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Downey Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Downey Family Foundation

Its FY2019 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$27k
Granted FY2018
20
Grants FY2018
7
States reached
$6k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Downey Family Foundation’s FY2019 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2019 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2018, the last year Downey Family Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 14 organizations, $27k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

14
’18
0
’19

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2019.

Philanthropy$482kHuman Services$8kEducation$7kHousing & Shelter$5kHealth$4kRecreation & Sports$3kYouth Development$1kArts & Culture$100
02FY2018 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,250
Median grant
7
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY$6,100
OPPORTUNITY HOUSE$2,650
LAS TRAMPAS$2,450
HORIZONS AT EPISCOPAL ACADEMY$2,250
HOMEFRONT$2,250
STAMFORD PUBLIC EDUCATION FDN$2,250
HOPE HOUSE$1,500
FIRST TEE OF CT$1,500
VACAVILLE PUBLIC EDUCATION FDN$1,500
SPECIAL OLYMPICS$1,250
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA$1,000
GLENWOOD SCHOOL$1,000
ENTERPRISE FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS$1,000
DEMETRIOS PAPPAS SCHOLARSHIP FUND$100
NORTHERN NY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$100
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 (FY18–18, $11k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%LAS TRAMPAS: $2k → 9%BUILDING ONE COMMUNITY: $6k → 9%HOMEFRONT: $2k → 9%BUILDER BEYOND BORDERS: $100 → 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 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
Equal Opportunity Schools

Equal opportunity schools' mission is to strengthen educator and system leader capacity to break down barriers to increase access, belonging, and success in rigorous college and career-prep secondary school courses for students of color…

Education
2
Stem Advantage

Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. STEM Advantage mentors, prepares, and inspires first-generation, low-income, and underserved college students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We level…

Youth Development
3
Breakthrough Silicon Valley

Breakthrough silicon valley prepares highly-motivated students to become first-generation college graduates and inspires emerging leaders to be the next generation of educators and advocates for equity.

Education
4
Achievekids

Achievekids schools provide individualized and multi-disciplinary programs that deliver special education, mental health, and family support services for students ages 5 to 22 who have complex and often severe developmental, emotional, and…

Education
5
The Philadelphia Education Fund

The mission of the philadelphia education fund (pef) is to create equitable access to opportunities for students by providing resources and expertise that build paths to college and career success. pef focuses on philadelphia public school…

Youth Development
6
Elite Public Schools

To ensure students reach their fullest potential through access to learning spaces that honor and celebrate students' rich cultural heritage and challenge them with rigorous and relevant learning experiences designed to make them active…

Education
7
Presidio Hill School

Presidio hill school is a co-ed k-8 independent, progressive school. learning is collaborative and an active experience with an emphasis on inquiry. students are engaged in their own learning and guided by an expert faculty through a…

Education
8
Public Advocates Inc

For more than five decades, public advocates has challenged the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing,…

—
9
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United way's mission is to end intergenerational poverty in our region by harnessing, leveraging and strategically investing the collective power of donors, advocates and volunteers, to help individuals and families break the cycle of…

Philanthropy
10
Dominican University of California

Our institutional mission is to educate and prepare students to be ethical leaders and socially responsible global citizens who incorporate the dominican values of study, reflection, community and service into their lives.

Education
11
Silicon Valley Education Foundation

Who we are - silicon valley education foundation (svef) focuses on raising student performance in the critical areas of math and science across all 33 santa clara county school districts, and also adjoining san mateo and alameda counties.…

Community Improvement
12
Across the Bridge Foundation Dba Downtown College Preparatory

Dcp prepares first-generation students (first in their family to go to college) for college success. as such, dcp develops and manages college preparatory schools (grades 5-12) for students residing in and around san jose, california.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Northern California; the most unlike its peers is American Diabetes Association. 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

15 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. 15 of the 21 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)
15/15
Grantees still filing
10/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $482,085 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC+2 more: $2,350 · PhilanthropyBUILDING ONE COMMUNITY CORP: $6,100 · Human ServicesLas Trampas School Inc: $2,450 · Human ServicesHOMEFRONT INC: $2,250 · Human ServicesHOPE HOUSE OF COLORADO: $1,500 · Human Services+2 more: $200 · Human ServicesFIRST TEE OF CT: $1,500 · OtherSPECIAL OLYMPICS: $1,250 · OtherGLENWOOD SCHOOL: $1,000 · Other+3 more: $300 · OtherOPPORTUNITY HOUSE INC: $2,650 · HealthTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: $1,000 · Health+1 more: $100 · HealthEpiscopal Academy: $2,250 · EducationVacaville Public Education Foundation: $1,500 · EducationENTERPRISE FOR YOUTH: $1,000 · Youth Development
Philanthropy$484,435Human Services$12,500Other$4,050Health$3,750Education$3,750Youth Development$1,000

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 budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $482,085 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILDING ONE COMMUNITY CORP: $6,100 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOPPORTUNITY HOUSE INC: $2,650 over 1y, 11% of budgetLas Trampas School Inc: $2,450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEpiscopal Academy: $2,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTAMFORD PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $2,250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOMEFRONT INC: $2,250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOPE HOUSE OF COLORADO: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVacaville Public Education Foundation: $1,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetENTERPRISE FOR YOUTH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBACK ON MY FEET: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUILDERS BEYOND BORDERS: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Diabetes Association: $100 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.

Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust IncIN8.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · 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 Downey Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Downey Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 22%
  • Stamford Public Education Foundation Inc: 22% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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.
04Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Downey Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Downey Family 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 21 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 2018, released 2018. 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

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