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Reach-A-Star Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Reach-A-Star 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.

$33k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$20k
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.

Education$143kArts & Culture$38kHealth$3kEnvironment$2kPhilanthropy$2kHuman Services$2k
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $20k
$2,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$641k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OAKLAND SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS$20,000
SAFE HOUSE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS$5,000
KHAN ACADEMY INC$2,000
LAS TRAMPAS SCHOOL INC$2,000
DONORSCHOOSEORG$2,000
KQED INC$2,000
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 (FY25–25, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%LAS TRAMPAS SCHOOL INC: $2k → 9%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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$135k · 7 repeat orgs$52k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +48% since the first grant, against +32% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
11

Total granted

$135k
$45k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+32%

Still filing today

100%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k 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
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentOther
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

  • OS
    OAKLAND SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS
    6× · 2020–2025 · $85k · revenue +85%
  • D
    DONORSCHOOSEORG
    5× · 2020–2025 · $22k · revenue +1%
  • PA
    PRODUCERS ASSOCIATES
    4× · 2020–2023 · $11k · revenue +151%

Funded once

  • JE
    Jefferson Elementary PTA
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue +6%
  • RE
    REDDING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $9k
  • ME
    Movement Exchangegraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $8k · revenue +54%
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 Francisco High School of the Arts

San Francisco Arts and Science Academy (ASA) provides TK5 grade students with a strong foundation in the arts, language, math, and science, fostering creativity, curiosity, and character development. Our bilingual, hands-on curriculum…

Education
2
Menlowe Ballet

Menlowe ballet performs works that impact audiences through clean, fresh, and innovative choreography ranging from cultural to contemporary works. it offers a professional performing opportunity to elite students from the award winning,…

Arts & Culture
3
Berkeley Ballet Theater Inc

Berkeley Ballet Theater offers the highest quality dance training from beginning to professional levels, supports a preprofessional youth company, introduces ballet to young audiences through an outreach program, is committed to access,…

Arts & Culture
4
Los Angeles Performance Practice

As creative producers, we are devoted to the production and presentation of groundbreaking experiences in contemporary performance that use innovative approaches to collaboration, technology, and social engagement. As a service…

Arts & Culture
5
Movimiento De Arte Y Cultura Latino Americana De San Jose Incorporated

MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana is an inclusive contemporary arts space grounded in the Chicano/Latino experience that incubates new visual, literary and performance art in order to engage people in civic dialogue and…

Arts & Culture
6
Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco

PPS-SF's mission is to promote the fundamental value of public education and pursue the success of every public school by sharing knowledge, bridging communities, and informing policy.

—
7
San Francisco Arts Education Project

The San Francisco Arts Education Project provides participatory experiences in the arts to the children of San Francisco so they are better equipped to make use of their creative abilities in all aspects of their lives.

Arts & Culture
8
San Francisco Ballet Association

Sf ballet's mission is to shape ballet's future by creating works of (see sch. o) uncompromising excellence, identifying and developing extraordinary talent, and serving as a catalys for cultural transformation. we blend innovation with…

Arts & Culture
9
Starting Arts Inc

Starting arts was founded in 2002 with the mission to make arts education accessible to all students in san francisco bay area schools. we believe that in order to stimulate and educate students to reach their fullest potential the…

Youth Development
10
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
11
Young Audiences of Northern California

Young audiences creates art experiences that inspire young people, expand learning, and enliven communities.

Arts & Culture
12
Dance Film Sf Inc

Dance Film SF DFSF brings dance to wider audiences through the presentation and development of dance-based films. We celebrate the best dance films from around the world, encourage and assist choreographers and filmmakers in the creation…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lafayette Partners in Education; the most unlike its peers is Producers Associates. 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

18 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. 18 of the 21 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)
18/18
Grantees still filing
12/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OAKLAND SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $85,000 · EducationOAKLAND SCHOOL FOR THE ARTSDONORSCHOOSEORG: $22,000 · EducationDONORSCHOOSEORGKHAN ACADEMY INC: $7,000 · EducationKHAN ACADEMY INCLafayette Partners in Education: $4,600 · Education+3 more: $6,500 · EducationPRODUCERS ASSOCIATES: $10,500 · OtherPRODUCERS ASSOCIATESJefferson Elementary PTA: $10,000 · OtherJefferson Elementary …REDDING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $8,800 · OtherREDDING ELEMENTARY SC…ZIRU DANCE INC: $5,000 · OtherZIRU DANCE INC+1 more: $1,000 · OtherMovement Exchange: $8,000 · Arts & CultureMovement Exch…SAFEHOUSE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $5,000 · Arts & CultureSAFEHOUSE FOR…DIABLO BALLET: $5,000 · Arts & CultureDIABLO BALLETKQED INC: $4,000 · Arts & CultureKQED INCHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $1,000 · HealthSOL OF SAN MATEO COUNTY: $1,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $1,000 · HealthSOGOREA TE LAND TRUST: $2,000 · EnvironmentLas Trampas School Inc: $2,000 · Human Services
Education$125,100Other$35,300Arts & Culture$22,000Health$3,000Environment$2,000Human Services$2,000

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 budgetOAKLAND SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS: $85,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $22,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPRODUCERS ASSOCIATES: $10,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetJefferson Elementary PTA: $10,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetMovement Exchange: $8,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetKHAN ACADEMY INC: $7,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSAFEHOUSE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetDIABLO BALLET: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLafayette Partners in Education: $4,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKQED INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOGOREA TE LAND TRUST: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLas Trampas School Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAcalanes Parents Club: $2,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOL OF SAN MATEO COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $1,000 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 Francisco Fou…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The San Francisco FoundationCA12.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Reach-A-Star Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Reach-A-Star 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 Reach-A-Star Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Reach-A-Star 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 21 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 Reach-A-Star’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