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Montecito Community Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Community foundation

Montecito Community Foundation

The purpose of the MONTECITO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is to support a strong montecito community and serve as a resource for philanthropy.

$190k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2024.

Human Services$187kPublic Safety & Disaster$46kCommunity Improvement$32kEnvironment$31kRecreation & Sports$25kArts & Culture$20kEducation$19kHousing & Shelter$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $173k
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SANTA BARBARA BUCKET BRIGADE$40,000
MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST$30,000
MONTECITO WATER DISTRICT$25,000
GANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND$25,000
CHANNEL ISLANDS YMCA (MONTECITO FAMILY YMCA)$15,000
MONTECITO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT$15,000
MOVE SANTA BARBARA COUNTY$12,500
MONTECITO ASSOCIATION$10,000
A TO Z COOKING SCHOOL$7,000
CAMERATA PACIFICA$5,000
MONTECITO ASSOCIATION$5,000
MONTECITO EMERGENCY RESPONSE & RECOVERY ACTION GROUP (MERRAG)$465
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, $207k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Montecito Family YMCA: $15k → 14%CHANNEL ISLANDS YMCA (MONTECITO FAMILY YMCA): $15k → 14%Montecito Retirement Association: $177k → 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.

35%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$196k · 5 repeat orgs$371k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
8

Total granted

$196k
$258k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+16%

Still filing today

100%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 41% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $113k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesArts & CulturePublic Safety & DisasterPublic BenefitReligionOther
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

  • SB
    Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade
    3× · 2019–2025 · $86k · revenue +56%
  • MT
    MONTECITO TRAILS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2018–2024 · $41k · revenue -28%
  • CI
    Channel Islands Young Men's Christian Association
    2× · 2024–2025 · $30k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • MR
    MONTECITO RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2023 · $177k · revenue +2%
  • SB
    SANTA BARBARA METRO TRANSIT D
    one grant, 2017 · $23k
  • MF
    MONTECITO FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARYgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $15k · revenue +87%
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
Casa Abrego Preservation Foundation
Philanthropy
2
Santa Barbara County Trails Council

Our mission is to protect public trail access build and maintain safe and sustainable trails and promote public engagement in land stewardship and trail use for all types of outdoor recreation.

Recreation & Sports
3
Montecito Community Foundation

The purpose of the montecito community foundation is to support a strong montecito community and serve as a resource for philanthropy.

Philanthropy
4
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
—
5
Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara

Museum of contemporary art santa barbara (mcasb) seeks to enrich lives and inspire critical thinking through meaningful engagement with the art and ideas of our time. mcasb provides santa barbara and the central coast with exhibitions and…

Arts & Culture
6
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
7
Communities for Sustainable Monterey County

Recruiting and training volunteers that implement changes in the cities of Monterey County that include the establishment and operation of Community Gardens; the planting of tees on urban street; teaching citizens how to reduce the amount…

Environment
8
Monterey Museum of Art

The monterey museum of art cultivates curiosity in the visual arts and engages community with the diversity of california art - past, present, and future.

Arts & Culture
9
Transportation Alternatives for Marin
Public Benefit
10
Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce

The mission of the santa barbara south coast chamber of commerce is to create a strong local economy, promote the community, provide business resources and networking opportunities and represent business to the government.

—
11
Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers Inc

Maintain and improve Santa Barbara trails to reduce risk and increase the enjoyment of all users.

Recreation & Sports
12
Garden Club of Santa Barbara

Founded in 1916, the garden club of santa barbara is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to encouraging the knowledge and enjoyment of gardening, the art of flower design, the protection of our environment and native plants, the…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Montecito Protective & Improvement Assoc; the most unlike its peers is Merrag. 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

17 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. 17 of the 20 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/17
Grantees still filing
8/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MONTECITO RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION: $177,040 · Human ServicesMONTECITO RETIREMENT ASSOCIATIONChannel Islands Young Men's Christian Association: $30,000 · Human ServicesChannel Islands Young Men's Christian Ass…MONTECITO TRAILS FOUNDATION: $41,025 · OtherMONTECITO TRAILS FOUNDATIONMONTECITO PROTECTIVE & IMPROVEMENT ASSOC: $25,000 · OtherMONTECITO PROTECTIVE & IMPROVEMENT ASSO…GANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $25,000 · OtherGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLANDMONTECITO WATER DISTRICT: $25,000 · OtherMONTECITO WATER DISTRICTSANTA BARBARA METRO TRANSIT D: $23,328 · OtherSANTA BARBARA METRO TRANSIT DMontecito Union School Foundation: $15,000 · OtherMontecito Union School FoundationMONTECITO FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY: $15,000 · OtherMONTECITO FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARYCASA DEL HERRERO: $10,000 · OtherMONTECITO HISTORICAL ARCHIVES INC: $10,000 · OtherMONTECITO ASSOCIATION: $8,763 · OtherSanta Barbara Bucket Brigade: $86,124 · Public Safety & DisasterSanta Barbara Buc…MUSIC ACADEMY OF THE WEST: $30,000 · Arts & CultureCAMERATA PACIFICA: $5,000 · Arts & CultureAPPLES TO ZUCCHINI COOKING SCHOOL: $14,000 · EducationTHE FOUNDATION FOR SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE: $3,550 · Education+1 more: $465 · EducationSANTA BARBARA BICYCLE COALITION DBA MOVE SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $12,500 · Public BenefitKINGDOM CAUSES INC CITY NET BEDROCK CREEK: $10,000 · Religion
Human Services$207,040Other$198,116Public Safety & Disaster$86,124Arts & Culture$35,000Education$18,015Public Benefit$12,500Religion$10,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMONTECITO RETIREMENT ASSOCIATION: $177,040 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSanta Barbara Bucket Brigade: $86,124 over 3y, 8.4% of budgetMONTECITO TRAILS FOUNDATION: $41,025 over 3y, 4.4% of budgetChannel Islands Young Men's Christian Association: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMONTECITO PROTECTIVE & IMPROVEMENT ASSOC: $25,000 over 2y, 7.2% of budgetGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMontecito Union School Foundation: $15,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetMONTECITO FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY: $15,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetAPPLES TO ZUCCHINI COOKING SCHOOL: $14,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetCASA DEL HERRERO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKINGDOM CAUSES INC CITY NET BEDROCK CREEK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMONTECITO HISTORICAL ARCHIVES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 64% of budgetCAMERATA PACIFICA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR SANTA BARBARA CITY COLLEGE: $3,550 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.

The Spivey Family Fou…The Kirby-Jones Found…Hutton Foundation Dba…Santa Barbara Foundat…Ann Jackson Family Fo…California Community …Williams-Corbett Foun…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Spivey Family Foundation IncDE17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Spivey Family Foundation Inc · The Kirby-Jones Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Santa Barbara Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · California Community Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Montecito Community Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Montecito Community Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 20 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 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 Montecito’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