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McCarthy Family Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

McCarthy Family Foundation Inc

$524k
Granted FY2019
40
Grants FY2019
3
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of McCarthy Family Foundation Inc’s FY2022 grant dollars went to The San Diego Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2022 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year McCarthy Family Foundation Inc named its own grantees at scale: 34 organizations, $524k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

25
’17
33
’18
34
’19
4
’20
4
’21
0
’22

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

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 2022.

Philanthropy$8.6MEducation$3.3MHuman Services$1.3MArts & Culture$1.1MHealth$220kYouth Development$173kCommunity Improvement$105kScience & Tech$64kOther$0
02FY2019 · 40 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2019

  • Under $10k12 grants · $54k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $370k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAN DIEGO GRANTMAKERS$100,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
VOICES FOR CHILDREN$20,000
JUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH$20,000
YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY$20,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF OCEANSIDE$15,000
ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE$15,000
SAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY FOUNDATION$15,000
CANYON CREST ACADEMY FOUNDATION TEAM 3128 ALUMINUM NARWHALS$15,000
HANNAH'S HOUSE$15,000
ENCORPS INC$15,000
KIDS' TURN SAN DIEGO$15,000
SECOND CHANCE$15,000
ANGELS FOSTER FAMILY NETWORK$15,000
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO$15,000
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 (FY17–19, $245k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WALDEN ENVIRONMENT INC DBA WALDEN FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 11%KIDS TURN SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%ANGELS FOSTER FAMILY NETWORK: $15k → 11%KIDS' TURN SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $15k → 11%GENERATE HOPE: $10k → 11%ANGELS FOSTER FAMILY AGENCY: $10k → 11%SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $10k → 11%SAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $10k → 11%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $15k → 11%WOMEN'S RESOURCE CENTER: $10k → 11%NORTH COUNTY LIFELINE: $15k → 11%CASA DE AMPARO: $10k → 11%CASA DE AMPARO: $10k → 11%CRISIS HOUSE: $15k → 11%YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $20k → 11%YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $15k → 11%CRISIS HOUSE: $15k → 11%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.
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 12% of McCarthy Family Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

McCarthy Family Foundation Inclessmore 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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.0M · 24 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

24 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2019, 4 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call). Read against FY2019, 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

24
38

Total granted

$5.0M
$582k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+48%

Still filing today

92%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.0M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21
EducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyHealthArts & CultureOther
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

  • Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties
    5× · 2017–2021 · $2.4M · revenue +208% · 39% of their budget
  • PC
    POWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2021 · $1.1M · revenue +13%
  • PF
    PROMISES2KIDS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2020 · $1.0M · revenue +85%

Funded once

  • HA
    HIV AIDS UCLA FOUNDATION (AIDS INSTITUTE)
    one grant, 2017 · $150k
  • AI
    Access Inc
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue -8%
  • AS
    ARMED SERVICES YMCA SAN DIEGO
    one grant, 2018 · $25k
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
San Diego Jewish Academy

San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.

Education
2
Stem Advantage

Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. STEM Advantage mentors, prepares, and inspires first-generation, low-income, and underserved college students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We level…

Youth Development
3
Social Advocates for Youth San Diego Inc

To partner with youth, families, adults and communities to reach their full potential and is achieved through comprehensive and integrated programming in the areas of child and youth development; youth, adult and family wellness and…

Human Services
4
California School-Age Consortium Inc

The California School-Age Consortium (CalSAC) builds professional networks that provide training, leadership development and advocacy to ensure that all young people have access to high quality out-of-school time programs and to create a…

—
5
Linda Vista Children's Center

We help children discover a way of dealing with life that is realistic, comfortable, and satisfying. Self-confidence is nurtured as children learn to rely on themselves and each other. The noncompetitive environment is one that allows each…

—
6
Partners in College Success

Partners in College Success (PiCS) ensures equal access to higher education and an equitable college experience for low-income, refugee, immigrant, foster, homeless and disadvantaged youth in San Diego County. PiCS provides dedicated,…

Education
7
Institute for Public Strategies

Institute of Public Strategies (IPS) is a nonprofit corporation that receives its funding from local and federal governmental agencies and private foundations, through long-term grants or contracts to provide community-level services…

Health
8
United Way of San Diego County

To spark breakthrough community action that elevates every child and family toward a brighter future.

Philanthropy
9
Kidworks Community Development Corp

Kidworks inspires purpose in youth, fuels their growth, and catalyzes their impact in the community and the world.

Human Services
10
University of San Diego

The university of san diego is a contemporary catholic university, grounded in the liberal arts and anchored along an international border, advancing academic excellence to create a more inclusive, sustainable and hopeful world.

—
11
Policy & Innovation Center

The policy & innovation center's (pic) mission is to unlock the region's potential by cultivating and building partnerships. our niche is to address intractable issues that can only be solved with cross-sector, multi-jurisdictional…

Philanthropy
12
Ucp San Diego

The mission of the san diego cooperative preschool is to provide the highest quality care, while creating a nurturing and supportive community of children, parents, and highly skilled staff. through a play-based program that attends to the…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Diego Center for Children; the most unlike its peers is Musicians for Education Inc Dba Street of Dreams. 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

67 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. 67 of the 84 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)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
66/67
Grantees still filing
55/67
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $6,257,880 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATIONCatalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties: $2,445,500 · PhilanthropyCatalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties+4 more: $34,500 · PhilanthropyPROMISES2KIDS FOUNDATION: $1,030,000 · OtherPROMISES2KIDS FOUND…POWAY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: $1,000,000 · OtherPOWAY UNIFIED SCHOO…HIV AIDS UCLA FOUNDATION (AIDS INSTITUTE): $150,000 · OtherHIV AIDS UCLA FOUND…+35 more: $459,500 · Other+35 moreUCLA FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 · EducationUCLA FOUNDATION+16 more: $208,900 · Education+16 morePOWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION: $1,059,750 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $25,000 · Arts & CultureYWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $35,000 · Human ServicesKids Turn San Diego: $30,000 · Human ServicesCRISIS HOUSE: $30,000 · Human ServicesANGELS FOSTER FAMILY AGENCY: $25,000 · Human ServicesSAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $20,000 · Human ServicesCasa De Amparo: $20,000 · Human ServicesWALDEN ENVIRONMENT DBA WALDEN FAMILY SERVICES: $20,000 · Human ServicesNORTH COUNTY LIFELINE INC DBA LIFELINE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $15,000 · Human ServicesEpiscopal Community Services: $15,000 · Human ServicesYMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $15,000 · Human ServicesWOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $10,000 · Human ServicesGENERATEHOPE INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SAN DIEGO: $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentJUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentREADING LEGACIES: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentACCESS YOUTH ACADEMY: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHWEST SAN DIEGO COUNTY INC: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CARLSBAD: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentVOICES FOR CHILDREN: $40,000 · Civil RightsNorth County LGBTQ Resource Center: $15,000 · Civil Rights
Philanthropy$8,737,880Other$2,639,500Education$2,208,900Arts & Culture$1,084,750Human Services$245,000Youth Development$105,000Civil Rights$55,000

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 budgetTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $6,257,880 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetCatalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties: $2,445,500 over 5y, 39% of budgetUCLA FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPOWAY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOUNDATION: $1,059,750 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetPROMISES2KIDS FOUNDATION: $1,030,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetVOICES FOR CHILDREN: $40,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER SAN DIEGO: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetYWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $35,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetJUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH: $30,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKids Turn San Diego: $30,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetHANNAHS FAMILY CENTER: $30,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE: $30,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetCRISIS HOUSE: $30,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetAccess Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetHOME START INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSAN DIEGUITO ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetANGELS FOSTER FAMILY AGENCY: $25,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetPTA CALIFORNIA CONGRESS OF PARENTS TEACHERS & STUDENTS INC: $22,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetSAN DIEGO CENTER FOR CHILDREN: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetREALITY CHANGERS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCasa De Amparo: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCARLSBAD EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWALDEN ENVIRONMENT DBA WALDEN FAMILY SERVICES: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetENCORPSINC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSAN DIEGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSECOND CHANCE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetASELTINE SCHOOL: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF OCEANSIDE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNORTH COUNTY LIFELINE INC DBA LIFELINE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNorth County LGBTQ Resource Center: $15,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetEpiscopal Community Services: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALLIANCE FOR HOPE INTERNATIONAL: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetInterfaith Community Services Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetREADING LEGACIES: $15,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetTHERESA HESSLING CHARTER SCHOOL PROJECT DBA SAN DIEGO COOPERATIVE CHARTERS: $12,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSan Diego-Imperial Council Boy Scouts of America: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN DIEGO COASTKEEPER: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS INITIATIVE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHWEST SAN DIEGO COUNTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetALPINE EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY SAN MARCOS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetA Reason To Survive: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% 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.

The San Diego Foundat…The Conrad Prebys Fou…The Nordson Corporati…Price Philanthropies …Walter J & Betty C Za…Jewish Community Foun…David C Copley Founda…Rancho Santa Fe Found…Sempra FoundationThe Cushman FoundationBoys and Girls Aid So…The Parker Foundation
The San Diego FoundationCA76.8× affinity43 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Diego Foundation · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · The Nordson Corporation Foundation · Price Philanthropies Foundation · Walter J & Betty C Zable Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · David C Copley Foundation · Rancho Santa Fe Foundation · Sempra Foundation · The Cushman Foundation · Boys and Girls Aid Society of San Diego Ltd · The Parker 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 McCarthy Family Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from McCarthy Family Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    28report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely 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 McCarthy Family Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to McCarthy Family 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 84 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2019, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on McCarthy Family’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