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Peninsula Open Space Trust at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Peninsula Open Space Trust

Post protects open space on the peninsula and in the south bay for the benefit of all.

$9.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$5.3M
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.

Environment$19MRecreation & Sports$5.3MPublic Benefit$4.7MHousing & Shelter$2.9MEducation$484kCommunity Improvement$102kFood & Nutrition$69kArts & Culture$51kOther$0
02FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 24 grants below total $6,466,125, the rows itemized in this filing. The $9,209,125 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $2,743,000 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $197k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $475k
  • $250k+2 grants · $5.8M
$13,837
Median grant
2
States reached
$374M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COUNTY OF SAN MATEO PARKS DEPARTMENT$5,265,188
THE CONSERVATION FUND$500,000
CLIMATE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES$185,000
SANTA CLARA VALLEY OPEN SPACE AUTHORITY$100,000
SAN MATEO RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICT$80,000
GREEN FOOTHILLS$60,000
AMAH MUTSUN LAND TRUST$50,000
TOGETHER BAY AREA$35,000
SANTA CLARA VALLEY HABITAT AGENCY$25,000
CALIFORNIA COUNCIL OF LAND TRUSTS$25,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA DAVIS$15,000
MUWEKMA OHLONE PRESERVATION FOUNDATION THE$13,837
SAVED BY NATURE$13,000
CANOPY$10,500
PUENTE DE LA COSTA SUR$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 (FY23–25, $223k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%CLIMATE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES: $185k → 8%NUESTRA CASA DE EAST PALO ALTO: $10k → 8%NUESTRA CASA DE EAST PALO ALTO: $10k → 8%CLIMATE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES: $10k → 8%CLIMATE RESILIENT COMMUNITIES: $8k → 8%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.

56%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18M · 25 repeat orgs$14M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +84% since the first grant, against +47% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
14

Total granted

$18M
$8.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+84%
+47%

Still filing today

76%
79%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 10% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5.8M went to new ones.

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

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CultureRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEmploymentOther
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

  • SF
    SEMPERVIRENS FUND
    4× · 2017–2025 · $2.4M · revenue +180%
  • GF
    Green Foothills Foundation dba Green Foothills
    3× · 2021–2025 · $414k · revenue +61%
  • CF
    Committee for Green Foothills Action
    3× · 2017–2020 · $285k · revenue +43%

Funded once

  • CO
    CITY OF SAN JOSE
    one grant, 2020 · $4.7M
  • ST
    SAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUEgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $2.0M · revenue +47%
  • WH
    WILDLIFE HERITAGE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $869k · revenue +65%
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
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
2
The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County

To conserve natural resources, agricultural land and open spaces for present and future generations.

Environment
3
Placer Land Trust

Placer Land Trust works with willing landowners and conservation partners to permanently protect and care for natural and agricultural lands in Placer County for current and future generations.

Environment
4
Tuolumne River Preservation Trust dba Yosemite Rivers Alliance

At Yosemite Rivers Alliance, we unite conservation and community to protect and restore the three rivers that ?ow through the Yosemite Regionthe Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced.

—
5
CalWild

The California Wilderness Coalition protects the natural landscapes that make California unique, providing clean air and water, a home to wildlife, and a place for recreation and spiritual renewal.

—
6
John Muir Land Trust prev Muir Heritage Land Trust

The vitality of open spaces is essential to the health of our earth, air, water, native plants, and animals. Our goal is to ensure that the beauty, diversity, and fullness of our wild lands continue to enrich and sustain all generations of…

Environment
7
California Wildlife Foundation

The foundation works with diverse groups representing many interests to acquire and restore critical wildlife habitat and protecting species

Animals
8
Santa Clara River Conservancy

The Santa Clara River Conservancy represents the diverse interests of the Santa Clara River, from the flood plain to the highest tributaries, and seeks to secure, sustain, and manage significant lands and waters that provide habitat for…

Environment
9
Chile-California Council

The Chile-California Council is a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to developing and promoting joint endeavors and cooperative relations between Chile and California, as well as individuals, legal entities and other institutions in…

International
10
California Institute for Biodiversity

Create and publish educational materials, conduct professional development, promote awareness, and sponsor research on the spectacular biological diversity of the State of CA.

Education
11
Shasta Land Trust

Conserve the beauty, character, and diversity of significant lands in far northern california. currently shasta land trust holds conservation easements that permanently protect about 66,000 acres of land.

Environment
12
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Land Trust of Santa Cruz County; the most unlike its peers is La Honda Educational 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

35 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. 35 of the 47 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/35
Grantees still filing
26/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SANTA CLARA VALLEY HABITAT AGENCY: $6,722,026 · OtherSANTA CLARA VALLEY HABITAT AGENCYCOUNTY OF SAN MATEO PARKS DEPARTMENT: $5,265,188 · OtherCOUNTY OF SAN MATEO PARKS DEPARTMENTCITY OF SAN JOSE: $4,660,000 · OtherCITY OF SAN JOSESANTA CLARA VALLEY OPEN SPACE AUTHORITY: $4,633,500 · OtherSANTA CLARA VALLEY OPEN SPACE AUTHORITYMIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT: $1,646,350 · OtherMIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT+12 more: $1,447,712 · Other+12 moreSEMPERVIRENS FUND: $2,445,990 · EnvironmentSEMPERVIRENS FUNDSAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: $2,000,000 · EnvironmentSAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUEWILDLIFE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $869,040 · EnvironmentWILDLIFE HERITAGE FOUNDATI…THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $500,000 · EnvironmentTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NO…THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $300,000 · EnvironmentSONOMA LAND TRUST: $300,000 · EnvironmentAmah Mutsun Land Trust: $265,243 · Environment+12 more: $718,761 · Environment+12 moreClimate Resilient Communities: $202,500 · Human ServicesNuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $20,000 · Human ServicesPUENTE DE LA COSTA SUR: $40,000 · Arts & CultureEPACENTER: $40,000 · Arts & CultureMuwekma Ohlone Tribe Inc: $22,500 · Arts & CultureMUWEKMA OHLONE PRESERVATION FOUNDATION: $13,837 · Arts & CultureChopsticks Alley Art: $5,000 · Arts & CultureSAN MATEO COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsSilicon Valley Bicycle Coalition: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsPIE RANCH: $21,000 · EmploymentPESCADERO EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $19,500 · Education
Other$24,374,776Environment$7,399,034Human Services$222,500Arts & Culture$121,337Recreation & Sports$25,000Employment$21,000Education$19,500

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 budgetSEMPERVIRENS FUND: $2,445,990 over 4y, 16% of budgetSAVE THE REDWOODS LEAGUE: $2,000,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetWILDLIFE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $869,040 over 1y, 18% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $500,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGreen Foothills Foundation dba Green Foothills: $413,750 over 3y, 13% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $300,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmah Mutsun Land Trust: $265,243 over 6y, 2.9% of budgetCALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF RESOURCE CONSERVATION DISTRICTS: $225,250 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetClimate Resilient Communities: $202,500 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetCalifornia Council of Land Trusts: $147,675 over 7y, 9.5% of budgetCoastside Land Trust: $90,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetTOGETHER BAY AREA: $85,000 over 5y, 4.8% of budgetPUENTE DE LA COSTA SUR: $40,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetEPACENTER: $40,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetMULTIPLIER: $37,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSAVED BY NATURE: $33,000 over 3y, 4.7% of budgetGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMuwekma Ohlone Tribe Inc: $22,500 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetPIE RANCH: $21,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetCanopy: $20,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetSAN MATEO COUNTY PARKS AND RECREATION FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetNuestra Casa de East Palo Alto: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetPESCADERO EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $19,500 over 3y, 5.9% of budgetLAND TRUST OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $19,136 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSAN BENITO AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUST: $15,700 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetNETWORK FOR GOOD: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSilicon Valley Bicycle Coalition: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetChopsticks Alley Art: $5,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetLAND TRUST ALLIANCE INC: $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 David and Lucile …Silicon Valley Commun…Resources Legacy FundGordon E and Betty I …Sand Hill FoundationTomkat Ranch Educatio…The San Francisco Fou…Atkinson FoundationBothin FoundationPatagoniaorgCommunity Foundation …The Keith Campbell Fo…
The David and Lucile Packard FoundationCA33.8× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Resources Legacy Fund · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Sand Hill Foundation · Tomkat Ranch Educational Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Atkinson Foundation · Bothin Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment Inc

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 Peninsula Open Space Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Peninsula Open Space Trust. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 47 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 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 Peninsula Open Space’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