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Peggy and Robert Matthews Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Peggy and Robert Matthews 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.

$315k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$400kHuman Services$245kHealth$160kFood & Nutrition$145kYouth Development$80kRecreation & Sports$75kEducation$40kScience & Tech$40kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$4.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VISTA HILL FOUNDATION$40,000
SAN DIEGO PARKS FOUNDATION$25,000
THE SAN DIEGO RIVER PARK FOUNDATION$25,000
YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY$25,000
UNITED WAY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY$20,000
BOYS TO MEN MENTORING NETWORK INC$20,000
ARTSBUSXPRESS$20,000
VETERANS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH COUNTY$20,000
ACCESS YOUTH ACADEMY$20,000
ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO$20,000
OLD GLOBE THEATRE$15,000
MOONLIGHT CULTURAL FOUNDATION$15,000
SERVING SENIORS$15,000
URBAN STREET ANGELS INC$15,000
SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION$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 (FY19–24, $215k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, 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%CATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF SAN DIEGO: $10k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $20k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%ELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $15k → 11%KIDS TURN SAN DIEGO: $10k → 11%HOME OF GUIDING HANDS CORPORATION: $5k → 11%SAN DIEGO OASIS: $20k → 11%SAN DIEGO OASIS: $10k → 11%YWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $25k → 11%SERVING SENIORS: $25k → 11%SERVING SENIORS: $20k → 11%SERVING SENIORS: $15k → 11%STEPPING STONE: $25k → 11%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.

45%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$615k · 11 repeat orgs$765k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
33

Total granted

$615k
$575k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+11%

Still filing today

100%
82%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 40% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $190k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthYouth DevelopmentFood & NutritionEducationOther
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

  • FS
    FEEDING SAN DIEGO
    3× · 2020–2023 · $70k · revenue +29%
  • VH
    VISTA HILL FOUNDATION
    3× · 2020–2024 · $70k · revenue +12%
  • SS
    SERVING SENIORS
    3× · 2020–2024 · $60k · revenue +68%

Funded once

  • B1
    BUILDING 178 PERFORMING ARTS CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue +480%
  • WF
    WORKSHOPS FOR WARRIORS INC
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue +4%
  • SI
    SALK INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
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
San Diego Junior Theatre

San Diego Junior Theatre (Junior Theatre) was incorporated in 1948 as a nonprofit corporation and is the oldest youth theatre in the nation, offering affordable camps, classes, and outreach programs for children ages 3-18; as well as six…

—
2
San Diego Theatres Inc

San Diego Theatres, Inc. (SDTI) is a not-for-profit public benefit corporation established to manage and operate publicly owned performing arts theatres. SDTI was established in 2003 by the San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC),…

Arts & Culture
3
San Diego Housing Federation

The Federation brings together representatives of affordable housing community development corporations with others interested in the development and management of housing for low and moderate income persons in San Diego County to mutually…

Education
4
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
5
San Diego Jewish Academy

San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.

Education
6
San Diego Ballet

Excite, entertain and enrich diverse audiences.

Unclassified
7
The New Childrens Museum

The New Childrens Museum (the Museum) in San Diego is an arts-based childrens museum whose mission is to stimulate imagination, creativity, and critical thinking in children and families through inventive, engaging experiences with…

Arts & Culture
8
San Diego Community Housing Corporation

To increase, preserve and improve quality affordable housing opportunities for working families.

Housing & Shelter
9
Institute of Contemporary Art San Diego

to advance regional contemporary art and artists while fostering cultural equity through access to meaningful art experiences

Arts & Culture
10
San Diego Youth Symphony & Conservatory

Since 1945, San Diego Youth Symphony (SDYS) has served as a catalyst for investing in the future of young people through joyful and transformative music-making experiences. We reach over 2,500 students and families annually throughout San…

—
11
San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council Afl-Cio

The Labor Council offers an avenue for local unions to come together as one group.

—
12
San Diego Municipal Employees Assn

The san diego municipal employees association (sdmea) is dedicated to being a strong and effective advocate for san diego city employees. sdmea is united to improve employees' standard of living and promote their fair treatment by…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Diego Oasis; the most unlike its peers is Veterans Association of North County. 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

48 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. 48 of the 54 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
48/48
Grantees still filing
31/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OLD GLOBE THEATRE: $130,000 · Arts & CultureOLD GLOBE THEATRETHEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATER & ARTS FOUNDATI…OCEANSIDE MUSEUM OF ART: $20,000 · Arts & CultureOCEANSIDE MUSEUM OF ARTARTSBUSXPRESS: $20,000 · Arts & CultureARTSBUSXPRESSTHE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY …MOONLIGHT CULTURAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Arts & CultureTHE PUTNAM FOUNDATION DBA TIMKEN MUSEUM OF ART: $15,000 · Arts & CultureSan Diego Opera Association: $15,000 · Arts & CultureBlindspot Collective: $10,000 · Arts & CultureSERVING SENIORS: $60,000 · Human ServicesSERVING SENIORSELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $50,000 · Human ServicesELDERHELP OF SAN D…SAN DIEGO OASIS: $40,000 · Human ServicesSAN DIEGO OASISYWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $25,000 · Human ServicesYWCA OF SAN DIEGO …NORTH AND SOUTH OF MARKET ADULT DAY HEALTH CORPORATION: $25,000 · Human ServicesNORTH AND SOUTH OF…Kids Turn San Diego: $10,000 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF SAN DIEGO: $10,000 · Human Services+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesSALK INSTITUTE: $25,000 · OtherSALK INSTITUTESAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE INC: $25,000 · OtherSAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE INCUrban League of San Diego County: $20,000 · OtherSan Diego Children's Choir: $20,000 · OtherFREE TO THRIVE: $20,000 · OtherJUST IN TIME: $20,000 · OtherACCESS YOUTH ACADEMY: $20,000 · OtherBoys to Men Mentoring Network Inc: $20,000 · OtherJUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH: $20,000 · OtherMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT: $30,000 · OtherMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECTWORKSHOPS FOR WARRIORS INC: $25,000 · OtherWORKSHOPS FOR WARRIORS INCHOME START INC: $25,000 · OtherHOME START INCSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $20,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $20,000 · OtherVETERANS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH COUNTY: $20,000 · Other+11 more: $130,000 · Other+11 moreFEEDING SAN DIEGO: $70,000 · Food & NutritionFEEDING SAN…MAMA'S KITCHEN: $55,000 · Food & NutritionMAMA'S KITC…JACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $20,000 · Food & NutritionJACOBS & CU…VISTA HILL FOUNDATION: $70,000 · HealthVISTA HIL…Sharp Healthcare Foundation: $20,000 · HealthSharp Hea…Grossmont Hospital Foundation: $20,000 · HealthGrossmont…ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 · HealthALZHEIMER…The San Diego River Park Foundation: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsSan Diego Parks Foundation: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsBUILDING 178 PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $50,000 · Community ImprovementLOGAN HEIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $20,000 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$285,000Human Services$225,000Other$460,000Food & Nutrition$145,000Health$120,000Recreation & Sports$75,000Community Improvement$70,000

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 budgetOLD GLOBE THEATRE: $130,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFEEDING SAN DIEGO: $70,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVISTA HILL FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSERVING SENIORS: $60,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMAMA'S KITCHEN: $55,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetThe San Diego River Park Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetBUILDING 178 PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $50,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetELDERHELP OF SAN DIEGO: $50,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO OASIS: $40,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetTHEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWORKSHOPS FOR WARRIORS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetYWCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetSan Diego Parks Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetHOME START INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH AND SOUTH OF MARKET ADULT DAY HEALTH CORPORATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSAN DIEGO REPERTORY THEATRE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUrban League of San Diego County: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSharp Healthcare Foundation: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOCEANSIDE MUSEUM OF ART: $20,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetACCESS YOUTH ACADEMY: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetJACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSan Diego Children's Choir: $20,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetBoys to Men Mentoring Network Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetVETERANS ASSOCIATION OF NORTH COUNTY: $20,000 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetLOGAN HEIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGrossmont Hospital Foundation: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFREE TO THRIVE: $20,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetARTSBUSXPRESS: $20,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetTHE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMOONLIGHT CULTURAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetOCEAN DISCOVERY INSTITUTE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAUTISM SOCIETY SAN DIEGO INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetTHE PUTNAM FOUNDATION DBA TIMKEN MUSEUM OF ART: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSan Diego Opera Association: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetURBAN STREET ANGELS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBlindspot Collective: $10,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetWomens History Reclamation Project Inc dba Womens Museum of California: $10,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetKids Turn San Diego: $10,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES DIOCESE OF SAN DIEGO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLA JOLLA SYMPHONY AND CHORUS ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetREADING LEGACIES: $10,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOME OF GUIDING HANDS CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN CORPS OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $5,000 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 San Diego Foundat…The Conrad Prebys Fou…The Parker FoundationJewish Community Foun…The Cushman FoundationDavid C Copley Founda…Price Philanthropies …Sempra FoundationSamuel I & John Henry…Walter J & Betty C Za…Rancho Santa Fe Found…The Nordson Corporati…
The San Diego FoundationCA62.8× affinity32 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Diego Foundation · The Conrad Prebys Foundation · The Parker Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego · The Cushman Foundation · David C Copley Foundation · Price Philanthropies Foundation · Sempra Foundation · Samuel I & John Henry Fox Foundation · Walter J & Betty C Zable Foundation · Rancho Santa Fe Foundation · The Nordson Corporation 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 Peggy and Robert Matthews Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Peggy and Robert Matthews 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%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    29report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 Peggy and Robert Matthews Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Peggy and Robert Matthews 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 54 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 Peggy and Robert Matthews’ 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