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Kelson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Kelson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$8.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
65
Grants FY2024still arriving
12
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Education$8.2MPhilanthropy$5.2MCivil Rights$3.7MCommunity Improvement$2.8MCrime & Legal$2.7MPublic Benefit$2.4MArts & Culture$1.8MEnvironment$1.7MOther$0
02FY2024 · 65 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k10 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $213k
  • $50k–250k29 grants · $3.3M
  • $250k+11 grants · $4.7M
$50,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$149M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE$1,000,000
NEO PHILANTHROPY INC$500,000
AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION$500,000
PROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT$500,000
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY$500,000
VOTE MAMA FOUNDATION INC$300,000
REPRESENTWOMEN INC$300,000
VOTE RUN LEAD$300,000
SIERRA BUTTES TRAIL STEWARDSHIP$250,000
CORNELL UNIVERSITY$250,000
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE$250,000
PUBLIC COUNSEL$200,000
PANORAMA GLOBAL$200,000
TEACH PLUS INCORPORATED$200,000
NEW VENTURE FUND$200,000
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 (FY18–24, $824k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CHALLENGED ATHLETES INC: $10k → 11%CHALLENGED ATHLETE INC: $10k → 11%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO: $100k → 10%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO: $50k → 10%MARIN MUSEUM OF BICYCLING: $1k → 8%MARIN MUSEUM OF BICYCLING: $1k → 8%THE DEMOCRACY FUND: $75k → 14%MARIN MUSEUM OF BICYCLING: $1k → 8%ASIAN AMERICAN FEDERATION: $50k → 17%MARIN MUSEUM OF BICYCLING: $1k → 8%ASIAN AMERICAN FEDERATION: $25k → 17%ASIAN AMERICAN FEDERATION: $20k → 17%MARIN MUSEUM OF BICYCLING: $1k → 8%ASIAN AMERICAN FEDERATION: $10k → 17%ASIAN AMERICAN FEDERATION: $7k → 17%MARIN MUSEUM OF BICYCLING: $1k → 8%SAMARITAN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $100k → 10%TIDES CENTER: $100k → 10%YMCA OF SAN FRANCISCO: $35k → 10%YMCA OF SAN FRANCISCO: $25k → 10%YMCA OF SAN FRANCISCO: $25k → 10%YMCA OF SAN FRANCISCO: $1k → 10%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $50k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $25k → 10%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $25k → 10%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $25k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $25k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $25k → 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

ME
VT
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
WY
PA
NJ
RI
CA
UT
CO
MO
MD
AZ
NM
TN
DC
AL
GA
TX
FL
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 19% of Kelson Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 48% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 45%.

Kelson 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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26M · 135 repeat orgs$6.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +42% since the first grant, against -10% for those funded once.

135 repeat relationships: 41 still active in FY2024, 94 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

135
54

Total granted

$26M
$2.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
-10%

Still filing today

91%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 44% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $4.1M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureCivil RightsCrime & LegalCommunity ImprovementRecreation & 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

  • PA
    President and Fellows of Middlebury College
    7× · 2017–2024 · $3.5M · revenue +47%
  • LC
    Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
    5× · 2019–2023 · $935k · revenue +117%
  • TA
    TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INC
    6× · 2018–2024 · $760k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • AF
    AMALGAMATED FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $750k
  • AL
    ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUEgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue +253%
  • TO
    TEXAS ORGANIZING PROJECT EDUCATION FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $200k · revenue -48%
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
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
2
The Bar Association of San Francisco

The bar association of san francisco champions equal access to justice and promotes humanity, excellence, and diversity in the legal profession. we provide legal services to disadvantaged and underserved individuals in san francisco. we…

—
3
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
4
Public Advocates Inc

For more than five decades, public advocates has challenged the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing,…

—
5
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
6
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
7
Sf Partnership

SF Partnership is an organization comprised of SF's leading employers dedicated to supporting an equitable, resilient, and vibrant economy shared by all people working and living in San Francisco. Through education, advocacy, and research,…

—
8
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

The american civil liberties union of northern california (aclu nc union) defends and advances the principles of freedom, equality and justice contained in the united states constitution. aclu nc union, a california mutual benefit…

—
9
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
10
The American Institute of Architects California

The AIA California, in collaboration with local components, is the voice of the architectural profession.

—
11
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
12
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Francisco Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Nomadic Press. 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

178 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 178 of the 218 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
34
Early backer (in before they grew)
177/178
Grantees still filing
117/178
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

President and Fellows of Middlebury College: $3,476,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of …RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $686,000 · EducationRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DE…CENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP: $625,000 · EducationCENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAF…The George Washington University: $500,000 · EducationThe George Washington Uni…THE CRUCIBLE: $500,000 · EducationTHE CRUCIBLEREADING PARTNERS: $355,000 · EducationRUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $350,000 · Education+18 more: $2,072,500 · Education+18 moreLawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area: $935,000 · OtherLawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San …TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INC: $760,000 · OtherAMALGAMATED FOUNDATION: $750,000 · OtherNEO Philanthropy Inc: $725,000 · OtherYOUTH EMPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIP INC: $725,000 · Other+117 more: $11,599,000 · Other+117 moreEAST BAY COMMUNITY LAW CENTER: $635,000 · Crime & LegalEAST BAY …BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $550,000 · Crime & LegalBRADY CEN…Make the Road New York: $450,000 · Crime & LegalMake the …EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $422,000 · Crime & LegalEVERYTOWN…CENTRO LEGAL DE LA RAZA: $300,000 · Crime & LegalCENTRO LE…SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $275,000 · Crime & LegalSOUTHERN …PUBLIC COUNSEL: $200,000 · Crime & LegalPUBLIC CO…EAST BAY CHILDRENS LAW OFFICES INC: $120,000 · Crime & Legal+3 more: $161,000 · Crime & LegalNEW VENTURE FUND: $1,450,000 · EnvironmentSIERRA BUTTES TRAIL STEWARDSHIP: $640,000 · EnvironmentTruckee Dirt Union: $200,000 · EnvironmentOUTDOOR AFRO: $180,000 · EnvironmentCalifornia Trails Foundation: $150,000 · EnvironmentHIGHLANDER RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER INC: $125,000 · EnvironmentWOONASQUATUCKET RIVER WATERSHED: $114,750 · Environment+3 more: $89,000 · EnvironmentREPRESENTWOMEN INC: $500,000 · Civil RightsPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $500,000 · Civil RightsVOTE MAMA FOUNDATION INC: $300,000 · Civil RightsANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $250,000 · Civil RightsGIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $232,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $225,000 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $207,500 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR CIVIC DESIGN INC: $150,000 · Civil RightsTransgender Law Center: $125,000 · Civil RightsSTATE VOICES: $125,000 · Civil RightsBVM CAPACITY BUILDING INSTITUTE INC: $125,000 · Civil RightsDEMOCRACY WORKS INC: $106,500 · Civil RightsBYP100 Education Fund: $100,000 · Civil RightsAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $1,500,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $470,000 · PhilanthropyBE GOOD FOUNDATION INC: $98,750 · PhilanthropyNORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $80,000 · Philanthropy+5 more: $221,000 · PhilanthropyIDEOORG: $710,000 · Community ImprovementVOTE RUN LEAD INC: $300,000 · Community ImprovementNorth Bay Organizing Project: $250,000 · Community ImprovementTEXAS ORGANIZING PROJECT EDUCATION FUND: $200,000 · Community ImprovementSPANISH SPEAKING UNITY COUNCIL OF ALAMEDA COUNTY INC: $151,000 · Community ImprovementMISSION ASSET FUND: $101,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Community ImprovementSOMA WEST COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISTRICT: $80,000 · Community Improvement+2 more: $60,000 · Community Improvement
Education$8,564,500Other$15,494,000Crime & Legal$3,113,000Environment$2,948,750Civil Rights$2,946,000Philanthropy$2,369,750Community Improvement$1,952,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $3,476,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $1,500,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $1,450,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area: $935,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetTRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INC: $760,000 over 6y, 4.8% of budgetYOUTH EMPLOYMENT PARTNERSHIP INC: $725,000 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $725,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetIDEOORG: $710,000 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $686,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSIERRA BUTTES TRAIL STEWARDSHIP: $640,000 over 7y, 8.2% of budgetEAST BAY COMMUNITY LAW CENTER: $635,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetCENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP: $625,000 over 7y, 5.4% of budgetBRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $550,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $510,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetREPRESENTWOMEN INC: $500,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetThe George Washington University: $500,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CRUCIBLE: $500,000 over 7y, 3.6% of budgetPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $500,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $470,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetMake the Road New York: $450,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetUFW FOUNDATION: $450,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetNATIONAL INTERSCHOLASTIC CYCLING ASSOCIATION: $433,500 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $422,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $420,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetREADING PARTNERS: $355,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetRUTGERS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY SETTLEMENT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK: $320,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetHAMILTON FAMILIES: $301,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetCENTRO LEGAL DE LA RAZA: $300,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetVOTE RUN LEAD INC: $300,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $300,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNative American Health Center Inc: $300,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetVOTE MAMA FOUNDATION INC: $300,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $275,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $260,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: $250,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGIRLS GARAGE: $250,000 over 5y, 6.5% of budgetCornell University: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorth Bay Organizing Project: $250,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $250,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $232,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetYOUTH RADIO: $231,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $225,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBOREALIS PHILANTHROPY: $225,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE EXPLORATORIUM: $221,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetHEALTHRIGHT 360: $215,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $207,500 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetThe Education Trust Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 0.7% 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.

Crankstart FoundationThe San Francisco Fou…Marin Community Found…Jewish Community Fede…Silicon Valley Commun…Loud Hound FoundationEast Bay Community Fo…Tipping Point Communi…The William & Flora H…The California Wellne…McNabb FoundationThe Morris Stulsaft F…
Crankstart FoundationCA72.4× affinity34 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Crankstart Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Loud Hound Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · Tipping Point Community · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · The California Wellness Foundation · McNabb Foundation · The Morris Stulsaft 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 Kelson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kelson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Foodcorps Inc: 21% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Middlebury College: 1% of income from government
  • New World Symphony Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Rutgers University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
52report 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 Kelson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Kelson 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 218 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Kelson’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