· Public charity
Lynx Foundation
Mobilizing the power of community and the resources of philanthropy to advance equity for people, places and the planet.
Read this first · the figures below need context
79% of Lynx Foundation’s FY2023 grant dollars went to Marin Community Foundation, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2023 names 2 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year Lynx Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 8 organizations, $530k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2023.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2021
- $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
- $50k–250k7 grants · $505k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE | $130,000 |
| GIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE | $100,000 |
| SANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION | $75,000 |
| UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION | $50,000 |
| TARRANT AREA FOOD BANK | $50,000 |
| UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF | $50,000 |
| NORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK | $50,000 |
| 10000 DEGREES | $25,000 |
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 (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 81% 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
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 36% of Lynx Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 47% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 73%.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +95% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.
5 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2021, 1 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.
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 FY2023, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- BCBRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE5× · 2018–2022 · $600k · revenue +88%
SANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION4× · 2018–2023 · $450k · revenue +124%
GIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE2× · 2021–2022 · $200k · revenue +95%
Funded once
UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INCone grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -11%
UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEFgraduatedone grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +64%- TATarrant Area Food Bankone grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +9%
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 end hunger in san francisco and marin counties by soliciting food donations nationally, distributing this food to qualifying public service agencies and neighborhood pantries, advocating for improved government food programs, and…
The we are family foundation celebrates the vision of a global family by creating and supporting programs that inspire and educate people about mutual respect, understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity.
To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.
Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.
Committed to helping families and communities nationwide build brighter futures through literacy
The mission of the global alliance for improved nutrition (gain) is to improve the consumption of healthier diets for all, especially the most vulnerable, by improving the availability, affordability, desirability, and sustainability of…
The council on foreign relations (cfr) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and…
The maryland food bank is a nonprofit hunger-relief organization dedicated to feeding people, strengthening communities, and ending hunger for more marylanders.
Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…
Global ties u.s. (global ties) powers individuals, communities, and nations to build trust and advance peace and prosperity through international exchange.
Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)
The federation for american immigration reform's (fair) mission is to educate the public about the economic, sociological, environmental, demographic and other effects of mass immigration to the united states.
How this is measured
10 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.
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.
- Who funds BRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE ↗
- Who funds SANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds LEGAL COMMUNITY AGAINST VIOLENCE dba LAW CNTR TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE ↗
- Who funds MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds GIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE ↗
- Who funds 10000 DEGREES ↗
- Who funds UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF ↗
- Who funds Tarrant Area Food Bank ↗
- Who funds NORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK ↗
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Lynx Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lynx Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Lynx Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Lynx 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.
Play a game based on Lynx’s filings →