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Carlos Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Carlos Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$6k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$5k
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.

Animals$743kPhilanthropy$1k
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$7.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ELEPHANT COOPERATION$5,000
ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATON$500
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 (FY22–24, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ELEPHANT COOPETATION: $10k → 11%ELEPHANT COOPERATION: $5k → 11%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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$653k · 8 repeat orgs$91k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +134% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
8

Total granted

$653k
$91k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+134%
+17%

Still filing today

100%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsEnvironmentHuman ServicesOther
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

  • UI
    UNCONDITIONAL INC
    4× · 2019–2023 · $232k · revenue +131% · 43% of their budget
  • LR
    Little Red Dog Inc
    4× · 2017–2021 · $87k · revenue +134%
  • PC
    PAWS CHICAGO
    4× · 2017–2020 · $27k · revenue +163%

Funded once

  • SC
    SO CA BULLDOG RESCUE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BULLDOG RESCUE INC
    one grant, 2018 · $60k · revenue +21%
  • SC
    SPECIAL CARE FOUNDATION FOR COMPANION ANIMALS INC
    one grant, 2018 · $10k · 50% of their budget
  • WW
    WAGS WALKS
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
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 Adoptable Dog
Animals
2
St Clouds Rescue
Animals
3
Foothill Dog Rescue of the Sierras

Foothill Dog Rescue is a 100% all volunteer organization dedicated to re-homing dogs from over crowded animal shelters, owner surrenders and underserved communities. We also sponsor vaccine and microchip clinics for our County and have…

Animals
4
Pom and the Hound Animal Refuge

Animal Welfare

—
5
Animal Rescuers Without Borders

Battling against the overpopulation of homeless pets and improving the lives of companion animals through rescue, fostering programs, adoption, pet care, educational programs and of course spaying and neutering.

Animals
6
Donna's Love Pet Rescue
Animals
7
Canine Companions Rescue

Animal dog rescue group

Animals
8
Sky Sanctuary Rescue

The organization's purpose is to rescue, rehabilitate and relentlessly advocate for stray dogs that have urgent medical needs and are in need of care.

Animals
9
Purple Paws 2nd Chance Rescue
Animals
10
Rescuesforjojo

Dog rescue

Animals
11
Their Lives Matter

Dog rescue and care nurturing finding a home

Animals
12
Pet Rescue Miami Inc
Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Pug Nation Rescue of Los Angeles; the most unlike its peers is Special Care Foundation for Companion Animals 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

16 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. 16 of the 17 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/16
Grantees still filing
13/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PUG NATION RESCUE OF LOS ANGELES: $241,000 · AnimalsPUG NATION RESCUE OF LOS ANGELESUNCONDITIONAL INC: $231,625 · AnimalsUNCONDITIONAL INCLittle Red Dog Inc: $86,500 · AnimalsLittle Red Dog IncSO CA BULLDOG RESCUE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BULLDOG RESCUE INC: $60,000 · AnimalsSO CA BULLDOG RESCUE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BULLDOG RESCUE INCPAWS CHICAGO: $26,500 · Animals+6 more: $45,500 · Animals+6 moreSPECIAL CARE FOUNDATION FOR COMPANION ANIMALS INC: $10,000 · OtherWAGS WALKS: $10,000 · Other+1 more: $300 · OtherSOCIAL COMPASSION: $17,000 · EnvironmentELEPHANT COOPERATION: $15,000 · Human ServicesORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,450 · Philanthropy
Animals$691,125Other$20,300Environment$17,000Human Services$15,000Philanthropy$1,450

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 budgetPUG NATION RESCUE OF LOS ANGELES: $241,000 over 2y, 20% of budgetUNCONDITIONAL INC: $231,625 over 4y, 43% of budgetLittle Red Dog Inc: $86,500 over 4y, 23% of budgetSO CA BULLDOG RESCUE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BULLDOG RESCUE INC: $60,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $26,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCOMPASSIONATE ANIMAL RESCUE FOR MEDICAL AID INC: $20,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetSOCIAL COMPASSION: $17,000 over 2y, 25% of budgetELEPHANT COOPERATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWags and Walks: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSPECIAL CARE FOUNDATION FOR COMPANION ANIMALS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 50% of budgetPEACE OF MIND DOG RESCUE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE SEA LIONS INC DBA PACIFIC MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,450 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE NEWPORT BEACH ANIMAL SHELTER: $500 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Orange County Communi…Paypal Charitable Giv…Network for GoodAmerican Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Orange County Community FoundationCA15.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Network for Good · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · 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 Carlos Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Carlos Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 Carlos Fund?

    Find your warmest path to Carlos Fund 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 17 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Carlos’ 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