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Bickerstaff Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bickerstaff Family 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.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$2.4MEducation$1.9MHousing & Shelter$1.7MHealth$1.3MInternational$934kPhilanthropy$495kCommunity Improvement$259kReligion$134kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $135k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $624k
  • $250k+1 grant · $300k
$40,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$2.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION INC$300,000
CIVIC SOUL$234,000
ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION$225,000
ETHAN'S SMILE FOUNDATION$100,000
THE MIRACULOUS LOVE KIDS$65,000
HEADS UP YOUTH FOUNDATION$40,000
CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP INTERNATIONAL$34,000
HEROIC HEARTS$21,000
REAL TIME RESCUE$20,000
FIRST STEP HOUSE ORANGE COUNTY$10,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF ORANGE COUNTY$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

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

show:

Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $1.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 3% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WOMEN IN NEED INC: $5k → 17%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF ORANGE COUNTY: $10k → 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $525k → 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $160k → 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $115k → 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $85k → 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $240k → 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $225k → 10%THE BUCKET LIST PROJECT FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $162k → 10%WOMEN IN NEED: $10k → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
NY
IN
CA
UT
VA
MD
TN
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 10% of Bickerstaff Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 89% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 80%.

Bickerstaff Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.8M · 21 repeat orgs$587k to everyone else

21 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
15

Total granted

$8.8M
$496k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
+29%

Still filing today

62%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $91k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyHealthInternationalPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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.

Backed again, and grew

  • IH
    Illumination Health Home formerly The Illumination Foundation
    8× · 2018–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +317%
  • LB
    LONG BEACH STATE FOUNDATION
    7× · 2017–2023 · $620k · revenue +160%
  • GE
    GLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION INC
    4× · 2021–2025 · $505k · revenue +369%

Funded once

  • TE
    THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $135k · revenue +91%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $85k
  • FL
    FOSTER LOVE INC
    one grant, 2024 · $75k
How this is measured

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

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Laural Foundation
—
2
The Silver Lining Foundation
Philanthropy
3
The Firefly Foundation
Recreation & Sports
4
Jolie-Pitt Foundation
Philanthropy
5
Colette Louise Tisdahl Foundation
Human Services
6
Amy Gallagher Foundation
—
7
The Star Foundation
Philanthropy
8
Natalie Giorgi Sunshine Foundation
Health
9
Nancy Langhorne Foundation
Health
10
Angel Foundation
Philanthropy
11
Star Foundation
Philanthropy
12
Sarah Foundation
Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Women in Need; the most unlike its peers is The Nagourney Institute. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

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

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 27 of the 41 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/27
Grantees still filing
16/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $2,260,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCSU FULLERTON: $620,000 · OtherCSU FULLERTONMY FRIEND'S PLACE: $150,000 · Other+17 more: $789,000 · Other+17 moreIllumination Health Home formerly The Illumination Foundation: $1,536,500 · Human ServicesIllumination Health…+4 more: $75,000 · Human ServicesVANGUARD CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,150,000 · HealthVANGUARD CANC…+2 more: $23,900 · HealthLONG BEACH STATE FOUNDATION: $620,000 · EducationLONG BEACH ST…CSU FULLERTON AUXILIARY SERVICES CORPORATION: $250,000 · EducationCSU FULLERTON…ETHAN'S SMILE FOUNDATION: $250,000 · EducationETHAN'S SMILE…JOHN MALLINGER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Education+1 more: $11,000 · EducationCivic Soul: $259,000 · PhilanthropyCivic SoulTHE NAGOURNEY INSTITUTE: $250,000 · PhilanthropyTHE NAGOUR…ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $200,000 · PhilanthropyENTERTAINM…THE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATION: $135,000 · PhilanthropyTHE ELIZAB…+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyGLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION INC: $505,000 · Public Safety & DisasterMIRACULOUS LOVE KIDS: $287,500 · InternationalWater Underground: $120,000 · International
Other$3,819,000Human Services$1,611,500Health$1,173,900Education$1,171,000Philanthropy$854,000Public Safety & Disaster$505,000International$407,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetIllumination Health Home formerly The Illumination Foundation: $1,536,500 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetVANGUARD CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,150,000 over 3y, 56% of budgetLONG BEACH STATE FOUNDATION: $620,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetGLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION INC: $505,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMIRACULOUS LOVE KIDS: $287,500 over 8y, 65% of budgetCivic Soul: $259,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetCSU FULLERTON AUXILIARY SERVICES CORPORATION: $250,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE NAGOURNEY INSTITUTE: $250,000 over 2y, 47% of budgetETHAN'S SMILE FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 3y, 34% of budgetENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ELIZABETH TAYLOR AIDS FOUNDATION: $135,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetWater Underground: $120,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetSTARLIGHT CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetThe Bucket List Project Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetFIRST STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY INC: $45,000 over 3y, 8.7% of budgetJOHN MALLINGER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetPATROL BASE ABBATE: $25,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetaxeALS Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetCameron Siemers Foundation for Hope: $20,000 over 1y, 96% of budgetREAL TIME RESCUE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetPATHWAYS TO GRAD SCHOOL INC: $11,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF ORANGE COUNTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN IN NEED: $10,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetWOMEN IN NEED INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $3,900 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

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

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.

Paypal Charitable Giv…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Paypal Charitable Giving FundDC7.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Bickerstaff Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bickerstaff Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Global Empowerment Mission Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
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 a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than 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 to 24 months.

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 41 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

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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