Philip Stephenson Foundation
The Philip Stephenson Foundation (EIN 54-6669190) is a U.S. private foundation that funds marine exploration, protection and education, with a focus on U.S. and Caribbean coastal regions. The official website presents the foundation's mission, grant criteria (FIRST), a grants page listing supported projects, and contact details including Executive Director Eugen Babau and an Alexandria, VA address.
Source: Website · Mar 2026
Ideal Applicant
A mid-sized marine or coastal conservation, exploration, or education organization with a track record and program scale matching awards in the $10k–$200k range, and demonstrated alignment with the foundation's coastal/marine priorities.
Good Fit
- • Work focused on marine exploration, ocean conservation, or coastal education.
- • Programs or projects serving U.S. coastal regions or the Caribbean.
- • Organizational capacity to manage multi-year or general-support grants (~$10k–$200k).
- • Existing relationships or referrals into the marine conservation network.
- • Evidence of alignment with the foundation's stated grant criteria on the website.
Geography
Giving in the latest year covered seven states with 91% of dollars sent out of the foundation's home state and a 36% share concentrated in Washington, DC, indicating multi-state/national reach despite a regional focus.
Recipient Variety
The latest year shows 17 distinct recipients and a multi-year pattern of 16–19 recipients, but dollars are concentrated (the top five received 83%), so the foundation funds many independent organizations while favoring a smaller set of larger grantees.
New Applicants
The foundation explicitly declares an invitation-only (preselected) process and, although six new recipients appeared in the most recent year, the multi-year record of repeat grantees and the stated 'only preselected' policy make it unlikely that an unfamiliar applicant can enter through a public application route.
Source: Zeffy Agent · Mar 2026
