Tsunami Foundation

The Tsunami Foundation is a tightly governed private charitable trust established in May 1994 by Anson McCook Beard Jr., a former Morgan Stanley managing director who spent more than two decades helping build the firm's global equity division. A Yale graduate who began his career at Citibank and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Beard and his wife Debra created the foundation as a vehicle for family philanthropy. Today the Beard family — Debra, Anson H. Beard, James M. Beard, and Veronica M. Beard — all serve as trustees alongside longtime advisor Philip J. Andryc. Administrative services are managed by Foundation Source (501 Silverside Road, Wilmington, DE 19809), a provider favored by high-net-worth families for back-office grantmaking support. The Beard family's Palm Beach address (421 Peruvian Avenue) appears in some older profiles, but all correspondence should route through Foundation Source.

The foundation funds approximately 20 organizations annually from a deeply stable roster with virtually no year-to-year turnover. Every IRS 990-PF filing states explicitly that it 'only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.' This is not a bureaucratic disclaimer — it is the operating reality. There is no grants portal, no LOI cycle, no published RFP, and no public-facing website for the foundation itself.

The single realistic pathway into this foundation is through personal relationship with the Beard family or their philanthropic network. Anson Beard is identified as a life director of the Posse Foundation and a board member of Prep for Prep — both active multi-cycle grantees in the foundation's portfolio. Success Academy Charter Schools, Wheaton College, and Brandywine Conservancy also appear in the grantee roster alongside known Beard affiliations, confirming that organizations enter the portfolio through direct trustee connections.

First-time seekers should understand the Tsunami Foundation favors: organizations serving low-income youth and families in New York City (particularly East Harlem and citywide poverty programs); arts and cultural institutions with demonstrated community reach; environmental conservation in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware; and veterans' mental health programs. The relationship timeline is long — the grantee roster has remained largely unchanged for a decade — but for organizations already embedded in aligned philanthropic circles, a warm introduction from an existing grantee is the only credible first step.

Annual grantmaking has been remarkably consistent since the foundation's early growth phase. Grants paid ranged from $914,400 in 2012 to $1,825,029 in 2021, with the established baseline settling at approximately $1.475 to $1.65 million per year from 2019 through 2023. The 2023 filing shows $1,575,000 in grants paid and $1,934,211 in total giving (which includes administrative overhead). Assets have held steady between $25.9 million and $27.8 million across the past decade, with the foundation funded almost entirely by investment returns — net investment income of $1,209,455 in 2023, a sharp recovery from $253,919 in 2022, reflecting volatile equity markets. Outside contributions are minimal: $75,000 in 2023, likely an intra-family transfer. The strong 2024 revenue figure of $2,385,962 suggests fiscal year 2025 grantmaking will be maintained or modestly elevated.

Across the historical grantee dataset of 61 grants totaling $5,050,029, the median individual grant is $75,000 and the average is $82,787. Effective annual grant size per organization falls primarily in the $25,000–$150,000 range, with the top of the range reserved for the foundation's closest trustee relationships. Multi-year support is the norm: the top five recipients have each received three successive grants, with cumulative totals of $400,000 (Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art), $375,000 (Covenant House), $375,000 (Readworks Inc), $350,000 (River Fund New York), and $300,000 (Harlem Academy).

By geography, New York accounts for 43 of 61 recorded grants — approximately 70% of all disbursements — consistent with the foundation's stated geographic focus. Pennsylvania (6 grants, primarily Brandywine Conservancy), Massachusetts (5), Connecticut (3), and Florida (3) account for the remainder.

By program area, a rough breakdown of the cumulative $5.05 million shows: education and youth access at approximately 35% (Readworks, Harlem Academy, Exodus School, Posse Foundation, Prep for Prep, Success Academy, Connect Us, Wheaton College); human services and food security at 25% (Covenant House, River Fund NY, City Harvest, Operation Warm, Baby Buggy, Good Plus Foundation); arts and culture at 15% (American Tap Dance Foundation, Friends of the High Line, Arts Connection); children and family welfare at 10% (HelpUsAdopt, Multiplying Good, Operation Warm); environmental conservation at 8% (Brandywine Conservancy); and veterans' mental health at 5% (Head Strong Project).

The Tsunami Foundation occupies the smaller end of comparable New York City-focused private family foundations, with approximately $26 million in assets and $1.5–1.6 million in annual grantmaking. The table below situates it alongside four peer foundations with similar geographic focus and thematic priorities, using IRS 990-PF data.

Three patterns emerge. First, Tsunami is notably smaller than most comparable NYC private foundations — roughly one-seventh the asset base of the Altman Foundation and one-fifteenth that of Pinkerton — which means it funds fewer organizations and has minimal capacity to add new grantees in any given year. Second, it is uniquely restrictive: unlike the Altman Foundation, which accepts LOI submissions through a published process, Tsunami operates exclusively through preselection with no public access point. Third, the combination of small asset base and tight family control means grantmaking is far more personal than at any institutionalized peer. Organizations unable to access the Beard family's direct network should pursue the Altman Foundation as a more accessible alternative with strongly overlapping NYC priorities.

The most recent complete IRS filing covers fiscal year 2023, showing $1,575,000 in grants paid to the foundation's established roster. The 2024 fiscal year filing (published December 2025) reports total assets of approximately $26.3 million and revenue of $2,385,962 — a significant increase from 2023's $1,541,861 revenue, driven by strong investment performance in the 2024 equity markets. Approximately 20 grants were distributed in the 2024 cycle, with confirmed continuations to Readworks Inc, Covenant House, Baby Buggy Inc, Harlem Academy, Friends of the High Line, and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.

No leadership or trustee changes have been announced publicly. Philip J. Andryc remains the sole non-family trustee; his $75,000 compensation (recorded in 2021 only) does not appear in 2022 or 2023 filings. Anson McCook Beard Jr. remains named as settlor.

The foundation has no public web presence. The URL https://tsunami.org/ resolves to the Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo, Hawaii — a separate and unrelated nonprofit — confirming that the Tsunami Foundation (EIN 137019761) maintains no website whatsoever. All public records are accessible only through IRS 990-PF filings via ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer, Instrumentl, or CauseIQ. No press releases, grant announcements, or external communications have appeared in 2025 or 2026. This opacity is entirely consistent with the foundation's operating profile across its full history. The most actionable signal of current trajectory is the 2024 revenue increase, which suggests grantmaking capacity for fiscal year 2025 will be at least maintained and potentially modestly expanded.

The most critical tip for any organization considering the Tsunami Foundation is straightforward: there is no formal application process. The foundation states explicitly in every IRS 990-PF that it 'only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.' Submitting materials to Foundation Source will not result in review, and contacting administrators to ask about an application process will mark your organization as unfamiliar with this funder's model — potentially counterproductive to future relationship-building.

The realistic path to consideration is long-form relationship cultivation through six specific entry points:

• Engage Posse Foundation events. Anson Beard is a life director of the Posse Foundation. Attendance at Posse galas or donor briefings places your organization within direct range of the family's philanthropic attention. If your mission overlaps with Posse's college-access model, a collaborative conversation is a natural bridge.
• Cultivate Prep for Prep connections. Another confirmed Beard board affiliation. Organizations that share leadership or student populations with Prep for Prep alumni networks — particularly in East Harlem or the outer boroughs — are well-positioned to seek introductions.
• Seek a warm referral from an existing grantee. City Harvest, Covenant House, Harlem Academy, River Fund New York, or Friends of the High Line leadership may have direct trustee contact. A grantee introduction is the single most credible entry point.
• Use evidence-based, outcome-specific language in all materials. The foundation's IRS grant descriptions consistently emphasize measurable outcomes: 'research-based, classroom-proven practices' (Readworks), 'comprehensive, effective, and cost-free' mental health care (Head Strong Project). Frame your program model with demonstrable metrics, not aspirational language.
• Emphasize NYC reach and underserved communities. The geographic and demographic profile of top grantees — East Harlem, food-insecure households, homeless youth, military veterans — establishes a social-equity framing that the foundation implicitly favors. Statewide or national programs without a strong NYC anchor are a weak fit.
• Target a multi-year timeline. The foundation's grantee roster has been stable for a decade. Entry points open rarely — likely when a grantee winds down or a trustee develops a new personal interest. Position for awareness over 2–4 years before any relationship could plausibly generate a grant.