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Bj's Restaurants Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Bj's Restaurants Foundation

The bj's restaurant foundation is dedicated to support charities benefiting children's healthcare and education, with primary focus on the cystic fibrosis foundation.

$311k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$33k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$320kFood & Nutrition$140kYouth Development$139kCivil Rights$70kCrime & Legal$60kEducation$57kEmployment$42kPublic Safety & Disaster$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 10 grants below total $168,051, the rows itemized in this filing. The $310,969 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $142,918 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $160k
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$73k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT FOUNDATION$32,800
IMPACT 4 GOOD LLC$30,000
GIVE A SLICE$17,700
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION$15,500
JESSIE REES FOUNDATION$15,000
LEUKEMIA & LYPHOMA SOCIETY$15,000
GIRLS INC OF ORANGE COUNTY$11,551
CHOC FOUNDATION$11,500
CAL POLY POMONA HOSPITALITY MGMT$11,000
NATIONAL REST ASSOC ED FOUNDATION$8,000
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 (FY25–25, $18k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GIVE A SLICE: $18k → 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.
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$735k · 14 repeat orgs$146k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +3% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

14 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
7

Total granted

$735k
$98k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+3%
0%

Still filing today

93%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $48k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthCivil RightsFood & NutritionArts & CultureEducationScience & TechOther
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

  • CR
    CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2021–2025 · $112k · revenue +2%
  • TREVOR PROJECT INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $50k · revenue +32%
  • JR
    Jessie Rees Foundation
    2× · 2024–2025 · $46k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • CL
    CASEY LEE BALL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -65% · 55% of their budget
  • HA
    Hav A Sole
    one grant, 2024 · $20k · revenue 0%
  • DR
    Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Incgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue +29%
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
Targeting Resistance in Cancer Cooperative
Health
2
Lung Cancer Research Foundation

The mission of the lung cancer research foundation is to improve lung cancer outcomes by funding research for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure of lung cancer.

Health
3
Colorectal Cancer Alliance

The mission of the colorectal cancer alliance is end colon and rectal cancer and support the nearly 50,000 afflicted with this disease each year. this is achieved by supporting preventative measures, accelerating research toward cures, and…

Health
4
National Foundation for Cancer Research

To support cancer research and public education relating to prevention, earlier diagnosis, better treatments and ultimately, a cure for cancer.

Health
5
Afe Foundation

We are committed to identifying the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of amniotic fluid embolism and bring our information and resources to healthcare providers and impacted families through our education and support programs.We…

Health
6
Gastric Cancer Foundation

The gastric cancer foundation helps patients to face their diagnosis with reliable information, tools to navigate the journey, and a compassionate community that truly understands. the foundation funds research initiatives that contribute…

Health
7
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc

The mission of dfci is to provide expert, compassionate, and equitable care to children, adults, and their families, while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. we train new…

Health
8
Celiac Disease Foundation

The celiac disease foundation is the leading global patient advocacy organization committed to accelerating diagnosis, treatments, and a cure for celiac disease. our mission is to improve the health and well-being of the millions of…

Health
9
Children's Cancer Research Fund

Children's cancer research fund fuels transformational research to bring better treatments and cures to children with cancer.

Philanthropy
10
Cancer Research Institute Inc

See schedule ocri is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing cancer immunotherapy through scientific discovery and global collaboration. since 1953, cri has funded research that deepens understanding of the immune system and its…

Health
11
The Jed Ian Taxel Foundation for Rare Cancer Research Inc

To inspire and empower scientific breakthroughs, clinical trials and improved treatments which change lives and enable better outcomes for rare cancer patients and their families.

Health
12
The National Fragile X Foundation

The national fragile x foundation serves the entire fragile x community to live their best lives by providing the knowledge, resources, and tools until, and even after, more effective treatments and a cure are achieved.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Restaurant Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

19 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. 19 of the 23 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/19
Grantees still filing
9/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT FOUNDATION INC: $112,100 · OtherCALIFORNIA RESTAURANT FOUNDATION INCBJS RESTAURANTS INC: $43,264 · OtherBJS RESTAURANTS INCGIRLS INCORPORATED OF ORANGE COUNTY: $31,721 · OtherGIRLS INCORPORATED OF ORANGE COUNTYNational Restaurant Association: $30,000 · OtherNational Restaurant AssociationIMPACT 4 GOOD LLC: $30,000 · OtherIMPACT 4 GOOD LLCTEXAS RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · OtherCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION THERAPEUTICS INC: $10,000 · Other+2 more: $18,129 · Other+2 moreCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $98,661 · HealthCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATIONJessie Rees Foundation: $45,560 · HealthJessie Rees FoundationBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $35,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INCALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $30,500 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DIS…CHOC FOUNDATION: $28,500 · HealthCHOC FOUNDATIONMCKENNA FOUNDATION: $21,500 · HealthMCKENNA FOUNDATIONEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $90,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATI…TREVOR PROJECT INC: $50,000 · Civil RightsTREVOR PROJECT INCHav A Sole: $20,000 · Civil RightsHav A SoleDisability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc: $15,000 · Civil RightsDisability Rights Educ…The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation: $96,000 · Food & NutritionThe National…CASEY LEE BALL FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCAL POLY POMONA PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION: $22,000 · PhilanthropyGIVE A SLICE: $17,700 · Human Services
Other$285,214Health$259,721Civil Rights$175,000Food & Nutrition$96,000Arts & Culture$25,000Philanthropy$22,000Human Services$17,700

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCALIFORNIA RESTAURANT FOUNDATION INC: $112,100 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $98,661 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation: $96,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $90,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJessie Rees Foundation: $45,560 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF ORANGE COUNTY: $31,721 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $30,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNational Restaurant Association: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHOC FOUNDATION: $28,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCASEY LEE BALL FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 55% of budgetCAL POLY POMONA PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION: $22,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMCKENNA FOUNDATION: $21,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHav A Sole: $20,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetGIVE A SLICE: $17,700 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetDisability Rights Education and Defense Fund Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTEXAS RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Bank of America Charitable Foundation IncNC6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Bj's Restaurants Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bj's Restaurants Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Bj's Restaurants Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Bj's Restaurants 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.

    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 23 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 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 Bj's Restaurants’ 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