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David Ian Stern Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

David Ian Stern 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.

$561k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$520k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$733kFood & Nutrition$44kCivil Rights$40kAnimals$10kInternational$8kPublic Safety & Disaster$4kYouth Development$500Human Services$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $1k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
  • $250k+1 grant · $520k
$30,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FAMILY REACH FOUNDATION$520,000
DECRIMINALIZE SEX WORK INC$30,000
FOOD FINDERS INC$10,000
CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION$1,000
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 (FY20–20, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SHELTER BOX USA: $5k → 10%FILLING IN THE BLANKS INC: $3k → 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

NY
MA
OR
CT
CA
MD
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$815k · 4 repeat orgs$24k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
9

Total granted

$815k
$24k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+3%
+34%

Still filing today

100%
89%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’25
Human ServicesCommunity ImprovementAnimalsHealthFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • FR
    FAMILY REACH FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2025 · $730k · revenue +5%
  • FF
    FOOD FINDERS INC
    3× · 2020–2025 · $41k · revenue -51%
  • DS
    Decriminalize Sex Work
    3× · 2022–2025 · $40k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • SU
    SHELTERBOX USA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue +34%
  • TA
    THE AMANDA FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +39%
  • TA
    THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +19%
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
Respond Inc

RESPOND partners with individuals, families and communities to end the serious public health issue of domestic violence. RESPOND strives to achieve its mission through prevention, intervention and education services that promote safe,…

Human Services
2
Animal Rescue Force Inc

Established in 1974, the organization's mission is to find responsible homes for dogs and cats and to encourage all dog and cat owners to spay and neuter their pets.

Animals
3
CAUSE4PAWS Pet Food Bank

Many seniors and veterans share their only meal of the day with their companion animals. we deliver pet food for these precious animals so they can remain at home or with their person and not have to be surrendered to shelters.

Animals
4
Fearless Kitty Rescue

As a no-kill cat rescue, serving our community of Fountain Hills, AZ and surrounding areas, we are dedicated to rescuing cats and kittens left homeless for whatever reason and placing them in a loving, responsible, permanent home.

Animals
5
Happy Paws Haven Co

Happy Paws Haven Co. is a foster based animal rescue agency that helps animals in need.

—
6
Pet Orphans of Southern California

In addition to rescue and adoption, pet orphans provides a wide range of services including education, medical/financial, spay/neuter, and training assistance.

Animals
7
Freedom for All Inc

Freedom for all (ffa) and our on the ground partners rescue, shelter, rehabilitate and reintegrate survivors of human trafficking.

Philanthropy
8
Animal Samaritans

At Animal Samaritans we champion compassion and respect for all living creatures, with a primary focus on dogs, cats, and the people who love them. We view pets not merely as animals, but as members of our families. As their guardians and…

Animals
9
Wedontwaste Inc

We Dont Waste increases food access and protects the planet by rescuing and repurposing food, while educating and advocating to increase food security and decrease food waste.

Food & Nutrition
10
Friends for Animal Rescue Ny Inc

Friends for animal rescue ny, inc. is a nonprofit organization that furthers the interest of animals in the new york state area and improves their quality of life by supporting medical care, enrichment activities, training and…

Animals
11
Food & Friends Inc

To improve the lives and health of people with hiv/aids, cancer, and other serious illnesses by preparing and delivering (free of charge) specialized meals and groceries, providing nutritional counseling, and reducing social isolation.

Health
12
Mercy for Animals Inc

Mercy for animals' mission is to construct a compassionate food system that is not just kind to animals but essential for the future of our planet and all who share it. our vision of a world where animals are respected, protected, and free…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Food Finders Inc; the most unlike its peers is The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 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

12 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. 12 of the 13 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FAMILY REACH FOUNDATION: $730,000 · HealthFAMILY REACH FOUNDATIONFOOD FINDERS INC: $41,000 · Food & NutritionDecriminalize Sex Work: $40,000 · Civil RightsTHE AMANDA FOUNDATION: $5,000 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $5,000 · AnimalsSHELTERBOX USA INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesFILLING IN THE BLANKS INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesCALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION: $3,500 · OtherCEDR DIGITAL CORPS: $2,500 · OtherFREEDOM 4 U: $500 · OtherJUST TRYAN IT INC: $250 · OtherMAUREENS HAVEN INC: $2,500 · Community ImprovementHEARTS RESPOND: $500 · Community Improvement
Health$730,000Food & Nutrition$41,000Civil Rights$40,000Animals$10,000Human Services$7,500Other$6,750Community Improvement$3,000

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 budgetFAMILY REACH FOUNDATION: $730,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetFOOD FINDERS INC: $41,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDecriminalize Sex Work: $40,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSHELTERBOX USA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AMANDA FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAUREENS HAVEN INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFILLING IN THE BLANKS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJUST TRYAN IT INC: $250 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Amazonsmile Foundation
Amazonsmile FoundationWA2.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 David Ian Stern Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from David Ian Stern Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%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
    3get no government money at all
    3report 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, FY20–24
    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 David Ian Stern Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to David Ian Stern 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 13 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

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    More from the funding graph

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