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Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation at a glance

· Private foundation

Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation

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.

$341k
Granted FY2025still arriving
64
Grants FY2025still arriving
27
States reached
$17k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Food & Nutrition$924kEnvironment$620kSocial Science$250kEducation$131kAnimals$110kArts & Culture$95kInternational$54kHousing & Shelter$38kOther$0
02FY2025 · 64 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k62 grants · $314k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $27k
$5,000
Median grant
27
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Latin American Perspectives$17,000
Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agricultu$10,000
Into Your Hands Inc$8,000
Washington Catholic Schools$8,000
Mahwah Environmental Volunteers Organization Inc$7,500
Growing Gardens of Boulder County$7,500
The Blue Atlas Project$7,000
Petaluma Museum Association$7,000
Mill City Grows$7,000
Earthroots Field School$7,000
Center for Rural Affairs$7,000
Western Watersheds Project$6,500
Stem Onward Incorporated$6,500
Flying Pig Farm$6,000
Chance Theatre$6,000
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 (FY17–25, $42k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 70% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NORTH AMERICAN CONGRESS ON LATIN AMERICA (NACLA): $4k → 17%AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT PROMISE: $5k → 12%HILLTOP URBAN GARDENS: $4k → 9%Global Humanitarian Mission: $5k → 13%Regenerative Roots Association: $3k → 7%INTEGRATED COMMUNITY SERVICES (ICS): $3k → 8%CORPSAFRICA: $5k → 14%INTEGRATED COMMUNITY SERVICES (ICS): $3k → 8%GROWING GARDENS: $5k → 12%LEAH'S PANTRY: $6k → 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

ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
MD
DE
AZ
NM
TN
NC
DC
HI
OK
MS
GA
TX
FL
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.

45%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 64 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

64 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 39 since wound down; 38 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

64
111

Total granted

$1.1M
$1.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+23%

Still filing today

80%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 41% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $201k 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
EnvironmentEducationAnimalsHuman ServicesFood & NutritionInternationalOther
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

  • LT
    LAND TO LEARN
    8× · 2017–2025 · $52k · revenue +22%
  • MC
    MILL CITY GROWS INC
    7× · 2017–2025 · $50k · revenue +104%
  • CG
    CITY GROWERS INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $43k · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • TL
    THE LAGUNA BEACH CUMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $250k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
    one grant, 2020 · $250k
  • UR
    UC RIVERSIDE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -6%
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
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
2
Sustainable Growers
—
3
Rescape California

ReScape addresses climate change by providing a regenerative, nature-based whole systems foundation for landscaping education, workforce development and policy.Foundational to our work is a whole systems watershed framework that…

Environment
4
Rainforest Alliance Inc

RA works at the intersection of business, agriculture & forests to improve lives & protect nature by transforming how land is used, production of goods & consumer choices.

—
5
A Greener World

A Greener World empowers sustainable solutions in agriculture, promoting and supporting real-life farming models to the public and offering farmers and ranchers practical guidance, resources and support on achieving truly sustainable…

Food & Nutrition
6
Rainforest Alliance Holding Inc

RA works at the intersection of business, agriculture & forests to improve lives & protect nature by transforming how land is used, production of goods & consumer choices.

Environment
7
California Institute for Biodiversity

Create and publish educational materials, conduct professional development, promote awareness, and sponsor research on the spectacular biological diversity of the State of CA.

Education
8
Center for the study of the Americas

Within the Americas promoting dialogue and research, producing studies and reports, conducting courses and conferences particularly in the areas of agroecology and food security

—
9
Ag Innovations Network

Ag Innovations facilitates collaboration among diverse groups to develop holistic solutions to California's most complex agricultural, natural resource and environmental challenges.

Food & Nutrition
10
Taproot Earth

Taproot Earth works with communities to support strategies around the use of water, energy and land.

Environment
11
Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms Usa

Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, USA (WWOOF-USA) is part of a worldwide effort to link visitors with organic farmers, promote an educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming practices.

Food & Nutrition
12
Western Sustainability Exchange

Advancing sustainability in the western area of the united states through a series of programs and activities designed to promote better ranching practices. a strong focus is to provide ranchers with the information, tools, technical…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Conservation Earth Inc; the most unlike its peers is Petaluma Museum Association. 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

121 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 121 of the 213 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)
43
Early backer (in before they grew)
119/121
Grantees still filing
80/121
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE LAGUNA BEACH CUMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $250,000 · OtherTHE LAGUNA BEACH CUMMUNITY FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE: $250,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE+120 more: $833,191 · Other+120 moreWESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECTS INC: $38,700 · EnvironmentWESTERN WATERSHEDS P…Wild Farm Alliance: $28,100 · EnvironmentWild Farm AllianceGROWING GARDENS OF BOULDER COUNTY: $28,000 · EnvironmentGROWING GARDENS OF B…MAHWAH ENVIRONMENTAL VOLUNTEERS ORGANIZATION INC: $25,000 · EnvironmentMAHWAH ENVIRONMENTAL…VICTORY GARDEN INITIATIVE INC: $23,000 · EnvironmentVICTORY GARDEN INITI…ECOLOGY CENTER: $21,000 · EnvironmentCalifornia Native Plant Society: $18,800 · EnvironmentNORTHWEST CENTER FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES: $18,000 · EnvironmentMID NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTANABILITY PROMOTION COMM: $17,500 · EnvironmentREGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentECOLOGICAL CITIZEN'S PROJECT INC: $14,000 · Environment+24 more: $171,800 · Environment+24 moreLAND TO LEARN: $51,700 · Food & NutritionLAND TO L…MILL CITY GROWS INC: $49,500 · Food & NutritionMILL CITY…CITY GROWERS INC: $42,500 · Food & NutritionCITY GROW…MAINE ORGANIC FARMERS AND GARDENERS ASSOCIATION: $16,000 · Food & NutritionMAINE ORG…COMMUNITY CROPS: $13,550 · Food & NutritionCOMMUNITY…Regenerative Farms Inc: $10,000 · Food & NutritionRegenerat…+1 more: $3,000 · Food & NutritionUC RIVERSIDE FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationSNIPES FARM AND EDUCATION CENTER: $30,500 · EducationMultinational Exchange For Sustainable A MESA andor MESA Inc: $23,000 · EducationIN YOUR HANDS INC: $8,000 · EducationSUNFIELD EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: $8,000 · EducationGROUND EDUCATION: $7,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY SCHOOL: $7,500 · EducationFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $6,000 · EducationFLYING PIG FARM: $6,000 · Education+5 more: $22,500 · EducationZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $35,000 · AnimalsNATIONAL AVIARY IN PITTSBURGH INC: $27,500 · AnimalsGREEN AMERICA: $15,100 · AnimalsFARM SANCTUARY INC: $11,000 · AnimalsNATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION: $11,000 · AnimalsCONSERVATION EARTH INC: $7,500 · AnimalsProject Griph: $6,000 · AnimalsSwitch4Good: $5,000 · AnimalsThe Big Bad Project: $5,000 · Animals+1 more: $2,500 · AnimalsLATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES INC: $32,000 · Arts & CulturePetaluma Museum Association: $7,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHANCE THEATER: $6,000 · Arts & CultureHeritage Museum of Orange County: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTRUTHOUT: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFOOD FOR THE POOR INC: $13,000 · InternationalSTRATEGIES FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: $12,500 · InternationalSEED PROGRAMS INC: $8,200 · InternationalEmpowerment Works Inc: $5,000 · InternationalOVERSEAS VOLUNTEER FOR A BETTER INDIA INC: $5,000 · InternationalHELPS INTERNATIONAL: $5,000 · InternationalSolar Village Project Inc: $3,166 · International
Other$1,333,191Environment$418,900Food & Nutrition$186,250Education$169,000Animals$125,600Arts & Culture$55,000International$51,866

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetLAND TO LEARN: $51,700 over 8y, 3.0% of budgetUC RIVERSIDE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMILL CITY GROWS INC: $49,500 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetCITY GROWERS INC: $42,500 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetWESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECTS INC: $38,700 over 7y, 0.5% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $35,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES INC: $32,000 over 2y, 7.9% of budgetSNIPES FARM AND EDUCATION CENTER: $30,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetWild Farm Alliance: $28,100 over 6y, 4.2% of budgetGROWING GARDENS OF BOULDER COUNTY: $28,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetNATIONAL AVIARY IN PITTSBURGH INC: $27,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMAHWAH ENVIRONMENTAL VOLUNTEERS ORGANIZATION INC: $25,000 over 4y, 7.9% of budgetVICTORY GARDEN INITIATIVE INC: $23,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetMultinational Exchange For Sustainable A MESA andor MESA Inc: $23,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetECOLOGY CENTER: $21,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNational Equal Justice Association Inc: $20,000 over 6y, 6.3% of budgetORGANIC FARMING RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $19,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetCalifornia Native Plant Society: $18,800 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWEST CENTER FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES: $18,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetMID NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTANABILITY PROMOTION COMM: $17,500 over 3y, 17% of budgetWILDEARTH GUARDIANS: $17,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetOrange County Rescue Mission Inc: $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMAINE ORGANIC FARMERS AND GARDENERS ASSOCIATION: $16,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGREEN AMERICA: $15,100 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetREGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetECOLOGICAL CITIZEN'S PROJECT INC: $14,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetGAINING GROUND INC: $13,780 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY CROPS: $13,550 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetCROWN POINT ECOLOGY CENTER: $13,500 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetVOLCAN MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION: $13,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetFOOD FOR THE POOR INC: $13,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSTRATEGIES FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: $12,500 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetLAGUNA CANYON FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetRESOURCE RENEWAL INSTITUTE: $12,300 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetFARM SANCTUARY INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTREES WATER AND PEOPLE: $11,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE ASSOCIATION: $11,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetZUNI MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY: $10,500 over 3y, 15% of budgetNORTHWEST EARTH INSTITUTE: $10,500 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetRegenerative Farms Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWILDLANDS RESTORATION VOLUNTEERS: $9,000 over 2y, 8.3% of budgetDEVELOPMENT IN GARDENING: $9,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetMALAMA KAUAI: $9,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetFRANCISCAN EARTH LITERACY CENTER: $8,726 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetCRYSTAL COVE CONSERVANCY: $8,400 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSEED PROGRAMS INC: $8,200 over 2y, 1.4% 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.

PatagoniaorgClif Family FoundationUNFI FoundationRsf Social Finance IncOrange County Communi…Blooming Prairie Fdn …The Horne Family Foun…The Rose Foundation f…Marin Community Found…Macgillivray Family F…Earth Island Institut…The Marisla Foundation
PatagoniaorgCA40.7× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Patagoniaorg · Clif Family Foundation · UNFI Foundation · Rsf Social Finance Inc · Orange County Community Foundation · Blooming Prairie Fdn Inc Investment Agy · The Horne Family Foundation · The Rose Foundation for Communities the Environment · Marin Community Foundation · Macgillivray Family Foundation · Earth Island Institute Inc · The Marisla 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 Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Regenerative Farms Inc: 64% of income from government
  • Center for an Agricultural Economy Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Mill City Grows Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Regional Environmental Council Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Growing Gardens: 6% of income from government
  • Florida Institute of Technology Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Gaining Ground Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides: 5% of income from government
  • Friends of Sholan Farms Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Western Rivers Conservancy: 0% of income from government
  • Food for the Poor Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Global Humanitarian Mission Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
32report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation?

Find your warmest path to Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation 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 213 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 Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation’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