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Otter Cove Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Otter Cove 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.

$325k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$100k
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.

Animals$1.3MEducation$890kHuman Services$145kEnvironment$100kRecreation & Sports$100kArts & Culture$50kFood & Nutrition$25kPhilanthropy$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $300k
$100,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$9.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STEVENSON SCHOOL$100,000
The Marine Mammal Center$100,000
Think Wild$100,000
Community Foundation for Monterey C$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 (FY18–23, $145k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 83% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%Animal Assisted Happiness: $10k → 8%XENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $30k → 9%Animal Assisted Happiness: $5k → 8%XENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $25k → 9%Animal Assisted Happiness: $5k → 8%XENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $25k → 9%Animal Assisted Happiness: $5k → 8%XENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $20k → 9%XENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $10k → 9%XENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $10k → 9%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.6M · 12 repeat orgs$75k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
3

Total granted

$2.6M
$50k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
-6%

Still filing today

83%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k 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
AnimalsEducationHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEnvironmentOther
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

  • TW
    Think Wild
    7× · 2018–2024 · $700k · revenue +620% · 45% of their budget
  • TM
    THE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER
    5× · 2019–2024 · $400k · revenue +22%
  • RL
    ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON SCHOOL
    3× · 2017–2024 · $300k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • MO
    MEALS ON WHEELS OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +26%
  • CO
    California Ocean Science Trust
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue -75%
  • PO
    PEACE OF MIND DOG RESCUE
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue -6%
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
Mendocino Coast Humane Society

Caring for homeless animals, and finding homes for them through pet adoptions.

Animals
2
Marin Humane Society

Marin humane transforms lives through exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. every day, marin humane inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals.

Animals
3
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
—
4
The California Wildlife Center

The california wildlife center (cwc) takes responsibility for the protection of all native wildlife through rehabilitiation, education and conservation. as the los angeles area's premier wildlife medical care and rehabilitation facility,…

Health
5
Monterey Bay Horsemanship & Therapeutic Center

Providing horse based therapy for handicapped and developmentally disabled adults and children.

Human Services
6
Rancho Coastal Humane Society

See schedule orancho coastal is dedicated to the rescue and shelter of abandoned companion animals. it encourages adoptions into loving homes and provides educational and community outreach programs designed to enhance the human-animal…

Animals
7
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
8
California Coastkeeper dba California Coastkeeper Alliance

California Coastkeeper Alliance unites Waterkeeper programs statewide to fight for swimmable, fishable, and drinkable waters for all Californians.

Environment
9
Sage Compassion for Animals

We provide financial assistance for veterinary care to help companion animals in crisis and educate communities about ways to prevent and reduce illness.

Animals
10
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
11
Pet Orphans of Southern California

In addition to rescue and adoption, pet orphans provides a wide range of services including education, medical/financial, spay/neuter, and training assistance.

Animals
12
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy

To conserve lands for recreational, educational, ecological, agricultural, scenic & open space opportunities. We develop & maintain public access ways & trails to the ocean, rivers & other natural or scenic features along coastal Mendocino…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Rangeland Trust; the most unlike its peers is Think Wild. 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

13 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. 13 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
10/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Think Wild: $700,000 · AnimalsThink WildTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $400,000 · AnimalsTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTERSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for Monterey County: $222,000 · AnimalsSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for Mon…+1 more: $5,000 · AnimalsROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON SCHOOL: $300,000 · EducationROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON…UC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION: $200,000 · EducationUC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATI…SWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE: $40,000 · EducationSWEET BRIAR INSTITUTEALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL DAY SCHOOL: $350,000 · OtherALL SAINTS EPISCOPAL D…Cal Polytechnic State University: $100,000 · OtherCal Polytechnic State …CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $50,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE…Community Foundation for Monterey C: $25,000 · OtherXENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $120,000 · Human ServicesAnimal Assisted Happiness Inc: $25,000 · Human ServicesCALIFORNIA RANGELAND TRUST: $100,000 · Food & NutritionMEALS ON WHEELS OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA INC: $25,000 · Food & NutritionCalifornia Ocean Science Trust: $20,000 · Environment
Animals$1,327,000Education$540,000Other$525,000Human Services$145,000Food & Nutrition$125,000Environment$20,000

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 budgetThink Wild: $700,000 over 7y, 45% of budgetTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $400,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON SCHOOL: $300,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSociety for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for Monterey County: $222,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetUC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetXENOPHON THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $120,000 over 6y, 7.8% of budgetCALIFORNIA RANGELAND TRUST: $100,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER: $50,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSWEET BRIAR INSTITUTE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAnimal Assisted Happiness Inc: $25,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetCalifornia Ocean Science Trust: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPEACE OF MIND DOG RESCUE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Greater Houston Commu…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…Paypal Charitable Giv…Donor Advised Charita…The Bank of America C…National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX12.4× affinity4 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Otter Cove Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Otter Cove Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Think Wild: 7% of 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 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-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

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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