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Island Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Island 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.

$90k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$69k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Animals$1.1MEducation$209kEnvironment$94kScience & Tech$50kPublic Benefit$16kHealth$5kSocial Science$5kArts & Culture$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $20k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $69k
$1,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$618k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY$69,399
Individual grant recipient$5,000
BROOKS SCHOOL$5,000
Individual grant recipient$3,400
GRIOT ARTS$2,500
ALL SAINTS CHURCH$2,000
LAKEVIEW CEMETERY$1,000
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND$389
WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION$250
PACIFIC FOREST TRUST$250
PROPUBLIC$250
HARVARD UNIVERSITY$250
THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY$99
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 24%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $24k → 8%BROOKS SCHOOL: $6k → 10%ONE MONTANA: $1k → 10%ALL SAINTS CHURCH: $2k → 8%TURTLE ISLAND RESTORATION: $1k → 8%OVLC: $1k → 10%COMMUNITY INITIATIVE: $1k → 10%WILDAID: $2k → 10%ISLAND CONSERVATION: $4k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20k → 14%BUCKLEY COUNTY DAY SCHOOL: $3k → 6%FRIENDS OF CHARLES DARWIN FOUND: $3k → 9%CORNELL LAB ORNITHOLOGY: $3k → 16%PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $1k → 17%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $460k → 28%THE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE: $6k → 11%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $97k → 11%DUKE DRONE AND REMOTE SENSING LAB: $21k → 12%WILDLIFE PROTECTION SOLUTIONS: $7k → 12%CLEVELAND PH: $5k → 17%KEW FOUNDATION AMERICA: $1k → 14%GRIOT ARTS: $3k → 36%RARE INC: $3k → 7%LINCOLN INSTITUTE: $5k → 8%BROOKS SCHOOL: $5k → 10%UNIVERSTIY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20k → 14%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $160k → 28%VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $15k → 14%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $30k → 11%WILDLIFE PROTECTION SOLUTIONS: $2k → 12%CLEVELAND PHILANTHROPY: $2k → 17%GRIOT ARTS: $3k → 36%BROOKS SCHOOL: $5k → 10%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $139k → 28%WILDLIFE PROTECTION SOLUTIONS: $1k → 12%RESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $8k → 14%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $137k → 28%UNIVERSITY OF SOURTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20k → 14%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $70k → 28%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $69k → 28%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $65k → 28%PACIFIC FOREST TRUST: $10k → 10%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $28k → 28%PACIFIC FOREST TRUST: $7k → 10%WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $26k → 28%PACIFIC FOREST TRUST: $5k → 10%PACIFIC FOREST TRUST: $5k → 10%PACIFIC FOREST TRUST: $3k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

MT
IL
NY
MA
IA
OH
NJ
CA
CO
WV
VA
NC
DC
LA
MS
TX
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 17 repeat orgs$152k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
29

Total granted

$1.4M
$145k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+19%

Still filing today

71%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k 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
AnimalsEducationEnvironmentArts & CultureInternationalPhilanthropyOther
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

  • WC
    Wildlife Conservation Society
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.2M · revenue +59%
  • DUKE UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2019–2021 · $127k · revenue +44%
  • TP
    The Pacific Forest Trust Incorporated
    7× · 2017–2025 · $31k · revenue +293%

Funded once

  • DD
    DUKE DRONE AND REMOTE SENSING LAB
    one grant, 2018 · $21k
  • UO
    UNIVERSTIY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
    one grant, 2019 · $20k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF SOURTHERN CALIFORNIA
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
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
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
2
Rainforest Foundation Inc

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.

Environment
3
World Resources Institute

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…

International
4
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
5
Amazon Conservation Team

The amazon conservation team (act) partners with indigenous and other local communities to protect tropical forests and strengthen traditional culture.

Science & Tech
6
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
7
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
8
Boston Architectural College

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

—
9
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
10
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
11
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc

Connect conservationists and supporters, deploy resources to the field, provide conservationists with tools and support they need to succeed.

Animals
12
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mongabay Org Corp; the most unlike its peers is Kew Foundation America. 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

31 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. 31 of the 52 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
30/31
Grantees still filing
23/31
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Wildlife Conservation Society: $1,155,131 · AnimalsWildlife Conservation Society+5 more: $25,473 · AnimalsDUKE UNIVERSITY: $127,000 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSIT…President and Fellows of Harvard College: $26,115 · EducationPresident and …UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF …BROOKS SCHOOL: $17,144 · EducationBROOKS SCHOOL+4 more: $7,375 · EducationThe Pacific Forest Trust Incorporated: $30,731 · OtherThe Pacifi…DUKE DRONE AND REMOTE SENSING LAB: $21,000 · OtherDUKE DRONE…UNIVERSTIY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20,000 · OtherUNIVERSTIY…UNIVERSITY OF SOURTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY…PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherLINCOLN INSTITUTE: $5,000 · Other+20 more: $34,669 · Other+20 moreMONGABAY ORG CORP: $25,500 · EnvironmentRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $8,000 · EnvironmentISLAND CONSERVATION: $3,500 · EnvironmentRARE: $2,643 · Environment+1 more: $389 · EnvironmentTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $15,000 · Civil RightsRAINFOREST TRUST: $14,500 · InternationalGRIOT ARTS INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureHARVARD MAGAZINE INC: $500 · Arts & CulturePRO PUBLICA INC: $500 · Arts & Culture
Animals$1,180,604Education$197,634Other$141,400Environment$40,032Civil Rights$15,000International$14,500Arts & Culture$7,000

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 budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $1,155,131 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $127,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Pacific Forest Trust Incorporated: $30,731 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $26,115 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMONGABAY ORG CORP: $25,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKS SCHOOL: $17,144 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAINFOREST TRUST: $14,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWILDLIFE PROTECTION SOLUTIONS: $10,073 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $6,800 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetREWILD: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGRIOT ARTS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetISLAND CONSERVATION: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRARE: $2,643 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBUCKLEY COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAWKEN SCHOOL: $2,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWILDAID INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $1,625 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTROUT UNLIMITED INC: $1,600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKew Foundation America: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONE MONTANA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANDREW GOODMAN FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $389 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 Wildlife Conservation Society ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds The Pacific Forest Trust Incorporated ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds MONGABAY ORG CORP ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds BROOKS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds THE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER ↗
  • Who funds RAINFOREST TRUST ↗
  • Who funds WILDLIFE PROTECTION SOLUTIONS ↗
  • Who funds RESOURCES LEGACY FUND ↗
  • Who funds THE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds REWILD ↗
  • Who funds GRIOT ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds ISLAND CONSERVATION ↗
  • Who funds RARE ↗
  • Who funds BUCKLEY COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds HAWKEN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds WILDAID INC ↗
  • Who funds WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds TROUT UNLIMITED INC ↗
  • Who funds Kew Foundation America ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗

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.

The David and Lucile …Silicon Valley Commun…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…The Pfizer Foundation…American Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The David and Lucile Packard FoundationCA13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation 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 Island Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Island Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get 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
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 Island Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Island 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 52 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 Island’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