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M B Seretean Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

M B Seretean Foundation

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.

$700k
Granted FY2018
25
Grants FY2018
10
States reached
$277k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

99% of M B Seretean Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 9 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2018, the last year M B Seretean Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 17 organizations, $700k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

9
’17
17
’18
7
’19
7
’20
6
’21
34
’22
26
’23
0
’24
9
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Philanthropy$5.0MEducation$778kCrime & Legal$371kCivil Rights$293kArts & Culture$196kEnvironment$166kHuman Services$147kHealth$53kOther$0
02FY2018 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2018

  • Under $10k8 grants · $23k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $250k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $150k
  • $250k+1 grant · $277k
$10,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$8.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CROSSROADS SCHOOL$277,175
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND$50,000
EQUITY JUSTICE INSTITUTE$50,000
CHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY$50,000
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR URBAN DEBATE LEAGUES$25,000
EMORY UNIVERSITY$25,000
CASA OF LOS ANGELES$25,000
UNIVERSAL COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER$25,000
BET TZEDEK LEGAL SERVICES$25,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY-CA CHAPTER$25,000
ONE VOICE$25,000
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF CHATTANOOGA FOUNDATION$10,000
GANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND$10,000
KCRW RADIO NPR AFFILIATE$10,000
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 (FY17–23, $130k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%KAVOD: $5k → 17%PUPPIES BEHIND BARS: $5k → 17%LOS ANGELES PREGNANCY SERVICES: $500 → 14%STEP UP ON SECOND: $10k → 14%PRESENT NOW: $200 → 14%ONE VOICE: $30k → 14%ONE VOICE: $25k → 14%ONE VOICE: $25k → 14%ONE VOICE: $20k → 14%ONE VOICE: $5k → 14%GO CAMPAIGN: $3k → 14%GO CAMPAIGN: $2k → 14%LANGE FOUNDATION: $500 → 14%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
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OH
NJ
CA
VA
MD
AZ
KS
TN
DC
OK
AL
GA
TX
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 74% of M B Seretean Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 22% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 17%.

M B Seretean Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 3.7% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 29 repeat orgs$533k to everyone else

29 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2018, 16 since wound down; 72 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call). Read against FY2018, 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

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
7

Total granted

$1.6M
$31k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+10%
+64%

Still filing today

72%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 47% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureInternationalHuman ServicesEnvironmentHealthOther
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

  • CS
    CROSSROADS SCHOOL FOR ARTS AND SCIENCES
    6× · 2017–2023 · $489k · revenue +24%
  • CG
    CHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
    2× · 2018–2022 · $125k · revenue +60%
  • CO
    CASA OF LOS ANGELES
    6× · 2017–2023 · $110k · revenue +131%

Funded once

  • BH
    B'NAIR HORIN CHILDREN-FREEDOM
    one grant, 2017 · $7k
  • AF
    AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL SPORT CENTER FOR THE DISABLEDgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +120%
  • MG
    MOSE & GARRISON SISKIN MEMORIAL FDN INC D/B/A SISKIN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +64%
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 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
2
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

The Television Academy is dedicated to celebrating excellence, innovation and the advancement of the telecommunications arts and sciences through recognition, education and leadership, while fostering a diverse, inclusive and accessible…

—
3
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
4
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
5
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
6
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
7
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…

—
8
Los Angeles Opera Company

To serve the public by producing world-class opera that preserves, promotes and advances the art form while embodying the diversity, spirit and artistic sensibility unique to los angeles. we envision an engaged and enlightened community in…

Arts & Culture
9
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
10
Los Angeles World Affairs Council and Town Hall

The organization is a non-partisan, membership based speakers' forum that connects business leaders, community members, and engaged individuals with shared interest in local, national, and global affairs. it provides an open and accessible…

International
11
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
12
United States Artists Inc

To invest in america's finest artists and illuminate the value of artists to society.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Good Charities; the most unlike its peers is Captain Paul Watson Foundation. 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

82 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. 82 of the 112 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
82/82
Grantees still filing
56/82
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC: $4,990,000 · PhilanthropyGS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC+5 more: $39,000 · PhilanthropyCROSSROADS SCHOOL FOR ARTS AND SCIENCES: $489,120 · EducationCROSSROADS S…CHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $125,000 · EducationCHATTANOOGA …NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR URBAN DEBATE LEAGUES: $85,000 · EducationNATIONAL ASS…+11 more: $78,503 · Education+11 moreBET TZEDEK LEGAL SERVICES: $371,000 · OtherBET TZEDEK LEG…OSCAR N JONAS FOUNDATION: $60,000 · OtherOSCAR N JONAS …THE NATURE CONSERVANCY-CA CHAPTER: $50,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CON…EQUITY JUSTICE INSTITUTE: $50,000 · OtherEQUITY JUSTICE…KCRW RADIO NPR AFFILIATE: $40,000 · OtherSOCIAL JUSTICE LEARNING INSTITUTE: $50,000 · OtherSOCIAL JUSTICE…+70 more: $285,516 · Other+70 moreOne Voice: $105,000 · Human ServicesSTEP UP ON SECOND STREET INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesKAVOD: $5,000 · Human ServicesPUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC: $5,000 · Human Services+4 more: $5,200 · Human ServicesCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $110,200 · Civil RightsWHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $50,000 · EnvironmentWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $50,000 · Environment+4 more: $5,000 · EnvironmentSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $75,000 · Crime & Legal
Philanthropy$5,029,000Education$777,623Other$906,516Human Services$130,200Civil Rights$110,200Environment$105,000Crime & Legal$75,000

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 budgetGS DONOR ADVISED PHILANTHROPY FUND FOR WEALTH MANAGEMENT INC: $4,990,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCROSSROADS SCHOOL FOR ARTS AND SCIENCES: $489,120 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCHATTANOOGA GIRLS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $125,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $110,200 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetOne Voice: $105,000 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR URBAN DEBATE LEAGUES: $85,000 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $50,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSOCIAL JUSTICE LEARNING INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKCRW FOUNDATION INC: $26,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEmory University: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Rightway Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetUniversal Community Health Center: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetKIDSAVE INTERNATIONAL INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetREADY TO SUCCEED: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEAST TEXAS ANGEL NETWORK INC: $15,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetTHE ASIA SOCIETY: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHORDS2CURE CORPORATION: $10,450 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RYMAN-CARROLL FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CHATTANOOGA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEP UP ON SECOND STREET INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAROLD ROBINSON FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL SPORT CENTER FOR THE DISABLED: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetADVOKIDS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetMOSE & GARRISON SISKIN MEMORIAL FDN INC D/B/A SISKIN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKAVOD: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART LOS ANGELES: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGo Campaign: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetVENICE ARTS: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetACTBLUE CHARITIES INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRomanian League in Defense of Animals: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetORDER OF MALTA WORLDWIDE RELIEF MALTESER INTERNATIONAL AMERICAS: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Labelle Foundation Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CORPS: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPS Science: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMON SENSE MEDIA: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $1,405 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF THE SMITH COLLEGE: $1,198 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.

California Community …The Annenberg Foundat…Jewish Community Foun…The Angell FoundationThe Rose Hills Founda…The Ahmanson Foundati…The Ralph M Parsons F…Silicon Valley Commun…Snap FoundationThe Mericos FoundationSanta Barbara Foundat…Weingart Foundation
California Community FoundationCA25.2× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · The Annenberg Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles · The Angell Foundation · The Rose Hills Foundation · The Ahmanson Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Snap Foundation · The Mericos Foundation · Santa Barbara Foundation · Weingart 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 M B Seretean Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from M B Seretean Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%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
  • The Trustees of the Smith College: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
16report 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 M B Seretean Foundation?

Find your warmest path to M B Seretean 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 112 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 2018, released 2018. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on M B Seretean’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