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Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County

We use the law to make the social safety net work for everyone in San Mateo County.

$1.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$261k
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, FY2019 to 2025.

Crime & Legal$4.6MCommunity Improvement$1.4MHuman Services$828kEducation$196kArts & Culture$152kEmployment$67kPublic Benefit$58kScience & Tech$13kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 10 grants below total $1,157,333, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,279,237 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $121,904 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $866k
  • $250k+1 grant · $261k
$124,539
Median grant
1
States reached
$7.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Immigration Institute of the Bay Area$260,710
Catholic Charities$222,554
Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto$172,958
Pangea Legal Services$124,539
University of San Francisco School of Law$124,539
Faith in Action Bay Area$84,409
Immigrant Legal Resource Center$74,861
Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto$62,455
Coastside Hope$18,580
El Concilio of San Mateo County$11,728
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 (FY19–25, $1.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $62k → 8%Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $59k → 8%Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $38k → 8%Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $18k → 8%Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $16k → 8%Catholic Charities: $224k → 7%Catholic Charities: $223k → 7%Catholic Charities: $219k → 7%Immigrant Legal Resource Center: $75k → 10%Catholic Charities: $219k → 7%Immigrant Legal Resource Center: $70k → 10%Immigrant Legal Resource Center: $68k → 10%Immigrant Legal Resource Center: $68k → 10%Coastside Hope: $62k → 7%Immigrant Legal Resource Center: $67k → 10%Coastside Hope: $29k → 7%Immigrant Legal Resource Center: $39k → 10%Coastside Hope: $28k → 7%Coastside Hope: $22k → 7%Coastside Hope: $19k → 7%Coastside Hope: $15k → 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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.1M · 13 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +57% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
8

Total granted

$6.1M
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+57%
+7%

Still filing today

92%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’25
Human ServicesCrime & LegalArts & CultureEducationEmploymentCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • II
    IMMIGRATION INSTITUTE OF THE BAY AREA
    6× · 2019–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +132%
  • CL
    Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto Inc
    6× · 2019–2025 · $970k · revenue +7%
  • CC
    CATHOLIC CHARITIES CYO OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO
    4× · 2021–2025 · $885k · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • MA
    MISSION ASSET FUND
    one grant, 2021 · $950k · revenue -83%
  • NC
    Nuestra Casa
    one grant, 2019 · $75k
  • NL
    NIHONMACHI LEGAL OUTREACH DBA ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER LEGAL OUTREACHgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $74k · revenue +31%
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
La Raza Centro Legal - San Francisco

La Raza Centro Legal San Francisco provides high quality, highly trusted, free legal services to low-income or immigrant clients in the San Francisco Bay Area.

—
2
Jubilee Immigration Advocates

Our mission is to reflect Gods intent for humanity, to live as a reconciled and and restored community. We stand in solidarity with immigrants by providing high quality, affordable immigration legal services and advocating for just…

Human Services
3
Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County

We use the law to make the social safety net work for everyone in San Mateo County. We represent clients, empower people to advocate for themselves, and fix broken systems through policy change.

Crime & Legal
4
Social Justice Collaborative

Social justice collaborative is californias leading provider of compassionate full scope deportation defense legal services to low income non-citizens in northern and central california. we boldly provide post-convition relief to…

Crime & Legal
5
Centro Legal De La Raza

Centro Legal De La Raza is a comprehensive legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of low-income immigrant communities throguh culturally competent bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy.

Crime & Legal
6
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
7
Legal Assistance to the Elderly

LAE's mission is to protect and advance the right of San Franciscos seniors and adults with disabilities to be housed, healthy, financially stable, and safe. We provide free legal services to San Francisco seniors and adults with…

Crime & Legal
8
Immigrant Legal Services of the Central Coast Inc

Immigrant legal services of the central coast (ilscc) provides immigration-related legal services and information to the immigrant community of the central coast region of california, primarily santa cruz, san benito, and monterey…

Crime & Legal
9
California Center for Movement Legal Services

The California Center for Movement Legal Services (Movement Legal) provides legal services in the pursuit of improving the lives of California's traditionally underserved residents, carrying out legal work that fosters community led policy…

Crime & Legal
10
Asian Law Caucus

The Asian Law Caucus's mission is to promote, advance, and represent the legal and civil rights of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, recognizing that social, economic, political and racial inequalities continue to exist…

Crime & Legal
11
San Francisco Casa

San Francisco CASA transforms the lives of children and youth traumatized and displaced in the foster care and related systems by providing one consistent, caring volunteer advocate, trained to address each childs needs in the court and…

Civil Rights
12
Canal Alliance

Canal alliance has been the leading service provider and community advocate for marin's extremely low-income immigrant community for 39 years. each year, the organization collaborates with over 60 agencies and engages hundreds of…

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 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

19 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. 19 of the 23 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
14/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto Inc: $970,126 · Crime & LegalCommunity Legal Services …Pangea Legal Services: $613,493 · Crime & LegalPangea Legal ServicesNIHONMACHI LEGAL OUTREACH DBA ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER LEGAL OUTREACH: $73,750 · Crime & LegalCATHOLIC CHARITIES CYO OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO: $884,821 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES CYO OF…IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $386,558 · Human ServicesIMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE …Nuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $192,759 · Human ServicesNuestra Casa de East Palo…COASTSIDE HOPE: $174,280 · Human ServicesCOASTSIDE HOPEIMMIGRATION INSTITUTE OF THE BAY AREA: $1,292,249 · Arts & CultureIMMIGRATION INSTITUT…+1 more: $40,000 · Arts & CultureFaith In Action Bay Area: $444,255 · OtherFaith In Action …Catholic Charities San Bernardino & Riverside Counties: $369,272 · OtherCatholic Chariti…Nuestra Casa: $75,100 · OtherNuestra CasaCity of Redwood City: $57,562 · OtherCity of Redwood …SAMARITAN HOUSE: $40,000 · OtherBAY AREA LEGAL AID: $39,000 · Other+3 more: $29,860 · OtherMISSION ASSET FUND: $950,000 · Community ImprovementMISSION ASSET …University of San Francisco: $621,687 · EducationUniversity…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $35,000 · EducationJOBTRAIN INC: $66,750 · EmploymentSAN FRANCISCO TENANTS UNION: $5,000 · Housing & Shelter
Crime & Legal$1,657,369Human Services$1,638,418Arts & Culture$1,332,249Other$1,055,049Community Improvement$950,000Education$656,687Employment$66,750Housing & Shelter$5,000

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 budgetIMMIGRATION INSTITUTE OF THE BAY AREA: $1,292,249 over 6y, 3.8% of budgetCommunity Legal Services in East Palo Alto Inc: $970,126 over 6y, 3.9% of budgetMISSION ASSET FUND: $950,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES CYO OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO: $884,821 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetUniversity of San Francisco: $621,687 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPangea Legal Services: $613,493 over 6y, 8.0% of budgetFaith In Action Bay Area: $444,255 over 6y, 4.6% of budgetIMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER: $386,558 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCatholic Charities San Bernardino & Riverside Counties: $369,272 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetNuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $192,759 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetCOASTSIDE HOPE: $174,280 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetNIHONMACHI LEGAL OUTREACH DBA ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER LEGAL OUTREACH: $73,750 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetJOBTRAIN INC: $66,750 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetPUENTE DE LA COSTA SUR: $40,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSAMARITAN HOUSE: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBAY AREA LEGAL AID: $39,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEL CONCILIO OF SAN MATEO COUNTY: $11,728 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO TENANTS UNION: $5,000 over 1y, 2.4% 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 Francisco Fou…Sunlight GivingThe Grove FoundationSilicon Valley Commun…Sand Hill FoundationAtkinson FoundationThe Sobrato Family Fo…Kaiser Foundation Hos…Amalgamated Charitabl…Give Forward Foundati…Immigrant Legal Resou…Philanthropic Venture…
The San Francisco FoundationCA29.6× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · Sunlight Giving · The Grove Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Sand Hill Foundation · Atkinson Foundation · The Sobrato Family Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Give Forward Foundation · Immigrant Legal Resource Center · Philanthropic Ventures 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 Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County?

    Find your warmest path to Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County 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 23 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 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 Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County’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