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Brightside Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Brightside Charitable 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.

$35k
Granted FY2022
9
Grants FY2022
4
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0185% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2022.

Environment$56kAnimals$27kInternational$16kFood & Nutrition$13kHealth$6kPhilanthropy$6kEducation$4kHousing & Shelter$3kOther$0
02FY2022 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$5,163
FOOD & WATER WATCH$5,000
EARTHJUSTICE$5,000
DOCTORS WO BORDERS$5,000
INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE$5,000
CARE FRANCE$5,000
INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS$2,575
CA WILDLIFE CENTER$1,000
CORE RESPONSE$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 63% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: $5k → 8%IAPF AUSTRALIA: $1k → 22%MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $3k → 8%OCEAN DEFENDERS: $5k → 10%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%SAVE THE REDWOODS: $5k → 10%MAYOR'S FUND FOR LOS ANGELES: $3k → 14%NRDC: $5k → 17%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $1k → 28%CARE FRANCE: $5k → 14%HUMANE SOCIETY INTL: $3k → 14%WILD SALMON CENTER: $1k → 12%SOUTHERN UTAH WILDERNESS ALLIANCE: $1k → 8%CARE USA: $1k → 13%SEARCH AND RESCUE DOGS USA: $1k → 12%WILD FISH CONSERVACY: $1k → 9%CENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH: $1k → 10%JANE GOODALL FOUNDATION: $5k → 6%INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: $3k → 8%SAVE THE REDWOODS: $5k → 10%CORE RESPONSE: $1k → 14%NRDC: $3k → 17%WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: $3k → 14%INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: $3k → 8%SAVE THE REDWOODS: $2k → 10%UNICEF: $5k → 17%HUMANE SOCIETY US: $1k → 14%UNICEF: $3k → 17%AMERICANS RIVER CAMPAIGN: $3k → 14%EARTHJUSTICE: $5k → 10%NACHSHON MINYAN: $3k → 14%EARTHJUSTICE: $5k → 10%SIERRA CANYON SCHOOL: $3k → 14%DOCTORS WO BORDERS: $5k → 17%EARTHJUSTICE: $3k → 10%SIERRA CANYON SCHOOL: $2k → 14%DOCTORS WO BORDERS: $5k → 17%GREENPEACE FUND: $3k → 14%RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: $3k → 10%MUSICARES: $5k → 14%DOCTORS WO BORDERS: $3k → 17%FOOD & WATER WATCH: $5k → 14%INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $3k → 14%FOOD & WATER WATCH: $5k → 14%OCEANA: $3k → 14%FOOD & WATER WATCH: $3k → 14%OCEAN CONSERVANCY: $3k → 14%WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $5k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
NY
MA
OR
PA
CA
UT
CO
VA
AZ
DC
GA
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 7% of Brightside Charitable Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Brightside Charitable Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 2.9% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

53%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$83k · 10 repeat orgs$74k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +46% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2022, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
43

Total granted

$83k
$66k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+28%

Still filing today

60%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22
EnvironmentAnimalsInternationalHealthEducationPhilanthropyOther
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

  • EARTHJUSTICE
    3× · 2020–2022 · $13k · revenue +16%
  • INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $11k · revenue +42%
  • UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
    2× · 2020–2021 · $8k · revenue +46%

Funded once

  • MF
    MUSICARES FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +105%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
  • TW
    THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue -9%
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
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
2
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
3
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
4
The Nature Conservancy

The mission of the nature conservancy is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.

—
5
Wildaid Inc

Wildaid's mission is to inspire change and empower the world to protect wildlife and vital habitats from critical threats.

Animals
6
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
7
Cascadia Wildlands

Cascadia wildlands defends and restores cacasia's wild ecosystems in the forests,in the courts, and in the streets. we envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and…

Environment
8
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
9
Wildlife Alliance Inc

Wildlife alliance is the leader in direct protection of forests and wildlife in tropical asia. our mission is to combat deforestation, biodiversity loss, climate change, and poverty by partnering with local communities and governments.…

Animals
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
For the Fishes

To address, educate, coordinate, and enhance enforcement capacity to end teh trade in coral reef wildlife for household and other small display aquariums. our supply and demand side strategies are directed locally and globally to…

Animals
12
Environment Now
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wild Salmon Center; the most unlike its peers is Humane World for Animals International. 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

37 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. 37 of the 57 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/37
Grantees still filing
28/37
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $12,826 · OtherIndividual grant recipientDOCTORS WO BORDERS: $12,500 · OtherDOCTORS WO BORDERSJANE GOODALL FOUNDATION: $6,000 · OtherJANE GOODALL FOUNDATIONCARE FRANCE: $5,000 · OtherCARE FRANCEIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $3,575 · OtherIndividual grant recipientAMERICANS RIVER CAMPAIGN: $2,500 · OtherNACHSHON MINYAN A CA NONPROFIT RELIGIOUS CORP: $2,500 · OtherTHE MAYOR'S FUND FOR LOS ANGELES: $2,500 · Other+18 more: $10,946 · Other+18 moreEARTHJUSTICE: $12,500 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICENATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $7,500 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COU…THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $5,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETYRainforest Action Network: $2,500 · EnvironmentRainforest Action NetworkGREENPEACE FUND INC: $2,500 · EnvironmentGREENPEACE FUND INCSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $2,500 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATIONWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $2,500 · EnvironmentWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INCOCEANA INC: $2,500 · EnvironmentOCEANA INCOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $2,500 · EnvironmentOCEAN CONSERVANCY+5 more: $3,600 · Environment+5 moreINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC: $10,500 · AnimalsINTERNATIONAL FUND …CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $7,500 · AnimalsCENTER FOR BIOLOGIC…Humane World for Animals International: $2,500 · AnimalsHumane World for An…ENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION: $2,500 · AnimalsENDANGERED SPECIES …THE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $2,500 · AnimalsTHE MARINE MAMMAL C…WILD SALMON CENTER: $1,000 · AnimalsTHE RESCUE TRAIN: $1,000 · AnimalsWILD FISH CONSERVANCY: $1,000 · AnimalsWildlife Conservation Society: $1,000 · Animals+1 more: $500 · AnimalsFOOD & WATER WATCH: $12,500 · Food & NutritionUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $7,841 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $2,575 · InternationalCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $1,050 · InternationalMUSICARES FOUNDATION INC: $5,181 · Arts & CultureSIERRA CANYON SCHOOL: $4,000 · Education
Other$63,347Environment$43,600Animals$30,000Food & Nutrition$12,500International$11,466Arts & Culture$5,181Education$4,000

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 budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD & WATER WATCH: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC: $10,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $7,841 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMUSICARES FOUNDATION INC: $5,181 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CANYON SCHOOL: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $2,575 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHumane World for Animals International: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRainforest Action Network: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENPEACE FUND INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MAYOR'S FUND FOR LOS ANGELES: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOCEANA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $1,050 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILD SALMON CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE RESCUE TRAIN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILD FISH CONSERVANCY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAINFOREST ALLIANCE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCORE COMMUNITY ORGANIZED RELIEF EFFORT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSouthern Utah Wilderness Alliance: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORCA CONSERVANCY: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetColumbia Riverkeeper: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $50 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.

PatagoniaorgSempra FoundationMorgan Stanley Global…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…The Bank of America C…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
PatagoniaorgCA15.3× affinity5 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Patagoniaorg · Sempra Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Brightside Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Brightside Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 49%
  • Wild Salmon Center: 49% of income from government
  • Columbia Riverkeeper: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get 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
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 Brightside Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Brightside Charitable 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 57 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2023) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2022, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Brightside’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