· Private foundation
E M Downer 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC | $5,000 |
| TROON COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION | $5,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $5,000 |
| YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF THE EAST BAY | $5,000 |
| PINOLE VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH | $3,500 |
| MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM | $2,500 |
| BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF NAPA VALLEY | $2,500 |
| SALESIAN HIGH SCHOOL | $1,500 |
| GOEN SENIOR CENTER CORPORATION | $1,500 |
| THE DAWN REDWOODS CHARITABLE TRUST | $1,500 |
| JABULANI KIDS INC | $1,000 |
| EAST BAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS | $1,000 |
| RICHMOND ART CENTER | $1,000 |
| KHAN ACADEMY INC | $1,000 |
| BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA | $750 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $22k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, 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.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
14 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- CSCALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC9× · 2017–2025 · $39k · revenue +30%
- EBEast Bay Center for the Performing Arts9× · 2017–2025 · $28k · revenue +16%
- TCTROON COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION3× · 2023–2025 · $15k · revenue +14%
Funded once
- JMJohn Muir Land Trust prev Muir Heritage Land Trustgraduatedone grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +212%
- YMYoung Men's Christian Association of the East Baygraduatedone grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +202%
- JIJ-SEI INCone grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +13%
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.
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.
The AIA California, in collaboration with local components, is the voice of the architectural profession.
The mission of the California Youth Symphony (CYS) is to serve the community while providing talented young musicians with the finest musical experience and the opportunity for personal growth through the training and performance of…
The mission of berkeley symphony is to celebrate our unique and diverse community through music-creating live performances and educational programs to engage the curiosity, spirit, and intellect of our audiences.
The Mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. The vision of the Boy Scouts of America is to prepare…
UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education ("CEE") is a nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated to promoting and advancing education through its executive education programs for corporate and institutional clients seeking continuing…
Located in scenic Napa Valley, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art engages its community in the connective power of art and nature through its permanent collection of Northern California art, contemporary exhibitions, and thought-provoking…
The museum of sonoma county engages and inspires our diverse community with art and history exhibitions, collections, and public programs that are inclusive, educational, and relevant.
Culture-enriched music & arts programs are offered to the young & adult in the San Francisco Bay Area, giving individual, group lessons, after-school music & arts
The mission of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra (SJCO) is to share exciting, though-provoking, and vibrant Music by contemporary and time-honored composers reflecting the cultural diversity of our everchanging community, and to support and…
Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.
The japan america society of southern california works to (1) promote among the american people a more accurate knowledge of the people of japan, their aims, customs, ideals, arts and sciences, industries, economic conditions, and…
Marin open studios is a non-profit visual arts organization dedicated to engaging and supporting marin county artists and their audiences through events, programs and services. marin open studios champions a diverse and inclusive community…
How this is measured
19 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. 19 of the 23 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 CALIFORNIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
- Who funds East Bay Center for the Performing Arts ↗
- Who funds Richmond Art Center ↗
- Who funds TROON COUNTRY CLUB SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds BOYS CLUB OF NAPA INC BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF NAPA VALLEY ↗
- Who funds BAY AREA RESCUE MISSION ↗
- Who funds John Muir Land Trust prev Muir Heritage Land Trust ↗
- Who funds Young Men's Christian Association of the East Bay ↗
- Who funds J-SEI INC ↗
- Who funds Linfield University ↗
- Who funds GOEN SENIOR CENTER CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds MUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM ↗
- Who funds THE DAWN REDWOODS CHARITABLE TRUST ↗
- Who funds Rotary Club of Richmond Inc ↗
- Who funds PINOLE HISTORY MUSEUM ↗
- Who funds KHAN ACADEMY INC ↗
- Who funds WHITE PONY EXPRESS ↗
- Who funds JABULANI KIDS INC ↗
- Who funds GOLDEN GATE AREA COUNCIL #023 ↗
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.
Open a dossier: East Bay Community Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · The San Francisco Foundation · Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation · Richmond Community Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization E M Downer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from E M Downer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Linfield University: 4% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to E M Downer Foundation?
Find your warmest path to E M Downer 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.
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