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Inner Spark Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Inner Spark Foundation

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.

$527k
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0184% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$967kYouth Development$652kFood & Nutrition$345kCommunity Improvement$270kEducation$116kRecreation & Sports$110kArts & Culture$70kScience & Tech$65kOther$0
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $230k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $275k
$10,290
Median grant
4
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Camp No Limits$100,000
Project Glimmer$100,000
CORO$75,000
UC Berkeley$40,000
Homeless Prenatal Program$31,316
UC Berkeley$30,000
Meals on Wheels SF$28,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
Newton Wellesly Hospital Fdn$15,000
The Trevor Project$10,300
Individual grant recipient$10,290
Tenacity$10,000
Babson College$10,000
Babson College$10,000
Babson College$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 83% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Newton Wellesly Hospital Fdn: $15k → 8%WWCF - Holiday Heroes: $25k → 8%UC Berkeley: $40k → 10%Meals on Wheels SF: $55k → 10%Camp No Limits: $100k → 13%Babson College: $50k → 7%Emerald Necklace Conservation: $25k → 16%UC Berkeley: $30k → 10%Meals on Wheels SF: $50k → 10%Camp No Limits: $100k → 13%Babson College: $45k → 7%Emerald Necklace Conservation: $20k → 16%UC Berkeley: $30k → 10%Meals on Wheels SF: $50k → 10%Camp No Limits: $60k → 13%Babson College: $30k → 7%Meals on Wheels SF: $38k → 10%Camp No Limits: $60k → 13%Babson College: $25k → 7%Meals on Wheels SF: $30k → 10%Camp No Limits: $60k → 13%Babson College: $20k → 7%Meals on Wheels SF: $30k → 10%Camp No Limits: $60k → 13%Babson College: $20k → 7%Tenacity: $15k → 16%Meals on Wheels SF: $30k → 10%Camp No Limits: $60k → 13%Babson College: $20k → 7%Camp No Limits: $58k → 13%Meals on Wheels SF: $28k → 10%Camp No Limits: $58k → 13%CORO: $75k → 10%CORO: $65k → 10%CORO: $50k → 10%CORO: $50k → 10%CORO: $50k → 10%CORO: $25k → 10%Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame: $18k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $45k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $35k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $35k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $35k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $35k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $35k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $35k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $31k → 10%Homeless Prenatal Program: $30k → 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.
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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.1M · 25 repeat orgs$41k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +82% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
6

Total granted

$3.1M
$25k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+82%
0%

Still filing today

40%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $16k 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
HealthYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesEducationCivil RightsRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • NL
    NO LIMITS FOUNDATION D/B/A CAMP NO LIMITS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $615k · revenue +61%
  • PG
    PROJECT GLIMMER
    9× · 2017–2025 · $537k · revenue +936%
  • Homeless Prenatal Program Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $316k · revenue +153%

Funded once

  • OH
    OPEN HEARTS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $13k · revenue -24%
  • AC
    AMERICA'S CHARITIES
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue 0%
  • MUSEUM OF FINE ARTSgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue +87%
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
San Francisco Challenge dba AmericaOne
Recreation & Sports
2
San Francisco Family Foundation
—
3
The Childrens Museum

Boston children's museum engages children and families in joyful discovery experiences that instill an appreciation of our world, develop foundational skills, and spark a lifelong love of learning. boston children's museum is a welcoming,…

Arts & Culture
4
Friends of the Children - San Francisco Bay Area

Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors - 12+ years, no matter what.

Education
5
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
6
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
7
The San Francisco School

A private school that cultivates and celebrates the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of each student in a community that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires passion for learning.

—
8
Miami Children's Museum Inc Fka Miami Youth Museum

Miami children's museum is a non-profit educational institution, which meets the needs of all children in our multicultural community. visitors of all ages are encouraged to play together, learn, imagine, and create. the museum offers…

Arts & Culture
9
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
10
San Francisco Friends School

At san francisco friends school, students learn in a community grounded in the quaker values of reflection, integrity, peaceful problem-solving and stewardship. our teachers challenge students with a dynamic curriculum that inspires…

Education
11
San Francisco Girls' School

To educate and inspire girls to become innovators and leaders in stem.

—
12
Camp Kaleidoscope

Camp Kaleidoscope, with offices on the Stanford University campus, trains student leaders to support San Francisco Bay Area children who have or had a parent with cancer. Through a free, week-long overnight camp and year-round programming,…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc; the most unlike its peers is Wender Weis Foundation for Children. 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

14 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. 14 of the 33 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)
14/14
Grantees still filing
11/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CORO: $345,000 · OtherCOROMeals on Wheels SF: $310,500 · OtherMeals on Wheels SFUC Berkeley: $128,000 · OtherUC BerkeleyIndividual grant recipient: $75,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $65,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $61,790 · OtherBay Area Sports Hall of Fame: $49,886 · Other+17 more: $230,326 · Other+17 moreNO LIMITS FOUNDATION D/B/A CAMP NO LIMITS: $615,000 · HealthNO LIMITS FOUNDATION D/B/A CAMP N…Homeless Prenatal Program Inc: $316,316 · HealthHomeless Prenatal Program IncPROJECT GLIMMER: $536,539 · Human ServicesPROJECT GLIMMERBABSON COLLEGE: $270,000 · EducationBABSON CO…TENACITY INC: $60,000 · Recreation & SportsHarper For Kids Inc: $42,000 · Youth DevelopmentOPEN HEARTS FOUNDATION: $13,000 · Youth DevelopmentTREVOR PROJECT INC: $20,600 · Civil RightsMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $3,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,265,502Health$931,316Human Services$536,539Education$270,000Recreation & Sports$60,000Youth Development$55,000Civil Rights$20,600Arts & Culture$3,000

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 budgetNO LIMITS FOUNDATION D/B/A CAMP NO LIMITS: $615,000 over 9y, 19% of budgetPROJECT GLIMMER: $536,539 over 9y, 1.4% of budgetHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $316,316 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetBABSON COLLEGE: $270,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTENACITY INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHarper For Kids Inc: $42,000 over 6y, 6.2% of budgetSan Francisco Historical Society: $31,250 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO CHILDRENS ART CENTER: $25,000 over 5y, 3.8% of budgetWENDER WEIS FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN: $22,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $20,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN HEARTS FOUNDATION: $13,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetAMERICA'S CHARITIES: $5,113 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: $3,000 over 1y, 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.

  • Who funds NO LIMITS FOUNDATION D/B/A CAMP NO LIMITS ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT GLIMMER ↗
  • Who funds Homeless Prenatal Program Inc ↗
  • Who funds BABSON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds TENACITY INC ↗
  • Who funds Harper For Kids Inc ↗
  • Who funds San Francisco Historical Society ↗
  • Who funds SAN FRANCISCO CHILDRENS ART CENTER ↗
  • Who funds WENDER WEIS FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds TREVOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds OPEN HEARTS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AMERICA'S CHARITIES ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds PAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC ↗

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.

Vanguard Charitable E…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA9.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Inner Spark Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Inner Spark Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Babson College: 3% of income from government
  • Museum of Fine Arts: 0% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 33 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 Inner Spark’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