· Private foundation
Hummingbird Society Foundation
Its FY2019 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Read this first · the figures below need context
67% of Hummingbird Society Foundation’s FY2019 grant dollars went to Schwab Charitable Fund, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2019 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2017, the last year Hummingbird Society Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 8 organizations, $608k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2019.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2017
- Under $10k5 grants · $18k
- $10k–50k4 grants · $40k
- $50k–250k7 grants · $550k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Southern Poverty Law Center | $100,000 |
| World Wildlife Fund | $100,000 |
| Natural Resource Defense Council | $100,000 |
| ACLU Foundation | $100,000 |
| Environmental Defense Fund | $50,000 |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America | $50,000 |
| Union of Concerned Scientists | $50,000 |
| Wilderness Society | $10,000 |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America | $10,000 |
| Planned Parenthood Federation of America | $10,000 |
| Volunteers in Medicine HHI | $10,000 |
| Hilton Head Habitat for Humanity | $5,000 |
| Triangle Community Foundation | $5,000 |
| Yana Club | $3,000 |
| World Vets | $3,000 |
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 (FY17–19) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 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
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
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.
Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.
The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.
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…
Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…
Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.
Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…
Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.
To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…
To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.
The national forest foundation, chartered by congress, engages americans in community-based and national programs that promote the health and public enjoyment of the 193-million acre national forest system, and accepts and administers…
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…
The trust for public land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. in the past year, we helped communities to plan for parks and conservation, fund parks and conservation,…
How this is measured
11 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. 11 of the 17 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 DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ↗
- Who funds GROWING TREE FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC ↗
- Who funds AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC ↗
- Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
- Who funds THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC ↗
- Who funds THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds TRIANGLE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds Prospect House Inc ↗
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Hummingbird Society Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Hummingbird Society Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Hummingbird Society Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Hummingbird Society 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.
Play a game based on Hummingbird Society’s filings →