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First Dollar Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

First Dollar Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$575k
Granted FY2024still arriving
39
Grants FY2024still arriving
13
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0178% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

International$1.3MEducation$335kHealth$202kHuman Services$178kEnvironment$139kCommunity Improvement$100kArts & Culture$53kYouth Development$47kOther$0
02FY2024 · 39 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k16 grants · $45k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $430k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
$10,000
Median grant
13
States reached
$6.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EAST SIDE PREP SCHOOL$50,000
LUMIN$50,000
Individual grant recipient$40,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$35,000
HELEN KELLER INT'L$30,000
NEW INCENTIVES$30,000
GIVE DIRECTLY$30,000
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS$25,000
HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT$25,000
DIRECT RELIEF$25,000
LIFE YOU CAN SAVE$25,000
UPSTREAM USA$25,000
SEVA FOUNDATION$20,000
NAPA LAND TRUST$15,000
INNOVATIONS FOR POVERTY ACTION$15,000
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 (FY18–24, $109k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 3% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%NEWS: $10k → 9%N CENTRAL OHIO LAND CONSERV: $2k → 15%NEWS: $10k → 9%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $10k → 10%N CENTRAL OHIO LAND CONSERV: $1k → 15%NEWS: $10k → 9%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $6k → 10%COMMUNITY ACTION NAPA VALLEY: $8k → 9%MONUMENT CRISIS CENTER: $500 → 9%NEWS: $8k → 9%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $5k → 10%COMMUNITY ACTION NAPA VALLEY: $8k → 9%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $5k → 10%NEWS: $5k → 9%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $5k → 10%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $5k → 10%LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND: $500 → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE OF SF: $5k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE: $3k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE OF SF: $3k → 10%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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
WA
MT
MN
NY
MA
OH
PA
CT
CA
MO
VA
NC
DC
TX
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.1M · 58 repeat orgs$271k to everyone else

58 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2024, 22 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

58
25

Total granted

$3.1M
$240k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+74%

Still filing today

53%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
InternationalHuman ServicesHealthArts & CulturePhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $218k · revenue +98%
  • DIRECT RELIEF
    8× · 2017–2024 · $194k · revenue +94%
  • GP
    GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS
    7× · 2018–2024 · $175k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • PC
    PACIFIC COMMUNITY VENTURES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue +264%
  • EC
    EASTSUDE COLLEGE
    one grant, 2018 · $25k
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
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
2
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
3
Accion International

Our mission is to create a fair and inclusive economy where underserved people have quality financial choices and opportunities to improve their economic well-being. we find and help build innovative companies with the potential to reach…

International
4
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
5
Fajr Scientific

To provide multi-specialty surgical care, humanitarian aid and educational support to people in low- and middle-income countries.

Science & Tech
6
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
7
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
8
Pact Inc

Pact is a nonprofit organization that builds evidence-based, data-driven, and community-led solutions for human development (continued in schedule o)

International
9
Devworks International

Devworks international is dedicated to a society where all people enjoy the freedom to pursue their own sustainable development. we contribute to this by strengthening the capacity of local organizations.

Human Services
10
Allosource

Inspired by the gift of donation from our communities, allosource responsibly provides innovative cellular and tissue allografts to advance patient healing.

Health
11
International Biomedical Research Alliance

Our mission is to invest in and accelerate the development of the most promising future leaders in biomedical research with global impact.

Health
12
Intrahealth International Inc

Our mission is to improve the performance of health workers and strengthen the systems in which they work.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Amnesty International of the Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 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

44 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. 44 of the 87 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/44
Grantees still filing
33/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LUMIN: $345,000 · OtherLUMINEAST SIDE PREP SCHOOL: $305,000 · OtherEAST SIDE PREP SCHOOLIndividual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCRAFT3 PRI: $85,508 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $72,750 · OtherNAPA LAND TRUST: $71,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $62,500 · Other+51 more: $616,347 · Other+51 moreMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $218,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA IN…DIRECT RELIEF: $193,500 · InternationalDIRECT RELIEFHELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL: $115,000 · InternationalHELEN KELLER INTERNATIONALHIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC: $115,000 · InternationalHIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INCNEW INCENTIVES: $80,000 · InternationalNEW INCENTIVESSEVA FOUNDATION: $77,500 · InternationalSEVA FOUNDATIONACUMEN FUND INC: $60,000 · InternationalACUMEN FUND INC+4 more: $66,000 · International+4 moreGLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS: $175,000 · HealthGLOBAL PAR…The Against Malaria Foundation: $65,000 · HealthThe Agains…Upstream USA Inc: $40,000 · HealthUpstream U…NYAYA HEALTH: $20,000 · HealthNYAYA HEAL…+1 more: $100 · HealthGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $115,000 · Human ServicesNEWS: $42,600 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $36,500 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY ACTION OF NAPA VALLEY: $15,000 · Human ServicesRAPHAEL HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $11,000 · Human Services+2 more: $3,500 · Human ServicesThe Life You Can Save: $90,000 · PhilanthropyPRATHAM USA: $5,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $2,000 · PhilanthropyINNOVATIONS FOR POVERTY ACTION A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $85,000 · Social SciencePACIFIC COMMUNITY VENTURES INC: $50,000 · Community ImprovementEAST BAY ASIAN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $10,000 · Community Improvement
Other$1,658,105International$925,000Health$300,100Human Services$223,600Philanthropy$97,000Social Science$85,000Community Improvement$60,000

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 budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $218,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $193,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS: $175,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $115,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL: $115,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC: $115,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetThe Life You Can Save: $90,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetINNOVATIONS FOR POVERTY ACTION A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $85,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNEW INCENTIVES: $80,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSEVA FOUNDATION: $77,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetThe Against Malaria Foundation: $65,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetACUMEN FUND INC: $60,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPACIFIC COMMUNITY VENTURES INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS HEART OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA: $45,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetNEWS: $42,600 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetUpstream USA Inc: $40,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: $36,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetVOLCKER ALLIANCE INC: $35,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetONE ACRE FUND: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLIVING GOODS: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNYAYA HEALTH: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetOKIZU FOUNDATION: $18,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetANIMAL WELFARE INSTITUTE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION OF NAPA VALLEY: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetIMMIGRATION INSTITUTE OF THE BAY AREA: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $13,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetRAPHAEL HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetEAST BAY ASIAN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OF THE USA INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPRATHAM USA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPOPULATION SERVICES INTERNATIONAL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARIN AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUST: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVILLAGE ENTERPRISE FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNorth Central Ohio Land Conservancy Inc: $3,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetLifebox Foundation Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPELOTONIA: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOONE AND CROCKETT CLUB: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $848 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMONUMENT CRISIS CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW DAY FOR CHILDREN: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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 MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds DIRECT RELIEF ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS ↗
  • Who funds GIVEDIRECTLY INC ↗
  • Who funds HELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds The Life You Can Save ↗
  • Who funds INNOVATIONS FOR POVERTY ACTION A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds NEW INCENTIVES ↗
  • Who funds SEVA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds The Against Malaria Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ACUMEN FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds PACIFIC COMMUNITY VENTURES INC ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS HEART OF CENTRAL CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds NEWS ↗
  • Who funds Upstream USA Inc ↗
  • Who funds LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED ↗
  • Who funds VOLCKER ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC ↗
  • Who funds ONE ACRE FUND ↗
  • Who funds LIVING GOODS ↗
  • Who funds NYAYA HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds OKIZU FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Silicon Valley Commun…The San Francisco Fou…The William & Flora H…The Life You Can SaveGs Donor Advised Phil…Gates FoundationEast Bay Community Fo…National Philanthropi…Kaiser Foundation Hos…United Way of the Bay…McNabb FoundationThe Intuit Foundation
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA20.5× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · The Life You Can Save · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Gates Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · United Way of the Bay Area · McNabb Foundation · The Intuit 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 First Dollar Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from First Dollar Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Upstream Usa Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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.

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 87 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on First Dollar’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