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Hiro Watanabe Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Hiro Watanabe 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.

$7k
Granted FY2023
8
Grants FY2023
4
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Hiro Watanabe Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to National Philanthropic Trust, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Hiro Watanabe Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 6 organizations, $7k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

5
’19
1
’20
7
’21
4
’22
6
’23
1
’24

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

01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Philanthropy$515kFood & Nutrition$25kEducation$19kCommunity Improvement$13kHuman Services$9kYouth Development$4kHealth$3kCrime & Legal$3kOther$0
02FY2023 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Japanese American Veterans Assn$2,000
Japanese Language Scholarship Found$1,000
Densho$1,000
Go for Broke Nat'l Education Ctr$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
Japanese American National Museum$595
City of Hope$500
Special Operations Warrior Foundati$150
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 (FY19–19, $100) 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%Caring Sharing of South Bay: $100 → 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.

48%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$39k · 9 repeat orgs$42k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2023, 3 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, 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

9
9

Total granted

$39k
$38k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+73%
+105%

Still filing today

67%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 20% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesOther
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

  • GF
    GO FOR BROKE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CENTER
    3× · 2021–2023 · $11k · revenue +73%
  • JA
    Japanese American Veterans Association
    4× · 2020–2023 · $9k · revenue +37%
  • 1L
    1979 LEGACY CORP
    2× · 2021–2022 · $6k · revenue +84%

Funded once

  • JA
    Japanese American Cultural Communit
    one grant, 2019 · $25k
  • LT
    LITTLE TOKYO COMMUNITY COUNCIL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $6k · revenue +113%
  • SO
    Special Operations Warriors Foundat
    one grant, 2021 · $3k
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
Japantown Cultural Society
Education
2
Soka University of America

The mission of soka university of america is to foster a steady stream of global citizens committed to living a contributive life. continued on schedule o.

Education
3
Us-Japan Research Institute Suite 801
—
4
United States - Japan Foundation
—
5
Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund

The nisei student relocation commemorative fund (nsrcf) is a non-profit, charitable organization founded in new england that annually awards scholarships to students from underserved communities pursuing higher education. the nsrcf was…

Education
6
Alliance for Perserving the Truth of Sino-Japan War

Public education

Arts & Culture
7
National Japanese American Historical Society Inc

The National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. (NJAHS) charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to the collection, preservation, authentic interpretation, and sharing of historical information of the Japanese American…

—
8
The Japan Society of Northern California

Founded in 1905, the japan society of northern california works to advance u.s. - japan collaboration and understanding in a global context. the society offers an array of programs and networking opportunities for people and organizations…

International
9
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii

To be a vibrant resource, strengthening our diverse community by educating present and future generations in the evolving japanese american experience in hawaii. we do this through relevant programming, meaningful community service and…

Arts & Culture
10
Nisei Week Foundation Inc

To educate the public on japanese and japanese-american history and culture.

Arts & Culture
11
Joseph Shinoda Memorial Scholarship Foundation
Philanthropy
12
Japan Society Inc

Japan society is the premier organization connecting japanese arts, culture, business, and society with audiences in new york and around the world. in fy2024, attendance onsite was 36.9k with 3.3k participating in online programs.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Go for Broke National Educational Center; the most unlike its peers is Escondido Community Child Development Center. 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

13 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. 13 of the 22 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
10/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $514,778 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTJapanese American Cultural Communit: $25,000 · OtherJapanese …Japanese American Veterans Association: $9,200 · OtherJapanese …Industry Sheriff's Youth Activities: $3,650 · OtherIndustry …Special Operations Warriors Foundat: $3,300 · OtherSpecial O…City of Hope: $2,500 · OtherMCKINLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $2,000 · OtherJapanese Prefectural Assn of Southe: $2,000 · Other+4 more: $2,370 · OtherGO FOR BROKE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $11,000 · Arts & CultureDENSHO: $3,000 · Arts & CultureJAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM: $2,095 · Arts & Culture1979 LEGACY CORP: $6,000 · Community ImprovementLITTLE TOKYO COMMUNITY COUNCIL INC: $6,000 · Community ImprovementJAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION: $1,000 · EducationESCONDIDO COMMUNITY CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $500 · EducationPUENTE LEARNING CENTER: $500 · EducationSPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $300 · EducationCARING AND SHARING OF SOUTH BAY: $100 · Human Services
Philanthropy$514,778Other$50,020Arts & Culture$16,095Community Improvement$12,000Education$2,300Human Services$100

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 budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $514,778 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGO FOR BROKE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $11,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetJapanese American Veterans Association: $9,200 over 4y, 5.4% of budget1979 LEGACY CORP: $6,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetLITTLE TOKYO COMMUNITY COUNCIL INC: $6,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetDENSHO: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM: $2,095 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJAPANESE LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetESCONDIDO COMMUNITY CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPUENTE LEARNING CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $300 over 2y, 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.

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.

Df FoundationCalifornia Community …The Blackbaud Giving …The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Df FoundationCA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Df Foundation · California Community Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Hiro Watanabe Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Hiro Watanabe Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 22 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Hiro Watanabe’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