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Plinth

· Private foundation

A Better Place Foundation

Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$31k
Granted FY2022
11
Grants FY2022
4
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of A Better Place Foundation’s FY2023 grant dollars went to National Philanthropic Trust, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2023 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2022, the last year A Better Place Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 7 organizations, $31k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

12
’17
8
’18
5
’19
5
’20
5
’21
7
’22
0
’23

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2023.

Philanthropy$382kInternational$51kCivil Rights$28kArts & Culture$20kEnvironment$20kAnimals$13kEducation$7kHealth$6kOther$0
02FY2022 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$2,500
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INNOCEANA$5,000
BALAMU HEALTHCARE INTERNATIONAL$5,000
HELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER$4,000
KASIISI PROJECT$3,000
NEW VENTURE FUND$2,500
CITIZENS CLIMATE EDUCATION$2,500
TIDES FOUNDATION$2,500
CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE FOR ARTS EDUCATION$2,500
SOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND$2,082
501 COMMONS ORGANIZATION$1,049
THRIVE ANIMAL RESCUE$1,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY17–21, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 74% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%BLACK ORGANIZING PROJECT: $3k → 10%SHE SHOULD RUN: $1k → 14%ABOUT-FACE: $2k → 10%ABOUT-FACE: $2k → 10%ABOUT-FACE: $2k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

WA
NY
MA
PA
CT
CA
MD
DC
AL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

62%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$105k · 10 repeat orgs$64k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +40% since the first grant, against +33% for the ones you funded once.

10 repeat relationships — 4 still active in FY2022, 6 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call). Read against FY2022, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
24

Total granted

$105k
$49k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+33%

Still filing today

80%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 42% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22
EnvironmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesInternationalAnimalsEducationOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as “new.” Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • TA
    THRIVE ANIMAL RESCUE INC
    3× · 2018–2022 · $6k · revenue +85%
  • AM
    ABOUT-FACE MEDIA LITERACY INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $6k · revenue +169%
  • FA
    Friends and Foundation of the San Francisco Public Library
    2× · 2017–2018 · $3k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • MV
    MOVEMENT VOTER FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • AI
    ALLIES IN ARTS
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • StandUp for Kidsgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +76%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
2
Partnership for Policy Integrity

Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) uses data-driven advocacy and litigation to fight for forests, communities and the climate.

Environment
3
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
4
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
5
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
6
Amazon Watch Inc

To protect the rainforest and advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with Indigenous communities in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability, and the preservation of the Amazon Basin's…

Environment
7
California Environmental Justice Alliance

Our mission is to fight against fossil fuel executives and industries that have turned our communities into dumping grounds for toxic waste, poisoning our air, water, lan, and bodies. We organize to oppose giant oil refineries, dirty…

Environment
8
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
9
Bank Climate Advocates

Bank Climate Advocates (BCA) combats climate change and its adverse effects primarily by using legal advocacy and action to align public financial institutions' investment policies and practices with the 1.5 degrees C warming limitation…

Environment
10
Power for All

Our mission is to build and mobilize a network of partners across the energy access ecosystem that together can accelerate the adoption of decentralized renewable energy.

International
11
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
12
San Francisco Film Society

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM connects and inspires audiences, students and teachers, and filmmakers through our film…

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Playworks Education Energized and the most unlike its peers is Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 31 years old; the field is 14. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number24%0%<5yr16%3%5–10yr20%23%10–20yr17%29%20–35yr11%29%35–55yr12%16%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value24%0%<5yr16%1%5–10yr20%11%10–20yr17%80%20–35yr11%6%35–55yr12%2%55yr+

The field is 24% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/33
the rest of the field
14%
14,005/97,500

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

33 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 33 of the 42 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/33
Grantees still filing
19/33
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST — $373,153 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST+1 more — $5,000 · PhilanthropyBALAMU HEALTHCARE INTERNATIONAL — $45,000 · OtherBALAMU HEALTHCARE IN…Create CA — $7,500 · OtherCreate CAINNOCEANA — $5,000 · OtherMOVEMENT VOTER FUND — $5,000 · OtherALLIES IN ARTS — $5,000 · OtherStandUp for Kids — $5,000 · Other+17 more — $25,701 · Other+17 moreThe Representation Project — $25,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE — $2,500 · Civil RightsCITIZENS CLIMATE EDUCATION CORP — $8,000 · EnvironmentNEW VENTURE FUND — $2,500 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $2,500 · EnvironmentSOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND — $2,082 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC — $2,000 · EnvironmentTHRIVE ANIMAL RESCUE INC — $6,000 · AnimalsHELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER — $4,000 · AnimalsTHE BIG FIX — $2,500 · AnimalsABOUT-FACE MEDIA LITERACY INC — $6,000 · Human ServicesThe Black Organizing Project Inc — $2,500 · Human ServicesSHE SHOULD RUN — $1,000 · Human ServicesCALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE — $2,700 · Arts & CultureDO IT FOR THE LOVE — $2,067 · Arts & CulturePerforming Arts Workshop Inc — $1,250 · Arts & CultureYouth in Arts — $600 · Arts & Culture
Philanthropy$378,153Other$98,201Civil Rights$27,500Environment$17,082Animals$12,500Human Services$9,500Arts & Culture$6,617

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST — $373,153 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Representation Project — $25,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCITIZENS CLIMATE EDUCATION CORP — $8,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCreate CA — $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHRIVE ANIMAL RESCUE INC — $6,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetABOUT-FACE MEDIA LITERACY INC — $6,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION — $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINNOCEANA — $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetHELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER — $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKASIISI PROJECT INC — $3,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE — $2,700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION — $2,595 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCANAL ALLIANCE — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR ENGAGEMENT AND ADVOCACY IN THE AMERICAS — $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Black Organizing Project Inc — $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFriends and Foundation of the San Francisco Public Library — $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOLAR ELECTRIC LIGHT FUND — $2,082 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDO IT FOR THE LOVE — $2,067 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBay Area Community Law Foundation — $1,558 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetEdify — $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFLORESTA USA INCORPORATED — $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHE SHOULD RUN — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYouth in Arts — $600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPLAYWORKS EDUCATION ENERGIZED — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The San Francisco Fou…Marin Community Found…Silicon Valley Commun…The William & Flora H…Jewish Community Fede…The Yelp FoundationTides FoundationNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Morgan Stanley Global…Network for GoodAmerican Endowment Fo…
The San Francisco FoundationCA19.6× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The Yelp Foundation · Tides Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Network for Good · American Endowment Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization A Better Place Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation — 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
typical government reliance, FY20–25

Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending — grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 42 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines