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Luna Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Luna 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.

$270k
Granted FY2025still arriving
36
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$141k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Public Benefit$352kEducation$208kArts & Culture$140kHuman Services$63kPhilanthropy$55kEmployment$45kCivil Rights$39kReligion$34kOther$0
02FY2025 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k31 grants · $54k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $141k
$500
Median grant
8
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FOCUS FOR DEMOCRACY$141,000
YMTC$22,000
UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION$20,200
AURORA THEATER COMPANY$20,080
REACH SHIRATI$12,500
Individual grant recipient$9,000
HURRICANE RELIEF (RED CROSS)$8,000
Individual grant recipient$6,000
CITYSIDE$5,515
URBAN LEAGUE BAY AREA$5,000
BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE$4,691
Individual grant recipient$2,885
CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER$2,500
ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC$2,180
Individual grant recipient$2,126
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, $57k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%JCC EAST BAY: $300 → 10%WORK MONEY FOUNDATION: $20k → 10%REACH SHIRATI: $13k → 10%REACH SHIRATI: $13k → 10%REACH SHIRATI: $8k → 10%REACH SHIRATI: $2k → 10%REACH SHIRATI: $1k → 10%REACH SHIRATI: $250 → 10%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

MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
OH
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
AL
GA
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$947k · 60 repeat orgs$118k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

60 repeat relationships: 31 still active in FY2025, 29 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

60
52

Total granted

$947k
$104k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
0%

Still filing today

57%
37%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CulturePhilanthropyInternationalScience & TechEducationEnvironmentOther
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

  • TV
    THE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER
    4× · 2021–2024 · $85k · revenue +432%
  • GG
    Ground Game Fund
    2× · 2022–2024 · $60k · revenue +21%
  • WA
    WORKING AMERICA
    3× · 2021–2024 · $40k · revenue +238%

Funded once

  • AC
    ACCELERATE CHANGE INC
    one grant, 2024 · $20k · revenue -7%
  • WF
    WORKMONEY FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $20k · revenue 0%
  • SF
    SOULS FOR THE POLLS
    one 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.

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
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
2
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

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

Education
3
Kqed Inc

See schedule okqed serves the people of northern california with a community-supported alternative to commercial media, providing the knowledge needed to make informed decisions; convening community dialogue; bringing the arts to everyone;…

Arts & Culture
4
The Bar Association of San Francisco

The bar association of san francisco champions equal access to justice and promotes humanity, excellence, and diversity in the legal profession. we provide legal services to disadvantaged and underserved individuals in san francisco. we…

—
5
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
6
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

—
7
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
8
Aquarium of the Pacific Corporation

The aquarium of the pacific's mission is to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the pacific ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems.

Animals
9
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
10
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
11
Work on Climate

Supporting industry transformation towards climate-positive and make green careers transitions and driving the adoption of green workforce development practices broadly.

Environment
12
Arc Research Institute

Our mission is to accelerate scientific progress, understand the root causes of disease, and narrow the gap between discoveries and impact on patients.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Accelerate Change Inc; the most unlike its peers is 90-10instituteorg. 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

59 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 59 of the 121 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
58/59
Grantees still filing
34/59
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FOCUS FOR DEMOCRACY: $161,000 · OtherFOCUS FOR DEMOCRACYUC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $88,900 · OtherUC BERKELEY FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $44,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientWORKING AMERICA: $40,000 · OtherWORKING AMERICAYMTC: $32,750 · OtherYMTCHOPEWELL FUND: $20,000 · Other+86 more: $190,236 · Other+86 moreThe Aurora Theatre Company: $68,328 · Arts & CultureThe Aurora The…BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE: $27,109 · Arts & CultureBERKELEY REPER…CITYSIDE JOURNALISM INITIATIVE: $17,515 · Arts & CultureCITYSIDE JOURN…THE NVLD PROJECT INC: $15,796 · Arts & CultureTHE NVLD PROJE…Shotgun Players: $13,257 · Arts & CultureShotgun Player…+6 more: $2,535 · Arts & CultureTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $85,000 · Civil RightsTHE VOTER P…ACCELERATE CHANGE INC: $20,000 · Civil RightsACCELERATE …FOCUS FOR DEMOCRACY FUND: $10,000 · Civil RightsFOCUS FOR D…WORKING AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $80,000 · EducationWORKING AME…THE MENTOR PROJECT INC: $29,010 · EducationTHE MENTOR …+3 more: $2,090 · EducationGround Game Fund: $60,000 · Public BenefitSTATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT: $20,000 · Public Benefit+1 more: $511 · Public BenefitReach Shirati: $36,463 · Human ServicesWORKMONEY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · Human Services+1 more: $300 · Human ServicesNEW VENTURE FUND: $31,000 · Environment+3 more: $791 · Environment
Other$577,386Arts & Culture$144,540Civil Rights$115,000Education$111,100Public Benefit$80,511Human Services$56,763Environment$31,791

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 budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $85,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetWORKING AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $80,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetThe Aurora Theatre Company: $68,328 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetGround Game Fund: $60,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetWORKING AMERICA: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetReach Shirati: $36,463 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $31,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MENTOR PROJECT INC: $29,010 over 4y, 61% of budgetBERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE: $27,109 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSTATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetACCELERATE CHANGE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPEWELL FUND: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORKMONEY FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITYSIDE JOURNALISM INITIATIVE: $17,515 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC: $16,079 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NVLD PROJECT INC: $15,796 over 5y, 13% of budgetShotgun Players: $13,257 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $11,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHIAS INC: $10,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAISEDBY US INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSwim Across America Inc: $2,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTILES HALL: $1,750 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetOakland Childrens Fairyland Inc: $1,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HISTORYMAKERS: $1,200 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF OAKLAND: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OF THE USA INC: $800 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN JEWISH WORLD SERVICE INC: $775 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $710 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBerkeley Community Scholars DBA Berkeley Community Fund: $700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: $666 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWICHANA FOUNDATION: $511 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetRagged Wing Ensemble: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCLAREMONT CANYON CONSERVANCY: $450 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWomens Cancer Resource Center: $329 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE EAST BAY: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBERKELEY PARTNERS FOR PARKS: $300 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $260 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEVERY MOTHER COUNTS: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $240 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBERKELEY HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ: $200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSETI INSTITUTE: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LITQUAKE FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY: $150 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 THE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER ↗
  • Who funds WORKING AMERICA EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds The Aurora Theatre Company ↗
  • Who funds Ground Game Fund ↗
  • Who funds WORKING AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds Reach Shirati ↗
  • Who funds NEW VENTURE FUND ↗
  • Who funds THE MENTOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds BERKELEY REPERTORY THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds STATE LEADERSHIP PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds ACCELERATE CHANGE INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPEWELL FUND ↗
  • Who funds WORKMONEY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CITYSIDE JOURNALISM INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC ↗
  • Who funds THE NVLD PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds Shotgun Players ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds CHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HIAS INC ↗
  • Who funds FOCUS FOR DEMOCRACY FUND ↗
  • Who funds RAISEDBY US 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.

East Bay Community Fo…The San Francisco Fou…ImpactassetsincJewish Community Fede…The Yelp FoundationGordon E and Betty I …Cerity Partners Found…Silicon Valley Commun…The James Irvine Foun…The California Wellne…Tides FoundationThe William & Flora H…
East Bay Community FoundationCA32.3× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: East Bay Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The Yelp Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Cerity Partners Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The James Irvine Foundation · The California Wellness Foundation · Tides Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett 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 Luna Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Luna Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 88%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 Luna Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Luna Foundation Inc 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 121 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 Luna’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