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Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$5.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
128
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$11MHuman Services$4.6MArts & Culture$4.5MEducation$3.6MFood & Nutrition$2.4MHousing & Shelter$2.2MCrime & Legal$2.1MYouth Development$1.3MOther$0
02FY2025 · 128 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k24 grants · $133k
  • $10k–50k67 grants · $1.6M
  • $50k–250k35 grants · $3.0M
  • $250k+2 grants · $585k
$25,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$94M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Food Bank of Contra Costa Solano$300,000
Diablo Regional Arts Association$285,000
First 5 Contra Costa$230,100
Contra Costa Family Justice Allianc$205,000
Friends of the Oakley Library$200,000
John Muir Health Foundation$200,000
Meals On Wheels Diablo Region$110,000
Rubicon Programs Inc$110,000
City of Walnut Creek$100,000
STAND For Families Free of Violence$100,000
Opportunity Junction$100,000
Monument Impact$97,500
Tandem Partners in Early Learning$90,000
Village Community Resource Center$80,000
Bay Area Legal Aid$80,000
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 (FY22–25, $1.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 16% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%COPE Family Support Center: $50k → 9%COPE Family Support Center: $50k → 9%Commonweal: $5k → 8%Martin Luther King Jr Freedom Cente: $10k → 10%First Place for Youth: $95k → 10%Coco Kids: $35k → 9%Lighthouse for the Blind: $5k → 10%Coco Kids: $35k → 9%Center for Young Women's Developmen: $5k → 10%Coco Kids: $30k → 9%Las Trampas Inc: $20k → 9%First Place for Youth: $30k → 10%Coco Kids: $30k → 9%First Place for Youth: $30k → 10%First Place for Youth: $30k → 10%Children Now: $10k → 10%Meals On Wheels Diablo Region: $110k → 9%Meals On Wheels Diablo Region: $100k → 9%Meals On Wheels Diablo Region: $100k → 9%Community Education Partnerships: $17k → 10%Community Education Partnerships: $15k → 10%Meals On Wheels Diablo Region: $100k → 9%Community Education Partnerships: $15k → 10%Insight Housing: $10k → 10%Insight Housing: $10k → 10%Insight Housing: $10k → 10%Community Education Partnerships: $10k → 10%Trinity Center Walnut Creek: $45k → 9%Trinity Center Walnut Creek: $40k → 9%Trinity Center Walnut Creek: $40k → 9%Trinity Center Walnut Creek: $40k → 9%Monument Crisis Center: $110k → 9%Loved Twice: $8k → 10%White Pony Express: $55k → 9%White Pony Express: $50k → 9%Monument Crisis Center: $5k → 9%We Care Services for Children: $78k → 9%We Care Services for Children: $70k → 9%We Care Services for Children: $70k → 9%We Care Services for Children: $50k → 9%Contra Costa Foster Friends: $10k → 9%Village Community Resource Center: $80k → 9%Village Community Resource Center: $75k → 9%Village Community Resource Center: $75k → 9%Village Community Resource Center: $10k → 9%Contra Costa Youth Service Bureau: $5k → 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.
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.
$30M · 240 repeat orgs$2.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

240 repeat relationships: 100 still active in FY2025, 140 since wound down; 26 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

240
107

Total granted

$30M
$2.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
0%

Still filing today

42%
28%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $611k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentCrime & LegalOther
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

  • DR
    Diablo Regional Arts Association
    4× · 2022–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +56% · 47% of their budget
  • CONTRA COSTA FAMILY JUSTICE ALLIANCE
    4× · 2022–2025 · $623k · revenue +55%
  • JM
    JOHN MUIR HEALTH FOUNDATION
    3× · 2023–2025 · $600k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • BL
    Brentwood Library Foundation
    one grant, 2018 · $150k
  • MO
    Meals on Wheels & Senior Outreach Svcs
    one grant, 2018 · $75k
  • NC
    National Center for Youth Law
    one grant, 2020 · $70k
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
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
2
California School-Age Consortium Inc

The California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC) builds professional networks that provide training, leadership development and advocacy to ensure that all young people have access to high quality out-of-school time programs and to create a…

—
3
East Bay Agency for Children

For more than 70 years, East Bay Agency for Children continues to improve the well-being of children, youth and families by reducing the impact of trauma and social inequalities.

Health
4
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
5
The California Center for Civic Participation

To educate california youth about the operations of local, state, and federal government.

Public Benefit
6
Centro Legal De La Raza

Centro Legal De La Raza is a comprehensive legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of low-income immigrant communities throguh culturally competent bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy.

Crime & Legal
7
Go Public Schools

GO Public Schools builds and supports a multi-city network of local coalitions, whose members parents, educators, and community allies work together to expand access to quality education in Californias most historically underserved…

Education
8
San Francisco Casa

San Francisco CASA transforms the lives of children and youth traumatized and displaced in the foster care and related systems by providing one consistent, caring volunteer advocate, trained to address each childs needs in the court and…

Civil Rights
9
Children's Council of San Francisco

By advocating for quality early care and education, empowering families with information and financial support, and building the capabilities of educators, Children's Council of San Francisco ensures that every child in San Francisco has…

Human Services
10
Color the Block

Color The Block fosters a healthier, more equitable society by providing access to creative, educational, and environmental programs. We operate with the belief that collective action, creative expression, and hands-on learning experiences…

Arts & Culture
11
Canopy

Canopy collaborates with communities to grow and sustain equitable urban forests for all

Environment
12
Unitedly

Unitedly is a nonprofit organization based in San Mateo County, California. Unitedly was established to ensure Asian families and communities have access to equitable opportunities and resources to thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Contra Costa Family Justice Alliance; the most unlike its peers is The Zellerbach Family Foundation. 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

149 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 149 of the 376 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.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
149/149
Grantees still filing
89/149
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

First 5 Contra Costa: $873,100 · OtherDiablo Regional Arts Association: $787,500 · Other+146 more: $19,470,900 · Other+146 moreDiablo Regional Arts Association: $1,085,000 · Arts & CultureDiablo Re…CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $430,000 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNI…East Bay Center for the Performing Arts: $235,000 · Arts & CultureEast Bay …LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM: $180,000 · Arts & CultureLINDSAY W…DIABLO BALLET: $170,000 · Arts & CultureDIABLO BA…Richmond Art Center: $110,000 · Arts & CultureCITYSIDE JOURNALISM INITIATIVE: $100,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $220,000 · Arts & Culture+4 moreMEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION: $410,000 · Human ServicesWe Care Services For Children: $267,500 · Human ServicesVillage Community Resource Center: $240,000 · Human ServicesBAY AREA RESCUE MISSION: $220,000 · Human ServicesFIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $185,000 · Human ServicesTRINITY CENTER WALNUT CREEK: $165,000 · Human ServicesCocoKids Inc: $130,000 · Human ServicesMONUMENT CRISIS CENTER: $115,000 · Human ServicesWHITE PONY EXPRESS: $105,000 · Human ServicesCOPE Family Support Center Inc: $100,000 · Human Services+1 more: $56,800 · Human ServicesTANDEM PARTNERS IN EARLY LEARNING: $348,000 · EducationFRIENDS OF THE OAKLEY LIBRARY: $200,000 · EducationCALIFONIA STATE UNIVERSITY EAST BAY FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 · EducationTeach for America Inc: $140,000 · EducationMT DIABLO EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $130,000 · EducationBiotech Partners: $125,000 · EducationBRIDGE BUILDERS TO THE NEW GENERATION: $125,000 · EducationSAINT MARY'S COLLEGE OF CALIFORNIA: $100,000 · EducationAIM HIGH FOR HIGH SCHOOL: $85,000 · EducationCommunity Resources for Science: $81,700 · EducationWALNUT CREEK LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $72,850 · EducationTHE BASIC FUND: $60,000 · Education+3 more: $141,000 · EducationCONTRA COSTA FAMILY JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $622,500 · Crime & LegalSTAND FOR FAMILIES FREE OF VIOLENCE: $404,525 · Crime & LegalContra Costa Senior Legal Services: $106,000 · Crime & LegalPROJECT AVARY INC ALTERNATIVE VENTURES FOR AT RISK YOUTH: $40,000 · Crime & LegalRYSE INC: $305,000 · Youth DevelopmentYES Nature to Neighborhoods: $205,000 · Youth DevelopmentMindful Life Project: $192,500 · Youth DevelopmentCIVICORPS: $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $140,000 · Youth DevelopmentASPIRE YOUTH ENGAGEMENT INC: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentEAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $340,000 · PhilanthropyRichmond Community Foundation: $255,000 · PhilanthropyFOUNDATION FOR STUDENTS RISING ABOVE: $120,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF THE BAY AREA: $120,000 · PhilanthropyKRISTI YAMAGUCHI'S ALWAYS DREAM: $68,000 · Philanthropy
Other$21,131,500Arts & Culture$2,530,000Human Services$1,994,300Education$1,758,550Crime & Legal$1,173,025Youth Development$1,032,500Philanthropy$903,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetDiablo Regional Arts Association: $1,085,000 over 4y, 47% of budgetCONTRA COSTA FAMILY JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $622,500 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetJOHN MUIR HEALTH FOUNDATION: $600,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $430,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetOPPORTUNITY JUNCTION INC: $411,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION: $410,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetSTAND FOR FAMILIES FREE OF VIOLENCE: $404,525 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetTANDEM PARTNERS IN EARLY LEARNING: $348,000 over 4y, 4.1% of budgetEAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $340,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetRUBICON PROGRAMS INC: $310,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetBAY AREA LEGAL AID: $305,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS CONTRA COSTA INC: $305,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetRYSE INC: $305,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetMONUMENT IMPACT: $285,500 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetLoaves and Fishes of Contra Costa: $280,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetWe Care Services For Children: $267,500 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetUJIMA FAMILY RECOVERY SERVICES: $265,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetSHELTER INC: $258,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetRichmond Community Foundation: $255,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetVillage Community Resource Center: $240,000 over 4y, 8.9% of budgetEast Bay Center for the Performing Arts: $235,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetGREATER RICHMOND INTERFAITH PROGRAM GRIP: $225,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetBAY AREA RESCUE MISSION: $220,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetShepherds Gate: $210,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetYES Nature to Neighborhoods: $205,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE OAKLEY LIBRARY: $200,000 over 1y, 59% of budgetWinter Nights Family Shelter Inc: $200,000 over 4y, 8.8% of budgetMindful Life Project: $192,500 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetFIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $185,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM: $180,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetDIABLO BALLET: $170,000 over 3y, 5.3% of budgetTRINITY CENTER WALNUT CREEK: $165,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetContra Costa Interfaith Transitional Housing Inc: $160,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCIVICORPS: $150,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetCALIFONIA STATE UNIVERSITY EAST BAY FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $140,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $140,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMT DIABLO EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 4y, 32% of budgetCocoKids Inc: $130,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBiotech Partners: $125,000 over 3y, 6.5% of budgetBRIDGE BUILDERS TO THE NEW GENERATION: $125,000 over 4y, 5.5% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR STUDENTS RISING ABOVE: $120,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED WAY OF THE BAY AREA: $120,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMONUMENT CRISIS CENTER: $115,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetWest Contra Costa Public Education Fund: $115,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetCONTRA COSTA CRISIS CENTER: $115,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetRichmond Art Center: $110,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetContra Costa Senior Legal Services: $106,000 over 4y, 2.4% 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.

  • Who funds Diablo Regional Arts Association ↗
  • Who funds CONTRA COSTA FAMILY JUSTICE ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds JOHN MUIR HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds OPPORTUNITY JUNCTION INC ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION ↗
  • Who funds STAND FOR FAMILIES FREE OF VIOLENCE ↗
  • Who funds TANDEM PARTNERS IN EARLY LEARNING ↗
  • Who funds EAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds RUBICON PROGRAMS INC ↗
  • Who funds BAY AREA LEGAL AID ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS CONTRA COSTA INC ↗
  • Who funds RYSE INC ↗
  • Who funds MONUMENT IMPACT ↗
  • Who funds Loaves and Fishes of Contra Costa ↗
  • Who funds We Care Services For Children ↗
  • Who funds UJIMA FAMILY RECOVERY SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds SHELTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Richmond Community Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Village Community Resource Center ↗
  • Who funds East Bay Center for the Performing Arts ↗
  • Who funds GREATER RICHMOND INTERFAITH PROGRAM GRIP ↗
  • Who funds BAY AREA RESCUE MISSION ↗

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.

East Bay Community Fo…The San Francisco Fou…Lowell Berry Foundati…Bernard E & Alba Witk…Kaiser Foundation Hos…Contra Costa Regional…San Jose Mercury News…Tipping Point Communi…Antioch Community Fou…Justice Justice Found…The Morris Stulsaft F…Richmond Community Fo…
East Bay Community FoundationCA108.6× affinity76 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: East Bay Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Lowell Berry Foundation · Bernard E & Alba Witkin Charitable Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Contra Costa Regional Health Foundation · San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund Inc · Tipping Point Community · Antioch Community Foundation Attn Keith Archuleta · Justice Justice Foundation · The Morris Stulsaft Foundation · Richmond Community 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 Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dean and Margaret Lesher 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Reach Out and Read Inc: 9% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
62report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Dean and Margaret Lesher 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 376 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 Dean and Margaret Lesher’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