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Lily Lai Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lily Lai 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.

$1.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
26
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$150k
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$2.1MHuman Services$1.6MCrime & Legal$1.0MFood & Nutrition$660kPhilanthropy$635kHealth$576kArts & Culture$410kYouth Development$335kOther$0
02FY2024 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $320k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.1M
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$32M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
California CASA Association$150,000
UC San Diego Foundation$100,000
Library Foundation SD$100,000
Voices for Children$100,000
Salk Institute$100,000
Focusing Philanthorpy$100,000
Feeding San Diego$100,000
YWCA of San Diego County$70,000
Casa de Amparo$60,000
Focusing Philanthropy$50,000
Just in Time for Foster Youth$50,000
Ocean Discovery Institute$50,000
A Reason to Survive$50,000
Monarch School Project$40,000
Promises2Kids$40,000
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 (FY17–24, $1.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%San Diego Center for Children: $20k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $30k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $20k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $20k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $20k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $20k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $10k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $10k → 11%Women's Resource Center: $10k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $10k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $5k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $5k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $5k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $5k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $5k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $5k → 11%A Bridge for Kids: $5k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $60k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $50k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $50k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $50k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $50k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $50k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $50k → 11%Casa de Amparo: $50k → 11%Community Resource Center: $30k → 11%Community Resource Center: $20k → 11%Community Resource Center: $20k → 11%Community Resource Center: $20k → 11%Community Resource Center: $20k → 11%Community Resource Center: $10k → 11%Community Resource Center: $10k → 11%Community Resource Center: $10k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $70k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $60k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $60k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $60k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $60k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $60k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $60k → 11%YWCA of San Diego County: $60k → 11%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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.5M · 27 repeat orgs$61k to everyone else

27 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
2

Total granted

$7.5M
$61k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+117%

Still filing today

93%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyArts & CultureCivil RightsFood & NutritionOther
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

  • US
    UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION
    8× · 2017–2024 · $890k · revenue +78%
  • FP
    FOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $635k · revenue +15%
  • CC
    CALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION
    7× · 2018–2024 · $615k · revenue ×26

Funded once

  • FA
    Feeding America San Diego
    one grant, 2017 · $60k
  • CO
    CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $1k · revenue +117%
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
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
2
Policy & Innovation Center

The policy & innovation center's (pic) mission is to unlock the region's potential by cultivating and building partnerships. our niche is to address intractable issues that can only be solved with cross-sector, multi-jurisdictional…

Philanthropy
3
Social Advocates for Youth San Diego Inc

To partner with youth, families, adults and communities to reach their full potential and is achieved through comprehensive and integrated programming in the areas of child and youth development; youth, adult and family wellness and…

Human Services
4
San Diego Jewish Academy

San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.

Education
5
The New Childrens Museum

The New Childrens Museum (the Museum) in San Diego is an arts-based childrens museum whose mission is to stimulate imagination, creativity, and critical thinking in children and families through inventive, engaging experiences with…

Arts & Culture
6
Kidworks Community Development Corp

Kidworks inspires purpose in youth, fuels their growth, and catalyzes their impact in the community and the world.

Human Services
7
San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program Inc

The mission of san diego volunteer lawyer program, inc. is to provide equal access to the justice system by serving as a bridge between indigent and other disadvantaged people in san diego county and the volunteer lawyers who are willing…

Social Science
8
Childrens Legal Services of San Diego

The purpose of providing legal representation and advocacy to foster children and youth in the San Diego County courts.

Philanthropy
9
United Way of San Diego County

To spark breakthrough community action that elevates every child and family toward a brighter future.

Philanthropy
10
Children's Day School Inc

At children's day school, what you learn and who you become are equally important. cds is a welcoming community in the big city, a farm and garden among urban streets, an advocate for responsibility to others as well as individual…

—
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
San Diego Junior Theatre

San Diego Junior Theatre (Junior Theatre) was incorporated in 1948 as a nonprofit corporation and is the oldest youth theatre in the nation, offering affordable camps, classes, and outreach programs for children ages 3-18; as well as six…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Diego Center for Children; the most unlike its peers is San Diego Public Library Foundation. 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

26 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. 26 of the 29 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/26
Grantees still filing
19/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $890,000 · EducationUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATIONSAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $460,000 · EducationSAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUND…MONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT: $250,000 · EducationMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECTCOMPUTERS 2 SD KIDS: $140,000 · EducationCOMPUTERS 2 SD KIDSOCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $140,000 · EducationOCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTEtranscenDANCE Youth Arts Project: $70,000 · Education+1 more: $60,000 · EducationYWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $490,000 · Human ServicesYWCA OF SAN DIEGO CO…Casa De Amparo: $410,000 · Human ServicesCasa De AmparoSAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $160,000 · Human ServicesSAN DIEGO CENTER FOR…WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $140,000 · Human ServicesWOMENS RESOURCE CENT…COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER: $140,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY RESOURCE C…+1 more: $45,000 · Human ServicesSalk Institute: $550,000 · OtherSalk InstituteLibrary Foundation SD: $300,000 · OtherLibrary Foundation SDPROMISES2KIDS FOUNDATION: $250,000 · OtherPROMISES2KIDS FOUNDATIO…KITCHENS FOR GOOD: $140,000 · OtherKITCHENS FOR GOODFeeding America San Diego: $60,000 · OtherJUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH: $230,000 · OtherJUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER…+2 more: $21,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION: $615,000 · Civil RightsCALIFORNIA COUR…VOICES FOR CHILDREN: $405,000 · Civil RightsVOICES FOR CHIL…FOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC: $635,000 · PhilanthropyFOCUSING P…CENTURY CLUB OF SAN DIEGO: $60,000 · PhilanthropyCENTURY CL…CHILDREN'S ALOPECIA PROJECT: $26,000 · PhilanthropyFEEDING SAN DIEGO: $460,000 · Food & NutritionA Reason To Survive: $330,000 · Arts & CultureSAN DIEGO CHILDREN'S DISCOVERY MUSEUM: $80,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$2,010,000Human Services$1,385,000Other$1,551,000Civil Rights$1,020,000Philanthropy$721,000Food & Nutrition$460,000Arts & Culture$410,000

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 budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $890,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetFOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC: $635,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION: $615,000 over 7y, 7.5% of budgetYWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $490,000 over 8y, 2.7% of budgetSAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $460,000 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetFEEDING SAN DIEGO: $460,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCasa De Amparo: $410,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetVOICES FOR CHILDREN: $405,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetA Reason To Survive: $330,000 over 8y, 5.2% of budgetMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT: $250,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetPROMISES2KIDS FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetJUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH: $230,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetSAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $160,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetWOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $140,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetKITCHENS FOR GOOD: $140,000 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetCOMPUTERS 2 SD KIDS: $140,000 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER: $140,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetOCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $140,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetSAN DIEGO CHILDREN'S DISCOVERY MUSEUM: $80,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgettranscenDANCE Youth Arts Project: $70,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetREALITY CHANGERS: $60,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCENTURY CLUB OF SAN DIEGO: $60,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetA BRIDGE FOR KIDS: $45,000 over 8y, 2.8% of budgetCHILDREN'S ALOPECIA PROJECT: $26,000 over 8y, 2.2% of budgetDoors of Change: $20,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetCLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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 UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FEEDING SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds Casa De Amparo ↗
  • Who funds VOICES FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds A Reason To Survive ↗
  • Who funds MONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds PROMISES2KIDS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds KITCHENS FOR GOOD ↗
  • Who funds COMPUTERS 2 SD KIDS ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO CHILDREN'S DISCOVERY MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project ↗
  • Who funds REALITY CHANGERS ↗
  • Who funds CENTURY CLUB OF SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds A BRIDGE FOR KIDS ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S ALOPECIA PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Doors of Change ↗
  • Who funds CLASSROOM OF THE FUTURE FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Jewish Community Foun…David C Copley Founda…The San Diego Foundat…Price Philanthropies …Sempra FoundationWalter J & Betty C Za…The Nordson Corporati…McCarthy Family Found…Boys and Girls Aid So…The Conrad Prebys Fou…The Parker FoundationThe Cushman Foundation
Jewish Community Foundation of San DiegoCA35.2× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · David C Copley Foundation · The San Diego Foundation · Price Philanthropies Foundation · Sempra Foundation · Walter J & Betty C Zable Foundation · The Nordson Corporation Foundation · McCarthy Family Foundation Inc · Boys and Girls Aid Society of San Diego Ltd · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · The Parker Foundation · The Cushman 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 Lily Lai Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lily Lai Foundation. 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 Lily Lai Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Lily Lai 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 29 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 Lily Lai’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

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    The regranting layer
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    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
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