· Private foundation
Leighton Foundation Inc
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k14 grants · $83k
- $10k–50k31 grants · $486k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| THURGOOD MARSHALL MIDDLE SCHOOL | $30,000 |
| SCRIPPS MESA STEAM LAB | $30,000 |
| FORMOSA GENERATIONS OF FAMILY CHAMBER OF MU | $26,000 |
| SRHS BASEBALL BOOSTER CLUB | $22,700 |
| ELLEN BROWNING SCRIPPS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (EDUCATIONAL FIELD TRIP) | $20,000 |
| MIRMAR RANCH ELEMENTARY PTA VIOLIN ENSEMBLE CLASSES AND SPECIAL ADD PROGRAM | $20,000 |
| MARSHALL MUSTANG ORGANIZATION MMO SCIENCE OLYMPIAD | $20,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIGO FOUNDATION OPALS | $20,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $17,500 |
| SCRIPPS RANCH WRESTLING BOOSTER CLUB | $15,000 |
| UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION OPALS | $15,000 |
| SRHS DANCE CLUB | $15,000 |
| ELLEN BROWNING SCRIPPS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL | $15,000 |
| COMMUNITY MONTESSORI FARM PROJECT | $15,000 |
| SCRIPPS RANCH HIGH SCHOOL | $15,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
20 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 32 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 26% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $423k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- UOUniversity of Nevada3× · 2020–2022 · $110k
- TMTHURGOOD MARSHALL MIDDLE SCHOOL3× · 2023–2025 · $55k
- SRScripps Ranch High School3× · 2023–2025 · $53k
Funded once
- USUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +61%
- EBEllen Browning Scripps Elementary Sone grant, 2022 · $10k
- UPUCSDMFA programone grant, 2023 · $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.
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.
To support terra vista elementary school.
To provide support for the educational programs of the student body of ortega elementary school, a public school in pacifica, ca. programs supported include: performing arts, visual arts, teacher grants, physical fitness, field trips,…
To support the education and art program at the vista academy of visual and performing arts, elementary and middle school.
Raises funds to pay for programs that are not funded by the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. The funds go directly to help the approximately 650 students of Cordillera Elementary.
Parent Teachers Association
Student and teacher support, classroom enrichment and educational supplies.
Subsidizing student assistance and parent education for tulita elementary school
School parent teacher association
Supported student programs geared toward education and enrichment of students
To provide support for science enrichment, music, art, garden club, teacher support, campus beautification and campus events.
Support parents, teachers, and students at Mira Vista School
The pta supports students programs focusing on enrichment of education, art and student wellbeing.
How this is measured
8 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. 8 of the 66 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.
Open a dossier: Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Leighton Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Leighton Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Leighton’s filings →