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Laurel Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Laurel Foundation

Its FY2022 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.2M
Granted FY2021
23
Grants FY2021
2
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

57% of Laurel Foundation’s FY2022 grant dollars went to Greater Horizons, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2022 names 20 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year Laurel Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 19 organizations, $1M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

19
’17
18
’18
17
’19
17
’20
19
’21
20
’22

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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 2022.

Education$4.4MHealth$2.9MPhilanthropy$2.5MInternational$1.1MEnvironment$835kAnimals$818kYouth Development$545kCrime & Legal$220kOther$0
02FY2021 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k3 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $272k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $945k
$42,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LYMELIGHT FOUNDATION$200,000
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH$150,000
MERCY BEYOND BORDERS$120,000
IGNITE$100,000
HELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER$75,000
TEAM GIVING$50,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA$50,000
SILICON VALLEY URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE$50,000
PETS IN NEED$50,000
HELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER$50,000
IGNITE$50,000
EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL$42,000
CHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL$40,000
YOUTH ALIVE$40,000
ADOLESCENT COUNSELING SERVICES$35,000
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 (FY17–22, $2.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%LymeLight Foundation: $579k → 7%LymeLight Foundation: $400k → 7%LYMELIGHT FOUNDATION: $400k → 7%LYMELIGHT FOUNDATION: $400k → 7%LYMELIGHT FOUNDATION: $300k → 7%LYMELIGHT FOUNDATION: $200k → 7%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 18% of Laurel Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 81% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 77%.

Laurel Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 3.3% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 23 repeat orgs$393k to everyone else

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

23 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2021, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
10

Total granted

$11M
$333k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+19%

Still filing today

91%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22
EducationAnimalsEnvironmentHealthArts & CultureInternationalOther
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

  • LF
    LymeLight Foundation
    6× · 2017–2022 · $2.3M · revenue +67% · 87% of their budget
  • I
    IGNITE
    6× · 2017–2022 · $700k · revenue +59%
  • MB
    MERCY BEYOND BORDERS
    6× · 2017–2022 · $635k · revenue +109%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO JUNIOR MUSEUM & ZOO
    one grant, 2017 · $70k · revenue -90%
  • SM
    SEPTEMBER'S MISSION
    one grant, 2020 · $60k
  • RF
    Ravenswood Family Health Center
    one grant, 2018 · $50k
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
Marin Humane Society

Marin humane transforms lives through exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. every day, marin humane inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals.

Animals
2
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
3
San Francisco Girls' School

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

—
4
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

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

Education
5
The Uc Davis Foundation

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

Education
6
California Ocean Science Trust

California ocean science trust (ost) is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating progress towards a healthy and productive ocean future for california. created by state legislation, ost bridges the gap between cutting-edge…

Environment
7
President-Board of Trustees Santa Clara College

Scu is a catholic and jesuit institution that makes student learning its central focus, promotes faculty and staff learning in its various forms, and exhibits organizational learning.

Education
8
The Waverly School

The waverly school is a nonsectarian, coeducational, college preparatory progressive day school that spans preschool through high school. it is fully accredited by the western association of school and colleges and the california…

Education
9
California Institute for BioMedical Research

Our mission is to build a unique institute that bridges basic research and drug discovery, and that attracts the best and brightest scientists, physicians and students to work together synergistically to find cures for neglected human…

—
10
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
11
Western University of Health Sciences

To produce, in a humanistic tradition, health care professionals and biomedical knowledge that will enhance and extend the quality of life in our communities.

—
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ignite; the most unlike its peers is Team Giving Inc. 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

33 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. 33 of the 39 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/33
Grantees still filing
24/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WINDMILL SCHOOL INC: $3,000,000 · EducationWINDMILL SCHOOL INCIGNITE: $700,000 · EducationIGNITEEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $306,000 · EducationEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL…Silicon Valley Urban Debate League: $300,000 · EducationSilicon Valley Urban Debate League+1 more: $5,000 · EducationLymeLight Foundation: $2,279,000 · Human ServicesLymeLight Foundati…Greater Horizons: $1,869,053 · PhilanthropyGreater Horizon…+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyTeam Giving Inc: $600,000 · OtherTeam Giving IncYOUTH ALIVE: $220,000 · OtherYOUTH ALIVEFEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION: $175,000 · OtherFEMINIST MAJORITY FO…WILDLIFE ASSOCIATESCONSERVATION EARTH: $120,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $350,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS O…MISSION BE INC: $95,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL INC: $235,000 · OtherCHILDREN'S HEALTH CO…ADOLESCENT COUNSELING SERVICES: $155,000 · OtherADOLESCENT COUNSELIN…TREVOR PROJECT INC: $150,000 · OtherTREVOR PROJECT INC+13 more: $410,000 · Other+13 moreMERCY BEYOND BORDERS: $635,000 · InternationalMERCY BEY…HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $500,000 · InternationalHUMAN RIG…ARCTIC ICE PROJECT: $800,000 · Environment+2 more: $35,000 · EnvironmentHELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER: $400,000 · AnimalsPets In Need: $210,000 · AnimalsFRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO JUNIOR MUSEUM & ZOO: $70,000 · AnimalsTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $50,000 · Animals
Education$4,311,000Human Services$2,279,000Philanthropy$1,879,053Other$2,510,000International$1,135,000Environment$835,000Animals$730,000

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 budgetWINDMILL SCHOOL INC: $3,000,000 over 2y, 32% of budgetLymeLight Foundation: $2,279,000 over 6y, 87% of budgetGreater Horizons: $1,869,053 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetARCTIC ICE PROJECT: $800,000 over 2y, 89% of budgetIGNITE: $700,000 over 6y, 12% of budgetMERCY BEYOND BORDERS: $635,000 over 6y, 16% of budgetTeam Giving Inc: $600,000 over 5y, 84% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS WATCH INC: $500,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetHELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER: $400,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $350,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $306,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetSilicon Valley Urban Debate League: $300,000 over 6y, 6.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL INC: $235,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTH ALIVE: $220,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetPets In Need: $210,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetFEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION: $175,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetADOLESCENT COUNSELING SERVICES: $155,000 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $150,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMISSION BE INC: $95,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE PALO ALTO JUNIOR MUSEUM & ZOO: $70,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetWILDCARE: $60,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVICTORY RANCH INC: $50,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetART WITH IMPACT: $41,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetSide By Side: $35,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetEnvironmental Volunteers Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetNATIONAL ALLIANCE FOR RESEARCH ON SCHIZOPHRENIA AND DEPRESSION: $21,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSEAL FUTURE FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNEW YORK MEDICAL COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST: $5,000 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.

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.

Greater HorizonsSilicon Valley Commun…The Palo Alto Communi…Tides FoundationPhilanthropic Venture…Morgan Stanley Global…Gordon E and Betty I …Stephen S Smith and P…Embarcadero Media Fou…Atkinson FoundationThe Confidence Founda…Gs Donor Advised Phil…
Greater HorizonsMO27.1× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Horizons · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The Palo Alto Community Fund · Tides Foundation · Philanthropic Ventures Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Stephen S Smith and Paula K Smith Family Foundation · Embarcadero Media Foundation · Atkinson Foundation · The Confidence Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc

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 Laurel Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Laurel Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 Laurel Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Laurel 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 39 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Laurel’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