OVERVIEW: The Annenberg Foundation makes grants globally, but primarily in Southern California, to support the arts, journalism, education, animals, nonprofit infrastructure and community development.
IP TAKE: The Annenberg Foundation is a prominent funder in the Los Angeles area. According to the foundation’s website, it has “evolved from a traditional grantmaking institution to one that is also directly involved in the community with its unique charitable activities through which large-scale solutions to systemic problems are pursued.” Annenberg’s online grant applications have been suspended since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, though the website continues to define this as a “temporary” suspension, so it’s worthwhile to check back. Grantmaking continues, but by invitation only. Annenberg is keen on funding organizations that invest in the long-term health and wellness of communities and that prioritize partnerships and collaboration. While Annenberg no longer provides clarity on its financials, this funder is an important one to know. It is unclear what direction the foundation will take since Wallis Annenberg’s passing in July 2025.
PROFILE: Founded in 1989, the Annenberg Foundation is a Los Angeles-based family foundation created by Walter Annenberg with about $1.2 billion of wealth from his media enterprise. Walter Annenberg, former ambassador to the Court of St. James from 1969 to 1974, enjoyed a distinguished career as a publisher, broadcaster, diplomat and philanthropist. He served as president and chairman of the Board for Triangle Publications, which included TV Guide and Seventeen magazine, as well as radio and TV stations nationwide. The foundation was most recently steered by Annenberg’s daughter, Wallis Annenberg.
The foundation “invests in visionary nonprofit organizations and leaders that provide impactful programs and services through collaborative models.” It was initially an East Coast funder, it gradually broadened its focus to support causes the world over. Southern California is a clear geographic priority, with many signature initiatives and offshoot organizations serving the greater Los Angeles area. This grantmaker is “committed to core values of responsiveness, accessibility, fairness and involvement,” and it values “visionary leadership, impact, sustainability, innovation, organizational strength, network of partnerships plus the population being served.” In addition to grantmaking, the foundation runs over 20 initiatives in its areas of interest.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Arts and culture comprise the foundation’s largest giving area, although grants for the arts tend to stay in Southern California. The foundation does not name specific goals for this giving.
- The foundation provides ongoing support to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles and the Sound in Focus concern series held at Los Angeles’s Century Park.
- Annenberg also supports Metabolic Studio, a Los Angeles arts organization that aims to “explore and address critical social and environmental issues through art interventions and innovative projects aimed at reparation.”
- Other SoCal grantees include the 24th Street Theatre Company, the California Art Club, the Center Theatre Group of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Opera Company and the the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.
- Elsewhere in the U.S., the foundation has made grants to New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelpha Orchestra and the Washington, D.C. Performing Arts Society.
Grants for Journalism Higher Education
The Annenberg Foundation’s higher education funding appears to prioritize journalism and communications programs.
- The foundation provides ongoing support to the Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism at USC and University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. The University of Pennsylvania is also home to the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which conducts and disseminates research on media, politics, health and child and adolescent development.
- Other higher education recipients include UCLA, College Track, Brown University, Duke University and the University of Utah.
- Additional grantees for civic participation, democracy and public policy include the Every Town for Gun Safety Support Fund, the People for the American Way Foundation, LA Voice and the California Conference for Equality and Justice.
Grants for K-12 Education
Annenberg supports K-12 education in California and throughout the U.S. via its initiatives and other grantmaking.
- Annenberg Learner is the “education division” of the foundation. Its purpose is to improve teaching broadly, and to date it has “distributed more than 100 multimedia courses and workshops to millions of K-12 and college teachers across disciplines.”
- Other granting related to K-12 education and youth development include the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, the Center for Powerful Schools, Communities in Schools of Los Angels, Facing History and Ourselves and Dream Yard, a youth development organization based in the Bronx.
Grants for Animals, Wildlife and Marine Conservation
Annenberg demonstrates a strong interest in the well-being of domestic animals, the conservation of endangered species and related ocean and freshwater conservation efforts.
- The foundation’s grantees for animal welfare include the Animal Wellness Center in Marina Del Ray, Colorado’s Dogs Playing for Life, the Service Dog Project and the Los Angeles County Animal Care Foundation.
- Wildlife Conservation grantees include Polar Bears International, the National Audubon Society, the Owl Research Institute and the Orangutan Foundation International.
- Additional conservation grants have supported the Center for Biological Diversity in Arizona, the Amah Mutsun Land Trust in Santa Cruz and the Katmai Conservancy in Alaska.
- A signature program, PetSpace, supports people’s connection to pets and facilitates adoptions, educational programs and more.
Grants for Nonprofits
Some of Annenberg’s signature initiatives and projects support nonprofit infrastructure and leadership in Southern California and beyond.
- Explore.org was established by foundation vice president Charles Annenberg Weingarten and “documents extraordinary causes and nonprofits around the world.” A significant portion of this initiative’s work consists of video and live-cam coverage of nonprofits around the world.
- Another signature program, LA n sync, works to bring together the “academic, civic, nonprofit, business and philanthropic sectors of Greater Los Angeles to pursue and win major funding opportunities.”
- Annenberg supports the nonprofit sector in Southern California via its Project Grantmanship, initiative, which was established to “strengthen Los Angeles County community-based organizations by training nonprofit leaders to plan more effective programs and produce compelling proposals for funding.”
Grants for Democracy, Community and Economic Development
As with other areas of giving, the Annenberg Foundation balances giving to institutions that bear its name with primarily local, but also U.S.-based organizations. The Annenberg Foundation’s investments in community and economic development span widely and in some cases overlap with its work in other areas.
- The Pledge LA initiative aims to improve and increase the level of civic engagement in Los Angels. This program runs a fellowship for nonprofit leaders, but it is unclear if it makes additional grants and investments.
- Annenberg Tech is an initiative through which the foundation partners with local businesses and corporations to create opportunity in the technology sector and through technology education programs. Partners have include Best Buy and the Los Angeles Community Impact Hub.
- Also located in Los Angeles, Wallis Annenberg GenSpace is a community center that priorities creativity and learning for senior citizens.
- Other community organizations funded by Annenberg include the Annenberg Community Beach House and the Universally Accessible Treehouse, both of which offer outdoor experiences to the public.
- Working globally, Grow Annenberg is an offshoot of the foundation that runs its own grantmaking programs to support the sustainable development of communities around the world.
Important Grant Details:
The majority of Annenberg grants range from $10,000 to $5 million, although grants of over $1 million tend to support named projects and initiatives.
- This is a global funder, but a significant portion of Annenberg’s initiatives and giving supports the greater Los Angeles area, including Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.
- Organizations with budgets larger than $10 million are not eligible for general operating support, but may apply for project support.
- Grantseekers may browse the foundation’s community grantmaking or newsroom pages for more information on its past grantmaking habits.
- The foundation suspended its grant application program during the COVID-19 pandemic and has not resumed the program since. Keep up with news about the foundation by signing up for updates at the bottom of the website.
- Submit questions to the Annenberg Foundation via email at info@annenberg.org or grantsinfo@annenberg.org or by telephone at (310) 209-4560. Social media accounts are linked to the bottom of the page.
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