Skip to content
Paul L Wattis Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Paul L Wattis Foundation

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.

$353k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$113k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$1.5MEducation$338kHealth$215kCrime & Legal$60kHuman Services$31kInternational$30kPhilanthropy$25kReligion$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $8k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $133k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $213k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$5.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
California College of the Arts$112,500
Sweetwater Music Hall$50,000
The Dry Dock Corporation$50,000
The Salvation Army - Golden State Division$31,000
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco$22,400
Trisha Brown Dance Company$20,000
Transit Books$20,000
Pacific Legal Foundation$10,000
San Benito County Heritage Foundation$10,000
The Swedenborgian Church$10,000
Hazel Hawkins Hospital Foundation$10,000
Hearst Castle Preservation Foundation$5,000
Little Village Foundation$2,500
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 (FY21–25, $100k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%The Dry Dock Corporation: $50k → 10%Dry Doc Corp: $50k → 10%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.

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 12 repeat orgs$945k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
20

Total granted

$1.3M
$746k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+4%

Still filing today

75%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 44% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $199k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHealthHuman ServicesCrime & LegalEnvironmentOther
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

  • SM
    SWEETWATER MUSIC HALL INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $250k · revenue ×11
  • CP
    CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2022 · $125k · revenue +41%
  • CO
    CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS
    4× · 2020–2025 · $122k · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • TG
    The Grabhorn Institute & Arion Press
    one grant, 2024 · $100k
  • AC
    AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue -24%
  • UO
    University of California Regents
    one grant, 2023 · $89k
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 Stanford Theatre Foundation
—
2
California Institute of Contemporary Art
—
3
Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco

The asian art museum celebrates, preserves, and promotes asian and asian american art and cultures for local and global audiences. we provide a dynamic forum for exchanging ideas, inviting collaboration, and fueling imagination to deepen…

Arts & Culture
4
Monterey Museum of Art

The monterey museum of art cultivates curiosity in the visual arts and engages community with the diversity of california art - past, present, and future.

Arts & Culture
5
San Francisco Architectural Heritage

The Organizations primary impact is to preserve and enhance San Franciscos unique architectural and cultural identity.

Arts & Culture
6
Armand Hammer Museum of Art and Cultural Center Inc

The hammer museum at ucla believes in the promise of art and ideas to illuminate our lives and build a more just world.

Arts & Culture
7
Art Foundation
Arts & Culture
8
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
9
San Francisco Art Studio Foundation
—
10
Fisher Art Foundation
Philanthropy
11
San Francisco Performances Inc

SFP presents internationally acclaimed and emerging performing artists, introduces innovative programs, and builds new and diversified audiences for the arts through education and outreach activities.

Arts & Culture
12
San Francisco Opera Association

We believe opera is a uniquely compelling, entertaining and emotionally thrilling art form. our mission is to bring together growing audiences to experience opera's transformative power.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is University of San Francisco; the most unlike its peers is Little Village 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

25 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. 25 of the 38 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/25
Grantees still filing
15/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SAN FRANCISCO JAZZ ORGANIZATION: $325,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO JAZZ ORGANIZATIONSWEETWATER MUSIC HALL INC: $250,000 · Arts & CultureSWEETWATER MUSIC HALL INCCORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $122,400 · Arts & CultureCORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMSAMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATIONMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $75,000 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ARTMINNESOTA STREET PROJECT FOUNDATION: $60,000 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA STREET PROJECT FOUNDATIONGRABHORN INSTITUTE: $50,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $57,500 · Arts & Culture+4 moreUC Berkeley Foundation: $110,000 · OtherUC Berkeley FoundationThe Grabhorn Institute & Arion Press: $100,000 · OtherThe Grabhorn Institute & Arion…LACMA - Museum Associates: $100,000 · OtherLACMA - Museum AssociatesUniversity of California Regents: $89,250 · OtherUniversity of California Regen…UC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive: $61,300 · OtherUC Berkeley Art Museum & Pacif…The Salvation Army - Golden State Division: $31,000 · OtherHISPANICS IN PHILANTHROPY: $25,000 · Other+10 more: $90,500 · Other+10 moreCALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 · EducationCALIFORNIA POLYT…CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: $112,500 · EducationCALIFORNIA COLLE…MARIN ACADEMY: $50,000 · EducationMARIN ACADEMYUniversity of San Francisco: $50,000 · EducationUniversity of Sa…DRY DOCK CORPORATION: $100,000 · Human ServicesCALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthHazel Hawkins Hospital Foundation: $35,000 · HealthPacific Legal Foundation: $60,000 · Crime & LegalAMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID: $30,000 · InternationalSan Benito County Heritage Foundation: $10,000 · Environment
Arts & Culture$1,039,900Other$607,050Education$337,500Human Services$100,000Health$85,000Crime & Legal$60,000International$30,000Environment$10,000

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 budgetSAN FRANCISCO JAZZ ORGANIZATION: $325,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetSWEETWATER MUSIC HALL INC: $250,000 over 5y, 19% of budgetCALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $122,400 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS: $112,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATRE FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetDRY DOCK CORPORATION: $100,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetMETROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA STREET PROJECT FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetPacific Legal Foundation: $60,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMARIN ACADEMY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUniversity of San Francisco: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGRABHORN INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetHazel Hawkins Hospital Foundation: $35,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetAMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHISPANICS IN PHILANTHROPY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSan Benito County Heritage Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetHEARING AND SPEECH CENTER OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetE TOWN: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLittle Village Foundation: $7,500 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetHEARST CASTLE PRESERVATION FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetASPEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 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.

Marin Community Found…The San Francisco Fou…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Marin Community FoundationCA12.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Marin Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Paul L Wattis Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Paul L Wattis Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Paul L Wattis Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Paul L Wattis Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 38 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 Paul L Wattis’ 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