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Cottonwood Spring at a glance

· 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 FY2025still arriving
25
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2025.

Environment$525kAnimals$295kHousing & Shelter$235kArts & Culture$195kCommunity Improvement$190kCivil Rights$165kPublic Benefit$105kEducation$105kOther$0
02FY2025 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$30,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$9.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Santa Cruz Welcoming Network$35,000
Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County Inc$35,000
United Way of Santa Cruz County$35,000
Housing Matters$35,000
Animal Legal Defense Fund$35,000
Committee to Protect Journalists Inc$30,000
Wikimedia Foundation Inc$30,000
Institute for Policy Studies$30,000
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County$30,000
Amah Mutsun Land Trust$30,000
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy$30,000
Global Change Data Lab$30,000
Animal Outlook$30,000
Housing Santa Cruz County$30,000
National Trust for Local News$25,000
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 (FY22–24, $80k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%New Way Homes Inc: $30k → 13%New Way Homes Inc: $25k → 13%NEW WAY HOMES INC: $25k → 13%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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 22 repeat orgs$90k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
4

Total granted

$2.0M
$90k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
0%

Still filing today

91%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $90k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentAnimalsArts & CultureCivil RightsPublic BenefitEducationOther
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

  • SC
    SANTA CRUZ HUB FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING
    4× · 2022–2025 · $130k · revenue +73%
  • HM
    HOUSING MATTERS
    4× · 2022–2025 · $125k · revenue +186%
  • CT
    COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $125k · revenue +15%

Funded once

  • HS
    Housing Santa Cruz County
    one grant, 2025 · $30k
  • TL
    THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE EDUCATION FUND INC
    one grant, 2025 · $20k · revenue -12%
  • AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2025 · $20k · revenue 0%
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
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
2
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
3
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Inc

International consortium of investigative journalists, inc.'s (icij) mission is to show people how the world really works through stories that rock the world; forcing positive change.

International
4
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
5
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
6
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
7
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
8
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
9
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide

Educational & charitable. to provide legal and scientific information to public interest attorneys and scientists in numerous countries.

—
10
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
11
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
12
Corporate Accountability Lab

The Organization unleashes the creative potential of the law to protect people and the planet from corporate abuse.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Policylink; the most unlike its peers is Global Investigative Journalism Network 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

23 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. 23 of the 26 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
15/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SANTA CRUZ HUB FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING: $130,000 · EnvironmentSANTA CRUZ HUB FOR SUSTA…LAND TRUST OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $85,000 · EnvironmentLAND TRUST OF SANTA CRUZ…Amah Mutsun Land Trust: $85,000 · EnvironmentAmah Mutsun Land TrustBUILDING DECARBONIZATION COALITION: $70,000 · EnvironmentBUILDING DECARBONIZATION…CENTER FOR CARBON REMOVAL: $70,000 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR CARBON REMOVA…HOUSING MATTERS: $125,000 · OtherHOUSING MATTERSGlobal Change Data Lab: $85,000 · OtherGlobal Change Data LabIFEX: $70,000 · OtherIFEXHousing Santa Cruz County: $30,000 · OtherCommunity Action Board: $100,000 · OtherCommunity Action BoardUnited Way of Santa Cruz County: $100,000 · OtherUnited Way of Santa Cruz CountyPOLICYLINK: $90,000 · OtherPOLICYLINKINSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $85,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIESNEW WAY HOMES INC: $80,000 · OtherNEW WAY HOMES INCANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC: $120,000 · AnimalsANIMAL LEGAL DEF…THE HUMANE LEAGUE: $90,000 · AnimalsTHE HUMANE LEAGU…ANIMAL OUTLOOK INC: $85,000 · AnimalsANIMAL OUTLOOK I…Global Press Institute: $75,000 · Arts & CultureGlobal Pre…NATIONAL TRUST FOR LOCAL NEWS: $70,000 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL T…GLOBAL INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM NETWORK INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureGLOBAL INV…COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC: $125,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Civil RightsINSTITUTE ON TAXATION AND ECONOMIC POLICY: $105,000 · Public BenefitTHE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE EDUCATION FUND INC: $20,000 · Public BenefitWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $85,000 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $20,000 · Education
Environment$440,000Other$765,000Animals$295,000Arts & Culture$195,000Civil Rights$145,000Public Benefit$125,000Education$105,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSANTA CRUZ HUB FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING: $130,000 over 4y, 7.0% of budgetHOUSING MATTERS: $125,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC: $125,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC: $120,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetINSTITUTE ON TAXATION AND ECONOMIC POLICY: $105,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetCommunity Action Board: $100,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetUnited Way of Santa Cruz County: $100,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetPOLICYLINK: $90,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HUMANE LEAGUE: $90,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLAND TRUST OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $85,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetANIMAL OUTLOOK INC: $85,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $85,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $85,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmah Mutsun Land Trust: $85,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetNEW WAY HOMES INC: $80,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetGlobal Press Institute: $75,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetBUILDING DECARBONIZATION COALITION: $70,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR CARBON REMOVAL: $70,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR LOCAL NEWS: $70,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGLOBAL INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM NETWORK INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Community Foundation …Silicon Valley Commun…Tides FoundationSutter Bay HospitalsSunlight GivingDignity HealthThe David and Lucile …East Bay Community Fo…Amalgamated Charitabl…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…
Community Foundation Santa Cruz CountyCA17.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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.

    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 26 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 Cottonwood Spring’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