With Foundation

WITH Foundation is a small but influential San Mateo, CA-based private foundation (EIN 73-1644863, $8.0M in assets as of FY2024) whose entire grantmaking identity centers on comprehensive healthcare for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It is not a general disability funder — proposals framed around education, employment, or housing for the IDD population without a healthcare-delivery angle fall outside its explicit restrictions, which bar funding for projects that 'do not address healthcare delivery' or 'specific therapies outside formal healthcare settings.' The foundation's own IRS filings show a heavy tilt toward academic medical centers and university-affiliated disability centers (Virginia Commonwealth University Foundation, $510K; University of New Hampshire, $385K; Kennedy Krieger Institute, $316K; Stanford, UCSF, UCLA, and multiple UC campuses each appear in the top-50 grantee list), alongside national disability-rights infrastructure organizations (National Disability Rights Network, $510K; Autistic Self Advocacy Network, $377.5K across seven grants; Borealis Philanthropy's Disability Inclusion Fund, $392K over a five-year commitment). First-time applicants should not expect a simple online form: WITH runs an online pre-application questionnaire first, and only organizations that clear that screen are invited to submit a full proposal — typically during an RFP cycle. Executive Director Ryan Easterly (compensation $200K in the most recent 990, up from $141K–$149K in 2020-2022) has publicly framed the foundation's grantmaking as 'anti-ableist,' meaning reviewers weigh whether people with lived IDD experience hold leadership, board, or advisory roles within the applicant organization — a factor grant writers should address directly in the narrative, not as an afterthought. Because the foundation announced in September 2023 that it will spend down all assets and cease operations by December 31, 2028, and as of mid-2026 was reevaluating its standard open cycles, timing sensitivity is unusually high: applicants should verify live cycle status before investing proposal-writing time, and should recognize that the funder is prioritizing fewer, larger, multi-year strategic partnerships over its historical pattern of many small one-year project grants.

WITH Foundation's own typical-grant-size data (last 31 tracked awards) shows a median of $45,000, a mean of $35,708, and a range from $500 to $125,000 for standard project grants — but this undersells the top of the distribution: strategic-partnership and multi-year commitments regularly reach $300K-$760K. Across the DB-tracked grantee history (200 grants, $9.58M total, $47,904 average), the largest single relationships were Association of University Centers on Disabilities ($764K across 2 grants for conference and strategic-partnership support), National Disability Rights Network ($510K), Virginia Commonwealth University Foundation ($510K across 3 grants), Borealis Philanthropy ($392K across 7 grants over a 5-year Disability Inclusion Fund commitment), University of New Hampshire ($385K), and Autistic Self Advocacy Network ($377.5K across 7 grants including a dedicated MPOX response grant). Geographically, despite a stated national scope, giving concentrates heavily in DC (44 of 200 tracked grants) and California (43 grants) — consistent with the foundation's Bay Area home base and its favored national policy/advocacy intermediaries clustered in Washington. Financially, the foundation's total giving has been volatile and rising: $1.26M (2020) to $1.47M (2021) to $1.54M (2022) to $4.85M (2023) — a more than 3x jump reflecting the post-2023 spend-down acceleration — with total assets simultaneously declining from $16.96M (2020) to $8.02M (2024) as the fund deliberately draws down. Net investment income remains substantial relative to the asset base ($5.16M in 2023 alone against $14.2M average assets that year), meaning market performance materially swings how much the foundation can distribute in any given cycle. Grant purposes lean heavily toward 'project support,' 'strategic partnership support,' and named multi-year renewals (many grantees show '(YR 1 of 3)' through '(YR 3 of 3)' labeling), indicating the foundation prefers extending existing relationships over funding one-off newcomers — a first ask is more likely to be small-to-mid five figures, with larger six-figure support reserved for organizations that have already proven themselves.

WITH Foundation sits at the median of this Philanthropy & Grantmaking peer set on raw asset size (all cluster near $8M), but it is a clear outlier in giving intensity: its FY2023 total giving of $4.85M represents over 60% of its asset base distributed in a single year, a payout rate far above the ~5% IRS minimum and well beyond what any perpetual peer foundation would sustain — the direct result of its 2028 sunset mandate. Unlike most peers in this asset tier, which tend to operate as quiet, relationship-only family or community funders, WITH Foundation has built outsized field visibility (Ryan Easterly's Disability & Philanthropy Forum co-chair role, Obama Foundation Leaders cohort membership) relative to its balance sheet, making it a higher-profile, more procedurally structured funder than its peers despite comparable assets.

The most consequential recent development is structural: WITH Foundation announced in September 2023 that it will spend down all remaining assets and cease operations, with a target close of December 31, 2028, and on June 24, 2026 the foundation announced it had surpassed $15 million in cumulative giving under this accelerated strategy. As of mid-2026, the foundation's standard open grant cycles were under reevaluation — its website's 'Current Grant Cycle' page reflected a paused status pending updated guidance, even as a targeted 2025 RFP, 'Defending Medicaid and Medicare: Advancing Comprehensive Healthcare for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities,' remained live, responding directly to federal Medicaid/Medicare policy threats facing the IDD community. On the leadership side, Executive Director Ryan Easterly — whose reported compensation rose from roughly $141K-$149K (2020-2022) to $200K (2023 filing) — has taken on expanded field-leadership roles during this period, including a 2024-2025 Obama Foundation Leaders USA fellowship and continuing as co-chair of the Presidents' Council of the Disability & Philanthropy Forum alongside Richard Besser of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, succeeding Darren Walker of the Ford Foundation in that role. Grantmaking data through 2025 (53 grants totaling $8.3M, averaging roughly $156K per grant per aggregated IRS-filing data) confirms the spend-down is sharply increasing both the size and frequency of awards compared to the foundation's historical ~$1-1.5M annual giving in the 2019-2022 period. No board leadership changes were identified in available sources beyond the standing board (President Lynne O'Hara, Treasurer Phil Shemanski, Secretary Juan Espinoza, and board members including Angel Miles, John O'Hara, Megie Okumura, and Alice Wong).

Confirm cycle status first: because WITH Foundation was mid-reevaluation of its open cycles as of mid-2026 amid its 2028 sunset wind-down, check withfoundation.org/current-grant-cycle/ before drafting anything — a proposal aimed at a closed cycle wastes the strongest asset a small team has, which is time. Enter through the online pre-application questionnaire, not a direct LOI or unsolicited proposal; the foundation's stated process only advances organizations to a full proposal after that initial screen, and 'all pre-application questionnaires receive a response' during RFP cycles, so silence should be followed up on rather than assumed as rejection. Target the healthcare-delivery lane specifically — the foundation's explicit restrictions exclude projects that don't address healthcare delivery, specific therapies delivered outside formal healthcare settings, equipment for individuals, and administrative costs above 20% of the total request, so budget narratives should show program-to-admin ratios clearly. Name an intersectional lens directly in the proposal: reference how the population served holds other historically excluded identities (race, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, linguistic/communication diversity) alongside IDD, mirroring the foundation's own stated 'intersectional' grantmaking framework. Demonstrate disability leadership within your own organization — board members, program leads, or advisors with lived IDD experience should be named, not implied, since anti-ableist representation is a factor Ryan Easterly has publicly cited as central to review. If affiliated with a University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) or LEND program, state that affiliation prominently in the opening paragraph — the foundation explicitly encourages applications from these networks. Expect a one-year support period as the default; multi-year 'strategic partnership' funding (the $300K-$760K tier seen with AUCD, VCU, and Borealis Philanthropy) is reserved for organizations with an existing track record with the foundation, so first-time applicants should request in the $10K-$50K median range rather than anchoring high. Watch for RFP-specific opportunities like the 2025 Medicaid/Medicare defense RFP — WITH increasingly funds through narrow, timely policy-response RFPs rather than broad annual open calls, so subscribing to their site/mailing list for RFP announcements is more productive than periodic unsolicited check-ins.