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Lynn Braitman Inspire Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Lynn Braitman Inspire Fund

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.

$143k
Granted FY2025still arriving
19
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$90k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$250kEnvironment$129kHuman Services$75kHealth$45kCivil Rights$30kPublic Safety & Disaster$20kAnimals$20kArts & Culture$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k17 grants · $43k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $90k
$2,500
Median grant
4
States reached
$4.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THACHER SCHOOL$90,000
805UNDOCUFUND$10,000
THE BRIGID ALLIANCE$8,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$5,000
HEAL PALESTINE$3,000
LOS PADRES FOREST WATCH$2,500
OJAI RAPTOR CENTER$2,500
OJAI VALLEY LAND CONSERVANCY$2,500
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO$2,500
VENTURA LAND TRUST$2,500
SPIRIT OF SANTA PAULA$2,500
VENTURA BOTANIC GARDENS$2,500
KCRW$2,500
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$2,000
CAMP PHOENIX$1,500
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 (FY22–25, $65k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%THE BRIGID ALLIANCE: $25k → 17%THE BRIGID ALLIANCE: $12k → 17%THE BRIGID ALLIANCE: $10k → 17%THE BRIGID ALLIANCE: $8k → 17%805UNDOCUFUND: $10k → 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

WA
MT
IL
NY
MA
OR
CA
NM
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 100% of Lynn Braitman Inspire Fund’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 74% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 0%.

Lynn Braitman Inspire Fundlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$584k · 12 repeat orgs$153k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +81% since the first grant, against -2% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
12

Total granted

$584k
$132k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+81%
-2%

Still filing today

67%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationInternationalHuman ServicesCivil RightsReligionOther
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

  • TT
    The Thacher School Inc
    3× · 2022–2025 · $340k · revenue +22%
  • TB
    THE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $55k · revenue +42%
  • LP
    LOS PADRES FORESTWATCH INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $32k · revenue +81%

Funded once

  • SAN FRANCISCO STUDY CENTER INC
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue -2%
  • SB
    SANTA BARBARA CNTY FIREMAN'S BENEVO
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
  • CA
    CLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $15k · revenue -2%
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 Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
2
Marin Humane Society

Marin humane transforms lives through exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. every day, marin humane inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals.

Animals
3
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
4
California Coastkeeper dba California Coastkeeper Alliance

California Coastkeeper Alliance unites Waterkeeper programs statewide to fight for swimmable, fishable, and drinkable waters for all Californians.

Environment
5
Transformca dba Transform

Transform works to ensure that people of all incomes thrive in a world safe from climate chaos.

Community Improvement
6
Food & Water Watch

Food & water watch conducts extensive research and public education to ensure the food and water we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. so we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of…

Food & Nutrition
7
California Fire Safe Council Inc

To lead california communities in wildfire risk reduction and resiliency.

Public Safety & Disaster
8
Paso Pacifico

We apply principles of ecology to ensure that our innovative programs integrate advances in scientific and economic understanding to ensure the viability of coastal forests and the livelihoods of the people who live in them.

Animals
9
Rogue Climate

Rogue Climate's mission is to empower Southern Oregon communities most impacted by climate change including low-income, rural, youth, seniors & communities of color, to win climate justice by organizing for clean energy, sustainable jobs &…

Education
10
Sequoia Parks Conservancy

The sequoia parks conservancy funds and enables projects and programs that protect, preserve, and provide access to the natural and cultural resources of sequoia and kings canyon national parks.

Environment
11
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
12
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

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

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Medecins Sans Frontieres Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is Indigenous Women Rising Indigeous Women Rising. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

23 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. 23 of the 32 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)
23/23
Grantees still filing
12/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Thacher School Inc: $340,000 · EducationThe Thacher School IncSAN FRANCISCO STUDY CENTER INC: $25,000 · EducationSAN FRANCISCO STUDY CENTER INC+1 more: $1,000 · EducationLOS PADRES FORESTWATCH INC: $32,000 · EnvironmentLOS PADRES FORESTWATCH…VENTURA LAND TRUST: $27,000 · EnvironmentVENTURA LAND TRUSTOjai Raptor Center: $22,000 · EnvironmentOjai Raptor CenterCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE I…EVERGREEN COLLABORATIVE: $15,000 · EnvironmentEVERGREEN COLLABORATIV…THE OJAI VALLEY LAND CONSERVANCY: $12,500 · EnvironmentTHE OJAI VALLEY LAND C…NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL NETWORK OF AB…ACCESS REPRODUCTIVE CARE - SOUTHEAST: $10,000 · EnvironmentACCESS REPRODUCTIVE CA…THE DOUGY CENTER INC: $28,000 · OtherTHE DOUGY CENTER INCVENTURA BOTANIC GARDENS: $27,000 · OtherVENTURA BOTANIC GARD…SANTA BARBARA CNTY FIREMAN'S BENEVO: $20,000 · OtherSANTA BARBARA CNTY F…PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $15,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOODKCRW: $12,500 · OtherKCRWINDIGENOUS WOMEN RISING INDIGEOUS WOMEN RISING: $10,000 · OtherINDIGENOUS WOMEN RIS…PROJECT ONWARDS INC: $5,000 · OtherKNOW YOUR RIGHTS CAMP: $5,000 · OtherNATIONAL INDIGENOUS WOMENS RESOURCE: $4,700 · Other+5 more: $8,650 · Other+5 moreTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $55,000 · Human ServicesTHE BRIGI…805 UNDOCUFUND: $10,000 · Human Services805 UNDOC…SPIRIT OF SANTA PAULA: $10,500 · ReligionMIDWEST ACCESS COALITION: $10,000 · Civil RightsHEAL PALESTINE INC: $3,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,000 · International
Education$366,000Environment$143,500Other$135,850Human Services$65,000Religion$10,500Civil Rights$10,000International$6,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetThe Thacher School Inc: $340,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $55,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLOS PADRES FORESTWATCH INC: $32,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetTHE DOUGY CENTER INC: $28,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetVENTURA LAND TRUST: $27,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO STUDY CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetOjai Raptor Center: $22,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetCLEAN AIR TASK FORCE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEVERGREEN COLLABORATIVE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE OJAI VALLEY LAND CONSERVANCY: $12,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSPIRIT OF SANTA PAULA: $10,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACCESS REPRODUCTIVE CARE - SOUTHEAST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetINDIGENOUS WOMEN RISING INDIGEOUS WOMEN RISING: $10,000 over 1y, 45% of budgetMIDWEST ACCESS COALITION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA MIDDLE SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD SHARE INC: $650 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.

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.

Marin Community Found…Monimos FoundationDavid & Sylvia Weisz …Ventura County Commun…PatagoniaorgNetwork for GoodImpactassetsincNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Marin Community FoundationCA15× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Marin Community Foundation · Monimos Foundation · David & Sylvia Weisz Foundation · Ventura County Community Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Network for Good · Impactassetsinc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Lynn Braitman Inspire Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lynn Braitman Inspire Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • The Dougy Center Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 Lynn Braitman Inspire Fund?

Find your warmest path to Lynn Braitman Inspire Fund 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 32 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 Lynn Braitman Inspire’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