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Catalyst Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Catalyst Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$253k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$152k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$2.2MEducation$1.2MArts & Culture$592kInternational$367kScience & Tech$338kHousing & Shelter$70kCivil Rights$58kHuman Services$36kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $202k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$8.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UTAH FILM CENTER$151,895
FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS$50,000
SALT LAKE ARTS ACADEMY$30,000
UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION$10,000
ARTHUR C CLARKE FOUNDATION$5,000
INSTITUTE OF WORLD POLITICS$5,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
WAMU 885$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 (FY17–17, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%LA LUZ CENTER: $5k → 9%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

ID
NY
NJ
CA
UT
KY
VA
MD
KS
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 55 repeat orgs$385k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

55 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 48 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

55
32

Total granted

$4.7M
$380k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+28%

Still filing today

55%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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 & CultureInternationalEducationHuman ServicesHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC
    4× · 2018–2025 · $652k · revenue +47%
  • US
    UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2025 · $382k · revenue +78%
  • UF
    UTAH FILM CENTER
    4× · 2017–2025 · $285k · revenue +167%

Funded once

  • FM
    FRIEDRICH MIESCHER INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2017 · $300k
  • AR
    AMERICAN RED CROSS
    one grant, 2017 · $15k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
    one grant, 2024 · $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 Asia Society

The society is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization which connects people and institutions in asia and the world to build understanding, address challenges and maximize opportunities.

International
2
The International Institute for Strategic Studies - Us

To provide accurate, objective information and analysis on international strategic issues for legislators, diplomats, foreign affairs analysts, international business leaders, economists, the military, defense commentators, journalists,…

International
3
Institute for New Global Politics Inc

The Institute for New Global Politics is a California-based educational nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. It is an independent and nonpartisan thinktank dedicated to educating the general…

International
4
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
5
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
6
The Central European University

Ceu is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. it aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social…

International
7
The Poptech Institute

Poptech's mission is to accelerate the positive impact of world-changing people, projects and ideas. founded in 1996 by bob metcalfe (inventor, ethernet) and john sculley (apple, pepsi), poptech originally provided a forum to critically…

Education
8
Observer Research Foundation America

Organization mission the observer research foundation america orf america is an independent, non-partisan, and nonprofit organization in washington dc dedicated to addressing policy challenges facing the united states, india, and their…

International
9
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
10
Foreign Policy Association Inc

The mission of the foreign policy association today, as it has been for over 100 years, is to serve as a catalyst for developing awareness, understanding, and informed opinion on united states foreign policy and global issues. through its…

International
11
Meridian International Center

Meridian international center is a nonpartisan diplomacy institution founded in 1960 to advance american leadership. headquartered on a historic campus in washington dc, our mission is to empower leaders to advance the next era of…

International
12
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Aspen Institute Inc; the most unlike its peers is Daring Sisters. 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

55 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. 55 of the 91 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
52/55
Grantees still filing
42/55
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATI…UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $381,500 · EducationUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATIONSalt Lake Arts Academy: $110,000 · EducationRon Brown Scholar Fund: $96,000 · Education+4 more: $49,700 · EducationFRIEDRICH MIESCHER INSTITUTE: $300,000 · OtherFRIEDRICH MIESCHER INSTITUTEUVA DARDEN SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $272,449 · OtherUVA DARDEN SCHOOL FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $214,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $149,725 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIAUNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION: $103,500 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAH DEPARTMENT OF…BENIE FOUNDATION INC: $70,639 · OtherTHE HEALING PLACE INC: $70,000 · Other+45 more: $289,688 · Other+45 moreTHE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC: $652,000 · HealthTHE FOUNDATION…+1 more: $1,000 · HealthUTAH FILM CENTER: $284,895 · Arts & CultureUTAH FILM …Mainly Mozart Inc: $93,000 · Arts & CultureMainly Moz…LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $38,250 · Arts & CultureLA JOLLA M…CHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCHICKEN & …+9 more: $19,100 · Arts & CultureCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $162,500 · InternationalCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $61,800 · InternationalU S COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA: $54,500 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INC: $50,000 · International+7 more: $21,775 · InternationalCHEVY CHASE AT HOME INCORPORATED: $17,500 · Human ServicesLA LUZ CENTER: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $100 · Human ServicesTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $18,325 · PhilanthropyPOINTS OF LIGHT FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Philanthropy
Education$2,137,200Other$1,470,001Health$653,000Arts & Culture$460,245International$350,575Human Services$22,600Philanthropy$19,325

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC: $652,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $381,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetUTAH FILM CENTER: $284,895 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $162,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSalt Lake Arts Academy: $110,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetRon Brown Scholar Fund: $96,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetMainly Mozart Inc: $93,000 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetBENIE FOUNDATION INC: $70,639 over 5y, 14% of budgetTHE HEALING PLACE INC: $70,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCOUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC: $61,800 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetU S COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA: $54,500 over 6y, 3.7% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY: $38,250 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR IMMUNOLOGY: $35,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSUN VALLEY WRITERS' CONFERENCE INC: $32,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $18,325 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHEVY CHASE AT HOME INCORPORATED: $17,500 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetSOCIETY FOR SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING: $10,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $9,300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOUNCIL OF AMERICAN AMBASSADORS: $9,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $5,700 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ALTA CLUB BUILDING FOUNDATION INC: $5,100 over 1y, 15% of budgetLA LUZ CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE INSTITUTE OF WORLD POLITICS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOSMOS CLUB HISTORIC PRESERVATION FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetWasatch Public Media: $4,400 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $3,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGeena Davis Institute on Gender in Media: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetORBMEDIA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNETWORK FOR GOOD: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAMBS PLAYERS THEATRE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO YOUTH SYMPHONY & CONSERVATORY: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWOMENS FOREIGN POLICY GROUP INC: $1,275 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARTS FOR THE AGING INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPOINTS OF LIGHT FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDARING SISTERS: $1,000 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetBAD DOG ARTS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR DIPLOMATIC STUDIES AND TRAINING: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetREPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCORONADO HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS INC ↗
  • Who funds UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UTAH FILM CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES ↗
  • Who funds Salt Lake Arts Academy ↗
  • Who funds Ron Brown Scholar Fund ↗
  • Who funds Mainly Mozart Inc ↗
  • Who funds BENIE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HEALING PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds U S COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA ↗
  • Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
  • Who funds LA JOLLA MUSIC SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR IMMUNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds SUN VALLEY WRITERS' CONFERENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds CHICKEN & EGG FILMS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE ↗
  • Who funds CHEVY CHASE AT HOME INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds SOCIETY FOR SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING ↗
  • Who funds THE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL OF AMERICAN AMBASSADORS ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE ALTA CLUB BUILDING FOUNDATION INC ↗

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.

Cyber Century ForumThe Conrad Prebys Fou…The San Diego Foundat…Mandell Weiss Charita…Alan M & Mildred S Ra…Lawrence & Janet Dee …Rancho Santa Fe Found…Jewish Community Foun…Silicon Valley Commun…Sempra FoundationThe Ayco Charitable F…Gs Donor Advised Phil…
Cyber Century ForumUT17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 7 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Cyber Century Forum · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · The San Diego Foundation · Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust · Alan M & Mildred S Ravenal Foundation · Lawrence & Janet Dee Foundation · Rancho Santa Fe Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Sempra Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

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 Catalyst Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Catalyst Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • International Youth Foundation: 17% of income from government
  • Arts for the Aging Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Catalyst Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Catalyst 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 91 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 Catalyst’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