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McClain Roberts Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

McClain Roberts 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.

$775k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2025.

Environment$750kHuman Services$350kEducation$205kInternational$175kReligion$125kFood & Nutrition$75kArts & Culture$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $700k
$50,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$7.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LA LUZ CENTER$100,000
LA LUZ CENTER$100,000
SANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE FOUNDATION$75,000
LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE$75,000
ELEMENTAL EXCELERATOR$75,000
OPERATION BREAKTHROUGH$75,000
OPERATION BREAKTHROUGH$50,000
SONOMA LAND TRUST$50,000
EARTHJUSTICE$50,000
TAHOE FUND$50,000
REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK$25,000
KQED$25,000
SONOMA LAND TRUST$25,000
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 (FY23–25, $350k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%LA LUZ CENTER: $100k → 9%LA LUZ CENTER: $100k → 9%LA LUZ CENTER: $100k → 9%LA LUZ CENTER: $50k → 9%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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 9 repeat orgs$280k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
2

Total granted

$1.5M
$180k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+22%
+27%

Still filing today

89%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationHuman ServicesReligionFood & NutritionArts & 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

  • LL
    LA LUZ CENTER
    3× · 2023–2025 · $350k · revenue +43%
  • EARTHJUSTICE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $175k · revenue +22%
  • LT
    LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE
    3× · 2023–2025 · $175k · revenue +34%

Funded once

  • TU
    THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $130k · revenue +27%
  • MS
    MORGAN STANLEY
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
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
Save the Redwoods League

Save the redwoods league protects and restores redwood forests and connects people with their peace and beauty so these wonders of the natural world flourish.

Environment
2
The Sierra Fund

The Sierra Fund (TSF) is a non-profit organization with a mission to restore ecosystem and community resiliency in the Sierra Nevada.

Environment
3
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
4
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
5
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
6
Environmental Defense Center

The organization protects and enhances the local environment through education, advocacy and legal action.

Crime & Legal
7
Shasta Land Trust

Conserve the beauty, character, and diversity of significant lands in far northern california. currently shasta land trust holds conservation easements that permanently protect about 66,000 acres of land.

Environment
8
The Trust for Public Land

The trust for public land creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. in the past year, we helped communities to plan for parks and conservation, fund parks and conservation,…

Environment
9
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
10
Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah

Heal utah's mission is to protect utah's environment and its people by promoting clean air, clean energy, and comprehensive solutions to radioactive and toxic waste.

Environment
11
Western Electricity Coordinating Council

To effectively and efficiently mitigate risks to the reliability and security of the western interconnection's bulk power system.

Public Benefit
12
Califonia State University East Bay Foundation Inc

Csu east bay foundation is an auxiliary organization of california state university east bay and the california state university system. the organization's mission is to provide services that aid, supplement, and advance the educational…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sonoma Land Trust; the most unlike its peers is League to Save Lake Tahoe. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

11 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. 11 of the 13 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EARTHJUSTICE: $175,000 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICEELEMENTAL EXCELERATOR INC: $175,000 · EnvironmentELEMENTAL EXCELERATOR INCSONOMA LAND TRUST: $125,000 · EnvironmentSONOMA LAND TRUSTTAHOE FUND: $100,000 · EnvironmentTAHOE FUNDOPERATION BREAKTHROUGH INC: $175,000 · EducationOPERATION BREAKTHROUGH I…THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA FOUNDATION: $130,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGI…SANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $75,000 · EducationSANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEG…LA LUZ CENTER: $350,000 · Human ServicesLA LUZ CENTERLEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $175,000 · ReligionLEAGUE TO S…SRJC FOUNDATION: $125,000 · OtherSRJC FOUNDA…MORGAN STANLEY: $50,000 · OtherMORGAN STAN…REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $75,000 · Food & NutritionKQED INC: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Environment$575,000Education$380,000Human Services$350,000Religion$175,000Other$175,000Food & Nutrition$75,000Arts & Culture$25,000

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 budgetLA LUZ CENTER: $350,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $175,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOPERATION BREAKTHROUGH INC: $175,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $175,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetELEMENTAL EXCELERATOR INC: $175,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSONOMA LAND TRUST: $125,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTAHOE FUND: $100,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $75,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKQED INC: $25,000 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization McClain Roberts Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from McClain Roberts Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 McClain Roberts Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to McClain Roberts 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 13 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 McClain Roberts’ 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