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Bodhisattva Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bodhisattva 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.

$29k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0187% 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$51kArts & Culture$33kPhilanthropy$31kInternational$25kHousing & Shelter$17kReligion$12kPublic Safety & Disaster$6kAnimals$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$1,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$555k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GOOD SAMARITAN SHELTER$10,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC$3,500
WOMEN'S FUND OF SANTA BARBARA$2,750
PARTNERS FOR PEDIATRIC VISION$2,500
FISCAL SPONSORSHIP ALLIES$1,500
LOTUSLAND$1,250
Individual grant recipient$1,000
FELLOWS OF CONTEMPORARY ART$750
CARE 4 PAWS$500
Individual grant recipient$360
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 (FY18–24, $13k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 84% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FLAG FOUNDATION: $2k → 9%DOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER: $3k → 14%DIRECT RELIEF FOUNDATION: $3k → 14%FOOD ON FOOT: $1k → 14%FOOD ON FOOT: $1k → 14%ST JOSEPH CENTER: $3k → 14%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.

60%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$124k · 19 repeat orgs$82k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +58% since the first grant, against +39% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 16 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
32

Total granted

$124k
$59k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
+39%

Still filing today

63%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 20% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $23k 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesInternationalAnimalsHousing & ShelterHealthOther
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

  • WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    4× · 2019–2023 · $6k · revenue ×11
  • LOS ANGELES CHILDREN'S CHORUS
    2× · 2019–2021 · $6k · revenue +87%
  • IM
    INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS
    3× · 2017–2019 · $5k · revenue +82%

Funded once

  • SV
    SUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC
    one grant, 2019 · $7k · revenue +2%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • EI
    ESALEN INSTITUTEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $4k · revenue +144%
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
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
2
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
3
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
4
Santa Barbara Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Santa barbara humane operates two campuses located in santa barbara and santa maria providing care for community-owned and homeless animals. both campuses offer affordable high quality veterinary care, compassionate behavior training…

Animals
5
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
6
Santa Barbara Foundation

The mission of the santa barbara foundation (sbf) is to mobilize collective wisdom and philanthropic capital to build empathetic, inclusive and resilient communities.

Philanthropy
7
South Central Family Health Center

To improve the quality of life for the diverse communities we serve providing affordable and comprehensive healthcare and education in a welcoming multi-cultural environment.

Health
8
Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

To promote philanthropy to make santa cruz county a better place to live, now and in the future.we bring together people, ideas, and resources to inspire philanthropy and accomplish great things.

Philanthropy
9
Uc Santa Barbara Foundation

The uc santa barbara foundation actively works to further the goals of the university of california, santa barbara. the foundation seeks to maintain and nurture the university's quality and distinction. on behalf of the campus, the…

Education
10
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
11
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

The organization's mission is to mobilize resources to fight hunger in our community. to fulfill its mission, the food bank:* sources and acquires nutritious food and other products and distribute them to people experiencing nutrition…

—
12
The California Channel

To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Esalen Institute; the most unlike its peers is Lotus Land Foundation. 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

38 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 38 of the 61 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/38
Grantees still filing
23/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PAUSE YOUR MIND: $40,800 · OtherPAUSE YOUR MINDFRIENDS OF THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC: $11,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONICCOMMUNITY SHUL OF MONTECITO: $8,440 · OtherCOMMUNITY SHUL OF MONTECITOSUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $6,880 · OtherSUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS INCLOTUS LAND: $6,750 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,400 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · Other+32 more: $44,396 · Other+32 moreHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $17,000 · InternationalHUMAN RIGHTS W…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $5,900 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL …INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $5,000 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL …KIDSAVE INTERNATIONAL INC: $1,000 · InternationalLOTUS LAND FOUNDATION: $6,400 · PhilanthropyLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $6,000 · PhilanthropyWOMEN'S FUND OF SANTA BARBARA: $2,750 · PhilanthropyGOOD SAMARITAN SHELTER: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterDIGNITYMOVES: $3,000 · Housing & ShelterSafe Parking LA: $1,000 · Housing & ShelterST JOSEPH CENTER: $3,000 · Human ServicesDIRECT RELIEF FOUNDATION: $3,000 · Human ServicesDOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER: $2,500 · Human ServicesThe Flag Foundation: $2,000 · Human ServicesFOOD ON FOOT: $2,000 · Human ServicesSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $10,500 · EducationKRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1,500 · EducationLOS ANGELES CHILDREN'S CHORUS: $5,500 · Arts & CultureTHE EASTER ISLAND FOUNDATION: $2,000 · Arts & CultureLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $2,000 · Arts & CultureFELLOWS OF CONTEMPORARY ART: $750 · Arts & CultureCARPINTERIA ARTS CENTER: $500 · Arts & Culture
Other$128,666International$28,900Philanthropy$15,150Housing & Shelter$14,000Human Services$12,500Education$12,000Arts & Culture$10,750

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 budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $17,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $10,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGOOD SAMARITAN SHELTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $6,880 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLOTUS LAND FOUNDATION: $6,400 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetLIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $5,900 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES CHILDREN'S CHORUS: $5,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetESALEN INSTITUTE: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JOSEPH CENTER: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIGNITYMOVES: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSANTA BARBARA CHANNELKEEPER INC: $2,750 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWOMEN'S FUND OF SANTA BARBARA: $2,750 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDOWNTOWN WOMEN'S CENTER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS FOR PEDIATRIC VISION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetThe Flag Foundation: $2,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE EASTER ISLAND FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFOOD ON FOOT: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARPAN FOUNDATION USA: $1,800 over 1y, 9.1% of budgetFISCAL SPONSORSHIP ALLIES INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKRISHNAMURTI FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDIDI HIRSCH PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKIDSAVE INTERNATIONAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSANTA BARBARA WILDLIFE CARE NETWORK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $690 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA YNEZ VALLEY SENIOR CITIZENS FOUNDATION: $540 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOSTER CARE COUNTS: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF VENTURA COUNTY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCARPINTERIA ARTS CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHP 11-99 FOUNDATION: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCARE4Paws Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $75 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.

Hutton Foundation Dba…Santa Barbara Foundat…California Community …Patricia Bragg Founda…Manitou FundJames S Bower Foundat…Williams-Corbett Foun…Bny Mellon Charitable…The Turpin-Allebrand …Ann Jackson Family Fo…The San Francisco Fou…American Endowment Fo…
Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker FoundationCA23.9× affinity9 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 · California Community Foundation · Patricia Bragg Foundation · Manitou Fund · James S Bower Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Bny Mellon Charitable Gift Fund · The Turpin-Allebrand Family Charitable Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · American Endowment 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 Bodhisattva Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bodhisattva Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    14report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Bodhisattva Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Bodhisattva 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 61 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 Bodhisattva’s 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