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Julia Richardson Brown Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Julia Richardson Brown 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.

$183k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$65k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% 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$852kEducation$622kYouth Development$25kPhilanthropy$5kHealth$3kEnvironment$1kHuman Services$1kPublic Safety & Disaster$1k
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $68k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $115k
$50,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION$65,000
SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$50,000
KPBS PUBLIC BROADCASTING$40,000
CAMPANILE FOUNDATION AT SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY$27,500
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 (FY18–18, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%SOUTH BAY COMMUNITY SERVICES: $1k → 11%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 8% of Julia Richardson Brown Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 100% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 93%.

Julia Richardson Brown Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
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.
$1.5M · 9 repeat orgs$11k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
4

Total granted

$1.5M
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+128%

Still filing today

78%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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 & CultureEducationYouth DevelopmentHealthHuman 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

  • US
    UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $622k · revenue +78%
  • TS
    THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $430k · revenue +38%
  • SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2025 · $145k · revenue +45%

Funded once

  • SD
    SAN DIEGO ROTARY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $6k
  • SF
    SEANY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $3k · revenue -99%
  • SC
    SBCS CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $1k · revenue +128%
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 Diego Opera Association

Mission: the mission of san diego opera is to deliver exceptional performances and exciting, accessible programs to diverse audiences, focusing on community partnerships, and the transformative and expressive power of the human voice. as…

Arts & Culture
2
San Diego Society of Natural History

Conserving nature through science and discovery.

Arts & Culture
3
San Diego Coasters
Arts & Culture
4
Zoological Society of San Diego

San diego zoo wildlife alliance is committed to saving species worldwide by uniting our expertise in wildlife care and conservation science with our dedication to inspiring passion for nature.

Animals
5
San Diego Museum of Art

To inspire, educate and cultivate curiosity through great works of art.

Arts & Culture
6
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

The museum of contemporary art san diego invites all audiences to experience our world, our region, and ourselves through the prism of contemporary art.

Arts & Culture
7
San Diego Junior Theatre

San Diego Junior Theatre (Junior Theatre) was incorporated in 1948 as a nonprofit corporation and is the oldest youth theatre in the nation, offering affordable camps, classes, and outreach programs for children ages 3-18; as well as six…

—
8
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
9
Associated Students of San Diego State University

To support the social, recreational, cultural and education programs and facilities, both on campus and in the community, and to advocate for student interests, provide leadership opportunities and participate in shared governance.

—
10
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…

Arts & Culture
11
San Diego Convention and Tourist Bureau

To drive visitor demand to economically benefit the san diego region.

—
12
San Diego Theatres Inc

San Diego Theatres, Inc. (SDTI) is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation established to manage and operate publicly owned performing arts theatres. SDTI was established in 2003 by the San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC),…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Diego Symphony Orchestra Association; the most unlike its peers is Smithsonian Institution. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

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 14 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/11
Grantees still filing
8/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $621,500 · EducationUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATIONSAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $145,000 · EducationSAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUND…THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $430,250 · Arts & CultureTHE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA …+2 more: $10,750 · Arts & CultureCAMPANILE FOUNDATION AT SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY: $233,500 · OtherCAMPANILE FOUNDATION…MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS: $25,000 · OtherMUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPH…+4 more: $14,000 · OtherGIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO-IMPERIAL COUNCIL INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentSEANY FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthSBCS CORPORATION: $1,000 · Human Services
Education$766,500Arts & Culture$441,000Other$272,500Youth Development$25,000Health$3,000Human Services$1,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $621,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $430,250 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetSAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $145,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS SAN DIEGO-IMPERIAL COUNCIL INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS: $25,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetOLD GLOBE THEATRE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSEANY FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSBCS CORPORATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $750 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.

The San Diego Foundat…The Conrad Prebys Fou…Jewish Community Foun…Price Philanthropies …Sempra FoundationDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The San Diego FoundationCA17.4× affinity6 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Diego Foundation · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · Price Philanthropies Foundation · Sempra Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Julia Richardson Brown Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Julia Richardson Brown Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–75%
    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 14 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

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    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