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Makeyourself Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Makeyourself 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.

$93k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2025.

International$58kHealth$54kEnvironment$52kCivil Rights$52kArts & Culture$51kPublic Safety & Disaster$40kFood & Nutrition$25kPhilanthropy$19kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $80k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$782k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PROJECT HOPE$25,000
INCLUSIVE ACTION FOR THE CITY$15,000
PASADENA HUMANE SOCIETY$10,000
FEEDING AMERICA$10,000
MUSIC WILL$10,000
ARTS FOR LA$10,000
ARTS FOR LA$5,000
MUSIC FORWARD FOUNDATION$5,000
MICHAEL P NOSCO FOUNDATION$2,500
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 (FY19–25, $33k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 69% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%MICHAEL P NOSCO FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%MICHAEL P NOSCO FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%MICHAEL P NOSCO FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%WAVES FOR WATER INC: $10k → 14%MICHAEL P NOSCO FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $10k → 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

VT
ND
IL
NY
MA
CT
CA
CO
VA
DC
HI
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.
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 37% of Makeyourself Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 70% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 44%.

Makeyourself Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 8.6% 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.

34%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$133k · 5 repeat orgs$256k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
22

Total granted

$133k
$171k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-51%
+27%

Still filing today

80%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 8% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $85k 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
InternationalArts & CultureFood & NutritionHuman ServicesHealthEnvironmentOther
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

  • AF
    ACLU FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2018 · $45k
  • PF
    PABLOVE FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2018–2019 · $40k · revenue -74%
  • LF
    LIVENATIONORG FOUNDATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $25k · revenue -51%

Funded once

  • MF
    MUSIC FOR RELIEF
    one grant, 2017 · $40k
  • DIRECT RELIEF
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +20%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
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
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
2
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
3
Project Drawdown

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;…

Education
4
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
5
Rainforest Action Network

Rainforest Action Network (RAN) works toward a world where the rights and dignity of all communities are respected and where healthy forests, a stable climate and wild biodiversity are protected and celebrated.

Environment
6
Waterorg

Water.org's goal is to bring safe water and sanitation to the world through access to small, affordable loans.

International
7
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
8
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
9
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
10
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
11
Rainforest Alliance Inc

RA works at the intersection of business, agriculture & forests to improve lives & protect nature by transforming how land is used, production of goods & consumer choices.

—
12
One Earth Philanthropy

One Earth's mission is to empower everyone, everywhere, with the knowledge, inspiration, and opportunity to heal the Earth and reclaim our future.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Safe Place for Youth Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Ally Coalition Inc. 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

28 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. 28 of the 35 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/28
Grantees still filing
16/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ACLU FOUNDATION: $45,115 · OtherACLU FOUNDATIONMUSIC FOR RELIEF: $40,000 · OtherMUSIC FOR RELIEFIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYSURFRIDER FOUNDATION LOS ANGELES: $10,000 · OtherSURFRIDER FOUNDATION LOS ANGELESZENO MOUNTAIN FARM: $8,000 · OtherBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $13,364 · OtherBLOOD CANCER UNITED INCPASADENA HUMANE: $10,000 · OtherPASADENA HUMANE+10 more: $21,102 · Other+10 morePABLOVE FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · PhilanthropyPABLOVE FOUNDAT…HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyHAWAII COMMUNIT…The Common Good Community Foundation: $5,000 · PhilanthropyThe Common Good…PROJECT HOPE - THE PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · InternationalPROJECT HOPE -…DIRECT RELIEF: $25,000 · InternationalDIRECT RELIEFOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $2,581 · International+1 more: $598 · InternationalLIVENATIONORG FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Arts & CultureLIVENATIONORG…Arts for LA: $15,000 · Arts & CultureArts for LAMUSIC WILL INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMUSIC WILL IN…SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH INC: $12,500 · Human ServicesSAFE PLAC…WAVES FOR WATER INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesWAVES FOR…MICHAEL P NOSCO FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesMICHAEL P…THE CONSCIOUS ALLIANCE: $10,000 · Food & NutritionFeeding America: $10,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD RESCUE US INC: $5,000 · Food & NutritionINCLUSIVE ACTION FOR THE CITY: $15,000 · Community Improvement
Other$177,581Philanthropy$55,000International$53,179Arts & Culture$50,000Human Services$32,500Food & Nutrition$25,000Community Improvement$15,000

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 budgetPABLOVE FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetLIVENATIONORG FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetArts for LA: $15,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $13,364 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH INC: $12,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWAVES FOR WATER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMICHAEL P NOSCO FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 4y, 8.5% of budgetMUSIC WILL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CONSCIOUS ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFeeding America: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Common Good Community Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetFOOD RESCUE US INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHACKER FUND: $4,200 over 1y, 12% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $2,581 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEastwood Ranch Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIDOSUS: $598 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ALLY COALITION INC: $598 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEquality Now Inc: $598 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $10 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…Network for GoodSilicon Valley Commun…Paypal Charitable Giv…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…The Bank of America C…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
California Community FoundationCA14× affinity5 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 · Network for Good · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation 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 Makeyourself Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Makeyourself Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% 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 · 0–50%
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.

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 35 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 Makeyourself’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