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Our Little Light Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Our Little Light Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$631k
Granted FY2025still arriving
18
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
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 2025.

Human Services$1.2MYouth Development$756kEducation$755kCrime & Legal$650kHealth$476kHousing & Shelter$455kArts & Culture$200kCivil Rights$160kOther$0
02FY2025 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $226k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $400k
$20,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$9.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Young Center Immigrant Children's R$100,000
The University Foundation at CSUS$100,000
Yolo Crisis Nursery Inc$100,000
Growth Factory$50,000
California CASA$50,000
UC Regents$46,000
Inner-City Arts$25,000
The Eli Home for Abused Children$20,000
Academy STAY$20,000
Union Station Homeless Services$20,000
Standford Sierra Youth Families$20,000
Powerhouse Ministry$15,000
Me-One Foundation$15,000
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sac$15,000
Hopecam Inc$10,000
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 (FY17–25, $894k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 81% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Pride Industries: $55k → 6%Stanford Youth Solutions: $20k → 12%HOPE City Redding: $12k → 14%Yolo Crisis Nursery Inc: $100k → 16%Pride Industries: $30k → 6%Fostering Success and Significance: $10k → 8%A Sense of Home: $25k → 14%Yolo Crisis Nursery Inc: $100k → 16%Pride Industries: $30k → 6%Yolo Crisis Nursery Inc: $100k → 16%Yolo Crisis Nursery Inc: $100k → 16%Stanford Youth Solutions: $20k → 12%PLACER PEOPLE OF FAITH TOGETHER: $22k → 6%Placer People of Faith Together: $20k → 6%Union Station Homeless Services: $20k → 14%The Children's Partnership: $50k → 14%First Star Inc: $25k → 14%First Star Inc: $25k → 14%First Star Inc: $25k → 14%First Star Inc: $25k → 14%First Star Inc: $20k → 14%Academy STAY: $20k → 12%St John's Program for Real Change: $20k → 12%St John's Program for Real Change: $20k → 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.
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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.6M · 28 repeat orgs$1.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

28 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
38

Total granted

$3.6M
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+4%

Still filing today

61%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $290k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationCivil RightsYouth DevelopmentHealthCrime & LegalOther
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

  • CC
    CALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION
    6× · 2018–2025 · $410k · revenue ×26
  • TU
    THE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2023 · $390k · revenue +6%
  • FS
    FIRST STAR INC
    5× · 2018–2024 · $120k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • MI
    MERISTEM INC
    one grant, 2018 · $120k · revenue +4%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • RT
    REACH THE VALLEY
    one grant, 2024 · $66k · revenue -10%
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
Allies for Every Child Inc

All children need a childhood. Allies for Every Child brings together and strengthens families, cultivating conditions for children to succeed in life. (Continues on Schedule O)

Human Services
2
San Francisco Casa

San Francisco CASA transforms the lives of children and youth traumatized and displaced in the foster care and related systems by providing one consistent, caring volunteer advocate, trained to address each childs needs in the court and…

Civil Rights
3
Wayfinder Family Services

The mission of Wayfinder Family Services is to ensure that children, youth and adults facing challenges always have a place to turn. Founded in 1953 as the Foundation for the Junior Blind, the organization initially enabled visually…

Human Services
4
California Alliance of Caregivers

California Alliance of Caregivers represents the voices of relative and non-relative caregivers to promote the well-being of children in foster care. California Alliance of Caregivers provides training information support and advocacy for…

Health
5
Court Appointed Special Advocates

The Sonoma County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program serves abused and neglected children coming before the Juvenile Court of Protection and Rehabilitation Services.

Civil Rights
6
Casa of Solano County

Advocates for abused, neglected and other identified children within the court system, with the belief that every child is entitled to a safe and stable home.

Civil Rights
7
Pathway Family Services Inc

None

Human Services
8
Wellnest Emotional Health & Wellness

Through a holistic approach to emotional well-being, Wellnest offers hope, healing, and opportunity to the children, young adults, families, and communities we serve. Our commitment remains steadfast as we enter our second century of…

Human Services
9
Casa of Placer Yuba and Sutter

We support and empower foster children, at-risk youth, and families in crisis by connecting them with compassionate volunteer advocates who provide hope, guidance, and a pathway to stability and lasting permanency.

Human Services
10
Youth for Change

Youth For Change (YFC) mission is to enhance the well being of children, families, individuals, and communities.

Human Services
11
Sacramento Children's Home

At the sacramento children's home, we are committed to opening doors to the future by maximizing the potential of children and families.

Human Services
12
Child Advocates of Contra Costa County

The court appointed special advocates (casa) program recruits, trains, and supports volunteer advocates to support abused and neglected children during the court process, to help every child find a permanent home and complete their…

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is M F Place Inc; the most unlike its peers is Teams and Dreams Foundation. 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

49 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. 49 of the 77 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/49
Grantees still filing
28/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $265,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientVolunteers of America: $250,000 · OtherVolunteers of AmericaYoung Center Immigrant Children's R: $215,000 · OtherYoung Center Immigrant Children's RUC Regents: $206,000 · OtherUC RegentsBAYVIEW FUTURES FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH WELLNESS: $195,000 · OtherBAYVIEW FUTURES FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH WELLNESSPowerhouse Ministry: $140,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherThe University Foundation at CSUS: $100,000 · OtherCottage Housing Inc: $100,000 · Other+42 more: $1,267,406 · Other+42 moreYolo Crisis Nursery: $400,000 · Human ServicesYolo Crisis NurseryFIRST STAR INC: $120,000 · Human ServicesFIRST STAR INCPRIDE Industries: $115,000 · Human ServicesPRIDE IndustriesTHE CHILDREN'S PARTNERSHIP: $50,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHILDREN'S PART…PLACER PEOPLE OF FAITH TOGETHER: $41,500 · Human ServicesSAINT JOHN'S PROGRAM FOR REAL CHANGE: $40,000 · Human ServicesSTANFORD YOUTH SOLUTIONS dba STANFORD SIERRA YOUTH & FAMILIES: $40,000 · Human Services+5 more: $87,000 · Human Services+5 moreTHE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION: $390,000 · EducationTHE UC DAVIS…MERISTEM INC: $120,000 · EducationMERISTEM INCLOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $30,000 · EducationLOS ANGELES …+1 more: $15,000 · EducationCALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION: $410,000 · Civil RightsCALIFORNIA …CASA OF LOS ANGELES: $100,000 · Civil RightsCASA OF LOS…+1 more: $10,000 · Civil RightsTICKET TO DREAM FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentIMPROVE YOUR TOMORROW INC: $45,000 · Youth DevelopmentSHINE TOGETHER INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentGROWTH FACTORY: $50,000 · Community ImprovementProject Access Inc: $50,000 · Community ImprovementCourt Appointed Special Advocates of Monterey County Inc: $75,000 · Crime & LegalChild Advocates of Nevada County: $10,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$2,838,406Human Services$893,500Education$555,000Civil Rights$520,000Youth Development$115,000Community Improvement$100,000Crime & Legal$85,000

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 budgetCALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION: $410,000 over 6y, 10% of budgetYolo Crisis Nursery: $400,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetTHE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION: $390,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBAYVIEW FUTURES FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH WELLNESS: $195,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetFIRST STAR INC: $120,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetMERISTEM INC: $120,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetPRIDE Industries: $115,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $100,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCourt Appointed Special Advocates of Monterey County Inc: $75,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetREACH THE VALLEY: $66,146 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetCOMPASSION PLANET: $60,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetSIERRA FOREVER FAMILIES: $55,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetKOINONIA FOSTER HOMES INC: $55,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCAMP TO BELONG: $52,500 over 2y, 50% of budgetGROWTH FACTORY: $50,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetUPWARD BOUND HOUSE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetThe Rightway Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetProject Access Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetINNER-CITY ARTS: $50,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S PARTNERSHIP: $50,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetTICKET TO DREAM FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetIMPROVE YOUR TOMORROW INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetPLACER PEOPLE OF FAITH TOGETHER: $41,500 over 2y, 16% of budgetSAINT JOHN'S PROGRAM FOR REAL CHANGE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSTANFORD YOUTH SOLUTIONS dba STANFORD SIERRA YOUTH & FAMILIES: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetA SENSE OF HOME: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetFamilies NOW: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetFEEDING THE FOOTHILLS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThessalonika Family Services Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetUNION STATION HOMELESS SERVICES: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCasa Serena: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSHINE TOGETHER INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WHITTIER INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetM F PLACE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSAFE & SOUND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ME ONE FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetBLACK GIRLS CODE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE CITY REDDING: $12,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetYOUTH ALIVE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S RIGHTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOPECAM INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetChild Advocates of Nevada County: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFAMILY HOUSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GENTLE BARN FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTeams and Dreams Foundation: $3,000 over 1y, 5.3% 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.

  • Who funds CALIFORNIA COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Yolo Crisis Nursery ↗
  • Who funds THE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BAYVIEW FUTURES FKA CENTER FOR YOUTH WELLNESS ↗
  • Who funds FIRST STAR INC ↗
  • Who funds MERISTEM INC ↗
  • Who funds PRIDE Industries ↗
  • Who funds CASA OF LOS ANGELES ↗
  • Who funds Court Appointed Special Advocates of Monterey County Inc ↗
  • Who funds REACH THE VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds COMPASSION PLANET ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA FOREVER FAMILIES ↗
  • Who funds KOINONIA FOSTER HOMES INC ↗
  • Who funds CAMP TO BELONG ↗
  • Who funds GROWTH FACTORY ↗
  • Who funds UPWARD BOUND HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds The Rightway Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Project Access Inc ↗
  • Who funds INNER-CITY ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S PARTNERSHIP ↗
  • Who funds TICKET TO DREAM FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds IMPROVE YOUR TOMORROW INC ↗
  • Who funds PLACER PEOPLE OF FAITH TOGETHER ↗
  • Who funds SAINT JOHN'S PROGRAM FOR REAL CHANGE ↗

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.

Kaiser Foundation Hos…Teichert FoundationSacramento Region Com…In-N-Out Burgers Foun…Kelly FoundationCalifornia Foundation…Placer Community Foun…The California Endowm…Conrad N Hilton Found…Ticket to Dream Found…Sutter Valley Hospita…Mufg Union Bank Found…
Kaiser Foundation HospitalsCA34.5× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Teichert Foundation · Sacramento Region Community Foundation · In-N-Out Burgers Foundation · Kelly Foundation · California Foundation for Stronger Communities · Placer Community Foundation · The California Endowment · Conrad N Hilton Foundation · Ticket to Dream Foundation · Sutter Valley Hospitals · Mufg Union Bank Foundation Ag

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 77 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 Our Little Light’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