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Saavan Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Saavan 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.

$351k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $232k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$12,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STIFEL CHARITABLE INC$100,000
LIFEMOVES$30,000
JOBTRAIN INC$30,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC$25,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF CALIFORNIA$20,000
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK$20,000
KQED INC$15,000
THE TOWER FOUNDATION OF SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKLEY$15,000
MAUI FOOD BANK INC$12,000
STANFORD UNIVERSITY$10,000
PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST$10,000
RAVENSWOOD EDUCATION FOUNDATION$10,000
FATIMA SHEIKH SAVITRIBAI PHULE MISSION$10,000
EL CAMINO HEALTH FOUNDATION$10,000
02The need
02

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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY24–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 57% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $10k → 7%PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $10k → 8%SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $20k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKLEY: $15k → 10%KQED INC: $15k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF CALIFORNIA: $20k → 12%MAUI FOOD BANK INC: $12k → 9%CLEAR WATER FUND: $3k → 14%BEST BUDDIES INTERNATIONAL INC: $2k → 15%STIFEL CHARITABLE INC: $100k → 21%NEW NORTH CAROLINA PROJECT: $50k → 8%ACTION FOR INDIA: $3k → 14%JOBTRAIN INC: $30k → 7%ADA'S CAFE: $2k → 8%FATIMA SHEIKH SAVITRIBAI PHULE MISSION: $10k → 10%WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $25k → 14%LIFEMOVES: $30k → 8%EL CAMINO HEALTH FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%MOUNTAIN CHILDRENS FORUM INC: $4k → 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 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
Sf Partnership

SF Partnership is an organization comprised of SF's leading employers dedicated to supporting an equitable, resilient, and vibrant economy shared by all people working and living in San Francisco. Through education, advocacy, and research,…

—
2
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
3
Advance Sf

Advance SF is an organization comprised of SF's leading employers dedicated to supporting an equitable, resilient, and vibrant economy shared by all people working and living in San Francisco through education, advocacy, and research. The…

Human Services
4
San Francisco Public Press

The mission of the San Francisco Public Press is to enrich civic life by publishing investigative and solutions journalism that engages diverse audiences and promotes public accountability. The San Francisco Public Press…

Education
5
Extrafood

Food Rescue - The Organization rescues excess fresh food from Bay Area businesses, schools and non-profits and immediately delivers the food to safety net partners - such as senior housing centers, after-school programs, and homeless…

Food & Nutrition
6
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
7
Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network

The mission of joint venture is to foster the health and vitality of silicon valley for all the people who live and work here. we pursue our mission by (1) providing data, research and analysis through our research arm, the institute for…

Education
8
Feeding San Diego

On a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. through direct service and community partnerships, feeding san diego provides more than 26 million meals each year to children, families,…

Food & Nutrition
9
University of California San Francisco Foundation

Organization's mission ====================== the university of california, san francisco(ucsf) is among the world's leading universities dedicated to advancing health worldwide through biomedical research, graduate-level education in the…

Education
10
Future 500

See attached statementprimary missionfuture 500 builds trust between corporations, advocates, investors, and philanthropists to advance business as a force for good. we are experts in stakeholder engagement with over 25 years of experience…

—
11
San Francisco State University Foundation

The foundation is formed for the following specific purposes: (a) to develop and increase the facilities of san francisco state university ("sfsu") for broader educational opportunities and service to students, alumni, and the citizens of…

Education
12
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lifemoves; the most unlike its peers is Kqed Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

16 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. 16 of the 22 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
5/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NEW NORTH CAROLINA PROJECT: $50,000 · OtherNEW NORTH CAROLINA PROJECTLIFEMOVES: $30,000 · OtherLIFEMOVESSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $20,000 · OtherSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANKTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF CALIFORNIA: $20,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF CALIFORNIAUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKLEY: $15,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKLEYEL CAMINO HEALTH FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherEL CAMINO HEALTH FOUNDATIONMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $12,000 · OtherMAUI FOOD BANK INC+2 more: $6,500 · OtherStifel Charitable Inc: $100,000 · PhilanthropyStifel Charitable IncWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $25,000 · InternationalWORLD CENT…Fatima Sheikh Savitribai Phule Mission: $10,000 · InternationalFatima She…Best Buddies International Inc: $2,000 · InternationalBest Buddi…THE TOWER FOUNDATION OF SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · EducationTHE TOWER…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationTHE BOARD…RAVENSWOOD EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationRAVENSWOO…JOBTRAIN INC: $30,000 · EmploymentAda's Cafe: $2,000 · EmploymentKQED INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureMAUI RESCUE MISSION INC: $8,000 · Arts & CulturePENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $10,000 · EnvironmentCLEAN WATER FUND: $3,000 · Environment
Other$163,500Philanthropy$100,000International$37,000Education$35,000Employment$32,000Arts & Culture$23,000Environment$13,000

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 budgetStifel Charitable Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOBTRAIN INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLIFEMOVES: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TOWER FOUNDATION OF SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKQED INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $12,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAVENSWOOD EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetACTION FOR INDIA: $2,500 over 1y, 2.3% 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Saavan Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Saavan Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    typical government reliance, FY22–25
    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 22 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 Saavan’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