Skip to content
Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation at a glance

· 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 FY2025still arriving
41
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$110k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% 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
02FY2025 · 41 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k33 grants · $675k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $410k
$20,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$10M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO$110,000
SCRIPPS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL$100,000
SCRIPPS GREEN HOSPITAL$100,000
SCRIPPS RESEARCH FOUNDATION$50,000
MARITIME MUSEUM OF SAN DIEGO$50,000
HORSELESS CARRIAGE FOUNDATION$40,000
SCRIPPS COLLEGE$39,663
ST VINCENT DE PAUL CENTER$35,000
RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$34,809
SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY$30,000
KNOX COLLEGE$30,000
THE ELIZABETH HOSPICE INC$25,330
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SAN DIEGO$25,000
FRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL$25,000
SCHUYLER COUNTY EDUCATION FOUNDATION$23,000
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 (FY20–25, $228k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE ELIZABETH HOSPICE INC: $25k → 11%ELIZABETH HOSPICE: $20k → 11%THE ELIZABETH HOSPICE INC: $17k → 11%ELIZABETH HOSPICE: $14k → 11%THE ELIZABETH HOSPICE INC: $10k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $20k → 11%GILLISPIE SCHOOL: $11k → 11%GILLISPIE SCHOOL: $10k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%GILLISPIE SCHOOL: $10k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%GILLISPIE SCHOOL: $8k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%GILLISPIE SCHOOL: $7k → 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.
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.7M · 46 repeat orgs$143k to everyone else

46 repeat relationships: 39 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

46
9

Total granted

$6.7M
$103k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+35%

Still filing today

63%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationAnimalsHuman ServicesHealthCrime & 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
    6× · 2020–2025 · $660k · revenue +77%
  • SC
    Scripps College
    6× · 2020–2025 · $286k · revenue +64%
  • HC
    HORSELESS CARRIAGE FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $240k · revenue +11% · 55% of their budget

Funded once

  • RM
    RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
  • RM
    RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CAMP
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
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
Balboa Park Conservancy

Balboa Park Conservancy (the Conservancy) was organized on November 3, 1923. The Conservancy is the City of San Diegos (the City) partner and advocated for the greater good of Balboa Park (the Park). The Conservancy collaborated with and…

—
2
La Jolla Historical Society

La Jolla Historical Society celebrates the history and culture of this region along the waters edge through interdisciplinary programs, exhibitions, and research that challenge expectations. It balances contemporary and historic…

—
3
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
4
San Diego Habitat Conservancy

Acquire, manage and protect land in perpetuity that supports sensitive habitats and species, and to educate and inspire people and communities as stewards and advocates of their natural environment.

Arts & Culture
5
San Diego County Bar Association

The mission of the san diego county bar association is to be the representative of the san diego county legal profession, serving the prblic and the profession by enhancing the legal system and promoting justice, professional excellence,…

—
6
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

The museum of contemporary art san diego invites all audiences to experience our world, our region, and ourselves through the prism of contemporary art.

Arts & Culture
7
United Way of San Diego County

To spark breakthrough community action that elevates every child and family toward a brighter future.

Philanthropy
8
San Diego State University Foundation Sdsu Research Foundation

To support and further the research, education and community service objectives of san diego state university.

Education
9
San Francisco Zoological Society

To connect all people with wildlife, inspire caring for nature, and advance conservation action.

Animals
10
Santa Lucia Conservancy

To protect and steward in perpetuity the unique natural, cultural, and asthetic resources of the preserve and serve as a model of ecologically sustainable development to committees outside the preserve.

Environment
11
Museum of Sonoma County

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.

Arts & Culture
12
Los Angeles Conservancy

The los angeles conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization that works through education and advocacy to recognize, preserve, and revitalize the historic architectural and cultural resources of los angeles county.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Diego Opera Association; the most unlike its peers is Schuyler County Architecture Foundation. 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

33 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. 33 of the 57 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/33
Grantees still filing
28/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SCRIPPS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: $625,000 · OtherSCRIPPS MEMORIAL HOSPITALSCRIPPS GREEN HOSPITAL: $625,000 · OtherSCRIPPS GREEN HOSPITALMARITIME MUSEUM OF SAN DIEGO: $335,000 · OtherMARITIME MUSEUM OF SAN DIEGOSCRIPPS RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $255,000 · OtherSCRIPPS RESEARCH FOUNDATIONHORSELESS CARRIAGE FOUNDATION INC: $240,000 · OtherHORSELESS CARRIAGE FOUNDATION INCST VINCENT DE PAUL CENTER: $210,000 · OtherRADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $179,809 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO: $148,000 · Other+27 more: $1,518,423 · Other+27 moreZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $660,000 · AnimalsZOOLOGICAL SOCIET…SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $220,000 · AnimalsSAN DIEGO HUMANE …HELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER: $120,000 · AnimalsHELEN WOODWARD AN…RANCHO COASTAL HUMANE SOCIETY: $60,000 · AnimalsRANCHO COASTAL HU…Scripps College: $285,663 · EducationScripps Colle…KNOX COLLEGE: $180,000 · EducationKNOX COLLEGEFRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL: $140,000 · EducationFRANCIS PARKE…LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF LA JOLLA: $120,000 · EducationLIBRARY ASSOC…Schuyler County Education Foundation: $98,000 · EducationSchuyler Coun…THEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE: $100,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO SYMPHONY FOUNDATION: $70,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY: $60,000 · Arts & CultureSan Diego Opera Association: $55,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $25,000 · Arts & CultureBLOODWORKS: $180,000 · HealthNATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION: $55,000 · HealthELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $95,000 · Human ServicesTHE ELIZABETH HOSPICE INC: $85,836 · Human ServicesTHE GILLISPIE SCHOOL: $46,793 · Human ServicesHOME START INC: $85,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$4,136,232Animals$1,060,000Education$823,663Arts & Culture$310,000Health$235,000Human Services$227,629Crime & Legal$85,000

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

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
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 ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds Scripps College ↗
  • Who funds HORSELESS CARRIAGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA ↗
  • Who funds KNOX COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds BLOODWORKS ↗
  • Who funds FRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds LIBRARY ASSOCIATION OF LA JOLLA ↗
  • Who funds HELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SAN DIEGO INC ↗
  • Who funds LA JOLLA WOMANS CLUB ↗
  • Who funds THEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE ↗
  • Who funds Schuyler County Education Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds LA JOLLA COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE ELIZABETH HOSPICE INC ↗
  • Who funds HOME START INC ↗
  • Who funds FOREVER BALBOA PARK ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds WESTERN STATES TRAIL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds RANCHO COASTAL HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds San Diego Opera Association ↗

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…Sempra FoundationPrice Philanthropies …Samuel I & John Henry…David C Copley Founda…The Conrad Prebys Fou…Rancho Santa Fe Found…Dr Seuss FoundationPratt Memorial FundThe Nordson Corporati…Heller Foundation of …
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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ellen Browning Scripps Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 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.

    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

    Play a game based on Ellen Browning Scripps’ 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