Skip to content
High Tide Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

High Tide 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.

$2.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$34MPhilanthropy$3.6MEducation$3.3MHealth$1.6MInternational$855kScience & Tech$640kPublic Benefit$590kSocial Science$333kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$141M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$2,000,000
THE RAND CORPORATION$333,334
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.

US giving: 78% of grant dollars ($35M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 22% that went abroad ($9.9M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–19, $14k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 28% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ARCA: $4k → 14%Community Venture Partners: $5k → 8%Hospice by the Bay: $5k → 8%Center for Domestic Peace: $300 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
SC
DC
GA
TX
FL

Beyond the US: 22% of all-years giving ($9.9M)

7 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
United Kingdom$3.0M · 2 grants
Belgium$2.9M · 1 grant
Netherlands$2.8M · 2 grants
Australia$650k · 2 grants
South Korea$300k · 1 grant
Germany$240k · 1 grant
Canada$16k · 1 grant
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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 6% of High Tide Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

High Tide Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 22% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

63%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$27M · 32 repeat orgs$16M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +80% since the first grant, against +50% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 32 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
123

Total granted

$27M
$13M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+80%
+50%

Still filing today

78%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.3M went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentEducationInternationalHuman ServicesCivil RightsPublic BenefitOther
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

  • CE
    Cool Effect Inc
    2× · 2017–2019 · $6.0M · revenue +40% · 58% of their budget
  • The Partnership Project Inc
    2× · 2019–2020 · $1.3M · revenue +56%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    2× · 2019–2020 · $1.0M · revenue +139%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $1.3M
  • SK
    SOUTH KENT SCHOOL CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $1.0M · revenue +39%
  • TJ
    THE JEREMY AND HANNELORE GRANTHAM ENVIRONMENTAL TRUSTgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $1.0M · revenue +396%
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
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
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
3
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
4
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
5
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
6
Terraset

Terraset uses philanthropic capital to purchase permanent, high-quality carbon removal. we pool donations from individuals, foundations, family offices, and donor advised funds, and make strategic purchases of high-quality carbon removal…

Environment
7
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
8
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
9
Coalition for Green Capital D/B/a American Green Bank Consortium

Cgc operates as a nonprofit financial institution that invests directly and through partners to transform financial markets by using public and private investing to accelerate the deployment of projects that strengthen the grid, reduce…

Environment
10
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
11
Climate Imperative Foundation

Climate imperative foundation's mission is to employ science and economics to cut global carbon emissions to secure a better future for all.

Environment
12
Watttime Corporation

To raise awareness about the potential to reduce environmental harm by shifting electricity use to particular times; to encourage the development and spread of common protocols for this practice.

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Goodpower Education Fund Inc; the most unlike its peers is Aim High. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

111 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. 111 of the 167 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
33
Early backer (in before they grew)
110/111
Grantees still filing
93/111
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION: $5,703,334 · OtherEUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATIONFOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE ENVIRONMENT: $3,000,000 · OtherFOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL LAW OF THE ENVIRONMENTIndividual grant recipient: $2,000,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientENERGY FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL: $1,490,500 · OtherENERGY FOUNDATION INTERNATIONALIndividual grant recipient: $1,300,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientYale University SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: $1,011,552 · OtherRocky Mountain Institute: $755,585 · Other+85 more: $5,844,325 · Other+85 moreCool Effect Inc: $6,000,140 · EnvironmentCool Effect IncThe Partnership Project Inc: $1,250,000 · EnvironmentThe Partnership Project IncENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,010,811 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATE…Conservative Energy Network: $912,000 · EnvironmentConservative Energy NetworkSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $813,125 · EnvironmentAMERICAN FLOOD COALITION INC: $750,000 · EnvironmentAdvanced Energy Institute: $665,500 · Environment+26 more: $4,017,850 · Environment+26 moreSOUTH KENT SCHOOL CORPORATION: $1,001,000 · EducationGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $600,000 · EducationBowdoin College: $528,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $506,969 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $129,094 · Education+12 more: $272,500 · EducationTHE JEREMY AND HANNELORE GRANTHAM ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $950,000 · PhilanthropyWORLDVIEW DEVELOPMENT USA INC: $155,000 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND INC: $150,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $51,000 · PhilanthropyCENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INC: $300,000 · InternationalINSTITUTE FOR GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: $250,000 · InternationalADM CAPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · InternationalUNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · InternationalWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $81,094 · InternationalPARTNERSHIP FOR TRANSPARENCY FUND INC: $75,000 · InternationalInternational Collaborative For: $61,000 · InternationalSIEMPRE UNIDOS: $60,000 · International+4 more: $19,500 · InternationalThe Rand Corporation: $333,334 · Public BenefitOil Change International Inc: $325,000 · Public BenefitTAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: $310,000 · Public BenefitTHE NISKANEN CENTER INC: $150,000 · Public BenefitCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $891,249 · Science & TechSTOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE US INC: $111,965 · Science & Tech+1 more: $10,000 · Science & Tech
Other$21,105,296Environment$15,419,426Education$3,037,563Philanthropy$2,306,000International$1,246,594Public Benefit$1,118,334Science & Tech$1,013,214

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 budgetCool Effect Inc: $6,000,140 over 2y, 58% of budgetThe Partnership Project Inc: $1,250,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,010,811 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSOUTH KENT SCHOOL CORPORATION: $1,001,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetTHE JEREMY AND HANNELORE GRANTHAM ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST: $1,000,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $950,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetConservative Energy Network: $912,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $891,249 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $813,125 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetRocky Mountain Institute: $755,585 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetAMERICAN FLOOD COALITION INC: $750,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetAdvanced Energy Institute: $665,500 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $600,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBowdoin College: $528,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $506,969 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWINDWARD FUND: $500,550 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $388,333 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCERES INC: $380,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetCDP NORTH AMERICA INC: $375,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetACTIVATE GLOBAL INC: $350,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetThe Rand Corporation: $333,334 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOil Change International Inc: $325,000 over 1y, 9.7% of budgetTAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: $310,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetCENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INC: $300,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT: $300,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetSTAND: $250,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: $250,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetDEPLOYUS INC: $220,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetREP ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $210,000 over 2y, 48% of budgetADM CAPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetUNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetGOODPOWER EDUCATION FUND INC: $200,000 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetVote Solar: $200,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetSolar United Neighbors Inc: $193,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetGREENFAITH INC: $170,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetWORLDVIEW DEVELOPMENT USA INC: $155,000 over 1y, 100% of budgetROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND INC: $150,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE NISKANEN CENTER INC: $150,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $129,094 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCalCef Innovations: $120,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetSTOCKHOLM ENVIRONMENT INSTITUTE US INC: $111,965 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYale University: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTexas SolarStorage Association: $100,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $81,094 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR TRANSPARENCY FUND INC: $75,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetSIEMPRE UNIDOS: $60,000 over 1y, 13% 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.

Climateworks Foundati…The William & Flora H…United States Energy …Jewish Community Fede…The Energy FoundationMarin Community Found…The David and Lucile …Rockefeller Brothers …The Schmidt Family Fo…Gordon E and Betty I …Sustainable Markets F…New Venture Fund
Climateworks FoundationCA33.8× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Climateworks Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · United States Energy Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The Energy Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc · The Schmidt Family Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Sustainable Markets Foundation · New Venture Fund

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 High Tide Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from High Tide Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Governor Dummer Academy the Governor's Academy: 1% of income from government
  • South Kent School Corporation: 0% of income from government
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
  • High Watch Recovery Center Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
14report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 High Tide Foundation?

Find your warmest path to High Tide 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 167 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 High Tide’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