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California · Private foundation

Audacious Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$968k
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
17
Grants FY2025
17
Organizations funded FY2024
29%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$5,011
Largest grant, FY2025
$503,900
Organizations funded a year
9 to 47
FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
3
Total assets, FY2025
$2.8M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 29% of the organizations Audacious Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 7% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $82k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthEnvironmentArts & CulturePhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving15$965k40%
FY202417$1.3M29%
FY202336$1.2M61%
FY202222$1.1M59%
FY202115$220k60%
FY20209$327k22%
FY201947$3.5M60%
FY201843$1.8M42%
99% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Youth Development$4.2MEducation$2.7MHealth$2.3MEnvironment$2.0MArts & Culture$767kHuman Services$440kPublic Benefit$363kRecreation & Sports$309kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Wilderness Youth Project Inc$2,799,944625%
Explore Ecology$1,084,363523%
Lompoc Unified School Dist$697,2894n/a
Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition Dba Move Santa Barbara County$361,960416%
Children and Family Resource Services$326,339212%
Clinicas del Camino Real Inc$295,50010%
Notre Dame School$278,4285n/a
Social Skills America$247,4791n/a
Childrens Creative Project$203,49947%
Nature Track Foundation Inc$159,043311%
Show all 81 grantees
All grantees of Audacious Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Wilderness Youth Project Inc$2,799,944625%
Explore Ecology$1,084,363523%
Lompoc Unified School Dist$697,2894n/a
Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition Dba Move Santa Barbara County$361,960416%
Children and Family Resource Services$326,339212%
Clinicas del Camino Real Inc$295,50010%
Notre Dame School$278,4285n/a
Social Skills America$247,4791n/a
Childrens Creative Project$203,49947%
Nature Track Foundation Inc$159,043311%
St Mary of the Assumption School$152,4072n/a
Santa Barbara Middle School$149,52021%
Community Environmental Council$82,52142%
Ventura Land Trust$79,00022%
Channel Islands Young Men's Christian Association$66,30250%
Loyola Marymount University$62,91320%
Therapy Dogs of Santa Barbara Inc$55,950331%
One Sport Foundation$54,0623n/a
Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade$50,00014%
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy$45,36010%
Communities in Schools of Richmond Inc$45,25841%
California Polytechnic State University Foundation$45,00010%
Bikeventura$42,95527%
Planned Parenthood California Central Coast$40,00010%
Our Lady of Guadalupe School$37,9792n/a
Friendship Adult Day Care Center Inc$37,50022%
Kaboom Inc$33,60530%
Pueblo Nuevo Education and Development G$33,06730%
Fund for Santa Barbara Inc$30,50041%
St Raphael School$29,3791n/a
Children & Nature Network$27,5001n/a
Santa Barbara Maritime Museum$27,01831%
The Hive Mentality$25,00015%
Santa Barbara Dance Institute$23,30037%
Designing Justice Designing Spaces$22,00011%
Girls Incorporated of Carpinteria$20,00011%
United Way of Santa Barbara County Inc$20,00011%
Leading from Within$20,00041%
Guadalupe Kids Come First Foundation$17,400119%
Ojai Valley Youth Foundation$17,350121%
Foodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc$15,00010%
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation$15,0001n/a
Sansum Diabetes Research Institute$15,00010%
One Cool Earth$12,50014%
Equitas Academy Charter School$10,69520%
University of California Santa Barbara$10,2872n/a
Vista Charter Public Schools Inc$10,22010%
Santa Barbara Unified School District$10,0001n/a
Holy Innocents School$10,0001n/a
Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization Inc$10,00010%
PTA CALIFORNIA CONGRESS OF PARENTS Adams Elementary PTA$8,86025%
Bright Star Schools$8,33010%
EPIC Leadership Center Inc$8,00027%
Franklin Elementary PTA$7,73531%
Mckinley Elementary School PTA$7,6341n/a
Aspire Public Schools$6,04810%
McKinley Elementary PTA$5,82617%
Zaca Center Preschool$5,80031%
Todays Fresh Start$5,75720%
Starr-King Parent-Child Workshop$5,50022%
Childrens Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara Co$5,00010%
Ventura College Foundation$5,00010%
South Coast Montessori School$5,00010%
Dos Pueblos High School Foundation$5,00012%
Historic Richmond Foundation$5,00010%
The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College$4,95010%
Parks and Recreation Community Foundation$4,800162%
San Marcos Parent-Child Workshop$4,20012%
Storyteller Childrens Center Inc$3,66310%
Southern California Grantmakers$3,33310%
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden$3,31310%
St Vincent's Institution$2,22310%
Smithsonian Institution$2,00020%
Providence School$1,04310%
National Park Trust Inc$1,00010%
Holy Cross School$9391n/a
City of Lompoc$7001n/a
Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum$69010%
Oaks Parent-Child Workshop$50010%
Lou Grant Parent-Child Workshop$25010%
City of Santa Maria$91n/a

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 59 recipients with no EIN on record ($5.2M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Audacious Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 3 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 65 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWilderness Youth Project Inc: $2,799,944 over 6y, 25% of budgetExplore Ecology: $1,084,363 over 5y, 23% of budgetSanta Barbara Bicycle Coalition Dba Move Santa Barbara County: $361,960 over 4y, 16% of budgetChildren and Family Resource Services: $326,339 over 2y, 12% of budgetClinicas del Camino Real Inc: $295,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetChildrens Creative Project: $203,499 over 4y, 6.8% of budgetNature Track Foundation Inc: $159,043 over 3y, 11% of budgetSanta Barbara Middle School: $149,520 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetCommunity Environmental Council: $82,521 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetVentura Land Trust: $79,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetChannel Islands Young Men's Christian Association: $66,302 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLoyola Marymount University: $62,913 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTherapy Dogs of Santa Barbara Inc: $55,950 over 3y, 31% of budgetSanta Barbara Bucket Brigade: $50,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetCamino Nuevo Charter Academy: $45,360 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCommunities in Schools of Richmond Inc: $45,258 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetCalifornia Polytechnic State University Foundation: $45,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBikeventura: $42,955 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetPlanned Parenthood California Central Coast: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFriendship Adult Day Care Center Inc: $37,500 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetKaboom Inc: $33,605 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPueblo Nuevo Education and Development G: $33,067 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFund for Santa Barbara Inc: $30,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetSanta Barbara Maritime Museum: $27,018 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetThe Hive Mentality: $25,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetSanta Barbara Dance Institute: $23,300 over 3y, 7.3% of budgetDesigning Justice Designing Spaces: $22,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGirls Incorporated of Carpinteria: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetUnited Way of Santa Barbara County Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLeading from Within: $20,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetGuadalupe Kids Come First Foundation: $17,400 over 1y, 19% of budgetOjai Valley Youth Foundation: $17,350 over 1y, 21% of budgetFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSansum Diabetes Research Institute: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOne Cool Earth: $12,500 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetEquitas Academy Charter School: $10,695 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVista Charter Public Schools Inc: $10,220 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPTA CALIFORNIA CONGRESS OF PARENTS Adams Elementary PTA: $8,860 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetBright Star Schools: $8,330 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEPIC Leadership Center Inc: $8,000 over 2y, 7.2% of budgetFranklin Elementary PTA: $7,735 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetAspire Public Schools: $6,048 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMcKinley Elementary PTA: $5,826 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetZaca Center Preschool: $5,800 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetTodays Fresh Start: $5,757 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetStarr-King Parent-Child Workshop: $5,500 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetChildrens Resource & Referral of Santa Barbara Co: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 65.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Hutton Foundation Dba…Santa Barbara Foundat…Williams-Corbett Foun…Towbes FoundationJames S Bower Foundat…The Wood-Claeyssens F…Mosher FoundationAnn Jackson Family Fo…The Kirby-Jones Found…June G Outhwaite Char…The McCune FoundationPatricia Bragg Founda…
Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker FoundationCA68× affinity31 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Santa Barbara Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Towbes Foundation · James S Bower Foundation · The Wood-Claeyssens Foundation · Mosher Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · The Kirby-Jones Foundation · June G Outhwaite Charitable Trust JS Poucher KL Englert & CM Cooney Co-Tr · The McCune Foundation · Patricia Bragg Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Compare Audacious Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Audacious Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Audacious Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

About Audacious Foundation

How much does Audacious Foundation give?
Audacious Foundation reported 17 grants totaling $968,227 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 9 and 47 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Audacious Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Youth Development (31%), Education (20%), Health (17%).
Who are Audacious Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Wilderness Youth Project Inc ($2.8M), Explore Ecology ($1.1M), Lompoc Unified School Dist ($697k).
Does Audacious Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 29% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Audacious Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Audacious Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation, Santa Barbara Foundation, Williams-Corbett Foundation.
Where is Audacious Foundation based?
Audacious Foundation is based in CA.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 143 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its 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.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Audacious’ filings →

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 endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home