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Chispa Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Chispa Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$106k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$75k
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, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$4.6MPhilanthropy$505kEnvironment$294kCommunity Improvement$179kInternational$93kFood & Nutrition$61kReligion$60kHealth$50kOther$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $6k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $75k
$25,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$31k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara$75,000
REACH$25,000
Story Teller Childrens Center$6,000
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 (FY19–23, $60k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FeedMore WNY Foundation: $50k → 13%ShelterBox USA: $5k → 14%PATH: $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.
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.
$5.0M · 11 repeat orgs$446k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +34% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
30

Total granted

$5.0M
$421k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+34%

Still filing today

45%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentInternationalHuman ServicesEducationFood & NutritionReligionOther
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

  • NS
    NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO
    3× · 2020–2022 · $4.0M · revenue +34%
  • CE
    COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL
    3× · 2019–2022 · $260k · revenue +93%
  • SF
    SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA
    4× · 2018–2024 · $240k · revenue +143%

Funded once

  • SF
    Scholarship Foundation of SB
    one grant, 2019 · $120k
  • VM
    VISIONS MADE VIABLEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $60k · revenue +33%
  • DIRECT RELIEFgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue +67%
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
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
2
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
3
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
4
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
5
One Earth Philanthropy

One Earth's mission is to empower everyone, everywhere, with the knowledge, inspiration, and opportunity to heal the Earth and reclaim our future.

Environment
6
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
7
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
8
Conservation International Foundation

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

Environment
9
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
10
California Institute for Biodiversity

Create and publish educational materials, conduct professional development, promote awareness, and sponsor research on the spectacular biological diversity of the State of CA.

Education
11
Oceana Inc

To advocate for policy changes by governments and corporations in order to preserve ocean life and return the oceans to their former abundance.

Environment
12
The 5 Gyres Institute

The 5 Gyres Institute (5 Gyres) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, with a global network of supporters united in the pursuit of a planet free of plastic pollution. 5 Gyres' mission is to empower action against the…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Santa Barbara Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation. 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

27 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. 27 of the 43 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
23/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: $3,974,936 · EducationNICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO+1 more: $3,000 · EducationAdelante Charter School: $290,500 · OtherAdelante Charter S…SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA: $240,000 · OtherSCHOLARSHIP FOUNDA…Scholarship Foundation of SB: $120,000 · OtherScholarship Founda…Individual grant recipient: $65,000 · OtherIndividual grant r…VARIOUS GIFT CARDS: $39,900 · OtherGrace Fisher Foundation Fund: $32,000 · Other+19 more: $152,000 · Other+19 moreSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $500,000 · PhilanthropySANTA BAR…+1 more: $5,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $260,000 · EnvironmentSANTA BARBARA CHANNELKEEPER INC: $15,200 · Environment+5 more: $17,000 · EnvironmentDIRECT RELIEF: $50,000 · InternationalGLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · InternationalUnitarian Universalist Service Committee Inc: $5,000 · InternationalVISIONS MADE VIABLE: $60,000 · ReligionFEEDMORE WNY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesPATH: $5,000 · Human ServicesSHELTERBOX USA INC: $5,000 · Human Services
Education$3,977,936Other$939,400Philanthropy$505,000Environment$292,200International$80,000Religion$60,000Human Services$60,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNICHOLS SCHOOL OF BUFFALO: $3,974,936 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $260,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetSCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA: $240,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetVISIONS MADE VIABLE: $60,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDMORE WNY FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA CHANNELKEEPER INC: $15,200 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSTORYTELLER CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPATH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEAL THE OCEAN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetUnitarian Universalist Service Committee Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSHELTERBOX USA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORLDWOMENWORK: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSanta Barbara Education Foundation: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget350ORG: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRANSITION HOUSE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREENPEACE FUND INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORGANIC SOUP KITCHEN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSANTA BARBARA MARITIME MUSEUM: $1,000 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.

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.

Santa Barbara Foundat…Hutton Foundation Dba…The John C Mithun Fou…The Osherenko-Young F…Brittingham Family Fo…June G Outhwaite Char…The Steele Family Fou…Dancing Tides Foundat…Patricia Bragg Founda…Williams-Corbett Foun…The Turpin-Allebrand …The B & B Foundation
Santa Barbara FoundationCA21.6× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Santa Barbara Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · The John C Mithun Foundation · The Osherenko-Young Foundation · Brittingham Family Foundation · June G Outhwaite Charitable Trust JS Poucher KL Englert & CM Cooney Co-Tr · The Steele Family Foundation · Dancing Tides Foundation Inc · Patricia Bragg Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · The Turpin-Allebrand Family Charitable Foundation · The B & B 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 Chispa Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Chispa Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Chispa Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Chispa 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 43 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.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Chispa’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