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Donato Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Donato Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$89k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Environment$67kEducation$55kArts & Culture$24kPhilanthropy$18kHousing & Shelter$10kSocial Science$10kHuman Services$7kInternational$7kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k13 grants · $59k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $30k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY$10,000
TAHOE TRUCKEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$10,000
IN REAL LIFE MOVIES INC$10,000
SAMARITAN HOUSE$5,000
THE GREAT TURNING INSTITUTE$5,000
FLUX FOUNDATION$5,000
STANFORD UNIVERSITY$5,000
LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE$5,000
BURNING MAN PROJECT$5,000
HEROIC HEARTS PROJECT$5,000
PROTECT AMERICAN RIVER CANYONS$5,000
FRIENDS OF THE RIVER$5,000
VIDA VERDE NATURE EDUCATION$5,000
ALMA FUTURE FOUNDATION$5,000
SAVE THE REDWOOD LEAGUE$3,000
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 (FY23–23, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%POMEROY RECREATION & REHABILITATION CENTER: $3k → 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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$143k · 12 repeat orgs$33k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
4

Total granted

$143k
$18k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+18%

Still filing today

83%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
EnvironmentEducationReligionCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • LT
    LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE
    3× · 2022–2024 · $15k · revenue +41%
  • ST
    SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE
    2× · 2023–2024 · $11k · revenue +76%
  • SH
    SAMARITAN HOUSE INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $10k · revenue +48%

Funded once

  • C
    COLTURA
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue -70%
  • PV
    PROJECT VICTORY
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • AMERICAN RIVERS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +187%
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
Sempervirens Fund

To ensure coast redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains thrive for generations to come. since 1900, sempervirens has protected more than 36,000 acres. learn more about our mission, vision, and strategic plan through 2030 at:…

Environment
2
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
3
California Trout Inc

Caltrout's mission is ensuring healthy water and resilient wild fish for a better california. we share a common vision of a california where healthy waters flow from headwaters to sea. where the diversity and resilience of our waters and…

Animals
4
Santa Clara River Conservancy

The Santa Clara River Conservancy represents the diverse interests of the Santa Clara River, from the flood plain to the highest tributaries, and seeks to secure, sustain, and manage significant lands and waters that provide habitat for…

Environment
5
Trout Unlimited Inc

To conserve, protect, and restore north america's coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.

Animals
6
Tuolumne River Preservation Trust dba Yosemite Rivers Alliance

At Yosemite Rivers Alliance, we unite conservation and community to protect and restore the three rivers that ?ow through the Yosemite Regionthe Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced.

—
7
Environmental Defense Center

The organization protects and enhances the local environment through education, advocacy and legal action.

Crime & Legal
8
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
9
The 5 Gyres Institute

The 5 Gyres Institute (5 Gyres) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, with a global network of supporters united in the pursuit of a planet free of plastic pollution. 5 Gyres' mission is to empower action against the…

—
10
Friends of the Verde River

To work collaboratively for a healthy flowing verde river system.

Philanthropy
11
Living Rivers

Living rivers promotes river restoration through mobilization by articulating conservation and alternative management strategies to the public. seeking to revive the natural habitat and spirit of rivers by undoing the extensive damage done…

Environment
12
Fishery Foundation of California

To improve fisheries resources in the state of california.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Save the Redwoods League; the most unlike its peers is Embrace Kulture 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

16 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. 16 of the 20 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
11/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PRESIDENT-BOARD OF TRUSTEES SANTA CLARA COLLEGE: $40,000 · EducationPRESIDENT-BOARD OF TRUSTEES SA…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE L…VIDA VERDE NATURE EDUCATION: $15,000 · EnvironmentVIDA VERDE NATURE EDUCA…SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: $11,200 · EnvironmentSAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGU…PROTECT AMERICAN RIVER CANYONS: $6,000 · EnvironmentPROTECT AMERICAN RIVER …COLTURA: $5,000 · EnvironmentCOLTURAAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentAMERICAN RIVERS INCIN REAL LIFE MOVIES INC: $10,000 · OtherIN REAL LIFE MOVIES INCTHE GREAT TURNING INSTITUTE: $10,000 · OtherTHE GREAT TURNING INSTITUTEALMA FUTURE FOUNDATION: $7,000 · OtherALMA FUTURE FOUNDATIONPROJECT VICTORY: $5,000 · OtherPROJECT VICTORYBURNING MAN PROJECT: $9,000 · OtherBURNING MAN PROJECTHEROIC HEARTS PROJECT INC: $7,000 · OtherHEROIC HEARTS PROJECT INCFlux Foundation: $5,000 · OtherFlux FoundationPomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center: $2,500 · OtherTAHOE TRUCKEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropyTAHOE TRU…EMBRACE KULTURE INC: $3,000 · PhilanthropyEMBRACE K…LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $15,000 · ReligionSAMARITAN HOUSE INC: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterFRIENDS OF THE RIVER FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Education$55,000Environment$42,200Other$55,500Philanthropy$18,000Religion$15,000Housing & Shelter$10,000Recreation & Sports$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPRESIDENT-BOARD OF TRUSTEES SANTA CLARA COLLEGE: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVIDA VERDE NATURE EDUCATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTAHOE TRUCKEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: $11,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN HOUSE INC: $10,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE RIVER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBURNING MAN PROJECT: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHEROIC HEARTS PROJECT INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPROTECT AMERICAN RIVER CANYONS: $6,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetFlux Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 50% of budgetCOLTURA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEMBRACE KULTURE INC: $3,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetPomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center: $2,500 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.

Marin Community Found…The San Francisco Fou…Silicon Valley Commun…Jewish Community Fede…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…American Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Marin Community FoundationCA16.7× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Marin Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · 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 Donato Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Donato Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–90%
    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 20 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Donato Family’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