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Robert and Coley Elder California Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Robert and Coley Elder California 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.

$2.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$1.2MHuman Services$608kFood & Nutrition$586kPublic Safety & Disaster$141kHealth$96kInternational$54kHousing & Shelter$25kCrime & Legal$11kOther$0
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $53k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $202k
  • $250k+3 grants · $2.0M
$151,790
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
University of California$1,019,122
Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa$509,173
Food For Thought$503,013
Escuela Bilingue International$151,790
The Trevor Project$50,000
UCSF Foundation$25,000
Catholic Charities of Santa Rosa$17,977
Redwood Empire Food Bank$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 (FY20–23, $35k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Help a Mother Out: $3k → 10%Help a Mother Out: $3k → 10%Help a Mother Out: $3k → 10%Help a Mother Out: $1k → 10%Berkeley Food and Housing: $10k → 10%Berkeley Food and Housing Project: $5k → 10%Berkeley Food and Housing: $5k → 10%Berkeley Food and Housing Project: $5k → 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.

62%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 19 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against -7% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
6

Total granted

$1.7M
$15k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
-7%

Still filing today

89%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.0M went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsFood & NutritionHealthInternationalOther
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

  • FF
    FOOD FOR THOUGHT
    5× · 2020–2024 · $528k · revenue +42%
  • EB
    ESCUELA BILINGUE INTERNACIONAL
    5× · 2020–2024 · $166k · revenue +15%
  • AN
    American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches
    3× · 2021–2023 · $111k · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue -66%
  • CF
    Center for Black Equality
    one grant, 2020 · $3k
  • Transgender Law Center
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue -7%
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
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
2
The Health Trust

The mission is to build health equity in silicon valley.

Health
3
Equality California Institute

To create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all lgbtq+ people.

Public Benefit
4
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
5
Kqed Inc

See schedule okqed serves the people of northern california with a community-supported alternative to commercial media, providing the knowledge needed to make informed decisions; convening community dialogue; bringing the arts to everyone;…

Arts & Culture
6
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
7
Equity Health

Our mission is to ensure health care access to quality comprehensive health care services for persons who are medically needy or medically under-served and have traditionally experienced difficulty in getting care from traditional sources.

—
8
Altamed Health Services Corporation

To eliminate disparities in health care access and outcomes by providing superior quality health and human services through an integrated world-class delivery system for latino, multi-ethnic underserved communities in southern california.

Health
9
Emanate Health

Our mission is to help people keep well in body, mind, and spirit by providing quality health care services in a safe, compassionate environment.

Health
10
Marin Humane Society

Marin humane transforms lives through exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. every day, marin humane inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals.

Animals
11
UniversalGiving

Our mission is to connect people to quality giving and volunteer opportunities worldwide. universalgiving is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, whose vision is to create a world where giving and volunteering are a natural part of everyday…

Philanthropy
12
Essential Access Health

Essential access advances reproductive equity and champions quality sexual and reproductive health care for everyone, everywhere.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rainbow Railroad Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa. 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

22 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. 22 of the 28 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)
22/22
Grantees still filing
14/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

University of California: $1,019,122 · OtherUniversity of California+5 more: $18,500 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA: $572,150 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOC…American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $111,027 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & …GIVEDIRECTLY INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesInsight Housing FKA Berkeley Food and Housing Project: $25,000 · Human Services+1 more: $9,500 · Human ServicesFOOD FOR THOUGHT: $528,013 · Food & NutritionFOOD FOR THOUGHTREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $55,000 · Food & NutritionREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BAN…ESCUELA BILINGUE INTERNACIONAL: $165,790 · EducationESCUELA B…10000 DEGREES: $30,000 · Education10000 DEG…UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $25,000 · EducationUNIVERSIT…+3 more: $10,500 · EducationMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $45,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $30,000 · InternationalTREVOR PROJECT INC: $55,000 · Civil RightsGLBTQ LEGAL ADVOCATES & DEFENDERS INC: $5,500 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5,000 · Civil RightsTransgender Law Center: $2,500 · Civil RightsWEST COUNTY HEALTH CENTERS INC: $10,000 · HealthTranslifeline DBA Trans Lifeline: $5,500 · HealthRAINBOW RAILROAD USA INC: $9,000 · Philanthropy
Other$1,037,622Human Services$742,677Food & Nutrition$583,013Education$231,290International$75,000Civil Rights$68,000Health$15,500Philanthropy$9,000

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 budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF SANTA ROSA: $572,150 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetFOOD FOR THOUGHT: $528,013 over 5y, 10% of budgetESCUELA BILINGUE INTERNACIONAL: $165,790 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $111,027 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $55,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $55,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budget10000 DEGREES: $30,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInsight Housing FKA Berkeley Food and Housing Project: $25,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWEST COUNTY HEALTH CENTERS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHELP A MOTHER OUT: $9,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRAINBOW RAILROAD USA INC: $9,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetGLBTQ LEGAL ADVOCATES & DEFENDERS INC: $5,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTranslifeline DBA Trans Lifeline: $5,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPAGETURNER: $5,500 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTransgender Law Center: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVISION EDUCATION INC: $2,000 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.

Marin Community Found…East Bay Community Fo…The San Francisco Fou…Silicon Valley Commun…McNabb FoundationKaiser Foundation Hos…The Blackbaud Giving …The Bank of America C…National Philanthropi…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…
Marin Community FoundationCA17.2× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Marin Community Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · McNabb Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Robert and Coley Elder California Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Robert and Coley Elder California Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Glbtq Legal Advocates & Defenders Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Robert and Coley Elder California Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Robert and Coley Elder California 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 28 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 Robert and Coley Elder California’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