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Ja Community Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ja Community 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.

$386k
Granted FY2025still arriving
26
Grants FY2025still arriving
11
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$1.1MHuman Services$917kCommunity Improvement$207kFood & Nutrition$145kHousing & Shelter$121kCivil Rights$91kReligion$83kCrime & Legal$65kOther$0
02FY2025 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $47k
  • $10k–50k17 grants · $290k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$15,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$12k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$50,000
TOPAZ MUSEUM$25,000
JAPANESE AMERICAN MEMORIAL PILGRIMAGES$25,000
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$25,000
J-SEI INC$25,000
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
GENRYU ARTS$15,000
JAN KEN PO GAKKO$15,000
NIKKEI HERITAGE ASSOCIATION OF WASHINGTON$15,000
COLLABORATIVE CATALOGING JAPAN$15,000
CJAHS$15,000
SAN DIEGO CHAPTER JACL$12,500
ASIAN CULTURAL EXPERIENCE OF SALINAS$12,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $695k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 80% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%JB LINE INC: $5k → 8%J-SEI INC: $25k → 12%CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION DBA VINTAGE GARDENS ASSISTED LIVING CO: $34k → 19%JB LINE INC: $5k → 8%EDEN TOWNSHIP JAPANESE COMMUNITY CENTER: $50k → 10%TIDES CENTER: $35k → 10%J-SEI INC: $10k → 12%CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION: $32k → 19%YU-AI KAI: $27k → 8%ORANGE COUNTY JAPANESE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION: $10k → 10%EDEN TOWNSHIP JAPANESE COMMUNITY CENTER: $20k → 10%CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION: $23k → 19%YU-AI KAI: $25k → 8%EDEN TOWNSHIP JAPANESE COMMUNITY CENTER: $15k → 10%CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION: $20k → 19%YU-AI KAI: $24k → 8%CENTER FOR EMPOWERING REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS: $5k → 10%TIDES CENTER: $10k → 10%CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION: $20k → 19%YU-AI KAI: $20k → 8%CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION DBA VINTAGE GARDENS ASSISTED LIVING CO: $15k → 19%YU-AI KAI: $18k → 8%J-SEI INC: $25k → 10%YU-AI KAI: $15k → 8%J-SEI INC: $25k → 10%J-SEI INC: $25k → 10%KIMOCHI INC: $25k → 10%J-SEI INC: $23k → 10%J-SEI INC: $20k → 10%KIMOCHI INC: $23k → 10%J-SEI INC: $15k → 10%KIMOCHI INC: $20k → 10%KIMOCHI INC: $20k → 10%KIMOCHI INC: $15k → 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

WA
ID
MN
IL
MA
OR
NV
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
MO
MD
AZ
NM
HI
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.

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 42 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

42 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 29 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

42
68

Total granted

$2.1M
$926k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+23%

Still filing today

74%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 49% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $199k 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterFood & NutritionHealthEnvironmentOther
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

  • CC
    CENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2025 · $143k · revenue +36%
  • YK
    YU-AI KAI JAPANTOWN COMMUNITY SENIOR CENTER
    6× · 2017–2023 · $129k · revenue +75%
  • NJ
    National Japanese American Historical Society Inc
    5× · 2017–2023 · $125k · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • LT
    Little Tokyo Nutrition Services
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue -15%
  • MO
    MUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $35k · revenue +88%
  • SJ
    San Jose Taiko Group Inc
    one grant, 2019 · $35k · revenue +23%
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
Tessaku

To provide historical and educational content about the Japanese American WWII incarceration as a public service and resource

Arts & Culture
3
Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress

To initiate and participate in activities that will promote the history, culture and social welfare of the japanese american community in southern california.this includes education about the world war ii incarceration of japanese american.

Unclassified
4
Japanese American Cultural Center of Vista

To promote and foster the understanding and appreciation of japanese and japanese american art, history, and culture. to preserve and disseminate inforation about the japanese american way of life to promote the study of the japanesese…

Arts & Culture
5
Chicago Japanese American Historical Society

Preserve and interpret the history of the Japanese American community in Chicago; Educate the general public as to that history; and Develop and display museum exhibits featuring Japanese American history with an emphasis on Chicago. The…

Arts & Culture
6
Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation

APIAHIP is the only national organization dedicated to protecting historic places and cultural resources significant to Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Arts & Culture
7
Nisei Week Foundation Inc

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

Arts & Culture
8
San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center
Arts & Culture
9
Japanese American Citizens League San Jose Chapter

JACL San Jose chapter supports the preservation efforts of Issei Memorial Building as a birthplace of the Japanese American community here in San Jose by continuing to provide for communities a place to meet and work for the community &…

Community Improvement
10
Us-Japan Research Institute Suite 801
—
11
Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival Committee

Cultural education.

Recreation & Sports
12
Api Cultural CenterInc Oakland Asian Cultural Center

Oakland Asian Cultural Center builds vibrant communities through Asian and Pacific Islander American (APIA) arts and cultural programs that foster intergenerational and cross-cultural dialogue, cultural identity, collaborations, and social…

Recreation & Sports
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Japanese Community Pioneer; the most unlike its peers is Hayward Area Historical Society. 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

73 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. 73 of the 124 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.

10
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
72/73
Grantees still filing
45/73
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

National Japanese American Historical Society Inc: $125,000 · OtherNational Japanese American Historical Society …JAPANESE COMMUNITY PIONEER: $53,100 · OtherLong Beach Japanese Cultural Center: $53,076 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $52,500 · OtherMEDIA BRIDGES INC (GUIDESTAR): $50,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $50,000 · Other+63 more: $951,080 · Other+63 moreEAST SAN GABRIEL VALLEY JAPANESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $112,500 · Arts & CultureEAST SAN GABRIEL VALLEY JAPANE…Tanforan Assembly Center Memorial Committee: $60,000 · Arts & CultureTanforan Assembly Center Memor…JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM: $45,380 · Arts & CultureJapanese American Memorial Pilgrimages: $45,000 · Arts & CultureGO FOR BROKE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $40,000 · Arts & CultureJAPANESE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF SAN JOSE: $35,500 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION: $35,000 · Arts & CultureSan Jose Taiko Group Inc: $35,000 · Arts & CultureGRATEFUL CRANE ENSEMBLE INC: $33,226 · Arts & CultureJAPANESE AMERICAN CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTER: $30,000 · Arts & Culture+27 more: $409,300 · Arts & Culture+27 moreJ-SEI INC: $167,500 · Human ServicesJ-SEI INCCENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION: $142,500 · Human ServicesCENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKE…YU-AI KAI JAPANTOWN COMMUNITY SENIOR CENTER: $128,535 · Human ServicesYU-AI KAI JAPANTOWN COMM…KIMOCHI INC: $102,500 · Human ServicesKIMOCHI INCEden Township Japanese Community Center: $84,900 · Human ServicesEden Township Japanese C…TIDES CENTER: $45,000 · Human ServicesTIDES CENTER+3 more: $24,000 · Human ServicesLTSC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $112,500 · Housing & ShelterKOKORO ASSISTED LIVING INC: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterSakura Foundation: $12,000 · Housing & ShelterMeals on Wheels by ACC: $83,580 · Food & NutritionLittle Tokyo Nutrition Services: $50,000 · Food & NutritionFRED T KOREMATSU INSTITUTE: $36,000 · EducationPENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS: $15,000 · EducationASIAN COMMUNITY CENTER OF SACRAMENTO VALLEY INC DBA ACC SENIOR SERVICES: $34,626 · HealthALZHEIMERS GREATER LOS ANGELES: $10,472 · Health
Other$1,334,756Arts & Culture$880,906Human Services$694,935Housing & Shelter$139,500Food & Nutrition$133,580Education$51,000Health$45,098

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetJ-SEI INC: $167,500 over 8y, 1.9% of budgetCENTRAL CALIFORNIA NIKKEI FOUNDATION: $142,500 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetYU-AI KAI JAPANTOWN COMMUNITY SENIOR CENTER: $128,535 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetNational Japanese American Historical Society Inc: $125,000 over 5y, 6.4% of budgetLTSC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $112,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetEAST SAN GABRIEL VALLEY JAPANESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $112,500 over 6y, 7.6% of budgetKIMOCHI INC: $102,500 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetEden Township Japanese Community Center: $84,900 over 3y, 39% of budgetMeals on Wheels by ACC: $83,580 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTanforan Assembly Center Memorial Committee: $60,000 over 4y, 26% of budgetJAPANESE COMMUNITY PIONEER: $53,100 over 5y, 38% of budgetLong Beach Japanese Cultural Center: $53,076 over 4y, 61% of budgetLittle Tokyo Nutrition Services: $50,000 over 1y, 9.8% of budgetJAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM: $45,380 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetJapanese American Memorial Pilgrimages: $45,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetTIDES CENTER: $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO CHAPTER JAPANESE AMERICAN CITIZENS LEAGUE INC: $42,500 over 3y, 54% of budgetGO FOR BROKE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $40,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetFRED T KOREMATSU INSTITUTE: $36,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetJAPANESE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF SAN JOSE: $35,500 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetMUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSan Jose Taiko Group Inc: $35,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetASIAN COMMUNITY CENTER OF SACRAMENTO VALLEY INC DBA ACC SENIOR SERVICES: $34,626 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGRATEFUL CRANE ENSEMBLE INC: $33,226 over 4y, 11% of budgetJAPANESE AMERICAN CULTURAL AND COMMUNITY CENTER: $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTOPAZ MUSEUM: $28,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetKIZUNA LITTLE TOKYO INC: $26,959 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetFull Spectrum Features NFP: $25,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetMEDIA BRIDGES INC: $25,000 over 1y, 57% of budgetSan Joaquin County Historical Society: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLITTLE TOKYO COMMUNITY COUNCIL INC: $25,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetWING LUKE MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNikkei Heritage Association of Washington: $25,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetAMERICAN RIVER CONSERVANCY: $25,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCRYSTAL CITY PILGRIMAGE COMMITTEE: $25,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetNICHI BEI FOUNDATION: $24,500 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetNISEI VETERANS MEMORIAL CENTER: $23,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetJAPANESE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF OREGON: $20,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetDENSHO: $19,300 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSAKURA KAI INC: $18,963 over 3y, 27% of budgetPOSTON COMMUNITY ALLIANCE INC: $17,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA ACADEMY OF THE FINE ARTS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBig Sur Land Trust: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHAYWARD AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $15,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetSCHOOL OF ARTS AND CULTURE AT MHP: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOLOCAUST MEMORIAL FOUNDATION OF ILLINOIS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOLLABORATIVE CATALOGING JAPAN: $15,000 over 1y, 28% of budgetFRESNO ART MUSEUM: $15,000 over 1y, 1.2% 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.

California HumanitiesJapanese Home for the…Keiro ServicesThe California Wellne…Asian Pacific FundGofundmeorgThe Henri & Tomoye Ta…Marin Community Found…Kinjiro and Eiko Mori…Oyama Family Foundati…The San Francisco Jap…Df Foundation
California HumanitiesCA26.6× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Humanities · Japanese Home for the Aged · Keiro Services · The California Wellness Foundation · Asian Pacific Fund · Gofundmeorg · The Henri & Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Kinjiro and Eiko Moriguchi Fund · Oyama Family Foundation · The San Francisco Japantown Foundation · Df 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 Ja Community Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ja Community Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Japanese American Museum of Oregon: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
24report 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 Ja Community Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ja Community 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 124 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 Ja’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