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Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation

The mission of the monterey bay aquarium is to inspire conservation of the ocean.

$734k
Granted FY2023
5
Grants FY2023
2
States reached
$500k
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 2023.

Science & Tech$1.3MAnimals$470kEnvironment$304kEducation$125kHealth$20k
02FY2023 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 5 grants below total $587,365, the rows itemized in this filing. The $733,951 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $146,586 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k1 grant · $7k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $80k
  • $250k+1 grant · $500k
$25,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$838M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute$500,000
UC Regents of San Diego$39,552
Planet Women$25,000
University of California Santa Cruz$15,813
Resources Legacy Fund$7,000
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 (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CORNELL UNIVERSITY: $25k → 10%Canopy Strategic Partners: $10k → 10%SAN JOSE STATE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $30k → 8%UC Regents of San Diego: $58k → 11%Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: $500k → 12%Conservation Action Fund: $30k → 12%UC SANTA CRUZ: $28k → 13%CA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH: $42k → 14%UC DAVIS VETERINARY MEDICAL TEACHING HOSPITAL: $24k → 16%Oregon Coast Aquarium: $54k → 16%Planet Women: $25k → 10%COLBY COLLEGE: $17k → 12%San Jose State University Foundation: $8k → 8%UC Regents of San Diego: $40k → 11%Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: $500k → 12%Resources Legacy Fund: $7k → 12%UC SANTA CRUZ: $25k → 13%CA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH: $27k → 14%San Jose State University Research Foundation: $8k → 8%MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $96k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ: $20k → 13%CA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH: $15k → 14%MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $86k → 12%University of California Santa Cruz: $16k → 13%Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: $47k → 12%MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $42k → 12%CITY OF MONTEREY: $62k → 12%MONTEREY BAY FISHERIES TRUST: $54k → 12%MONTEREY BAY FISHERIES TRUST: $40k → 12%MONTEREY BAY FISHERIES TRUST: $39k → 12%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.

Grants abroad, by region: $80k on the FY2024 return

Schedule F, as filed: 4 regions, $47k to organizations and $33k to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

East Asia and the Pacific$35k · 44% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: BUILD BRIDGE

North America (Canada and Mexico)$33k · 41% · 2 people

Stated purpose: TO SUPPORT PARTICIPATION IN THE CAPTIVE AND FIELD RESEARCH ON MHI SYMPOSIUM

South America$7k · 9% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: TRAVEL TO CONFERENCE

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$5k · 7% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: TRAVEL COSTS TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
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.
$1.7M · 6 repeat orgs$285k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +67% since the first grant, against +49% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2023, 3 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
7

Total granted

$1.7M
$253k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+67%
+49%

Still filing today

50%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $32k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’21’22’23
EducationAnimalsEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • MB
    Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
    4× · 2017–2023 · $1.3M · revenue +67%
  • MB
    MONTEREY BAY FISHERIES TRUST
    3× · 2017–2019 · $133k · revenue +87%
  • SJ
    SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    3× · 2019–2022 · $25k · revenue +55%

Funded once

  • CO
    CITY OF MONTEREY
    one grant, 2017 · $62k
  • MM
    MARINE MAMMAL CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $54k
  • OREGON COAST AQUARIUM INC
    one grant, 2022 · $54k · revenue +16%
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
The Coral Reef and Marine Science Foundation Inc C/O James Bildner
—
2
Marine Biological Laboratory

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is a world-renowned center for biological discovery and training that is notably affiliated with more than 60 Nobel Prize winners. Research is conducted by full-time faculty as well as hundreds of the…

Science & Tech
3
Schmidt Ocean Institute
Science & Tech
4
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
5
California Academy of Sciences

The academy is a renowned scientific and educational institution with a mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. based in san francisco's golden gate park, it is home to a world-class aquarium,…

Arts & Culture
6
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
7
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
8
The Quebec-Labrador Foundation Inc

The program mission of the quebec-labrador foundation u.s. is defined by a regional component (new england and eastern canada), and an international component, which ties our regional model to a global conservation network. qlf's program…

Philanthropy
9
Lowell Observatory

The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…

Science & Tech
10
California Wildlife Foundation

The foundation works with diverse groups representing many interests to acquire and restore critical wildlife habitat and protecting species

Animals
11
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
12
California Institute for Biodiversity

Create and publish educational materials, conduct professional development, promote awareness, and sponsor research on the spectacular biological diversity of the State of CA.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Jose State University Research Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. 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

10 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. 10 of the 16 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
8/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: $1,271,325 · OtherMonterey Bay Aquarium Research InstituteREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO: $97,361 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGOREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: $88,313 · OtherCSULB: $83,860 · OtherCITY OF MONTEREY: $62,110 · Other+2 more: $64,065 · OtherTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $257,459 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRU…SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $25,123 · EducationSAN JOSE STATE U…Cornell University: $25,000 · EducationCornell Universi…The President and Trustees of Colby College: $17,336 · EducationThe President an…MONTEREY BAY FISHERIES TRUST: $133,080 · AnimalsMONTEREY …OREGON COAST AQUARIUM INC: $54,000 · AnimalsOREGON CO…CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF LAND TRUSTS ACTION FUND: $30,000 · EnvironmentRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $7,000 · EnvironmentPLANET WOMEN: $25,000 · International
Other$1,667,034Education$324,918Animals$187,080Environment$37,000International$25,000

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 budgetMonterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute: $1,271,325 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $257,459 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTEREY BAY FISHERIES TRUST: $133,080 over 3y, 12% of budgetOREGON COAST AQUARIUM INC: $54,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF LAND TRUSTS ACTION FUND: $30,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetSAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $25,123 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANET WOMEN: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $17,336 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $7,000 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.

The Nature ConservancyDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Nature ConservancyVA13.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Nature Conservancy · 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 Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation. 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%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 24%
  • Oregon Coast Aquarium Inc: 24% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 16 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $270k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Monterey Bay Aquarium’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