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Michael J Connell Foundation Michael J Connell Charities Lte at a glance

· Private foundation

Michael J Connell Foundation Michael J Connell Charities Lte

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.

$962k
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$142k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Arts & Culture$2.7MEnvironment$1.2MEducation$795kHuman Services$759kHealth$327kInternational$260kPhilanthropy$230kYouth Development$215kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $295k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $662k
$40,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION$142,000
FIVE ACRES$80,000
MONTANA SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKS$70,000
CASA OF LOS ANGELES$60,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF PASADENA$60,000
ALEXANDRIA HOUSE$50,000
BITTER ROOT$50,000
READING PARTNERS$50,000
EL NIDO FAMILY CENTERS$50,000
MUSIIQUE$50,000
CONCERNED RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENTAL WORKERS$40,000
PASADENA CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC$40,000
PASADENA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$35,000
A NOISE WITHIN$35,000
PER SCHOLAS$30,000
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 (FY17–25, $584k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%UPLIFT FAMILY SERVICES: $40k → 8%UNION RESCUE MISSION: $5k → 14%THE PEOPLE CONCERN: $5k → 14%THE PEOPLE CONCERN: $5k → 14%EXCEPTIONAL CHILDRENS FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%THE PEOPLE CONCERN: $5k → 14%ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $50k → 14%HILLSIDES: $50k → 14%HILLSIDES: $50k → 14%HILLSIDES: $50k → 14%HILLSIDES: $50k → 14%HILLSIDES: $50k → 14%MARYVALE: $10k → 14%MARYVALE: $10k → 14%MARYVALE: $5k → 14%MARYVALE: $5k → 14%UNION STATION HOMELESS SERVICES: $10k → 14%REDISCOVER CENTER: $20k → 14%REDISCOVER CENTER: $13k → 14%REDISCOVER CENTER: $13k → 14%REDISCOVER CENTER: $13k → 14%REDISCOVER CENTER: $10k → 14%JOVENES INC: $10k → 14%CHIRON CENTER: $30k → 14%ACTIVITIES RECREATING & CARE: $30k → 14%REDISCOVER CENTER: $20k → 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

MT
MN
NY
CT
CA
CO
VA
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.0M · 39 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

39 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 25 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

39
23

Total granted

$6.0M
$800k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+43%

Still filing today

79%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $205k 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
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationEnvironmentPhilanthropyHealthOther
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

  • LA
    LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.5M · revenue +28%
  • BR
    BITTER ROOT LAND TRUST
    4× · 2018–2025 · $325k · revenue +124%
  • AF
    ARROYOS & FOOTHILLS CONSERVANCY
    6× · 2019–2025 · $315k · revenue +403%

Funded once

  • RS
    RANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDEN
    one grant, 2022 · $300k · revenue -8%
  • VS
    VALUE SCHOOLSgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +40%
  • OB
    Outward Bound Adventuresgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $45k · revenue +570%
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
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
2
Los Angeles Conservancy

The los angeles conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization that works through education and advocacy to recognize, preserve, and revitalize the historic architectural and cultural resources of los angeles county.

Arts & Culture
3
Cangress Dba Los Angeles Community Action Network

Community organizing, education, advocacy, leadership development, direct services and organizational development for communities faced with immense poverty.

Community Improvement
4
Alternative Schools Inc

To help each child reach his/her full potential by cultivating an active village of parents, community members, and stakeholders involved in providing an individual, personal, and conceptual learning environment for each student.

Education
5
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
6
California College of the Arts

California college of the arts educates students to shape culture and society through the practice and critical study of art, architecture, design, and writing. benefitting from its san francisco bay area location, the college prepares…

Education
7
Child Educational Center

The child educational center's mission is to ignite joy, curiosity and compassion through innovative children's programs for all.

Human Services
8
Los Angeles Education Partnership

To advance educational equity. together with families, schools and the community, facilitate access to and opportunities for quality educational and wellness practices so that children thrive from diapers to diplomas.

—
9
Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Promotion and advancement of children's health through patient care, research, and education.

Health
10
La's Best

La's best provides free supervised before and after-school activities to over 15,000 children at 200 schools in los angeles unified school district (lausd).

Education
11
South Central Los Angeles Regional Center for Dev Disabled Persons Inc

South central los angeles regional center, (sclarc), believes special needs deserve special attention. we are committed to the provision of culturally sensitive services which enhance the inherent strengths of the family and enable…

Human Services
12
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Young & Healthy; the most unlike its peers is The Corner Food Pantry Inc. 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

57 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. 57 of the 70 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
55/57
Grantees still filing
37/57
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $1,492,000 · Arts & CultureLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATIONA Noise Within: $180,000 · Arts & CultureA Noise WithinTHE ANTAEUS COMPANY: $150,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ANTAEUS COMPANYTHE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE STATE THEATRE OF CALIFORNIA INC: $141,000 · Arts & CultureTHE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE STATE THEATRE …Pasadena Conservatory of Music: $140,000 · Arts & CulturePasadena Conservatory of Music+5 more: $230,000 · Arts & Culture+5 moreDON BOSCO TECHNICAL INSTITUTE: $275,000 · OtherDON BOSCO TECHNICAL INSTITUTEEL NIDO FAMILY CENTERS: $250,000 · OtherEL NIDO FAMILY CENTERSMONTANA SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKS: $195,000 · OtherMONTANA SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARKSFive Acres The Boys and Girls' Aid Society of Los Angeles County: $110,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY: $100,000 · OtherWHY FORESTS MATTER: $100,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD: $80,000 · OtherConcerned Resource & Environmental Workers: $125,000 · OtherConcerned Resource & Environmental W…YOUNG & HEALTHY: $102,000 · OtherCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $100,000 · OtherMONTANA TROUT UNLIMITED: $88,000 · OtherPER SCHOLAS INC: $80,000 · Other+21 more: $680,000 · Other+21 moreBITTER ROOT LAND TRUST: $325,000 · EnvironmentBITTER ROOT LAN…ARROYOS & FOOTHILLS CONSERVANCY: $315,000 · EnvironmentARROYOS & FOOTH…RANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDEN: $300,000 · EnvironmentRANCHO SANTA AN…Outward Bound Adventures: $45,000 · Environment+1 more: $10,000 · EnvironmentHILLSIDES: $250,000 · Human ServicesHILLSIDESREDISCOVER CENTER INC: $88,500 · Human ServicesREDISCOVE…ALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $50,000 · Human ServicesALEXANDRI…PACIFIC CLINICS: $40,000 · Human ServicesPACIFIC C…ACTIVITIES RECREATION AND CARE: $30,000 · Human ServicesMARYVALE: $30,000 · Human ServicesChiron Center Inc: $30,000 · Human ServicesEXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Human Services+4 more: $40,000 · Human Services+4 moreREADING PARTNERS: $130,000 · EducationHarmony Project: $125,000 · EducationVALUE SCHOOLS: $50,000 · EducationMARIANNE FROSTIG CTR OF EDU THERAPY: $40,000 · EducationMAKER LEARNING NETWORK: $30,000 · Education+1 more: $10,000 · EducationHELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL: $260,000 · InternationalFOCUSING PHILANTHROPY INC: $155,000 · PhilanthropyPasadena Community Foundation: $35,000 · PhilanthropyPASADENA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$2,333,000Other$2,285,000Environment$995,000Human Services$583,500Education$385,000International$260,000Philanthropy$210,000

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 budgetLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION: $1,492,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetBITTER ROOT LAND TRUST: $325,000 over 4y, 16% of budgetARROYOS & FOOTHILLS CONSERVANCY: $315,000 over 6y, 9.5% of budgetRANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDEN: $300,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetDON BOSCO TECHNICAL INSTITUTE: $275,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetHELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL: $260,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetHILLSIDES: $250,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetEL NIDO FAMILY CENTERS: $250,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetA Noise Within: $180,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetTHE ANTAEUS COMPANY: $150,000 over 5y, 5.6% of budgetTHE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE STATE THEATRE OF CALIFORNIA INC: $141,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetPasadena Conservatory of Music: $140,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetREADING PARTNERS: $130,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetHarmony Project: $125,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetConcerned Resource & Environmental Workers: $125,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetFive Acres The Boys and Girls' Aid Society of Los Angeles County: $110,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetYOUNG & HEALTHY: $102,000 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetWHY FORESTS MATTER: $100,000 over 3y, 91% of budgetCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $100,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetREDISCOVER CENTER INC: $88,500 over 6y, 2.4% of budgetMONTANA TROUT UNLIMITED: $88,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetPER SCHOLAS INC: $80,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCAMERATA PACIFICA: $75,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF PASADENA: $60,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCentral Texas Food Bank Inc: $50,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetALEXANDRIA HOUSE: $50,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetTHE COLBURN SCHOOL: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetVALUE SCHOOLS: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOLLENBECK PALMS: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLOS ANGELES CHILDREN'S CHORUS: $45,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetMARIANNE FROSTIG CTR OF EDU THERAPY: $40,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPACIFIC CLINICS: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE TO HOME SCV: $40,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetPasadena Community Foundation: $35,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMAKER LEARNING NETWORK: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMOBILE LOAVES & FISHES INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARYVALE: $30,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetThe Learning Centers at Fairplex: $30,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetChiron Center Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetEXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPASADENA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLAMP INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PEOPLE CONCERN: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJOVENES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetArlington Garden in Pasadena: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetNANCY EVANS DANCE THEATRE: $10,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetUNION STATION HOMELESS SERVICES: $10,000 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.

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.

Pasadena Community Fo…The Ralph M Parsons F…California Community …The Ahmanson Foundati…The Rose Hills Founda…Pasadena Showcase Hou…The Green FoundationAnn Peppers FoundationWeingart FoundationRotary Club of Pasade…Helen and Will Webste…John Jewett & Helen C…
Pasadena Community FoundationCA41.5× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Pasadena Community Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · California Community Foundation · The Ahmanson Foundation · The Rose Hills Foundation · Pasadena Showcase House For The Arts · The Green Foundation · Ann Peppers Foundation · Weingart Foundation · Rotary Club of Pasadena Foundation · Helen and Will Webster Foundation · John Jewett & Helen Chandler Garland Fou Ndation

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 J Connell Foundation Michael J Connell Charities Lte funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michael J Connell Foundation Michael J Connell Charities Lte. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%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
    1get no government money at all
    22report 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 Michael J Connell Foundation Michael J Connell Charities Lte?

    Find your warmest path to Michael J Connell Foundation Michael J Connell Charities Lte 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 70 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 Michael J Connell Foundation Michael J Connell Charities Lte’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
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    The regranting layer
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    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
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    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home