensated — a hallmark of hands-on family philanthropy rather than a staffed institution. IRS-derived grantee records show 105 tracked grants totaling $826,125 (average $7,868), with 81 of 105 grants (77%) landing in Utah and the clear majority tied to institutions the Robbins family has a direct personal relationship with: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ($140,800 across 3 grants), Brigham Young University ($49,700), Utah State University ($45,838), and a $200,000 civic gift to Farmington City government across 2 grants. This pattern — heavy concentration in home-state, faith-affiliated, and alma-mater giving — is the defining signal for any organization considering an approach: Span funds causes the family already knows, not cold proposals from strangers. There is no professional program staff, no published RFP, and no meaningful public application infrastructure, despite aggregator listings noting 'no specific form required.' The realistic path in is relationship, not portal: a warm introduction through a shared Utah civic, LDS, or higher-education network; a board or alumni connection; or visibility through an event or institution the family already supports (Center Point Legacy Theater, Hale Theatre, the Festival of Trees). Organizations outside Utah should calibrate expectations accordingly — only 24 of 105 tracked grants (23%) went outside the state, and those recipients were mostly nationally recognized brands (Khan Academy, Cato Institute, National Constitution Center) rather than unknown regional nonprofits. Grant sizes skew small: roughly half of the top-50 tracked grantees received under $5,000, suggesting Span treats most gifts as sustaining annual-fund support rather than multi-year program grants — a single, modest ask is the norm, not a cultivation ladder toward a large award. With a ~$7.6M asset base and annual grantmaking in the $270K-$390K range, first-time applicants should target four- or five-figure requests, reserving six-figure asks for rare civic-scale projects. Treat Span as a relationship-first, low-overhead funder: cultivate a genuine Utah/LDS-adjacent connection before submitting anything in writing.

Span Foundation's tracked grant history spans 105 grants totaling $826,125 at an average of $7,868 per grant; individual grant amounts range from as little as $200 (PBS, Consumer Reports Foundation) up to $200,000 in combined giving to Farmington City government (2 grants) and $140,800 to the LDS Church (3 grants). By recipient category: religious giving (LDS Church) accounts for about 17% of tracked dollars; higher education (BYU $49,700, Utah State $45,838, Utah Valley University $17,600, Weber State $5,400, Ensign College $10,000 — $128,538 combined) is roughly 16%; civic/government giving (Farmington City) is about 24%; humanitarian and international causes (Mentors International, Humanitarian Experience for Youth, Volunteers for Israel, Bridge of Love, Believe in Haiti, Fistula Foundation, Child Rescue Coalition — $77,943 combined) run near 9%; arts and theater (Center Point Legacy Theater, Hale Theatre, Parker Theatre, Inspire Choral Art — $47,035 combined) is about 6%; and youth/scholarship support (Live Your Dream Foundation, $55,000) adds another 7%. Geographically, Utah dominates with 81 of 105 grants (77%), followed by Pennsylvania (5), New York and California (4 each), Arizona (3), and Florida, Washington, Colorado, Kentucky, and D.C. rounding out the remainder. On the financial side, total assets have grown steadily from $3.67M (FY2011) to $7.6M currently. Total giving has been volatile historically — a low of $76,245 in FY2012 and a peak of $627,494 in FY2015 — but has settled into a $339,682-$393,678 band for FY2019-2023, with direct grants paid (a subset of total giving) running $268,506-$310,243 per year over that same window. Net investment income has been the primary revenue driver in most years (e.g., $325,391 of $276,892 in reported FY2023 revenue), with essentially zero in outside contributions received in any year on record — this is an endowed family vehicle, not one that fundraises. At current asset levels, the effective payout rate is roughly 4-5% annually, consistent with a foundation managing for perpetuity rather than winding down.

Span Foundation sits in a cluster of similarly sized private foundations (all classified under the Philanthropy & Grantmaking NTEE category, all with roughly $7.6M in assets) that IRS filing data groups together, though none publish detailed public grantmaking guidelines:

All six foundations cluster within $6,000 of each other in total assets ($7.596M-$7.602M), which strongly suggests this peer set was matched by asset-size proximity rather than shared mission — none of the peers have public websites or disclosed grantmaking priorities in the data available, reinforcing that this entire tier of small, closely held family foundations operates with minimal public transparency. Span Foundation is distinguished within this peer group by having an unusually well-documented grantee history (105 tracked grants) thanks to IRS Form 990 grant schedules, giving applicants far more insight into its true giving pattern than is available for any of its listed peers.

No news coverage, press releases, or leadership announcements were found for this foundation in 2025-2026 web searches — activity is limited to periodic IRS Form 990 filings tracked by nonprofit-data aggregators (Instrumentl, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, CauseIQ, GrantStation). The most recent detailed financials available show FY2023 figures: $310,243 in grants paid, $362,804 in total giving, and $6.71M in total assets, against a current on-file asset figure of $7.6M, implying continued modest asset growth into 2024-2025. Leadership has been unchanged across every filing reviewed — Lynn G. Robbins (trustee) and Jan E. Robbins (director), both uncompensated — indicating a stable, family-run structure with no signs of professionalizing into a staffed operation or expanding its board. One important caveat for researchers: the website address on file for this foundation (spanfoundation.org) actually belongs to an unrelated India-based nonprofit of the same name that supports Indian artists, athletes, and underprivileged children (Kashmir-focused, accepts donations via Razorpay, operates under Indian 12A/80G tax status). That organization's active blog and social presence should not be mistaken for activity by the Bountiful, Utah foundation covered in this report — the two are entirely separate legal entities that happen to share a name. Grant seekers researching this funder should rely on the IRS 990 data and aggregator profiles (ProPublica EIN 87-6220698) rather than the spanfoundation.org website, which will not lead to the correct funder or a working application channel.

There is no formal application process, portal, or published RFP for this foundation — aggregator listings note simply 'no specific form required,' which in practice means outreach is handled informally and privately by the two family officers. Because 77% of tracked grants (81 of 105) went to Utah organizations and the largest single relationships are with the LDS Church, BYU, and Utah State University, the strongest alignment language emphasizes local Utah impact, faith-community ties, or higher-education outcomes rather than generic mission statements. Do not lead with a large ask: the average tracked grant is $7,868 and roughly half of top recipients received under $5,000, so a request calibrated to $2,000-$10,000 is far more realistic than a five- or six-figure program grant (the $200,000 Farmington City gift and $140,800 LDS Church total are outliers reflecting long-standing civic and religious ties, not open competitive awards). The single most common mistake an outside organization can make is treating Span like a staffed institutional funder with a public RFP cycle — there isn't one, and a cold digital submission (via a contact-us form or generic email blast) is unlikely to get a response. A far better approach is securing a warm introduction: identify any board member, alumnus, or community contact with a genuine tie to trustee Lynn G. Robbins or director Jan E. Robbins before submitting anything in writing. Because the foundation shows no seasonal grant-cycle pattern in its filings, there is no evidence of an optimal submission window tied to a fiscal quarter — outreach can happen any time, but should be preceded by relationship-building rather than timed to a deadline that doesn't exist. Given the zero-contributions-received pattern in every filing, do not approach this as a matching-gift or co-funding opportunity; Span operates purely off its own endowment and investment returns. Finally, given the caveat above, do not attempt to reach this foundation through the spanfoundation.org website or its associated social channels — that domain and its contact form belong to a different, India-based organization and outreach sent there will not reach the Robbins family.