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Natalie Orfalea Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Natalie Orfalea Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
29
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$125k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$1.5MEnvironment$1.4MArts & Culture$738kHealth$670kInternational$383kHousing & Shelter$250kEducation$185kFood & Nutrition$177kOther$0
02FY2024 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $345k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $750k
$25,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DIGNITY MOVES$124,798
SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION$120,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$111,752
ISLA VISTA YOUTH PROJECT$75,000
SANTA BARBARA COUNTY FOOD ACTION NETWORK$66,500
UCSB FOUNDATION$51,775
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$50,362
FREEDOM 4 YOUTH$50,000
CARPINTERIA CHILDRENS PROJECT$50,000
SB EDUCATION FOUNDATION$50,000
UCSB FOUNDATION$49,689
GRIST MAGAZINE$49,681
DOCTORS WITHOUT WALLS - SB STREET MEDICINE$40,000
BLUE DOT INSTITUTE$26,092
SHOWERS OF BLESSINGS$25,000
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 (FY21–24, $197k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ONE HEART WORLDWIDE: $25k → 11%ONE HEART WORLDWIDE: $25k → 11%SANTA BARBARA COUNTY FOOD ACTION NETWORK: $67k → 14%FAMILY THERAPY INSTITUTE OF SANTA BARBARA: $10k → 14%FAMILY THERAPY INSTITUTE OF SANTA BARBARA: $10k → 14%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $50k → 14%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $10k → 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

WA
MT
MN
NY
OR
OH
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
SC
DC
AL
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 14% of Natalie Orfalea Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 63% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 66%.

Natalie Orfalea Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

49%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.6M · 30 repeat orgs$2.7M to everyone else

30 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2024, 18 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
63

Total granted

$2.6M
$2.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+27%

Still filing today

70%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 61% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $349k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentArts & CultureHealthEducationInternationalHuman ServicesOther
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

  • AF
    Audacious Foundation
    5× · 2017–2021 · $329k · revenue +113%
  • DF
    DENVER FILM SOCIETY
    2× · 2019–2021 · $213k · revenue +180%
  • D
    DIGNITYMOVES
    2× · 2022–2024 · $175k · revenue ×11

Funded once

  • NC
    NATURE CONSERVANCY OF VIRGINIA
    one grant, 2022 · $246k
  • UW
    UNITED WAY INC
    one grant, 2020 · $155k · revenue -16%
  • UF
    UTAH FILM CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $150k · revenue +54%
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 Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
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
3
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
4
Climate Breakthrough Inc

To launch breakthrough climate mitigation efforts by identifying, supporting, and unleashing innovative leaders with transformative strategies.

Human Services
5
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc

Connect conservationists and supporters, deploy resources to the field, provide conservationists with tools and support they need to succeed.

Animals
6
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
7
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
8
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
9
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats through science and outreach.

Environment
10
Amazon Watch Inc

To protect the rainforest and advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with Indigenous communities in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability, and the preservation of the Amazon Basin's…

Environment
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
International Biomedical Research Alliance

Our mission is to invest in and accelerate the development of the most promising future leaders in biomedical research with global impact.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Santa Barbara Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Audacious Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

72 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 72 of the 111 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
70/72
Grantees still filing
42/72
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $261,752 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYNATURE CONSERVANCY OF VIRGINIA: $246,477 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCY OF VIRGINIAUCSB FOUNDATION: $173,447 · OtherUCSB FOUNDATIONSHOWERS OF BLESSINGS: $145,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCY TND DANGERMOND: $137,776 · OtherKABOOM INC: $159,000 · Other+62 more: $1,985,690 · Other+62 moreSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $841,875 · PhilanthropySANTA BARBARA FOUNDATIONAudacious Foundation: $328,942 · PhilanthropyAudacious FoundationUNITED WAY INC: $155,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY INCPARK COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $71,538 · PhilanthropyIMPACTASSETSINC: $50,000 · PhilanthropyThe Pachamama Alliance: $100,000 · EnvironmentThe Pacha…COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $95,834 · EnvironmentCOMMUNITY…WHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $87,000 · EnvironmentWHITE BUF…Grist Magazine Inc: $74,681 · EnvironmentGrist Mag…Leading from Within: $55,000 · EnvironmentLeading f…GREATER YELLOWSTONE COALITION: $50,000 · EnvironmentGREATER Y…LEGACY PHILANTHROPY WORKS: $36,000 · EnvironmentLEGACY PH…BLUEDOT INSTITUTE INC: $26,092 · EnvironmentSAVE THE YELLOWSTONE GRIZZLY: $20,000 · Environment+4 more: $20,500 · EnvironmentDENVER FILM SOCIETY: $212,500 · Arts & CultureUTAH FILM CENTER: $150,000 · Arts & CultureSundance Institute: $50,000 · Arts & CultureSANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureFILM INDEPENDENT: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $25,500 · Arts & CultureDoctors Without Walls Santa Barbara Street Medicine: $116,500 · HealthSANSUM CLINIC: $100,000 · HealthSANTA BARBARA NEIGHBORHOOD CLINICS: $50,000 · HealthMAYO CLINIC: $50,000 · HealthGWENDOLYN STRONG FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthGLOBAL HEALTH CORPS INC: $30,466 · HealthWORLD TELEHEALTH INITIATIVE: $25,000 · HealthLivingston Healthcare: $25,000 · HealthWomen's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project: $25,000 · HealthIsla Vista Youth Projects Inc dba LEAP LearnEngageAdvocatePartner: $75,000 · EducationFREEDOM 4 YOUTH: $50,000 · EducationCARPINTERIA CHILDREN'S PROJECT: $50,000 · EducationTHE TANDANA FOUNDATION INC: $49,371 · EducationNATURE TRACK FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · EducationFARM TO SCHOOL OF PARK COUNTY: $10,000 · EducationDIGNITYMOVES: $174,798 · Housing & ShelterGOOD SAMARITAN SHELTER: $50,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$3,109,142Philanthropy$1,447,355Environment$565,107Arts & Culture$483,000Health$471,966Education$244,371Housing & Shelter$224,798

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 budgetSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $841,875 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetAudacious Foundation: $328,942 over 5y, 10% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $261,752 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER FILM SOCIETY: $212,500 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetDIGNITYMOVES: $174,798 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetKABOOM INC: $159,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY INC: $155,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUTAH FILM CENTER: $150,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetDoctors Without Walls Santa Barbara Street Medicine: $116,500 over 4y, 11% of budgetThe Pachamama Alliance: $100,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSANSUM CLINIC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $95,834 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetWHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $87,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetHOSPICE OF SANTA BARBARA INC: $80,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetIsla Vista Youth Projects Inc dba LEAP LearnEngageAdvocatePartner: $75,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGrist Magazine Inc: $74,681 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetPARK COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $71,538 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF BALLONA WETLANDS: $70,000 over 3y, 8.5% of budgetSANTA BARBARA COUNTY FOOD ACTION NETWORK: $66,500 over 1y, 26% of budgetClimate Foundation: $62,500 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetAFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $60,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetLeading from Within: $55,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetTHE SYNERGOS INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSANTA BARBARA NEIGHBORHOOD CLINICS: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetIMPACTASSETSINC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER YELLOWSTONE COALITION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVOTER REGISTRATION PROJECT: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM 4 YOUTH: $50,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONE HEART WORLDWIDE: $50,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSundance Institute: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCARPINTERIA CHILDREN'S PROJECT: $50,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetGWENDOLYN STRONG FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetGOOD SAMARITAN SHELTER: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE TANDANA FOUNDATION INC: $49,371 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEGACY PHILANTHROPY WORKS: $36,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetGLOBAL HEALTH CORPS INC: $30,466 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBLUEDOT INSTITUTE INC: $26,092 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetSANTA BARBARA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWORLD TELEHEALTH INITIATIVE: $25,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetEDEN PEOPLEPLANET: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLivingston Healthcare: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWomen's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

Santa Barbara Foundat…Hutton Foundation Dba…James S Bower Foundat…Manitou FundMosher FoundationWilliams-Corbett Foun…Ann Jackson Family Fo…Towbes FoundationG a Fowler Family Fou…Women's Fund of Santa…Alice Tweed Tuohy Fou…Santa Barbara Cottage…
Santa Barbara FoundationCA49.1× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Santa Barbara Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · James S Bower Foundation · Manitou Fund · Mosher Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · Towbes Foundation · G a Fowler Family Foundation · Women's Fund of Santa Barbara · Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation · Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

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 Natalie Orfalea Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Natalie Orfalea Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%2%8%17%30%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
    2get no government money at all
    18report 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.

    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 111 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 Natalie Orfalea’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