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California Masonic Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

California Masonic Foundation

The CALIFORNIA MASONIC FOUNDATION's mission is to apply masonic principles in support of education, leadership, and communities through several important programs that touch the lives of thousands each year.

$3.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
14
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$1.2M
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Human Services$5.2MEducation$2.3MMembership Benefit$1.3MPhilanthropy$1.1MReligion$966kRecreation & Sports$602kYouth Development$92kArts & Culture$48k
02FY2025 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 14 grants below total $2,944,035, the rows itemized in this filing. The $3,417,683 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $473,648 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

  • $10k–50k5 grants · $79k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $505k
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.4M
$90,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$49M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA$1,222,818
RAISING A READER$451,588
CALIFORNIA MASONIC MEMORIAL TEMPLE$344,870
GRAND LODGE OF CALIFORNIA$340,460
NAFSCE$166,014
CALIFORNIA MOBILITY CENTER$120,000
GIANT COMMUNITY FUND$90,000
CALIFORNIA RAINBOW FOR GIRLS$75,000
SACRAMENTO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT$54,000
GRAND LODGE OF CALIFORNIA$36,285
NEGRO LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUMS INC$13,000
CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL$10,000
NATIONAL MASONIC FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN$10,000
REALITY CHANGES OF SAN DIEGO$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, $6.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $1.9M → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $1.2M → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $935k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $523k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $434k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $365k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $330k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $243k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $241k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $90k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $58k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $26k → 10%MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $21k → 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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 12 repeat orgs$390k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +27% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
5

Total granted

$14M
$118k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
-6%

Still filing today

100%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $272k 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
EducationRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyArts & CultureHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • RA
    Raising A Reader
    8× · 2017–2025 · $2.7M · revenue +30%
  • GL
    GRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF CALIFORNIA
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.7M · revenue +19%
  • CM
    CALIFORNIA MASONIC TEMPLE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • CS
    CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +45%
  • DF
    DEMOLAY FOUNDATION OF CALIFORNIA INC
    one grant, 2017 · $38k · revenue -25%
  • SS
    SPARK SF PUBLIC SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -6%
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 Masonic Foundation

The california masonic foundation's mission is to apply masonic principles in support of education, leadership, and communities through several important programs that touch the lives of thousands each year.

—
2
League of California Community Foundations

The league of california community foundations promotes and strengthens community foundations in california. through collaboration and shared learning among member foundations and building partnerships with private and public entities, we…

Philanthropy
3
California Mortgage Bankers Association

The California MBA serves to represent the residential and commercial real estate finance industry before all governing bodies. The California MBA encourages and promotes sound business practices and honesty in marketing, origination,…

—
4
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
5
Marin Masonic Building Association

Marin Masonic Building Association operates exclusively as a supporting organization of the Marin Lodge No. 191, an exempt organization under 501(c)10.

—
6
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
7
The American Institute of Architects California

The AIA California, in collaboration with local components, is the voice of the architectural profession.

—
8
Santa Monica Education Foundation

The Santa Monica Education Foundation (SMEF) raises funds to enhance and supplement the curriculum of every public school in the city of Santa Monica.

—
9
SFMade Inc

Our mission is to help manufacturers thrive, innovate, and create good jobs, for a more diverse and sustainable Bay Area.

Community Improvement
10
Cbee Foundation

CBEE aims to improve economic mobility for the next generation of learners by matching talent to jobs and career opportunities. Aligning academic achievements with job market needs, it engages employers while helping learners pursue…

Education
11
The California Education Partners

California education partners seeds and grows collaborations among california's school systems, so that they innovate, improve, and build internal capacity as learning organizations in order to close gaps and lead high performing,…

Education
12
Santa Barbara Education Foundation

Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) provides and supports programs that enrich the academic, artistic, and personal development of all students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Rainbow for Girls Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Association for Family School & Community. 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

20 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. 20 of the 22 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
11/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $6,389,346 · Human ServicesMASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIAGRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF CALIFORNIA: $1,685,691 · OtherGRAND LODGE OF FREE AND A…CALIFORNIA MASONIC TEMPLE INC: $1,310,617 · OtherCALIFORNIA MASONIC TEMPLE…California Mobility Center: $120,000 · Other+4 more: $111,978 · OtherRaising A Reader: $2,713,863 · EducationRaising A ReaderNational Association for Family School & Community: $176,014 · EducationNational Association fo…+4 more: $145,100 · EducationGIANTS COMMUNITY FUND: $862,045 · PhilanthropyPADRES FOUNDATION: $248,921 · PhilanthropyTHE LOS ANGELES DODGERS FOUNDATION: $428,105 · Recreation & SportsSoCal RBI League: $239,512 · Recreation & SportsCALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsMASONIC FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN INC: $76,374 · Youth DevelopmentNEGRO LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUM INC: $13,000 · Arts & CultureTHE GEORGE WASHINGTON MASONIC NATIONAL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · Arts & Culture
Human Services$6,389,346Other$3,228,286Education$3,034,977Philanthropy$1,110,966Recreation & Sports$717,617Youth Development$76,374Arts & Culture$23,000

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 budgetMASONIC HOMES OF CALIFORNIA: $6,389,346 over 8y, 2.4% of budgetRaising A Reader: $2,713,863 over 8y, 14% of budgetGRAND LODGE OF FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS OF CALIFORNIA: $1,685,691 over 9y, 8.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA MASONIC TEMPLE INC: $1,310,617 over 9y, 10% of budgetGIANTS COMMUNITY FUND: $862,045 over 8y, 3.9% of budgetTHE LOS ANGELES DODGERS FOUNDATION: $428,105 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetPADRES FOUNDATION: $248,921 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetSoCal RBI League: $239,512 over 6y, 65% of budgetNational Association for Family School & Community: $176,014 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetMASONIC FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN INC: $76,374 over 8y, 6.6% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetDEMOLAY FOUNDATION OF CALIFORNIA INC: $37,978 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetREALITY CHANGERS: $37,700 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetSan Francisco Education Fund: $22,400 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNEGRO LEAGUES BASEBALL MUSEUM INC: $13,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSPARK SF PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GEORGE WASHINGTON MASONIC NATIONAL MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION: $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 James Irvine Foun…Salesforce FoundationSilicon Valley Commun…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The James Irvine FoundationCA13.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The James Irvine Foundation · Salesforce Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 California Masonic Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from California Masonic Foundation. 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%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s 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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 California Masonic Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to California Masonic 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 22 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 California Masonic’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