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Mitchell Foundation for Nature Art & Science at a glance

· Private foundation

Mitchell Foundation for Nature Art & Science

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$65k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Environment$84kEducation$30kFood & Nutrition$10kArts & Culture$2kAnimals$2kYouth Development$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LOS ANGELES ARBORETUM FOUNDATION$10,000
POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL$10,000
CALIFORNIA BOTANIC GARDEN$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
DESCANSO GARDEN GUILD INC$10,000
LASSEN PARK FOUNDATION$5,000
MONO LAKE COMMITTEE$5,000
ALTADENA MUSIC THEATER INC$1,000
GIRL SCOUTS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES$1,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$1,000
SIERRA CLUB$1,000
NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 89% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SIERRA CLUB: $1k → 10%MONO LAKE COMMITTEE: $5k → 10%LASSEN PARK FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%THE HUNTINGTON: $20k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%SIERRA CLUB: $1k → 10%MONO LAKE COMMITTEE: $5k → 10%LASSEN PARK FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%THE HUNTINGTON: $10k → 14%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1k → 7%MONO LAKE COMMITTEE: $5k → 10%LASSEN PARK FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%LOS ANGELES ARBORETUM FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%THE HUNTINGTON: $10k → 14%LOS ANGELES ARBORETUM FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%ALTADENA COMMUNITY GARDEN: $10k → 14%ALTADENA MUSIC THEATER INC: $1k → 14%ARTS FOR LA: $1k → 14%POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL: $10k → 14%POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL: $10k → 14%POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL: $10k → 14%DESCANSO GARDEN GUILD INC: $10k → 14%DESCANSO GARDEN GUILD INC: $5k → 14%CALIFORNIA BOTANIC GARDEN: $10k → 14%DESCANSO GARDEN GUILD INC: $5k → 14%CALIFORNIA BOTANIC GARDEN: $5k → 14%GIRL SCOUTS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: $1k → 14%GIRL SCOUTS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: $1k → 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.
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$156k · 10 repeat orgs$12k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
2

Total granted

$156k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-7%
+10%

Still filing today

90%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
EnvironmentEducationPhilanthropyAnimalsYouth DevelopmentArts & 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

  • PS
    POLYTECHNIC SCHOOL
    3× · 2022–2024 · $30k · revenue +39%
  • DG
    DESCANSO GARDENS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $20k · revenue +3%
  • TM
    THE MONO LAKE FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $15k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • AC
    ALTADENA COMMUNITY GARDEN
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
  • AF
    Arts for LA
    one grant, 2023 · $1k · revenue +10%
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
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
2
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
3
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

We inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the sonoran desert.

Arts & Culture
4
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
5
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Inc

We harness the power of plants for humankind and share the joy and beauty of tropical gardening with everyone. fairchild tropical botanic garden is a museum of tropical plants within a world famous, 83-acre designed landscape. it was…

Environment
6
Sempervirens Fund

To ensure coast redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains thrive for generations to come. since 1900, sempervirens has protected more than 36,000 acres. learn more about our mission, vision, and strategic plan through 2030 at:…

Environment
7
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
8
Council for Watershed Health

Council for watershed health advances the health and sustainability of the region's watersheds, rivers, streams, and habitats - in both natural areas and urban neighborhoods - through science-based research, education, and inclusive…

Environment
9
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
10
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
11
The International Dark-Sky Association Inc

Darksky international restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation.

—
12
California Native Plant Society

To protect Californias native plants and their natural habitats, today and into the future, through science, education, stewardship, gardening, and advocacy

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Wildlife Federation. 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 14 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
6/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $40,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientLASSEN PARK FOUNDATION: $15,000 · OtherLASSEN PARK FOUNDATIONALTADENA COMMUNITY GARDEN: $10,000 · OtherALTADENA COMMUNITY GARDEN+3 more: $5,000 · Other+3 moreDESCANSO GARDENS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EnvironmentDESCANSO GARDENS FOUNDATIONLOS ANGELES ARBORETUM FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentLOS ANGELES ARBORETUM FOUNDATION …RANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDEN: $15,000 · EnvironmentRANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDENPOLYTECHNIC SCHOOL: $30,000 · EducationPOLYTECHNIC SCHOOLTHE MONO LAKE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropyTHE MONO L…NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $2,000 · AnimalsGIRL SCOUTS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: $2,000 · Youth DevelopmentArts for LA: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$70,000Environment$50,000Education$30,000Philanthropy$15,000Animals$2,000Youth Development$2,000Arts & Culture$1,000

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 budgetPOLYTECHNIC SCHOOL: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDESCANSO GARDENS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MONO LAKE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLOS ANGELES ARBORETUM FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetRANCHO SANTA ANA BOTANIC GARDEN: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLASSEN PARK FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF GREATER LOS ANGELES: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetArts for LA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 Rose Hills Founda…The Ahmanson Foundati…Pasadena Community Fo…The Ralph M Parsons F…The Annenberg Foundat…Sempra FoundationThe Bank of America C…The Blackbaud Giving …Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…
California Community FoundationCA18.4× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · The Rose Hills Foundation · The Ahmanson Foundation · Pasadena Community Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · The Annenberg Foundation · Sempra Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

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 Mitchell Foundation for Nature Art & Science funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mitchell Foundation for Nature Art & Science. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 14 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 Mitchell Foundation for Nature Art & Science’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