· Private foundation
Hellman Fellows Fund
Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2020.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| UC San Diego Foundation | $12,457,472 |
| UC Berkeley Foundation | $9,650,000 |
| UCLA Foundation | $7,800,000 |
| Hellman Foundation | $7,417,863 |
| UC Davis Foundation | $6,250,000 |
| University of California RegentsIrvine | $6,000,000 |
| UC Santa Barbara Foundation | $5,725,000 |
| UC Riverside Foundation | $5,200,000 |
| Regents - University of California Merced | $3,700,000 |
| UC Santa Cruz Foundation | $3,650,000 |
| Regents of the University of California | $750,000 |
| American Academy of Arts & Sciences | $600,000 |
| UCSF Foundation | $500,000 |
| Regents - University of California Irvine | $250,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–20) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +66% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.
11 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2020, 1 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2020, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- USUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION4× · 2017–2020 · $14M · revenue +78%
- TUTHE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION4× · 2017–2020 · $7.0M · revenue +66%
UC SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION4× · 2017–2020 · $6.4M · revenue +224%
Funded once
- HFHELLMAN FOUNDATIONone grant, 2020 · $7.4M · revenue -69%
- ROREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT IRVINEone grant, 2020 · $6.0M
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATIONone grant, 2020 · $500k · revenue 0%
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.
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.
The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.
The university of california press foundation (incorporated in 1981) is dedicated to raising philanthropic support and community visibility to ensure the long-term sustainability of uc press.
The mission of the university of california, irvine foundation (uc irvine foundation) is to raise and manage private funds to support uc irvine's broader mission of excellence in teaching, research and public service. to this end, the uc…
To advance the academic and reputational success of uc college of the law, san francisco ("the college") through collaborative and impactful fundraising initiatives.
To further the scientific, literary, educational and charitable purposes of california state university, monterey bay, including fundraising, development, endowment management, financial assistance, public relations and other support.
The uc merced foundation was formed for the purpose of encouraging voluntary private gifts, trusts, and bequests for the benefit of the university of california, merced.
Raise private resources to advance the mission and priorities of the university and serve as ambassadors in the community. provide stewardship in the prudent investment of resources and ensure the integrity of the foundation through…
To support the scientific and educational purposes of the regents of the university of california (the "university"), in its specific capacity as manager and operator of the lawrence berkeley national laboratory and to carry on other…
To accept and manage restricted and unrestricted gifts benefiting california state university east bay. additionally, the trustees support the university through advocacy, development, personal contributions and counsel to the university's…
Established in 1962, the foundation is the central foundation for the california state university (csu) system and serves the office of the chancellor. the foundation exists to support excellence in teaching and learning, and to serve the…
To support and further the research, education and community service objectives of san diego state university.
To advance the educational, cultural, scholarly, and creative activities and the role of community service of csula by increasing private funding, responsibly managing donated resources and supporting the university and its diverse and…
How this is measured
9 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. 9 of the 15 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds UCLA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds HELLMAN FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds UC SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds UC RIVERSIDE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds UC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS & SCIENCES ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION ↗
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Hellman Fellows Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Hellman Fellows Fund. Bigger dots raise more.
- American Academy of Arts & Sciences: 3% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Hellman Fellows Fund?
Find your warmest path to Hellman Fellows Fund 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.
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