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Michael and Catherine Podell Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Michael and Catherine Podell Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$520k
Granted FY2024still arriving
20
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$1.3MHealth$1.3MHousing & Shelter$467kFood & Nutrition$286kYouth Development$232kPhilanthropy$163kCivil Rights$115kInternational$103kOther$0
02FY2024 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $149k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $345k
$20,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MEALS ON WHEELS OF SF$100,000
EPACENTER$75,000
UKRANIAN ACTION$62,500
UCSF FOUNDATION$57,500
GIFFORDS LAW CENTER$50,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$25,000
SAGE COMPASSION FOR ANIMALS$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
THE ACHIEVE FOUNDATION$23,000
FOSTER LOVE$20,000
LIFE MOVES$11,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM$10,000
MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE$10,000
CENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY$5,000
ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOL FOUNDATION$5,000
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 (FY19–24, $14k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 63% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MISSION HOSPICE & HOME CARE: $5k → 7%American Red Cross: $5k → 14%GIRLS INC OF ALAMEDA COUNTY: $4k → 10%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
NY
OR
CA
CO
VA
SC
DC
HI
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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.2M · 24 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +56% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2024, 12 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
21

Total granted

$3.2M
$967k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+56%
+22%

Still filing today

83%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $176k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationAnimalsEnvironmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesInternationalOther
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

  • AD
    ALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISCOVERY FOUNDATION
    5× · 2019–2023 · $820k · revenue +108%
  • SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
    4× · 2019–2022 · $540k · revenue +19%
  • L
    LIFEMOVES
    5× · 2019–2024 · $467k · revenue +129%

Funded once

  • CC
    CA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS
    one grant, 2020 · $775k
  • CC
    CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $45k · revenue +26%
  • EF
    EPACenter for the arts
    one grant, 2022 · $30k
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
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
2
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
3
The Uc Davis Foundation

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

Education
4
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…

Arts & Culture
5
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
6
San Francisco Challenge dba AmericaOne
Recreation & Sports
7
Sutter Bay Hospitals

MISSION STATEMENT: MISSION: CARING FOR OUR PATIENTS FIRST AND OUR PEOPLE ALWAYS. VISION: TO BE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE, INTEGRATED AND CONNECTED HEALTH SYSTEM FOR GETTING AND STAYING WELL. VALUES: EXCELLENCE - We deliver high-quality,…

Health
8
Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

To promote philanthropy to make santa cruz county a better place to live, now and in the future.we bring together people, ideas, and resources to inspire philanthropy and accomplish great things.

Philanthropy
9
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
10
Sutter Bay Medical Foundation

Mission statement: mission: caring for our patients first and our people always. vision: to be the most comprehensive, integrated and connected health system for getting and staying well. values: excellence - we deliver high-quality,…

Health
11
Uc Santa Barbara Foundation

The uc santa barbara foundation actively works to further the goals of the university of california, santa barbara. the foundation seeks to maintain and nurture the university's quality and distinction. on behalf of the campus, the…

Education
12
California Dental Association Foundation

The foundation's mission is to improve the oral health of all californians by supporting the dental profession and its efforts to meet community needs.

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma; the most unlike its peers is Wender Weis Foundation for Children. 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

43 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. 43 of the 56 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/43
Grantees still filing
33/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: $775,000 · OtherCA COLLEGE OF THE ARTSLIFEMOVES: $467,135 · OtherLIFEMOVESMEALS ON WHEELS OF SF: $167,500 · OtherMEALS ON WHEELS OF SFMEALS ON WHEELS OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $66,500 · OtherSAMARITAN HOUSE: $66,500 · Other+28 more: $410,200 · Other+28 moreALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISCOVERY FOUNDATION: $820,000 · Social ScienceALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISC…SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $539,532 · Arts & CultureSMITHSONIAN INSTIT…EPACENTER: $160,000 · Arts & CultureEPACENTER+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $382,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF…CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: $45,000 · EducationCALIFORNIA CO…President and Fellows of Middlebury College: $35,000 · EducationPresident and…ASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Education+3 more: $29,000 · Education+3 moreAchieve Foundation Inc: $145,000 · PhilanthropyTIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $30,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH COMMUNITY FEDERATION OF SAN FRANCISCO THE PENINSULA MARIN & SONOMA: $10,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $7,500 · PhilanthropyWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $65,000 · InternationalUkrainian Action: $62,500 · InternationalAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $10,000 · InternationalSage Compassion for Animals: $75,000 · AnimalsPENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA: $6,000 · AnimalsMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY: $5,000 · Animals+1 more: $500 · Animals
Other$1,952,835Social Science$820,000Arts & Culture$700,032Education$511,500Philanthropy$192,500International$137,500Animals$86,500

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 budgetALZHEIMER'S DRUG DISCOVERY FOUNDATION: $820,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $539,532 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLIFEMOVES: $467,135 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $382,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEPACENTER: $160,000 over 4y, 14% of budgetSage Compassion for Animals: $75,000 over 3y, 9.3% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $66,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSAMARITAN HOUSE: $66,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $65,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUkrainian Action: $62,500 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetGIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: $45,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCreative Growth Art Center: $26,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetASPIRE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHypopara Research Foundation: $20,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetThe Edible Schoolyard Project dba The Alice Waters Institute: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCENTRAL PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $15,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWENDER WEIS FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN: $12,500 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetJEWISH COMMUNITY FEDERATION OF SAN FRANCISCO THE PENINSULA MARIN & SONOMA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI HUMANE SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPEWELL FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF ALAMEDA COUNTY: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHILANTHROPIC VENTURES FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPollinator Partnership: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHILLSBOROUGH BEAUTIFICATION FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCORA Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBURLINGAME LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE GARDEN CONSERVANCY INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKQED INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $500 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.

Silicon Valley Commun…The San Francisco Fou…Rupert H Johnson Jr F…The David and Lucile …The William & Flora H…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Marin Community Found…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Renaissance Charitabl…American Endowment Fo…
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA18.6× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Rupert H Johnson Jr Foundation Rupert H Johnson Jr Trustee · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Marin Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment 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 Michael and Catherine Podell Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michael and Catherine Podell Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • President and Fellows of Middlebury College: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
13report 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 56 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Michael and Catherine Podell’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