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Civic Space Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Civic Space Foundation

Partner and invest in the people, organizations, and projects working to build civic gathering spaces around the country.

$3.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
31
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$1.3M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$795kCommunity Improvement$763kYouth Development$200kFood & Nutrition$176kPublic Benefit$120kRecreation & Sports$30kCivil Rights$25kEnvironment$18kOther$0
02FY2025 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 31 grants below total $2,952,456, the rows itemized in this filing. The $3,174,040 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $221,584 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

  • Under $10k6 grants · $38k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $251k
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $1.0M
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.6M
$40,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$6.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Into The Streets$1,276,500
Valencia Corridor Merch Assoc$350,000
Johns Grill$115,000
BE Chinatown$114,594
Excelsior Action Group$112,973
Urban Land Institute$102,500
Community Youth Center of SF$100,000
Noe Valley Merch & Prof Assoc$100,000
SF Black Wallstreet Fdn$100,000
Cole Valley Merchants Assoc$75,000
Soma West Comm Benefit Dist$60,000
Glen Park Association$56,509
Geary Blvd Merchants Assoc$50,000
EMPIRE Distribution Inc$50,000
Dear Community$40,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY23–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 14% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Community Initiatives: $10k → 10%Geary Blvd Merchants Assoc: $50k → 10%Chris & Greg Events LLC: $126k → 11%CHIRLA: $25k → 14%Urban Land Institute: $103k → 14%Broke But Grand LLC: $289k → 10%SF Black Wallstreet Fdn: $100k → 10%Chris & Greg Events LLC: $40k → 11%Hot and Cool Inc: $50k → 14%American Journalism Project: $50k → 14%Cole Valley Merchants Assoc: $75k → 10%LA Mas Inc: $50k → 14%SF Black Wallstreet Fdn: $50k → 10%LA Voice: $25k → 14%Cole Valley Merchants Assoc: $50k → 10%Little Secret LLC: $50k → 14%Gumbo Social: $10k → 10%EMPIRE Distribution Inc: $50k → 10%Great Highway Park: $25k → 10%Dwntown Comm Benefit District: $10k → 10%Soma West Comm Benefit Dist: $60k → 10%BAS Holdings LLC: $47k → 10%San Francisco Parks Alliance: $20k → 10%Excelsior Action Group: $113k → 10%Excelsior Action Group: $75k → 10%Johns Grill: $115k → 10%North of Market TLCBD: $30k → 10%African-American Shakespeare: $25k → 10%Noe Valley Merch & Prof Assoc: $100k → 10%Noe Valley Merch & Pro Assoc: $50k → 10%Castro Street Fair: $25k → 10%Glen Park Association: $57k → 10%Illuminate the Arts: $25k → 10%Filmore Merch & Improv Assoc: $30k → 10%Niche Creative: $11k → 10%North Beach Business Assoc: $100k → 10%BEChinatown: $120k → 10%BE Chinatown: $115k → 10%Dear Community: $40k → 10%San Francisco Parks Alliance: $25k → 10%Chinese Hist Soc of America: $11k → 10%Noise Pop Industries LLC: $644k → 10%Valencia Corridor Merch Assoc: $350k → 10%Noise Pop Industries LLC: $25k → 10%Precita Eyes Muralist Assoc: $17k → 10%Community Youth Center of SF: $100k → 10%Wah Mei School: $50k → 10%Community Youth Center of SF: $100k → 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.

12%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$891k · 8 repeat orgs$6.3M to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 23 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
25

Total granted

$891k
$3.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
0%

Still filing today

100%
52%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 18% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.4M went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
Community ImprovementArts & CultureEnvironmentPublic BenefitScience & TechCivil RightsOther
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

  • CY
    COMMUNITY YOUTH CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO
    2× · 2024–2025 · $200k · revenue -35%
  • EA
    EXCELSIOR ACTION GROUP
    2× · 2024–2025 · $188k · revenue -26%
  • SB
    SF BLACK WALL STREET FOUNDATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $150k · revenue 0%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $2.1M
  • NP
    Noise Pop Industries LLC
    one grant, 2024 · $644k
  • BB
    Broke But Grand LLC
    one grant, 2024 · $289k
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
Mission Merchants Association Incorporated

To promote, get more vital public services and media coverage for mission district businesses in the city of san francisco.

—
2
Merchants of Upper Market Inc

Castro Merchants is made up of merchants based in San Francisc's iconic Castro neighborhood, an international beacon of freedom, acceptance, creativity, and diversity. Our mission is to protect, promote, and advocate on behalf of all…

—
3
Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council

Our mission is to empower and unite the vibrant Chinatown community through social, cultural, and economic development, improving the quality of life for all residents. We achieve this by preserving heritage, promoting inclusivity, and…

Community Improvement
4
Livable City

Livable City is dedicated to increasing affordable housing, improvingtransportation, land use, open space, and environmental policies, offeringprograms which allow community use of streets, and supporting grassrootsinitiatives to make San…

Public Benefit
5
Mission Art 415 Inc

Mission Art 415 Inc aims to represent and promote artists and art projects, enhancing community engagement and cultural vibrancy through the celebration of art.

—
6
Civic Center Community Benefit District

The civic center cbd improves and promotes san francisco's historic civic center through a host of planning, policy and public programming initiatives.

Community Improvement
7
Cultura y Arte Nativa De Las Americas

Carnaval San Francisco cultivates and celebrates the diverse Latin American, Caribbean, and African roots of the Mission District and the San Francisco Bay Area. We accomplish our mission through dance, music, the visual arts.

Arts & Culture
8
Japantown Cultural Society
Education
9
San Francisco City Guides

Since 1978, our mission has been to preserve and perpetuate San Francisco's history and folklore and to celebrate its rich history of cultural diversity.

Human Services
10
Avenue Greenlight

Revitalization of micro-grant programs to support San Francisos local communities and local merchant association members

—
11
Chinatown Media and Arts Collaborative

Own and operate a collaborative platform anchored in san francisco chinatown that celebrates, explores, and supports leading and pioneering creative experessions at the intersection of community, culture, art and media.

Human Services
12
Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce Inc

To promote vitality and growth to businesses and advocate for the Oakland Chinatown community

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Francisco Parks Alliance; the most unlike its peers is Greening Projects. 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

32 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. 32 of the 56 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/32
Grantees still filing
10/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $2,060,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientInto The Streets: $1,276,500 · OtherInto The StreetsNoise Pop Industries LLC: $643,563 · OtherNoise Pop Industries LLCBroke But Grand LLC: $289,441 · OtherCOMMUNITY YOUTH CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO: $200,000 · Other+27 more: $1,121,473 · Other+27 moreValencia Corridor Merchants Association: $350,000 · Community ImprovementValencia Corrido…EXCELSIOR ACTION GROUP: $188,147 · Community ImprovementEXCELSIOR ACTION…NOE VALLEY MERCHANTS AND PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION INC: $150,000 · Community ImprovementNOE VALLEY MERCH…Cole Valley Merchant Association: $125,000 · Community ImprovementCole Valley Merc…San Francisco Community Business Resources: $114,594 · Community ImprovementSan Francisco Co…SOMA WEST COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISTRICT: $60,000 · Community ImprovementSOMA WEST COMMUN…+3 more: $67,000 · Community Improvement+3 moreAMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureCastro Street Fair: $25,000 · Arts & CultureILLUMINATE THE ARTS: $25,000 · Arts & CultureAFRICAN-AMERICAN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY: $25,000 · Arts & CulturePrecita Eyes Muralists Association Inc: $16,750 · Arts & CultureOASIS ARTS INC: $11,200 · Arts & CultureCHINESE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $11,000 · Arts & CultureMARIGOLD PROJECT INC: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $5,828 · Arts & CultureBeChinatown: $120,000 · Public BenefitTHE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE: $102,500 · EnvironmentDOWNTOWN COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISTRICT: $10,000 · EnvironmentGREENING PROJECTS: $7,500 · EnvironmentSAN FRANCISCO PARKS ALLIANCE: $55,000 · Recreation & SportsLA-MAS INC: $50,000 · Science & Tech
Other$5,590,977Community Improvement$1,054,741Arts & Culture$179,778Public Benefit$120,000Environment$120,000Recreation & Sports$55,000Science & Tech$50,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCOMMUNITY YOUTH CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO: $200,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetEXCELSIOR ACTION GROUP: $188,147 over 2y, 12% of budgetSF BLACK WALL STREET FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetNOE VALLEY MERCHANTS AND PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION INC: $150,000 over 2y, 55% of budgetCole Valley Merchant Association: $125,000 over 2y, 98% of budgetTHE URBAN LAND INSTITUTE: $102,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOMA WEST COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISTRICT: $60,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO PARKS ALLIANCE: $55,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLA-MAS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetWAH MEI SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFILLMORE MERCHANTS & IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION INC: $30,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetNorth of MarketTenderloin Community Benefit Corporation: $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLA VOICE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCOALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetILLUMINATE THE ARTS: $25,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetPrecita Eyes Muralists Association Inc: $16,750 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetOCEAN AVENUE ASSOCIATION: $12,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetOASIS ARTS INC: $11,200 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARIGOLD PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetDOWNTOWN COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISTRICT: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetINSTITUTO FAMILIAR DE LA RAZA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREENING PROJECTS: $7,500 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetCOMFORT & JOY: $5,828 over 1y, 1.9% 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 San Francisco Fou…Silicon Valley Commun…SF New DealNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The San Francisco FoundationCA15.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · SF New Deal · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Civic Space Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Civic Space 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
    13report 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 Civic Space Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Civic Space 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 56 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 Civic Space’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