Orange County’s family and personal foundations support a diverse and expansive number of causes.
They include grants for science research, arts and cultural events, education, community buildings and stem cell research.
The 20 foundations of executives, heirs and others give about $115 million to charities a year, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
(Figures are for 2007 where available with several from 2006, the most recent year available.)
The foundations have about $1.6 billion in assets.
Topping the list is the Laguna Beach-based Marisla Foundation, founded by Anne Getty Earhart, heiress of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty.
The foundation gives to environmental groups and other causes in Orange County and Los Angeles. The Marisla Foundation donated $30 million in 2007 and has about $100 million in assets.
The list includes the larger private foundations in the county but isn’t comprehensive. There are hundreds of foundations in the county that provide the wealthy an organized and tax-deductible way of giving.
“They really see it as making an investment in the community,” said Shelley Hoss, president of the Irvine-based Orange County Community Foundation, which helps donors guide their giving.
Foundation executives are looking for ways to make bigger impacts with their donations, Hoss said. Many are working together as the Orange County Funders Roundtable, she said.
The group, founded about two years ago by Robert Haskell, senior vice president of public affairs for Newport Beach-based Pacific Life Insurance Co., meets regularly to find the best ways to make grants. The group also seeks out worthy causes, according to Hoss.
Some of the foundation members include: The Pacific Life Foundation, the Orange County Community Foundation, the Samueli Foundation and the Pimco Foundation, the giving arm of Pacific Investment Manage-ment Co.
Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer of Pimco, also has a foundation with his wife, the William and Sue Gross Family Foundation. Their Irvine-based foundation, No. 4 on our list, gave $7.3 million in 2006 and has about $280 million in assets.
The Samueli Foundation, No. 7 on our list, supports a number of local and Southern California groups, including the Mind Research Institute of Santa Ana, the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, the University of California, Irvine’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and the J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano.
The Samueli Foundation, founded by Irvine-based Broadcom Corp. cofounder Henry Samueli and wife Susan, gave $4 million in 2006 and has about $250,000 in assets.
Many on the list give quietly through their foundations.
The Crean Foundation, No. 12 on our list, gave $500,000 to the Oasis Senior Center, expected to be built next year in Newport Beach. The foundation gave $2.4 million in 2006 and has about $95 million in assets.
The late John Crean made his money making recreational vehicles. The foundation also helped build the Donna and John Crean Mariners Branch lib-rary in Newport Beach.
One of the Joan Irvine Smith & Athalie R. Clarke Foundation’s biggest beneficiaries also is coming to fruition,the UC Irvine School of Law is set to open next fall.
Irvine Smith, the great-granddaughter of Irvine Ranch founder James Irvine, spreads her fortune among environmental, philanthropic and political causes.
Her foundation, also named for her late mother, is No. 11 on our list, giving $2.4 million for the 12 months through April 2007. The foundation has $16.8 million in assets.
At No. 20, the Newport Beach-based Donald Bren Foundation pledged $20 million to the UCI law school last year. The foundation, backed by Donald Bren, owner of Irvine Company, gave $155,000 for the 12 months through November 2007 (not including the law school pledge) and has about $6 million in assets.
UC Irvine is a frequent recipient of foundation giving. For the 2007-08 school year, the university raised a record $130 million from donations and grants.
The Irvine-based Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation gave $24.4 million for the 12 months through August 2007 and is No. 2 on our list. By assets, it’s No. 1 with $620 million.
The foundation was started by the late Arnold Beckman, founder of what’s now Beckman Coulter Inc. of Fullerton. It gives grants for science research. The Beckman Young Investigator award hands out $300,000 grants to support research scientists doing work in chemistry and medical science.
The Argyros Foundation helped support the Los Angeles Film Festival this year. No. 4 on our list, the Costa Mesa-based foundation gave $4.9 million for the 12 months through July 2006. It has $105 million in assets, the third highest of the foundations on our list.
George Argyros is chief executive of Costa Mesa’s Arnel & Affiliates, a real estate developer and investment company.
