Troper Wojcicki Foundation

Troper Wojcicki Philanthropies (TWP) is a high-conviction, relationship-driven private foundation that operates exclusively by invitation — it does not accept unsolicited proposals, does not publish application deadlines, and does not maintain a public grants portal. Founded in 2006 by Susan Wojcicki (former CEO of YouTube) and Dennis Troper, TWP has grown from $15.7 million in assets (2015) to $339 million (2024) and has committed more than $100 million in cumulative grants. This is not a foundation you apply to; it is a foundation you get invited into.

TWP organizes its giving around four explicit pillars: cancer research (lung and pancreatic focus), climate change (clean energy transition and biodiversity conservation), humanitarianism (women's rights, global health, refugees), and Bay Area community impact (homelessness, food security, education, Jewish community institutions). Within these pillars, the foundation strongly favors established organizations with proven delivery systems and measurable impact. Every top-10 grantee — Partners in Health, Room to Read, International Rescue Committee, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley — carried decades of credibility before receiving TWP funding. New or early-stage organizations face a very high bar.

The typical relationship trajectory begins with network proximity: a warm introduction from a current grantee's executive director, a board member with connections to Dennis Troper, or a shared ecosystem partner (e.g., Pacific Foundation Services, which handles TWP's operations). Once a relationship is established, TWP tends to invest repeatedly: Second Harvest received 3 grants totaling $1.5M; Room to Read received 5 grants totaling $1.3M; The Ocean Cleanup received 4 grants totaling $1.175M. General operating support is the dominant grant purpose, indicating TWP trusts its partners' strategic judgment.

For organizations that do not yet have network access, a concise alignment brief sent to info@twphilanthropies.org is the only formal inquiry channel. This should be a one-page document — not a full proposal — that names the relevant TWP pillar, cites a specific current grantee as a peer or partner, quantifies impact with one headline metric, and explains what TWP support would uniquely enable. Susan Wojcicki's death from lung cancer in August 2024 has created a particularly meaningful moment for lung cancer researchers to articulate their connection to her legacy and the foundation's ongoing commitment.

Across 123 recorded grants totaling approximately $25.9 million in the database, TWP's median grant is $100,000, with an average of approximately $210,824. External grant tracking sources report the full range as $50 to $1,980,000. The top grants in the database cluster between $500K and $1.5M, nearly all representing multi-year relationships with flagship partners.

Annual giving trajectory: $537K (2015) → $6.2M (2019) → $9.0M (2020) → $14.3M (2021) → $11.6M (2022) → $17.6M (2023, grants paid). Total giving including non-cash disbursements reached $19.1M in 2023. With assets growing to $339M in 2024, annual grantmaking is on track to continue rising.

By pillar (estimated from grantee data): - Cancer research: Concentrated in large academic partnerships. Stanford ($1.05M over 2 grants, pancreatic cancer), Johns Hopkins ($1M, pathology/cancer mapping), UCSF ($333K, pediatric myasthenia gravis / cancer-adjacent), Dana-Farber and MD Anderson (amounts not separately itemized in top-50 grantee data). Named endowments (e.g., Harvard Data Science Postdoctoral Fellowship Fund, $1.33M over 2 grants) are a preferred vehicle for academic partnerships. - Climate: Environmental Defense Fund ($750K), Earthjustice ($700K over 3 grants), NRDC ($600K), Rainforest Trust ($500K), Osa Conservation ($350K over 3 grants). The Ocean Cleanup leads at $1.175M over 4 grants, reflecting the founders' interest in high-visibility, scalable solutions. - Humanitarianism: International Rescue Committee ($1.35M over 3 grants), Room to Read ($1.3M over 5 grants), Partners in Health ($1.27M over 3 grants), Water.org ($1M over 2 grants), Vital Voices ($325K), Planned Parenthood ($250K), Malala Fund ($250-500K), CAMFED ($100K). - Bay Area: Second Harvest of Silicon Valley ($1.5M), LifeMoves ($1M), Hamilton Families ($800K), Boys & Girls Club of the Peninsula ($600K+ combined), three Peninsula Jewish Community Center affiliates ($178K-$424K each).

Geographic breakdown: 68 of 123 grants (55%) to California-based organizations; New York 14 (11%); DC 10 (8%); Massachusetts 10 (8%); Pennsylvania 9 (7%). International grantees (IRC, Room to Read, Partners in Health) receive some of the largest individual grants — geography does not restrict the humanitarianism pillar.

TWP sits in a cohort of similarly-sized national private foundations with assets in the $335-$342 million range. All operate by invitation only, reflecting a broader pattern among technology-founder family foundations at this scale.

Estimates for peers are based on the standard 5% private foundation minimum distribution applied to reported asset figures; actual giving may differ.

TWP distinguishes itself within this peer group primarily through its pluralistic, four-pillar structure — most comparably-sized foundations concentrate on one or two focus areas. Its tech-industry founding (Susan Wojcicki built YouTube into a $30B business) connects it to a network of Silicon Valley donors and researchers that few peer foundations can match. TWP's giving-to-assets ratio of approximately 5.6% (2023) is near the minimum distribution threshold, suggesting room for significant payout growth as assets continue to compound. Among peers, TWP's combination of environmental litigation, global health delivery, and cutting-edge cancer research makes it unusually cross-sectoral.

The most consequential recent development is the death of co-founder Susan Wojcicki on August 9, 2024, at age 56, from lung cancer. Wojcicki, who left Google/YouTube in February 2023, had remained actively involved in the foundation's direction. Dennis Troper is listed as an active director through at least early 2025 and continues as the foundation's Treasurer and Secretary. The foundation has confirmed its commitment to continuing Wojcicki's philanthropic legacy, with lung cancer research the most directly affected priority area.

In July 2024, TWP joined a coalition of 20 lung-cancer advocacy organizations to co-fund a landmark genetics study through 23andMe, creating an open-source database to support lung cancer detection research. This marks a strategic shift toward large multi-institutional consortia, complementing the foundation's individual university grants.

Fiscal year 2024 data shows total assets reaching $339.3M (up from $289.1M in 2023), with total revenue of $33.3M. The foundation recorded approximately 60 grant awards in calendar year 2024, according to grant tracking sources. Full grant-paid data for 2024 has not yet appeared in public 990 filings as of March 2026.

Other notable recent grants in the database include a $500K grant to the New Venture Fund for aerial health logistics in Ukraine (Project Daybreak), a $500,045 endowment at Berklee College of Music for first-generation students, and a $500,000 grant to the Trevor Project — the latter signaling an expansion of the humanitarianism pillar to include LGBTQ+ youth advocacy alongside the foundation's core global health and women's education focus.

Because TWP operates on an invitation-only model, effective engagement requires strategy rather than a standard application. The following tips are specific to this funder's operating model:

Lead with network proximity, not paperwork. TWP's grantee ecosystem — Partners in Health, IRC, Earthjustice, EDF, Room to Read — forms a tight network of high-credibility organizations. An introduction from a current grantee's executive director or board member carries more weight than any written proposal. Map your leadership's connections to these organizations and pursue joint programming, shared campaigns, or co-authored research as a relationship-building vehicle.

Use the inquiry email strategically. The one documented intake channel is info@twphilanthropies.org. When you write, send a 3-5 paragraph alignment brief — not a full proposal — that: (1) names the specific TWP pillar your work addresses, (2) references a current TWP grantee as a peer or collaborator, (3) states one quantified impact metric, and (4) explains what a TWP relationship would uniquely enable. Keep it under one page.

Match the language of their stated priorities exactly. For cancer work, use: "translational acceleration," "time-to-patient-benefit," "liquid biopsy," "early detection," "lung and pancreatic cancer." For climate, use: "clean energy transition," "methane reduction," "biodiverse ecosystem protection," "conservation finance." For humanitarianism: "women and girls' empowerment," "global health equity," "refugee resettlement," "crisis response."

Lung cancer researchers have a unique window post-August 2024. With Susan Wojcicki's death from the disease, this is an unusually personal priority for the foundation's leadership. Frame your work in terms of honoring her legacy and accelerating the specific research she championed — but only if your work is genuinely aligned. Superficial alignment will be transparent.

Position for general operating support. The overwhelming majority of TWP grants are unrestricted general support. If your first contact frames a narrow project need, you may undersell your organization. Lead with organizational mission and track record; note what a multi-year general operating relationship would enable.

Timing: With no open grant cycle, relationship cultivation can happen any quarter. That said, the foundation's 990 patterns suggest grantmaking decisions cluster in Q2-Q3. If you receive any signal of interest, follow up within 3-4 weeks; if no response after initial contact, one follow-up at 8 weeks is appropriate before pausing outreach.