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Morrison Institute for Decentralism at a glance

· Private foundation

Morrison Institute for Decentralism

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.

$12k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its 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, FY2024 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$10kEnvironment$3kFood & Nutrition$2kHealth$2kPhilanthropy$504Human Services$500Community Improvement$258Crime & Legal$250
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $2k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$500
Median grant
1
States reached
$54k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ART OF ELYSIUM$10,000
SANTA BARBARA BIRTH CENTER$1,000
FOUNDATION FOR LIVING BEAUTY$500
ONE THREAD COLLECTIVE$258
CASA OF SANTA BARABARA COUNTY$250
UNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY$100
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 (FY24–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%ART OF ELYSIUM: $10k → 14%SANTA BARBARA BIRTH CENTER: $1k → 14%NATIONAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION: $250 → 13%TWIN HEARTS: $2k → 12%PROJECT BIOME INC: $267 → 8%FOUNDATION FOR LIVING BEAUTY: $500 → 14%ONE THREAD COLLECTIVE: $258 → 14%CASA OF SANTA BARABARA COUNTY: $250 → 14%CALM INC: $500 → 14%COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $450 → 14%UNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC: $154 → 14%GANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $2k → 14%UNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY: $100 → 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 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 Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
2
Charlotte Maxwell Clinic

To provide San Francisco Bay Area low-income women with cancer the opportunity for improved health outcomes and quality of life by providing free access to compassionate, integrative care and wrap-around support.

Unclassified
3
Northern Santa Barbara County United Way

Nsbcuw is organized to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities in northern santa barbara county, california. nsbcuw works with individuals and organizations to identify and resolve pressing community issues through its…

Philanthropy
4
Santa Barbara Foundation

The mission of the santa barbara foundation (sbf) is to mobilize collective wisdom and philanthropic capital to build empathetic, inclusive and resilient communities.

Philanthropy
5
Womens Cancer Resource Center

The Womens Cancer Resource Center improves equitable access to cancer information, support and care.

Unclassified
6
Banyan Tree Women's Collective

Banyan Tree Women's Collective is dedicated to improving access to holistic health and wellness services for all. Serving the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula and beyond, we offer expert-led programs in nutrition, movement, spirit, and…

—
7
The Birth Center

The birth center dba lifecycle wellness and birth center is an independent non-profit organization and free-standing, out-of-hospital birth center. our team of midwives and nurse-practitioners provide empowering gynecology and…

—
8
Fund for Santa Barbara Inc

Provide cash grants and free consulting to grassroots organizations in santa barbara county.

Philanthropy
9
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

To conserve native plants and habitats for the health and well-being of people and our planet.

Environment
10
Origins Council

Origins council is dedicated to sustainable rural economic development within cannabis producing regions, and establishing nationally and internationally recognized, legally defensible, standards-based, geographic indication systems for…

Public Benefit
11
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
12
Work on Climate

Supporting industry transformation towards climate-positive and make green careers transitions and driving the adoption of green workforce development practices broadly.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Environmental Council; the most unlike its peers is One Thread Collective. 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 12 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
4/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE ART OF ELYSIUM: $10,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ART OF ELYSIUMGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $2,400 · OtherGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLANDTWIN HEARTS: $2,000 · OtherTWIN HEARTSCASA OF SANTA BARABARA COUNTY: $250 · OtherCASA OF SANTA BARABARA COUNTYTHE SANTA BARBARA BIRTH CENTER: $1,000 · HealthTHE SANTA…THE FOUNDATION FOR LIVING BEAUTY DBA LIVING BEAUTY CANCER FOUNDATION: $500 · HealthTHE FOUND…UNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC: $254 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION INC: $250 · PhilanthropyCALM INC: $500 · Crime & LegalCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $450 · EnvironmentPROJECT BIOME INC: $267 · Food & NutritionONE THREAD COLLECTIVE: $258 · International
Arts & Culture$10,000Other$4,650Health$1,500Philanthropy$504Crime & Legal$500Environment$450Food & Nutrition$267International$258

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $2,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALM INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT BIOME INC: $267 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONE THREAD COLLECTIVE: $258 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC: $254 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION INC: $250 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 Desantis Foundati…Tony and Kyra Rogers …The Little One Founda…Towbes FoundationWilliams-Corbett Foun…Santa Barbara Foundat…California Community …Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
The Desantis FoundationCA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Desantis Foundation · Tony and Kyra Rogers Foundation · The Little One Foundation · Towbes Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Santa Barbara Foundation · California Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Morrison Institute for Decentralism funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Morrison Institute for Decentralism. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report 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 12 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 Morrison Institute for Decentralism’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