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Lee Graff Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lee Graff 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.

$154k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% 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$749kAnimals$147kEducation$72kHuman Services$71kHealth$54kRecreation & Sports$46kHousing & Shelter$20kPhilanthropy$19kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $138k
$16,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BREAK THE CHAIN KENNEL KRU$40,000
Segerstrom Center For The Arts$25,000
CHOC FOUNDATION$20,000
OSHA FOUNDATION$19,000
LA PHILHARMONIC HOLLYWOOD BOWL$17,504
SCHS GIRLS SOCCER BOOSTER CLUB$16,000
TIM TEBOW FOUNDATION$4,000
CATCHING HOPE FOUNDATION$4,000
PET PROJECT FOUNDATION$3,000
MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION$3,000
DREAM FETCHERS$2,500
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 (FY17–24, $40k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HOLY FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 14%HOLY FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 14%HOLY FAMILY SERVICES: $5k → 14%HOLY FAMILY SERVICES: $5k → 14%HOLY FAMILY SERVICES: $5k → 14%HOLY FAMILY SERVICES: $5k → 14%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

NV
NJ
CA
MO
AZ
NC
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.
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.
$1.2M · 22 repeat orgs$124k to everyone else

22 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
16

Total granted

$1.2M
$94k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+30%

Still filing today

59%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 81% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k 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
AnimalsArts & CulturePhilanthropyRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesCivil RightsOther
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

  • IA
    INNER-CITY ARTS
    7× · 2017–2023 · $395k · revenue +44%
  • BT
    BREAK THE CHAIN KENNEL KRU INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $95k · revenue +60% · 28% of their budget
  • SC
    Segerstrom Center for the Arts
    5× · 2021–2025 · $90k · revenue +73%

Funded once

  • ME
    MAKO EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $16k
  • NF
    Noble Friends Foundation OCAC
    one grant, 2021 · $10k
  • CD
    CHRISTOPHER DANA REEVE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
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
Friends of Orange Countys Homeless Pets

Friends of Orange County's Homeless Pets (FOCHP) is a licensed 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our mission is to make homeless and unwanted pets more adoptable and provide them the opportunity to find lifelong families. This mission…

Animals
2
Pet Orphans of Southern California

In addition to rescue and adoption, pet orphans provides a wide range of services including education, medical/financial, spay/neuter, and training assistance.

Animals
3
Sunshine Dog Rescue Inc

Rescuing medium to large breed dogs and puppies from high kill shelters and unsafe conditions. We give each animal proper vet care, vaccinations, rehabilitation, microchipping and basic training to secure their future in a Furever home.

Animals
4
Animal Compassion Team of California

Providing shelter for domestic animals, through rescue, rehabilitation, adoption, and sanctuary and act as an advocate for the humane treatment of animals. to educate the public regarding the responsibilities of pet ownership, as well as…

Animals
5
Petaluma Pet Pals

Animal rescue and prepares animals for adoption. provides needed medical care and supplies. care servcies are provided through foster homes.

Animals
6
Amazing Dogs

Our mission is to save dogs in distressing conditions on both sides of the California/Mexican border. We provide them with essential medical treatment and care to help them regain their health, and ultimately match them with loving homes…

Animals
7
Paws of La Rescue

To rescue shelter, abandoned and neglected dogs and find appropriate permanent homes through adoption, education and awareness to the public about the understanding of humane animal care and the importance of spaying and neutering.

Animals
8
Barks of Love Animal Rescue and Placement Services Corporation

To decrease the total number of animals being euthanised

Animals
9
Celestial Zoo Pet Rescue

To help homeless pets find their forever home. it includes fostering, medicdal and microchipping them.

Animals
10
Raskels Rescue
Animals
11
Love Them All

We specialize in saving the most at-risk and critical needs dogs facing unnecessary euthanasia in our local shelters. We provide every resource they need to ultimately become adoptable to their perfect forever home.

Animals
12
Animal Rescue Project

Animal rescue project saves homeless pets, one at a time, and offers socially responsible adoption services to those seeking the companionship of pets. by providing medical care to homeless pets, providing temporary shelter to them, and…

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Family Assistance Ministries; the most unlike its peers is Allys Animal Rescue. 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

22 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. 22 of the 42 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/22
Grantees still filing
13/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

INNER-CITY ARTS: $395,000 · Arts & CultureINNER-CITY ARTSSegerstrom Center for the Arts: $90,000 · Arts & CultureSegerstrom Center for the Arts+1 more: $16,500 · Arts & CultureLOS ANGELES MUSIC CENTER: $85,000 · OtherLOS ANGELES MUSIC CENTERLA PHILHARMONIC HOLLYWOOD BOWL: $82,033 · OtherLA PHILHARMONIC HOLLYWOOD BOWLMUSIC CENTER: $80,500 · OtherMUSIC CENTERIndividual grant recipient: $36,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSCHS GIRLS SOCCER BOOSTER CLUB: $21,000 · OtherOSHA FOUNDATION: $19,000 · OtherOrange County Rescue Mission Inc: $20,000 · Other+19 more: $145,581 · Other+19 moreBREAK THE CHAIN KENNEL KRU INC: $95,000 · AnimalsBREAK THE CH…FRIENDS OF THE SEA LIONS INC DBA PACIFIC MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $20,000 · AnimalsFRIENDS OF T…PET PROJECT FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 · AnimalsPET PROJECT …DREAM FETCHERS: $7,500 · AnimalsAllys Animal Rescue: $5,000 · AnimalsHANAELEH: $5,000 · Animals+1 more: $1,000 · AnimalsGENIUS SCHOOL US: $51,000 · EducationHOLY FAMILY SERVICES ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE: $40,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES: $27,500 · PhilanthropyKERSHAW'S CHALLENGE: $5,000 · PhilanthropyTIM TEBOW FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 · PhilanthropyCHOC FOUNDATION: $30,000 · Health
Arts & Culture$501,500Other$489,614Animals$141,500Education$51,000Human Services$40,000Philanthropy$36,500Health$30,000

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 budgetINNER-CITY ARTS: $395,000 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetBREAK THE CHAIN KENNEL KRU INC: $95,000 over 5y, 28% of budgetSegerstrom Center for the Arts: $90,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGENIUS SCHOOL US: $51,000 over 2y, 45% of budgetHOLY FAMILY SERVICES ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE: $40,000 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetCHOC FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES: $27,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE SEA LIONS INC DBA PACIFIC MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetOrange County Rescue Mission Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $16,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBRADLEYS BEAUTIFUL BOUQUETS INC BRADLEY ROFER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetJF SHEA THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER INC FKA FRAN JOSWICK THERAP RIDING CTR INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPET PROJECT FOUNDATION INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDREAM FETCHERS: $7,500 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetKERSHAW'S CHALLENGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE LOS ANGELES DODGERS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE OF ORANGE COUNTY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Happiness Project Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetAllys Animal Rescue: $5,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetTIM TEBOW FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE FOR PAWS: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds INNER-CITY ARTS ↗
  • Who funds BREAK THE CHAIN KENNEL KRU INC ↗
  • Who funds Segerstrom Center for the Arts ↗
  • Who funds GENIUS SCHOOL US ↗
  • Who funds HOLY FAMILY SERVICES ADOPTION AND FOSTER CARE ↗
  • Who funds CHOC FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY ASSISTANCE MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE SEA LIONS INC DBA PACIFIC MARINE MAMMAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Orange County Rescue Mission Inc ↗
  • Who funds LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds BRADLEYS BEAUTIFUL BOUQUETS INC BRADLEY ROFER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JF SHEA THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER INC FKA FRAN JOSWICK THERAP RIDING CTR INC ↗
  • Who funds PET PROJECT FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds DREAM FETCHERS ↗
  • Who funds KERSHAW'S CHALLENGE ↗
  • Who funds THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE OF ORANGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds The Happiness Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds Allys Animal Rescue ↗
  • Who funds HANAELEH ↗
  • Who funds TIM TEBOW FOUNDATION INC ↗

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.

Network for GoodAmerican Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Network for GoodDC8.2× affinity5 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Network for Good · American Endowment 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 Lee Graff Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lee Graff Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 42 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 Lee Graff’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