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Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family 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.

$691k
Granted FY2024still arriving
23
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$250k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$755kEducation$620kScience & Tech$229kHuman Services$178kArts & Culture$83kRecreation & Sports$35kPhilanthropy$30kInternational$11kOther$0
02FY2024 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $145k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $250k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$8.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ELIZABETHS SMILE FOUNDATION$250,000
CALIFORNIA LIVER INSTITUTE$100,000
THACHER SCHOOL INC$50,000
THE EXPLORATORIUM$50,000
LONE MOUNTAIN CHILDRENS CENTER INC$50,000
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$30,000
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$30,000
MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$25,000
GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY$25,000
THE EXPLORATORIUM$25,000
TIPPING POINT COMMUNITY$10,000
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION$5,000
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION$5,000
THE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF ST HELENA AND CALISTOGA$5,000
CORNELL UNIVERSITY$5,000
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 (FY22–24, $150k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%LONE MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S CENTER (LMCC): $50k → 10%LONE MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S CENTER (LMCC): $50k → 10%LONE MOUNTAIN CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $50k → 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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 23% of Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 73% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 65%.

Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 10 repeat orgs$255k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
4

Total granted

$1.4M
$122k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+26%

Still filing today

90%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $133k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TT
    The Thacher School Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $345k · revenue +32%
  • TE
    THE EXPLORATORIUM
    4× · 2021–2024 · $225k · revenue +33%
  • LM
    LONE MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S CENTER INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $150k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • TC
    THE CALIFORNIA LIVER INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
  • TF
    THE FOUNDATION AT SAINT JOSEPH'S ARTS SOCIETY
    one grant, 2018 · $12k
  • SH
    St Helena Hospital Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +5%
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
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
2
San Jose Museum of Art Association

Nurture empathy and connection by engaging communities with socially relevant contemporary art

Arts & Culture
3
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc

Organization's mission statement true to the ambitious vision of its founder and her spirit of creative risk-taking, the mission of the isabella stewart gardner museum is: - to bring to life and preserve the rich historic collection; - to…

Arts & Culture
4
Oakland Museum of California

The museum's mission is to inspire all californians to create a more vibrant future for themselves and their communities. through collections, exhibitions, education programs, and public dialogue, we inspire people of all ages and…

Arts & Culture
5
Asian Art Museum Foundation of San Francisco

The asian art museum celebrates, preserves, and promotes asian and asian american art and cultures for local and global audiences. we provide a dynamic forum for exchanging ideas, inviting collaboration, and fueling imagination to deepen…

Arts & Culture
6
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
7
California Institute of Contemporary Art
—
8
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
9
San Diego Museum of Art

To inspire, educate and cultivate curiosity through great works of art.

Arts & Culture
10
Monterey Museum of Art

The monterey museum of art cultivates curiosity in the visual arts and engages community with the diversity of california art - past, present, and future.

Arts & Culture
11
Henry E Huntington Library and Art Gallery

The huntington library, art museum, and botanical gardens shares its world-renowned collections to support scholarship, foster learning, inspire creativity, and offer transformative experiences for diverse audiences.

Arts & Culture
12
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Francisco Zoological Society; the most unlike its peers is St Helena Hospital Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

21 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. 21 of the 26 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
11/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Thacher School Inc: $345,000 · EducationThe Thacher School IncTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $260,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND…+1 more: $15,000 · EducationELIZABETH'S SMILE FOUNDATION: $500,000 · HealthELIZABETH'S SMILE FOUNDATION+1 more: $5,000 · HealthTHE EXPLORATORIUM: $225,000 · Arts & CultureTHE EXPLORATORIUMSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $32,500 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO MUS…CORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCORPORATION OF TH…+5 more: $16,500 · Arts & Culture+5 moreCALIFORNIA LIVER INSTITUTE: $100,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA LIVER …THE CALIFORNIA LIVER INSTITUTE (CLI): $100,000 · OtherTHE CALIFORNIA LI…CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER (CPMC) FOUNDATION: $75,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA PACIFI…THE FOUNDATION AT SAINT JOSEPH'S ARTS SOCIETY: $12,000 · Other+4 more: $16,500 · Other+4 moreLONE MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $150,000 · Human ServicesMARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25,000 · PhilanthropyTIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $11,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY PHILANTHROPY INC: $5,000 · PhilanthropyGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $35,000 · Environment
Education$620,000Health$505,000Arts & Culture$299,000Other$303,500Human Services$150,000Philanthropy$41,000Environment$35,000

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 budgetELIZABETH'S SMILE FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetThe Thacher School Inc: $345,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $260,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EXPLORATORIUM: $225,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetLONE MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $150,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $32,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCORPORATION OF THE FINE ARTS MUSEUMS: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSt Helena Hospital Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY PHILANTHROPY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF ST HELENA AND CALISTOGA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO BALLET ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChildren of Shelters: $2,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetINSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN FRANCISCO: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHEADLANDS CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

American Endowment Fo…Jewish Community Fede…The Goldman Sachs Cha…The San Francisco Fou…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
American Endowment FoundationOH14.2× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Endowment Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · The San Francisco Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family 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 26 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 Samantha and Darren Bechtel Family’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