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Dr Seuss Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Dr Seuss Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$106k
Granted FY2020
24
Grants FY2020
3
States reached
$8k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Dr Seuss Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to The San Diego Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year Dr Seuss Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 20 organizations, $106k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

51
’17
39
’18
29
’19
20
’20
0
’22
0
’23
0
’24

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

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$4.2MAnimals$1.1MArts & Culture$938kEducation$299kHealth$205kHuman Services$117kRecreation & Sports$41kFood & Nutrition$18kOther$0
02FY2020 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$65M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$7,500
READING LITERACY LEARNING INC$7,500
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS CALIFORNIA$6,000
LAS PATRONAS$5,500
BURN INSTITUTE$5,000
FACE FOUNDATION$5,000
LA JOLLA HISTORICAL SOCIETY$5,000
MURPHY'S PRODUCE WITH PURPOSE$5,000
GREATER LA JOLLA MEALS ON WHEELS INC$5,000
MOONLIGHT CULTURAL FOUNDATION$5,000
JAPANESE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO$5,000
SEE BENEATH INC$5,000
HOME START INCORPORATED$5,000
SAN DIEGO SENIOR GAMES ASSOCIATION$5,000
SAN DIEGO YOUNG ARTISTS MUSIC ACADEMY$5,000
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 (FY17–20, $62k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Social Advocates for Youth San Dieg: $5k → 11%Social Advocates for Youth San Dieg: $5k → 11%SAY SAN DIEGO: $5k → 11%LA JOLLA COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 11%LA JOLLA COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 11%La Jolla Community Center: $2k → 11%La Jolla Community Center: $2k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $5k → 11%YMCA of San Diego County: $2k → 11%YMCA of San Diego County: $1k → 11%SERVING SENIORS: $10k → 11%Serving Seniors: $5k → 11%Elderhelp of San Diego: $5k → 11%Elderhelp of San Diego: $5k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $5k → 11%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
OH
CA
KY
AZ
DC
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.

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 47 repeat orgs$965k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

47 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2020, 31 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

47
36

Total granted

$1.8M
$931k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+17%

Still filing today

74%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $34k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
Arts & CultureHealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesCrime & 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

  • ZS
    ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO
    3× · 2017–2019 · $1.1M · revenue +28%
  • US
    UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2018 · $166k · revenue +78%
  • AH
    American Heart Association Inc
    2× · 2017–2018 · $40k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • SM
    SPRINGFIELD MUSEUM
    one grant, 2019 · $350k
  • SD
    SAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ARTgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $250k · revenue +99%
  • SM
    SPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS CORPORATION
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue +22%
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
Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego

to advance regional contemporary art and artists while fostering cultural equity through access to meaningful art experiences

Arts & Culture
2
San Diego Theatres Inc

San Diego Theatres, Inc. (SDTI) is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation established to manage and operate publicly owned performing arts theatres. SDTI was established in 2003 by the San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC),…

Arts & Culture
3
San Diego Opera Association

Mission: the mission of san diego opera is to deliver exceptional performances and exciting, accessible programs to diverse audiences, focusing on community partnerships, and the transformative and expressive power of the human voice. as…

Arts & Culture
4
San Diego Junior Theatre

San Diego Junior Theatre (Junior Theatre) was incorporated in 1948 as a nonprofit corporation and is the oldest youth theatre in the nation, offering affordable camps, classes, and outreach programs for children ages 3-18; as well as six…

—
5
San Diego Diplomacy Council

Programmed and coordinated visits to san diego by international visitors and escorts, working in association with appropriate united states government agencies and the global ties u.s. network.

Community Improvement
6
San Diego Coasters
Arts & Culture
7
San Diego Convention and Tourist Bureau

To drive visitor demand to economically benefit the san diego region.

—
8
San Diegans for Health Care Coverage

Promote Access to Health Care for all San Diegans

Health
9
San Diego Automotive Museum

The Museum functions as an educational and cultural institutionexercising community responsibility for the preservation of the automotive arts and sciences

Arts & Culture
10
Curebound

The organization's mission is to provide funding for the best cancer research ideas in san diego. all proceeds from curebound stay in san diego to fund innovative and collaborative cancer research.

Health
11
San Diego Municipal Employees Assn

The san diego municipal employees association (sdmea) is dedicated to being a strong and effective advocate for san diego city employees. sdmea is united to improve employees' standard of living and promote their fair treatment by…

—
12
San Diego Seniors Community Foundation

To increase awareness and action toward issues impacting seniors and to increase philanthropy to senior-focused organizations. together, we can create a future where seniors are no longer vulnerable but vibrant.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Diego Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Charter One Hundred 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

67 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. 67 of the 92 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
62/67
Grantees still filing
46/67
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $4,232,235 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION+6 more: $57,500 · PhilanthropyZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $1,050,000 · AnimalsZOOLOGICAL SOCIET…+1 more: $2,500 · AnimalsSPRINGFIELD MUSEUM: $350,000 · OtherSPRINGFIEL…LAS PATRONAS: $22,000 · Other+45 more: $256,150 · Other+45 moreSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART: $250,000 · Arts & CultureUSS MIDWAY MUSEUM: $35,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY: $25,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF MAN DBA MUSEUM OF US: $25,000 · Arts & CultureWords Alive: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE: $17,500 · Arts & Culture+11 more: $79,800 · Arts & CultureUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $166,000 · EducationSPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS CORPORATION: $100,000 · EducationREADING LITERACY LEARNING INC: $31,500 · EducationLIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF LA JOLLA: $25,000 · EducationNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILIES LEARNING INC: $20,000 · Education+1 more: $10,000 · EducationAmerican Heart Association Inc: $40,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S SAN DIEGO: $25,000 · HealthEPILEPSY SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $15,000 · HealthVISTA HILL FOUNDATION: $15,000 · HealthFAMILY HEALTH CENTERS OF SAN DIEGO INC: $9,000 · HealthCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 · HealthSAN DIEGO BRAIN TUMOR FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Health+1 more: $2,500 · HealthELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $20,000 · Human ServicesSERVING SENIORS: $15,000 · Human ServicesSOCIAL ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH SAN DIEGO INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesLA JOLLA COMMUNITY CENTER: $9,000 · Human ServicesYMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $2,500 · Human Services
Philanthropy$4,289,735Animals$1,052,500Other$628,150Arts & Culture$452,300Education$352,500Health$119,000Human Services$61,500

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 budgetTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $4,232,235 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $1,050,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART: $250,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $166,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS CORPORATION: $100,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUSS MIDWAY MUSEUM: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetREADING LITERACY LEARNING INC: $31,500 over 4y, 41% of budgetSAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF LA JOLLA: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetALZHEIMER'S SAN DIEGO: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF MAN DBA MUSEUM OF US: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetLAS PATRONAS: $22,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $20,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetHOME START INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILIES LEARNING INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWords Alive: $20,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetBurn Institute: $20,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetSan Diego Senior Games Association: $20,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetTHEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE: $17,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWRITE OUT LOUD: $16,500 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetPATRONS OF THE PRADO: $15,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetEPILEPSY SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $15,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetVISTA HILL FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSERVING SENIORS: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOCIAL ADVOCATES FOR YOUTH SAN DIEGO INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLa Jolla Historical Society: $13,500 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetGREATER LA JOLLA MEALS ON WHEELS INC: $13,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetMingei International Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTraveling Stories: $10,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetOLD GLOBE THEATRE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NEW CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetVOICES FOR CHILDREN: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLA JOLLA COMMUNITY CENTER: $9,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetFAMILY HEALTH CENTERS OF SAN DIEGO INC: $9,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO YOUNG ARTIST MUSIC ACADEM: $7,800 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetPARENTS TELEVISION COUNCIL INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVIETNAM VETERANS OF SAN DIEGO DBA VETERANS VILLAGE OF SAN DIEGO: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWayword Inc: $7,500 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetAMERICAN CORPORATION OF THE ARTS: $7,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSAN DIEGO THEATRE CRITICS CIRCLE: $7,500 over 3y, 23% of budgetRADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJAPANESE FRIENDSHIP GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF SAN DIEGO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMOONLIGHT CULTURAL FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSAN DIEGO BRAIN TUMOR FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 2.7% 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.

The San Diego Foundat…Jewish Community Foun…David C Copley Founda…The Conrad Prebys Fou…Sempra FoundationThe Parker FoundationRancho Santa Fe Found…Price Philanthropies …Samuel I & John Henry…Walter J & Betty C Za…The Cushman FoundationThe Nordson Corporati…
The San Diego FoundationCA70.3× affinity39 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Diego Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · David C Copley Foundation · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · Sempra Foundation · The Parker Foundation · Rancho Santa Fe Foundation · Price Philanthropies Foundation · Samuel I & John Henry Fox Foundation · Walter J & Betty C Zable Foundation · The Cushman Foundation · The Nordson Corporation 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 Dr Seuss Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Dr Seuss Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Springfield Museums Corporation: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
13report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Dr Seuss Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Dr Seuss 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 92 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Dr Seuss’ 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