California · Private foundation
Cottonwood Spring
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.
- $700k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 25
- Grants FY2025
- 22
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 5%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $30,000
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $35,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 8 to 22
- FY2022 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 6
- Total assets, FY2025
- $9.7M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 5% of the organizations Cottonwood Spring funded were first-time grantees, receiving 4% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 25 | $700k | 16% |
| FY2024 | 22 | $650k | 5% |
| FY2023 | 21 | $520k | 62% |
| FY2022 | 8 | $200k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2022 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz Hub for Sustainable Living | $130,000 | 4 | 7% |
| Housing Matters | $125,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Committee to Protect Journalists Inc | $125,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc | $120,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy | $105,000 | 4 | 1% |
| Community Action Board | $100,000 | 3 | 0% |
| United Way of Santa Cruz County | $100,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Policylink | $90,000 | 4 | 0% |
| The Humane League | $90,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Land Trust of Santa Cruz County | $85,000 | 3 | 0% |
Show all 23 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz Hub for Sustainable Living | $130,000 | 4 | 7% |
| Housing Matters | $125,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Committee to Protect Journalists Inc | $125,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc | $120,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy | $105,000 | 4 | 1% |
| Community Action Board | $100,000 | 3 | 0% |
| United Way of Santa Cruz County | $100,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Policylink | $90,000 | 4 | 0% |
| The Humane League | $90,000 | 4 | 0% |
| Land Trust of Santa Cruz County | $85,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Animal Outlook Inc | $85,000 | 3 | 2% |
| Institute for Policy Studies | $85,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Wikimedia Foundation Inc | $85,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Amah Mutsun Land Trust | $85,000 | 3 | 1% |
| New Way Homes Inc | $80,000 | 3 | 4% |
| Global Press Institute | $75,000 | 3 | 1% |
| Building Decarbonization Coalition | $70,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Center for Carbon Removal | $70,000 | 3 | 1% |
| National Trust for Local News | $70,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Global Investigative Journalism Network Inc | $50,000 | 2 | 2% |
| The Leadership Conference Education Fund Inc | $20,000 | 1 | n/a |
| American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
| William J Brennan Center for Justice Inc | $20,000 | 1 | 0% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 3 recipients with no EIN on record ($185k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Cottonwood Spring supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Tides Foundation · Sutter Bay Hospitals · Sunlight Giving · Dignity Health · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust
How this is measured
About Cottonwood Spring
- How much does Cottonwood Spring give?
- Cottonwood Spring reported 25 grants totaling $700,000 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 8 and 22 organizations a year over FY2022 to FY2024.
- What does Cottonwood Spring fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2022 to FY2025, its largest causes are Environment (25%), Animals (14%), Housing & Shelter (11%).
- Who are Cottonwood Spring's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2022 to FY2025: Santa Cruz Hub for Sustainable Living ($130k), Housing Matters ($125k), Committee to Protect Journalists Inc ($125k).
- Does Cottonwood Spring fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 5% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Cottonwood Spring accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Cottonwood Spring?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Tides Foundation.
- Where is Cottonwood Spring based?
- Cottonwood Spring is based in CA.
Play a game based on Cottonwood Spring’s filings →