Springcreek Foundation

The Springcreek Foundation, established in 1994 by the Corning and Long families in Berkeley, California, operates as a tightly relationship-driven family philanthropy vehicle — one that explicitly does not accept unsolicited proposals under any circumstances. All grantmaking flows through preselected relationships built over years and, in many cases, decades. The foundation's guiding Emerson quote — "Be an opener of doors for such as come after thee" — signals its orientation toward legacy, continuity, and enabling future generations rather than responding to open grant cycles or RFPs.

Two distinct philanthropic streams emerge from the grantee record. The Long family strand concentrates on the Sun Valley/Wood River Valley, Idaho region (arts, food systems, conservation, community development) and African wildlife conservation — with sustained giving to Wildlife Conservation Network ($162,000 across 38 grants, including the Ewaso Lion Project, Grevy's Zebra Trust, and Save the Elephants) and The Leakey Foundation ($154,830 across 32 grants, including the Long Term Primatology Research Fund and the Francis H. Brown African Scholarship Fund). The Corning family strand is anchored in Northern Ohio: Western Reserve Academy ($267,676 across 32 grants, including the Bill Roemer Challenge and Long House maintenance) and Case Western Reserve University ($182,075 across 29 grants, with the Dixon and Ellen Long Professorship in World Affairs as a named endowed commitment).

The foundation is administered by Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies, a Berkeley-based social impact consulting firm at 127 University Ave, Berkeley, CA 94710. Third Plateau is both the operational backbone of the foundation and a signal of its orientation toward professionally managed, mission-aligned philanthropy. Any credible relationship-building effort would need to involve familiarity with Third Plateau's broader work.

Grant relationships span years and even decades. The Wildlife Conservation Network has received 38 grants; Western Reserve Academy and The Leakey Foundation each have 32. This is not a foundation that experiments — it deepens existing commitments. Median grant count per top grantee exceeds 10 discrete transactions, confirming multi-year annual renewals. New organizations seeking entry must demonstrate long-term thematic alignment, patience for multi-year cultivation, and ideally a warm referral from within the existing grantee network before any funding relationship begins.

Springcreek Foundation is a fully endowed grantmaker: contributions received have been $0 across every reported fiscal year, confirming it operates entirely on investment returns and asset appreciation from its original endowment. Total assets have grown from $14.2M (FY2013) to a peak of $20.9M (FY2021) before settling at $17.1M as of FY2024 as distributions outpaced investment returns in recent years.

Annual giving has accelerated substantially over the decade: $833K (FY2013), $980K (FY2015), $779K (FY2019), $1.09M (FY2020), $1.24M (FY2021), a peak of $1.75M (FY2022), $1.24M (FY2023), and an estimated ~$720K in FY2024 disbursements. The FY2022 surge reflects accelerated distribution following a strong investment year (FY2021 net investment income: $3.56M). The foundation targets approximately 5% annual payout on endowment assets, consistent with private foundation distribution requirements.

Across 908 total recorded grants, the average grant is $5,025 and the median is approximately $2,000. However, this distribution is highly skewed by large numbers of small membership-level gifts (some as low as $107) alongside substantive programmatic commitments. For mission-aligned grants, the realistic single-year award range is $5,000–$50,000, with a typical annual gift to core grantees of $10,000–$25,000. Exceptional cumulative giving to anchor organizations has reached $385,000 (Sun Valley Institute for Resilience) and $300,000 (Spur Community Foundation / Warm Springs Preserve Fund).

By geography, California dominates with 483 grants (53% of grant count), followed by Idaho at 157 (17%), Ohio at 70 (8%), New York at 43 (5%), Massachusetts at 27 (3%), DC at 34 (4%), and smaller allocations to Utah, Washington, Texas, and Nebraska. By program area, analysis of grantee purposes yields an approximate breakdown: environmental conservation and wildlife (~28%), arts and culture (~22%), education (~18%), sustainable food and agriculture (~15%), human services and community development (~12%), and other/general (~5%). The foundation publishes no formal program breakdown — these estimates derive from grantee classification analysis of the 908-grant record.

The following table compares Springcreek Foundation to its five size-matched database peers — all private foundations classified under Philanthropy & Grantmaking (NTEE T20Z) with total assets in the $17.1M range:

Springcreek Foundation stands out within this peer group for the depth of publicly available financial and grantee data — a product of its 30-year operating history and management by a professional third-party firm. While its peers maintain minimal public disclosure and lack websites, Springcreek's 908-grant record offers unusually rich intelligence on giving patterns and grantee relationships. Within the $15M–$20M private foundation tier, Springcreek's annual giving of $720K–$1.75M (representing 4–10% annual payout) is above average, signaling an active rather than passive grantmaker. Its dual geographic anchor in California and Idaho — and sectoral breadth spanning wildlife to opera to food systems — makes it more thematically diverse than a typical same-sized family foundation.

No major press releases, grant announcements, or new program initiatives from Springcreek Foundation were publicly surfaced for 2025–2026. This absence is consistent with the foundation's extremely low public profile, characteristic of invitation-only family foundations that conduct all grantmaking through private relationships.

The most recent confirmed public activity derives from regulatory filings. The FY2024 Form 990-PF, filed November 2024, reported total assets of $17.1M, total revenue of $1.13M (led by $724,633 in asset sales, $333,946 in dividends, $54,119 other income, and $19,157 in interest), and charitable disbursements of $720,536. The FY2023 filing, filed November 2023, reported grants paid of $789,840 and total giving of $1.24M.

Leadership has remained stable across all recent filings. Maud-Alison Long continues as President/Director; Marlis Corning Jansen serves as V.P./Secretary/Treasurer; CFO responsibilities have alternated between Dion Griffin and Jeanne Lemieur across filing years. All officers receive $0 in compensation, consistent with a family-governed structure. Elisabeth Wagstaffe has appeared as Assistant Secretary in some filings. No leadership transitions or succession announcements were identified.

The foundation's website as of July 2026 continues to reference a white paper on "Promoting Sustainable Food Systems" and describes an active Impact Investment Policy guiding the endowment toward conservation economy objectives including green energy, energy-efficient real estate, and sustainable timber.

Because Springcreek Foundation explicitly does not accept unsolicited proposals, conventional grant-seeking strategies — online portals, letter of inquiry submissions, grant databases — are entirely inapplicable. Strategy must center on authentic, long-term relationship cultivation.

Know the family's specific philanthropic commitments before any outreach. The grantee record reveals named, personal commitments: the Dixon and Ellen Long Professorship in World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University, the Bill Roemer Challenge at Western Reserve Academy, the Francis H. Brown African Scholarship Fund at The Leakey Foundation. These named gifts signal enduring personal loyalties, not broad thematic priorities. Organizations that can authentically connect their work to these named commitments — e.g., through primatology research, African wildlife fieldwork, or preparatory school education — are positioned far more credibly than those pitching adjacent programs.

Target existing long-term grantees as introduction vectors. Sun Valley Institute for Resilience (21 grants), Wildlife Conservation Network (38 grants), and The Leakey Foundation (32 grants) have decades of relationship with this foundation. A co-presentation, program partnership, or written endorsement from leadership at these organizations carries more weight than any direct contact with the foundation or Third Plateau.

Engage Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies at the sector level. Third Plateau (510-841-4123) administers the foundation but does not manage an open inquiry process. However, engaging with their published thought leadership on sustainable food systems and impact investing — and crossing paths at shared sector convenings — can create organic, non-transactional visibility over time.

Demonstrate geographic depth in Idaho, California, or Ohio. The three geographic anchors account for 78% of grant volume. Organizations with deep, authentic presence in Sun Valley/Wood River Valley, the Bay Area/Marin County, or Northern Ohio should make that local commitment explicit in any eventual conversation.

Align with the conservation economy framing. The foundation's most articulate thematic language is the "conservation economy" — the interdependence of economic health and ecosystem health. Proposals (if ever solicited) should connect to this integrative framing rather than single-sector pitches. Sustainable agriculture, responsible land management, and community food systems all map directly to this framework.