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Farhang Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Farhang Foundation

To celebrate and promote iranian art and culture for the benefit of the community at large

$148k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

94% of Farhang Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to University Of Southern California, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 9 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2024, the last year Farhang Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 8 organizations, $107k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

7
’17
10
’18
4
’19
4
’20
4
’21
2
’22
8
’23
8
’24
9
’25

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

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$4.3MEducation$255k
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 9 grants below total $107,272, the rows itemized in this filing. The $147,972 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $40,700 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 $10k2 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $94k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$6.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PACIFIC SYMPHONY$20,000
UCLA$18,772
THE UCLA FOUNDATION$15,000
LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART$10,000
AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE$10,000
GRAND PREFORMANCES$10,000
EVENSONG COLLECTION$10,000
IRANSHAHR ORCHESTRA INC$8,000
SOUTH COAST REPERTORY$5,500
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 (FY17–18, $25k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%IRANIAN AMERICAN WOMEN FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%IRANIAN AMERICAN WOMEN FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%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.

34%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$530k · 12 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against -21% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call). Read against FY2024, 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

12
10

Total granted

$530k
$919k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
-21%

Still filing today

67%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 30% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $109k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyInternationalOther
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

  • TA
    THE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $92k · revenue +30%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2019 · $67k · revenue +51%
  • GP
    GRAND PERFORMANCES
    6× · 2017–2024 · $60k · revenue +0%

Funded once

  • UP
    UCLA PERSIAN MUSIC PROGRAM
    one grant, 2020 · $750k
  • TJ
    THE J PAUL GETTY TRUSTgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +107%
  • G
    Golistan
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · 37% of their budget
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
California Institute of Contemporary Art
—
2
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…

Arts & Culture
3
Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation Inc
Employment
4
Artronika

ARTRONIKA is a collective of Los Angeles based artists that produce immersive arts programming showcasing an array of South Asian talent and culture. Through innovative and inclusive events, we reimagine traditional music, art, and…

—
5
Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center Inc

The hammer museum at ucla believes in the promise of art and ideas to illuminate our lives and build a more just world.

Arts & Culture
6
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
7
The Performance Art Museum

The performance art museum (pam) is the first u.s. institution exclusively dedicated to the presentation and preservation of live art. our mission is to facilitate the powerful impact of live experiences that can profoundly transform our…

Arts & Culture
8
Academy Museum Foundation

The academy museum of motion pictures advances the understanding, celebration, and preservation of cinema through inclusive and accessible exhibitions, screenings, programs, initiatives, and collections. welcoming visitors from los angeles…

Arts & Culture
9
Metropolitan Museum of Art

The metropolitan museum of art collects, studies, conserves, and presents significant works of art across all times and cultures in order to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas.

Arts & Culture
10
Los Angeles International Dance Festival
—
11
Kadist Collection Manager Inc
Arts & Culture
12
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles; the most unlike its peers is The J Paul Getty Trust. 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

24 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. 24 of the 30 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/24
Grantees still filing
12/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $2,367,460 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAUCLA FOUNDATION: $580,000 · EducationUCLA FOUNDATION+2 more: $91,500 · EducationUCLA PERSIAN MUSIC PROGRAM: $750,000 · OtherUCLA PERSIAN MUSIC PROG…PERSIAN ACADEMIC & CULTURAL STUDENT ASS: $106,908 · OtherPERSIAN ACADEMIC & CULT…REGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA: $34,595 · Other+4 more: $49,000 · OtherTHE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: $92,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERIC…GRAND PERFORMANCES: $60,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND PERF…Pacific Symphony: $55,000 · Arts & CulturePacific Sy…ROUDAKI ORCHESTRA INC: $45,000 · Arts & CultureROUDAKI OR…Iranshahr Orchestra Inc: $23,000 · Arts & CultureIranshahr …MADISON PROJECT: $20,000 · Arts & CultureGolistan: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART: $18,500 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART LOS ANGELES: $15,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $51,400 · Arts & Culture+7 moreTHE J PAUL GETTY TRUST: $100,000 · PhilanthropyIranian American Women Foundation: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE ASIA SOCIETY: $10,000 · International
Education$3,038,960Other$940,503Arts & Culture$399,900Philanthropy$100,000Human Services$25,000International$10,000

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $2,367,460 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUCLA FOUNDATION: $580,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE J PAUL GETTY TRUST: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE: $92,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $66,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGRAND PERFORMANCES: $60,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetPacific Symphony: $55,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetROUDAKI ORCHESTRA INC: $45,000 over 1y, 72% of budgetIranian American Women Foundation: $25,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetUniversity of California Santa Barbara Alumni Association: $25,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetIranshahr Orchestra Inc: $23,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetMADISON PROJECT: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetGolistan: $20,000 over 1y, 37% of budgetSAN DIEGO MUSEUM OF ART: $18,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART LOS ANGELES: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTH COAST REPERTORY INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetYERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMUSEUM ASSOCIATES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ASIA SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEWPORT BEACH INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPublic Affairs Alliance of Iranian-Americans Inc: $7,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetBEAUTIFY EARTH CORPORATION: $6,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetBEYOND VISION MUSIC FOUNDATION INC: $4,200 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetSALASTINA: $200 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

California Community …National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
California Community FoundationCA13.5× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Farhang Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Farhang Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%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 · 0–15%
    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 Farhang Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Farhang 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 30 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

    Play a game based on Farhang’s 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