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California · Private foundation

Ellen Browning Scripps 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.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
41
Grants FY2025
40
Organizations funded FY2024
0%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Median grant, FY2025
$20,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$110,000
Organizations funded a year
40 to 44
FY2020 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
3
Total assets, FY2025
$10M
Applications
Preselected organizations only
Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 0% of the organizations Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 0% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving41$1.1M5%
FY202440$1.1M0%
FY202340$1.1M0%
FY202244$1.2M2%
FY202143$1.2M30%
FY202041$1.1Mn/a
97% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$1.9MArts & Culture$1.3MAnimals$1.1MEducation$979kHuman Services$665kYouth Development$260kScience & Tech$255kRecreation & Sports$140kOther$0

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Zoological Society of San Diego$660,00060%
Scripps College$285,66360%
Horseless Carriage Foundation Inc$240,000655%
San Diego Humane Society and Spca$220,00060%
Knox College$180,00060%
Bloodworks$180,00040%
Regents of the University of California at San Diego$148,0005n/a
Francis Parker School$140,00060%
Library Association of la Jolla$120,00061%
Helen Woodward Animal Center$120,00060%
Show all 35 grantees
All grantees of Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Zoological Society of San Diego$660,00060%
Scripps College$285,66360%
Horseless Carriage Foundation Inc$240,000655%
San Diego Humane Society and Spca$220,00060%
Knox College$180,00060%
Bloodworks$180,00040%
Regents of the University of California at San Diego$148,0005n/a
Francis Parker School$140,00060%
Library Association of la Jolla$120,00061%
Helen Woodward Animal Center$120,00060%
Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego Inc$110,00050%
La Jolla Womans Club$109,88158%
Theater & Arts Foundation of San Diego County Dba la Jolla Playhouse$100,00050%
Schuyler County Education Foundation$98,000653%
Elderhelp of San Diego$95,00061%
La Jolla Country Day School$86,80050%
The Elizabeth Hospice Inc$85,83650%
Home Start Inc$85,00060%
Bishop School$82,3224n/a
Forever Balboa Park$80,00044%
San Diego Symphony Foundation$70,00051%
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California$70,00030%
Western States Trail Foundation$60,00066%
Rancho Coastal Humane Society$60,00030%
San Diego Society of Natural History$60,00060%
San Diego Historical Society$55,00061%
National Disaster Search Dog Foundation$55,00060%
San Diego Opera Association$55,00040%
The Gillispie School$46,79350%
The Friends of La Jolla Branch Library$39,00048%
Torrey Pines Association DBA Torrey Pines Conservancy$17,17025%
The New Childrens Museum$10,00010%
San Diego Museum of Man Dba Museum of US$10,00010%
Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank$7,50010%
Schuyler County Architecture Foundation$5,00017%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 22 recipients with no EIN on record ($3.0M), not named here.

Where it is load-bearing

Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 2 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 33 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetZoological Society of San Diego: $660,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetScripps College: $285,663 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHorseless Carriage Foundation Inc: $240,000 over 6y, 55% of budgetSan Diego Humane Society and Spca: $220,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetKnox College: $180,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBloodworks: $180,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFrancis Parker School: $140,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLibrary Association of la Jolla: $120,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetHelen Woodward Animal Center: $120,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetRonald McDonald House Charities of San Diego Inc: $110,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLa Jolla Womans Club: $109,881 over 5y, 8.4% of budgetTheater & Arts Foundation of San Diego County Dba la Jolla Playhouse: $100,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSchuyler County Education Foundation: $98,000 over 6y, 53% of budgetElderhelp of San Diego: $95,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetLa Jolla Country Day School: $86,800 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Elizabeth Hospice Inc: $85,836 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHome Start Inc: $85,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetForever Balboa Park: $80,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetSan Diego Symphony Foundation: $70,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetRonald McDonald House Charities of Southern California: $70,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWestern States Trail Foundation: $60,000 over 6y, 5.9% of budgetRancho Coastal Humane Society: $60,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSan Diego Society of Natural History: $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSan Diego Historical Society: $55,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetNational Disaster Search Dog Foundation: $55,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSan Diego Opera Association: $55,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetThe Gillispie School: $46,793 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Friends of La Jolla Branch Library: $39,000 over 4y, 8.2% of budgetTorrey Pines Association DBA Torrey Pines Conservancy: $17,170 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetThe New Childrens Museum: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSan Diego Museum of Man Dba Museum of US: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetJacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSchuyler County Architecture Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 33.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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 FoundationCA35.4× affinity16 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 · Sempra Foundation · Price Philanthropies Foundation · Samuel I & John Henry Fox Foundation · David C Copley Foundation · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · Rancho Santa Fe Foundation · Dr Seuss Foundation · Pratt Memorial Fund · The Nordson Corporation Foundation · Heller Foundation of San Diego

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.

Compare Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation with peer funders

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ellen Browning Scripps 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.

About Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation

How much does Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation give?
Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation reported 41 grants totaling $1,106,576 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 40 and 44 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2024.
What does Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation fund?
By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2025, its largest causes are Health (27%), Arts & Culture (19%), Animals (16%).
Who are Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2020 to FY2025: Zoological Society of San Diego ($660k), Scripps College ($286k), Horseless Carriage Foundation Inc ($240k).
Does Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 0% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The San Diego Foundation, Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, Sempra Foundation.
Where is Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation based?
Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation is based in CA.

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 57 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

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