· Private foundation
Porter Sesnon Foundation
Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2020.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| SANTA CRUZ ANIMAL SHELTER FOUNDATION | $4,000 |
| LAND TRUST OF SC COUNTY | $4,000 |
| SISKIYOU LAND TRUST | $4,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $4,000 |
| ONE WORLD CHILDREN'S FUND | $4,000 |
| ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION | $2,500 |
| MOUNTAIN LION FOUNDATION | $1,000 |
| HOMELESS SERVICE CENTER | $1,000 |
| PAWS | $1,000 |
| SEMPERVIRENS FUND | $1,000 |
| WORLD WILDLIFE FUND | $1,000 |
| ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND | $1,000 |
| PLANNED PARENTHOOD | $1,000 |
| CAPE | $1,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–20) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 95% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
19 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2020, 5 since wound down.
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2020, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- TSTHE SISKIYOU LAND TRUST4× · 2017–2020 · $12k · revenue +663%
- AFANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION2× · 2018–2020 · $8k · revenue +63%
- SCSanta Cruz SPCA and Humane Society3× · 2017–2019 · $7k · revenue +14%
Funded once
- SSSHAKESPEARE SANTA CRUZ NSC GRANTone grant, 2017 · $5k
- CCChristmas Circle Community Parkgraduatedone grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue +57%
- FOFRIENDS OF OLYMPIA STATION INC DBA TANDY BEAL & COMPANYone grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue -9%
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.
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.
The foundation works with diverse groups representing many interests to acquire and restore critical wildlife habitat and protecting species
The Volcan Mountain Foundation's mission is to preserve Volcan Mountain Range in its natural state for all generations.
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…
Protect, manage and preserve lands and wildlife having unique natural resources and cultural qualities within and near the foothills of the sierra nevada range.
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…
The Wildlands Conservancy's dual mission is to preserve the beauty and biodiversity of the earth and to provide programs so that children may know the wonder and joy of nature.
The mission of the Big Sur Land Trust is to inspire love of the land and conservation of our treasured landscapes.
Save mount diablo's mission is to preserve mount diablo's peaks, surrounding foothills, and watersheds; and its sustaining diablo range, through land acquisition and preservation strategies designed to protect the mountain's natural…
To conserve natural resources, agricultural land and open spaces for present and future generations.
Wildlands Network works to reconnect, restore and rewild North America so that life-in all its diversity-can thrive.
How this is measured
15 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. 15 of the 24 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 One World Childrens Fund ↗
- Who funds THE SISKIYOU LAND TRUST ↗
- Who funds Borrego Art Institute ↗
- Who funds ANZA-BORREGO FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Santa Cruz SPCA and Humane Society ↗
- Who funds SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds SEMPERVIRENS FUND ↗
- Who funds Christmas Circle Community Park ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF OLYMPIA STATION INC DBA TANDY BEAL & COMPANY ↗
- Who funds HOUSING MATTERS ↗
- Who funds ANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC ↗
- Who funds Mountain Lion Foundation ↗
- Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC ↗
- Who funds CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds HUMANE FARMING ASSOCIATION ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · American Endowment Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Porter Sesnon Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Porter Sesnon Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Porter Sesnon Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Porter Sesnon 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.
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