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California Humanities at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

California Humanities

CALIFORNIA HUMANITIES was founded in 1975 with a defined mission to connect californians to ideas and one another in order to understand our shared heritage and diverse cultures, inspire civic participation, and shape our future.

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
41
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$50k
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, FY2018 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$7.4MEducation$1.6MCommunity Improvement$307kHuman Services$235kEnvironment$232kYouth Development$222kPhilanthropy$127kCivil Rights$98kOther$0
02FY2024 · 41 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 41 grants below total $857,605, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,059,044 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $201,439 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 · FY2024

  • Under $10k10 grants · $55k
  • $10k–50k29 grants · $703k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
$24,520
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FJC$50,000
FROM THE HEART PRODUCTIONS INC$50,000
KARTEMQUIN EDUCATIONAL FILMS$45,000
VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS$40,000
INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION$35,000
WRITING DOWNTOWN INC$30,000
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA RESOURCE CENTER$30,000
MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING$30,000
BAY AREA VIDEO COALITION INC$30,000
CHAFFEY COLLEGE$25,000
MADERA COUNTY LIBRARY$25,000
THE MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY AT THE MCPHERSON CENTER$25,000
ECOARTS OF LAKE COUNTY DBA MIDDLETOWN ART CENTER$25,000
LITQUAKE FOUNDATION$25,000
MEXICALI BIENNIAL INC$25,000
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 (FY18–24, $234k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 87% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CAMPTONVILLE COMMUNITY CENTER ADVOCATES: $5k → 15%WRITING DOWNTOWN INC: $30k → 13%LA FAMILIA COUNSELING CENTER INC: $5k → 12%SHERMAN HEIGHTS COMMUNITY CENTER: $20k → 11%SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $25k → 9%FILIPINO-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $20k → 10%KOREATOWN YOUTH & COMMUNITY CENTER: $25k → 14%KOREATOWN YOUTH & COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 14%J-SEI: $5k → 10%MISSION EDGE SAN DIEGO: $25k → 11%DONALDINA CAMERON HOUSE: $30k → 10%COMMUNITY LITERATURE INITIATIVE: $9k → 14%SOUTH ASIAN NETWORK INC: $5k → 14%SPECIAL SERVICE FOR GROUPS INC: $5k → 14%THAI COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $20k → 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
NV
NJ
CT
CA
DC
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.

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.2M · 143 repeat orgs$4.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +36% for those funded once.

143 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2024, 123 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

143
300

Total granted

$6.2M
$4.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+36%

Still filing today

81%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 47% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $427k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyOther
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

  • WM
    WOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC
    4× · 2019–2023 · $185k · revenue +82%
  • THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC
    5× · 2018–2024 · $185k · revenue +217%
  • VC
    VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA
    7× · 2018–2024 · $133k · revenue +213%

Funded once

  • FR
    Fort Ross Conservancy
    one grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue -52%
  • SF
    SWELL FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $40k · revenue ×18
  • PA
    PACIFIC ARTS MOVEMENTgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $38k · revenue +106%
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
California Institute of Contemporary Art
—
2
Pasadena Museum of California Art

To present the breadth of california art and design through exhibitions that explore the cultural dynamics and influence that are unique to california.

—
3
Museo De Las Americas

The Museo De Las Americas is dedicated to educating our community through collecting preserving interpreting and exhibiting the diverse arts and cultures of the Americas from ancient to contemporary through innovative exhibitions and…

Arts & Culture
4
Galeria Studio 24

Galeria's mission is to foster public awareness and appreciation of Chicano/Latino art. Galeria sees itself as a laboratory where emerging and established artists explore contemporary issues in Latino art, culture and civic society.…

Arts & Culture
5
Movimiento De Arte Y Cultura Latino Americana De San Jose Incorporated

MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana is an inclusive contemporary arts space grounded in the Chicano/Latino experience that incubates new visual, literary and performance art in order to engage people in civic dialogue and…

Arts & Culture
6
California Film Institute

The california film institute celebrates film and videos as art and education. its goal is to present and support emerging and established independent filmakers whose works address issues relevant to contemporary society. this is…

Arts & Culture
7
18TH Street Arts Complex

Support local artists through workshops, gallery exhibitions, and other educationalevents which reach out to the community at large; support local and internationalartists through renting spaces at rates below market value to artists…

Arts & Culture
8
Kearny Street Workshop Incorporated

Ksw makes artists out of community members and community members out of artists. since 1972, ksw has nurtured the creative spirit, and offered an important platform for new voices to be heard -full statement on schedule o

Arts & Culture
9
Art Foundation
Arts & Culture
10
Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco

The asian art museum celebrates, preserves, and promotes asian and asian american art and cultures for local and global audiences. we provide a dynamic forum for exchanging ideas, inviting collaboration, and fueling imagination to deepen…

Arts & Culture
11
Occidental Center for the Arts

Occidental Center for the Arts exists to provide a welcoming and accessible venue for the performing and visual arts in Sonoma County California for local regional national and international artists. our mission is to enrich our community…

Arts & Culture
12
Californians for the Arts

Our mission at Californians for the Arts is to ensure that the arts are accessible to all Californians; are an ongoing part of the public dialogue and to encourage Californians to care about the arts as a critical component of their own…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Center for the Arts Escondido Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Mineral King Preservation Society. 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

425 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. 425 of the 467 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.

10
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
148
Early backer (in before they grew)
417/425
Grantees still filing
296/425
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $366,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INCWOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC: $185,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $185,000 · Arts & Culture+98 more: $3,678,455 · Arts & Culture+98 moreREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA: $79,802 · Other+60 more: $1,999,649 · Other+60 moreSAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $61,483 · EducationSAN DIEGO…UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $54,470 · EducationUNIVERSIT…THE OAKLAND PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: $45,000 · EducationTHE OAKLA…SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $44,567 · EducationSAN JOSE …CAL POLY POMONA FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · EducationCAL POLY …CITIZEN FILM INC: $40,000 · EducationCITIZEN F…CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FRESNO FOUNDATION: $39,829 · EducationCALIFORNI…FRED T KOREMATSU INSTITUTE: $30,000 · EducationBay Area Creative BAC: $28,037 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE: $27,500 · EducationCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS CORPORATION: $27,500 · EducationMINERAL KING PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $27,500 · EducationSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE: $25,000 · EducationLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · EducationCSU BAKERSFIELD AUXILIARY FOR SPONSORED PROGRAMS ADMINISTRATION: $24,999 · EducationPEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: $24,815 · EducationSTREET POETS INC: $22,500 · Education+2 more: $40,000 · Education+2 moreCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $122,800 · Community ImprovementBayview-Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology DBA BAYCAT: $60,000 · Community ImprovementLA PLAZA DE CULTURA Y ARTES: $45,000 · Community ImprovementEAST BAY SANCTUARY COVENANT: $25,000 · Community ImprovementEASTERN SIERRA ARTISTS: $23,000 · Community ImprovementDOWNTOWN OAKLAND ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Community ImprovementKOREATOWN YOUTH AND COMMUNITY CENTER: $30,000 · Human ServicesWriting Downtown Inc: $30,000 · Human ServicesDONALDINA CAMERON HOUSE: $30,000 · Human ServicesSONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $25,000 · Human ServicesMISSION EDGE SAN DIEGO: $25,000 · Human ServicesTIDES CENTER: $24,432 · Human ServicesSherman Heights Community Center Corporation: $20,000 · Human ServicesEarth Island Institute Inc: $65,000 · EnvironmentNORTHERN CALIFORNIA RESOURCE CENTER: $30,000 · EnvironmentSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE) INC: $29,298 · EnvironmentSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $21,603 · EnvironmentGuadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center: $20,000 · EnvironmentVISUAL COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA: $132,500 · Social Science
Arts & Culture$4,414,455Other$2,079,451Education$628,200Community Improvement$295,800Human Services$184,432Environment$165,901Social Science$132,500

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $366,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetWOMEN MAKE MOVIES INC: $185,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $185,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetVISUAL COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA: $132,500 over 7y, 4.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $122,800 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetKALW PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $117,500 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetFILM INDEPENDENT: $109,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetThe Bay Area Video Coalition Incorporated: $95,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetIndependent Arts & Media: $90,900 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetMUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORY AT THE MCPHERSON CENTER: $90,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetTHE LITQUAKE FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetSan Francisco Film Society: $65,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetKITCHEN SISTERS: $65,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $65,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFILMMAKERS COLLABORATIVE: $64,000 over 4y, 3.8% of budgetLOS ANGELES POVERTY DEPARTMENT: $62,500 over 3y, 11% of budgetSAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $61,483 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetArhoolie Foundation: $60,000 over 3y, 4.9% of budgetLTSC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $60,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBayview-Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology DBA BAYCAT: $60,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetJAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM: $57,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetWhite Ash Broadcasting Inc: $57,500 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetMUSEUM OF LATIN AMERICAN ART: $55,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $54,470 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTEADA PRODUCTIONS: $52,500 over 2y, 9.8% of budgetInternational Media Project: $50,000 over 2y, 7.6% of budgetAlliance for California Traditional Arts: $50,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetSANTA MONICA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $50,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetFJC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFrom The Heart Productions: $50,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetOUTSIDE THE LENS: $50,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetFort Ross Conservancy: $50,000 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetEl Teatro Campesino: $50,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetMEDIA ARTS CENTER SAN DIEGO: $50,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetSan Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles: $49,121 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetLA PLAZA DE CULTURA Y ARTES: $45,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCSUSB PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION: $45,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE OAKLAND PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR RURAL STUDIES: $45,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetMUSEUM OF SONOMA COUNTY: $45,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetKARTEMQUIN EDUCATIONAL FILMS: $45,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetSAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $44,567 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSan Diego Chinese Historical Society and Museum: $44,115 over 3y, 8.1% of budgetAPI Cultural CenterInc Oakland Asian Cultural Center: $43,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetGET LIT - WORDS IGNITE INC: $42,500 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetOXNARD PERFORMING ARTS CENTER CORP: $42,500 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $42,500 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetUPTOWN TENDERLOIN INC: $42,500 over 2y, 6.3% 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 Zellerbach Family…Walter and Elise Haas…The J Paul Getty TrustCenter for Cultural I…Kenneth Rainin Founda…The James Irvine Foun…Fleishhacker Foundati…The California Endowm…Phyllis C Wattis Foun…The San Francisco Fou…The Conrad Prebys Fou…The Ralph M Parsons F…
The Zellerbach Family FoundationCA74.3× affinity42 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Zellerbach Family Foundation · Walter and Elise Haas Fund · The J Paul Getty Trust · Center for Cultural Innovation · Kenneth Rainin Foundation · The James Irvine Foundation · Fleishhacker Foundation · The California Endowment · Phyllis C Wattis Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons 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 California Humanities funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from California Humanities. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Documentary Educational Resources Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
71report 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.

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 467 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on California Humanities’ 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