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· Public charity

Embarcadero Media Foundation

EMBARCADERO MEDIA FOUNDATION seeks to enhance the quality of life and public engagement in the san francisco bay area by supporting accurate and professional local news coverage of the region, making grants to nonprofit organizations providing needed social & human services to the community; increased in-depth and investigative…

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
63
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$43k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Philanthropy$578kEducation$461kHuman Services$285kHealth$195kFood & Nutrition$190kYouth Development$165kEmployment$155kArts & Culture$130kOther$0
02FY2024 · 63 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 63 grants below total $925,500, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,100,210 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $174,710 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k29 grants · $216k
  • $10k–50k34 grants · $710k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$3.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
South County Community Health$42,500
St Anthonys Padua Dining Roo$35,000
Literacy Partners Menlo Park$35,000
Second Harvest Food Bank$35,000
Upward Scholars$35,000
StarVista$35,000
LifeMoves$35,000
City of Redwood City$35,000
Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pen$35,000
Ecumenical Hunger Program$35,000
Palo Alto Community Child Car$27,500
East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutor$20,000
Youth Community Service Inc$20,000
EPACENTER$20,000
Pursuit of Excellence$20,000
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 (FY23–24, $210k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, 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%StarVista: $35k → 7%StarVista: $35k → 7%Peninsula Volunteers Inc: $15k → 7%Peninsula Volunteers Inc: $15k → 7%Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $10k → 8%The Circuit EPA: $10k → 8%The Circuit EPA: $10k → 8%Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alt: $10k → 8%Palo Alto Community Child Car: $28k → 8%Palo Alto Community Child Care: $28k → 8%Community Services Agency of Mountain View and Los Altos: $8k → 8%Community Services Agency of: $8k → 8%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.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 63 repeat orgs$0 to everyone else

63 repeat relationships: 63 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

63
0

Total granted

$1.9M
$0

Still filing today

92%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

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

50%100%’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • SC
    South County Community Health Center Inc dba Ravenswood Family Health Center
    2× · 2023–2024 · $85k · revenue +26%
  • SH
    SECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY
    2× · 2023–2024 · $70k · revenue +8%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA
    2× · 2023–2024 · $70k · revenue +47%

Funded once

    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
    Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco

    PPS-SF's mission is to promote the fundamental value of public education and pursue the success of every public school by sharing knowledge, bridging communities, and informing policy.

    —
    2
    Institute for Human & Social Development

    Institute for Human and Social Development provides excellent comprehensive child development and family support services through center based family child care and home visiting to the highest need children of 0-5 years old and their…

    Education
    3
    Children's Council of San Francisco

    By advocating for quality early care and education, empowering families with information and financial support, and building the capabilities of educators, Children's Council of San Francisco ensures that every child in San Francisco has…

    Human Services
    4
    Los Altos Chinese School Childrens Center

    Los Altos Chinese School Childrens Center offers a year-round, full-day, bilingual program for preschool students (3 to 5 years old) in the Los Altos area.

    Education
    5
    Linda Vista Children's Center

    We help children discover a way of dealing with life that is realistic, comfortable, and satisfying. Self-confidence is nurtured as children learn to rely on themselves and each other. The noncompetitive environment is one that allows each…

    —
    6
    Kiddie Kampus Cooperative Play School Inc

    Kiddie Kampus is a cooperative, play-based preschool located in Alameda for children ages 2 years 9 months to 5 years old. We work together to create a nurturing, engaging preschool environment that prepares our children for kindergarten…

    —
    7
    Folsom Prep Academy

    Folsom Prep Academy is renowned for providing academic excellence in K-5 grade levels while also developing necessary leadership and life skills in our students. Using an enriched and diverse curriculum, our teachers place personalized…

    Education
    8
    Coastside Childrens Programs

    Coastside childrens programs (ccp) mission is to provide a safe and caring environment where children learn through experience, play, and friendships - building a foundation for success in school and life. ccp is offering preschool…

    Human Services
    9
    Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

    Our Mission is to develop and strengthen the power of Latinas to advance our collective success through sisterhood, leadership, and civic engagement.

    Public Benefit
    10
    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
    11
    California School-Age Consortium Inc

    The California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC) builds professional networks that provide training, leadership development and advocacy to ensure that all young people have access to high quality out-of-school time programs and to create a…

    —
    12
    Pacific Coast Academy

    Provide a high standard of education to students through comprehensive curriculum supported by energetic, dynamic, and caring teachers.

    Education
    How this is measured
    The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Peninsula Family Connections; the most unlike its peers is Palo Alto Friends Nursery School. 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

    60 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. 60 of the 64 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)
    9
    Early backer (in before they grew)
    59/60
    Grantees still filing
    42/60
    Grew since first funded

    Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

    Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $577,808 · PhilanthropySilicon Valley Community Fou…EAST PALO ALTO KIDS FOUNDATION: $30,000 · PhilanthropyCity of Redwood City: $70,000 · OtherCity of Redwood CityLIFEMOVES: $70,000 · OtherLIFEMOVESST ANTHONY OF PADUA CHURCH: $70,000 · OtherST ANTHONY OF PADUA CHURCHPursuit Of Excellence: $40,000 · OtherPursuit Of ExcellenceKARA: $30,000 · OtherRAVENSWOOD CLASSROOM PARTNERS: $30,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $70,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSUL…YOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $40,000 · OtherYOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICES INCWEHOPE: $30,000 · OtherAda's Cafe: $40,000 · OtherAda's CafeDowntown Streets Inc: $30,000 · OtherEAST PALO ALTO TENNIS & TUTORING: $40,000 · OtherEAST PALO ALTO TENNIS & TUTORING+11 more: $180,000 · Other+11 moreLITERACY PARTNERS - MENLO PARK: $70,000 · EducationLITERACY PARTNERS…Upward Scholars: $70,000 · EducationUpward ScholarsDream Catchers Inc: $30,000 · EducationDream Catchers In…FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION: $30,000 · EducationFOUNDATION FOR A …RISE TOGETHER EDUCATION INC: $20,000 · EducationRISE TOGETHER EDU…Learning Home Volunteers: $20,000 · EducationLearning Home Vol…PALO ALTO FRIENDS NURSERY SCHOOL: $15,000 · EducationThe Peninsula College Fund: $15,000 · EducationPARENTS NURSERY SCHOOL INC: $15,000 · EducationMENTOR TUTOR CONNECTION: $15,000 · EducationCOVENANT CHILDREN'S CENTER: $15,000 · EducationSilicon Valley Urban Debate League: $15,000 · EducationAll Five: $15,000 · EducationEAST PALO ALTO ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Education+1 more: $11,000 · EducationStarVista: $70,000 · Human ServicesStarVistaPALO ALTO COMMUNITY CHILD CARE: $55,000 · Human ServicesPALO ALTO…PENINSULA VOLUNTEERS INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesPENINSULA…Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $20,000 · Human ServicesNuestra C…THE CIRCUIT EPA: $20,000 · Human ServicesTHE CIRCU…COMMUNITY SERVICES AGENCY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW LOS ALTOS AND LOS ALTOS HILLS INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY…South County Community Health Center Inc dba Ravenswood Family Health Center: $85,000 · HealthSouth Cou…COUNSELING AND SUPPORT SERVICES FOR YOUTH: $30,000 · HealthCOUNSELIN…PENINSULA HEALTHCARE CONNECTION INC: $20,000 · HealthPENINSULA…CHAC FKA COMMUNITY HEALTH AWARENESS COUNCIL: $15,000 · HealthCHAC FKA …ADOLESCENT COUNSELING SERVICES: $15,000 · HealthADOLESCEN…PENINSULA FAMILY CONNECTIONS: $15,000 · HealthPENINSULA…Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $15,000 · HealthVista Cen…SECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $70,000 · Food & NutritionECUMENICAL HUNGER PROGRAM: $70,000 · Food & NutritionHopes Corner Inc: $15,000 · Food & NutritionEPACENTER: $40,000 · Arts & CulturePALO ALTO ART CENTER FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY: $15,000 · Arts & CultureMusic in the Schools Foundation: $15,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureART IN ACTION: $15,000 · Arts & CultureEAST PALO ALTO COMMUNITY ARCHIVE: $15,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMUNITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND ARTS: $15,000 · Arts & Culture
    Philanthropy$607,808Other$740,000Education$371,000Human Services$210,000Health$195,000Food & Nutrition$155,000Arts & Culture$150,000

    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 budgetSilicon Valley Community Foundation: $577,808 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSouth County Community Health Center Inc dba Ravenswood Family Health Center: $85,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $70,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIFEMOVES: $70,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetStarVista: $70,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetECUMENICAL HUNGER PROGRAM: $70,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetUpward Scholars: $70,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetPALO ALTO COMMUNITY CHILD CARE: $55,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $40,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetPursuit Of Excellence: $40,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetAda's Cafe: $40,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetEPACENTER: $40,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetEAST PALO ALTO TENNIS & TUTORING: $40,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetDream Catchers Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetWEHOPE: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCOUNSELING AND SUPPORT SERVICES FOR YOUTH: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetKARA: $30,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetPENINSULA VOLUNTEERS INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetEAST PALO ALTO KIDS FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetRAVENSWOOD CLASSROOM PARTNERS: $30,000 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetDowntown Streets Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION: $30,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetPALO ALTO ART CENTER FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetRISE TOGETHER EDUCATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetPENINSULA HEALTHCARE CONNECTION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPALO ALTO PLAYERS PENINSULA CENTER STAGE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetActerra Action for a Healthy Planet: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetLearning Home Volunteers: $20,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO JUNIOR MUSEUM & ZOO: $20,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetTHE CIRCUIT EPA: $20,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetCHAC FKA COMMUNITY HEALTH AWARENESS COUNCIL: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHopes Corner Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPALO ALTO FRIENDS NURSERY SCHOOL: $15,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetThe Peninsula College Fund: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCommunity Legal Services in East Palo Alto Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPARENTS NURSERY SCHOOL INC: $15,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetMusic in the Schools Foundation: $15,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetMENTOR TUTOR CONNECTION: $15,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetCOVENANT CHILDREN'S CENTER: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetADOLESCENT COUNSELING SERVICES: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSilicon Valley Urban Debate League: $15,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetPENINSULA FAMILY CONNECTIONS: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetThe Learning Center of Palo Alto Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetAll Five: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTRUST FOR HIDDEN VILLA: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% 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 Palo Alto Community FundCA88.5× affinity40 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

    Open a dossier: The Palo Alto Community Fund · Atkinson Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Philanthropic Ventures Foundation · Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Sand Hill Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · The Sobrato Family Foundation · Palo Alto Rotary Club Annual Charities Inc · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · John and Marcia Goldman 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 Embarcadero Media Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Embarcadero Media Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

    2024
    ’20’21’22’23’24’25
    no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
      no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
      0get no government money at all
      32report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
      0rely on government for over half their income
      ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
      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 Embarcadero Media Foundation?

      Find your warmest path to Embarcadero Media 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 64 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

      Source object · view filing

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