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· Public charity

San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund Inc

The SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS WISH BOOK FUND INC.

$1.2M
Granted FY2025still arriving
41
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$60k
Largest
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 2025.

Human Services$2.2MHealth$1.6MFood & Nutrition$1.3MHousing & Shelter$1.0MEducation$531kYouth Development$523kEmployment$332kCrime & Legal$194kOther$0
02FY2025 · 41 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k34 grants · $853k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $375k
$25,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$397k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CCO - CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES$60,000
LOAVES AND FISHES FAMILY KITCHEN$60,000
FOSTERING PROMISE$55,000
THE RECORD CLEARANCE PROJECT AT SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY$50,000
SAN JOSE DAY NURSERY$50,000
VALLEY HEALTH FOUNDATION$50,000
CALIFORNIA CLUBHOUSE$50,000
HEALTHIER KIDS FOUNDATION$45,000
BEYOND EMANCIPATION$45,000
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES$45,000
MEALS ON WHEELS OF CONTRA COSTA$45,000
BAY AREA COMMUNITY HEALTH$40,000
SHINE TOGETHER$35,000
SHELTER INC$35,000
SOURCEWISE$31,094
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 (FY17–25, $2.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 19% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ST VINCENT DE PAUL CONTRA COSTA AKA DISTRICT COUNCIL CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SO: $25k → 9%PATH: $25k → 14%PAJARO VALLEY SHELTER SERVICES: $59k → 13%MY NEW RED SHOES: $35k → 7%MY NEW RED SHOES: $30k → 7%SENIOR COASTSIDERS: $32k → 7%AVENIDAS: $25k → 8%YMCA OF SILICON VALLEY: $31k → 8%AMIGOS DE GUADALUPE CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT: $50k → 8%PORTUGUESE ORGANIZATION FOR SOCIAL SERVICES & OPPORTUNITIES (POSSO): $34k → 8%FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $36k → 10%FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $35k → 10%GILROY COMPASSION CENTER: $56k → 8%MEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION: $45k → 9%DREAMPOWER HORSEMANSHIP: $34k → 8%WHITE PONY EXPRESS: $25k → 9%HUNGER AT HOME: $63k → 8%AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY: $55k → 8%SILICON VALLEY INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTER (SVILC): $34k → 8%ALUM ROCK COUNSELING CENTER: $30k → 8%SILICON VALLEY INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTER: $26k → 8%ALUM ROCK CONSELING CENTER: $25k → 8%SILICON VALLEY INDEPENDENT LIVING CENTER: $25k → 8%SUNDAY FRIENDS: $25k → 8%HUNGER AT HOME: $25k → 8%TRI-CITY VOLUNTEERS: $31k → 10%LOVED TWICE: $27k → 10%BEYOND EMANCIPATION: $61k → 10%BEYOND EMANCIPATION: $45k → 10%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF SILICON VALLEY: $86k → 8%BILL WILSON CENTER: $30k → 8%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF SILICON VALLEY: $30k → 8%SOURCEWISE: $31k → 8%WOMENSV: $36k → 8%MARTHA'S KITCHEN: $76k → 8%MARTHA'S KITCHEN: $50k → 8%GOOD KARMA BIKES: $28k → 8%FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $82k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $43k → 8%FOSTERING PROMISE: $55k → 8%CCO - CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES: $60k → 8%ABILITIES UNITED: $31k → 8%LIFE SERVICES ALTERNATIVES: $26k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $35k → 8%HELPING HANDS SILICON VALLEY(HHSV): $45k → 8%LIVE OAK ADULT DAY SERVICES: $30k → 8%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY: $60k → 8%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY: $50k → 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 grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.0M · 84 repeat orgs$3.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +14% for those funded once.

84 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2025, 56 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

84
113

Total granted

$5.0M
$3.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+14%

Still filing today

96%
85%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 61% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $474k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthEducationFood & NutritionHousing & ShelterYouth 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

  • JF
    JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF SILICON VALLEY
    4× · 2018–2023 · $159k · revenue +763%
  • FP
    FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH
    3× · 2022–2024 · $153k · revenue +26%
  • HM
    HEARTS & MINDS ACTIVITY CENTER
    4× · 2017–2023 · $140k · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • HF
    HABITAT FOR HUMANITY EAST BAY SILICON VALLEYgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $100k · revenue +86%
  • PC
    PIVOTAL CONNECTIONS
    one grant, 2021 · $95k · revenue -19%
  • ES
    EASTER SEALS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
    one grant, 2023 · $82k · revenue +10%
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
Bay Area Community Services Housing Corp

Improve the quality of life for individuals in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Solano County, Monterey County, Sacramento County and the surrounding area in the State of California.

Housing & Shelter
2
Serra Residential Center Inc

To provide dignity, respect and choice for persons with developmental disabilities

—
3
Community Action Board of Sc County Inc

To partner with the community to eliminate poverty.

Employment
4
Sonoma Applied Village Services

Address the homeless crisis in California.

Housing & Shelter
5
Alameda County Homeless Action Center

HAC assists homeless and mentally ill clients in the long and difficult process of becoming eligible for SSI and MediCal benefits. HAC provides assistance with other public benefits that clients need in the interim to survive until their…

Housing & Shelter
6
Homeward Bound of Marin

Homeward Bound is the main provider of emergency shelter, supportive housing and services for people overcoming a crisis of homelessness in Marin County, California. Our mission of "opening doors to safety, dignity, hope, and…

Housing & Shelter
7
San Francisco Casa

San Francisco CASA transforms the lives of children and youth traumatized and displaced in the foster care and related systems by providing one consistent, caring volunteer advocate, trained to address each childs needs in the court and…

Civil Rights
8
Bay Area Community Services Inc

BACS' mission is to uplift under-served individuals and their families by doing "whatever it takes." BACS helps people experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, or behavioural health challenges while balancing other complications like…

—
9
Community Action Marin

We make it possible for people in marin to achieve well-being by providing the vital services they need. together, we break down the barriers that get in the way of fair and lasting change in service to better outcomes for all.

Human Services
10
East Bay Agency for Children

For more than 70 years, East Bay Agency for Children continues to improve the well-being of children, youth and families by reducing the impact of trauma and social inequalities.

Health
11
Family Supportive Housing Inc

Family supportive housing, inc. is committed to the entire family and encourages families to stay intact while addressing their needs for food, shelter, education, and employment. the organization provides shelter, housing opportunities…

Human Services
12
The San Francisco Particular Council of the Society of St Vincent De Paul

The mission of the st. vincent de paul society of san francisco (svdp-sf) is to offer hope and service on a direct person-to-person basis, working to break the cycles of homelessness and domestic violence.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Community Opportunities Inc; the most unlike its peers is Thiebaut Method. 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

196 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. 196 of the 212 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
38
Early backer (in before they grew)
192/196
Grantees still filing
131/196
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF SILICON VALLEY: $159,238 · Human ServicesJEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF SILICON V…FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $152,722 · Human ServicesFIRST PLACE FOR YOUTHBEYOND EMANCIPATION: $129,357 · Human ServicesMARTHA'S KITCHEN: $126,000 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY: $110,000 · Human Services+50 more: $2,021,154 · Human Services+50 moreLIFEMOVES: $108,964 · OtherPIVOTAL CONNECTIONS: $95,000 · OtherSWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: $107,000 · Other+70 more: $2,408,774 · Other+70 moreTHE HEALTH TRUST: $142,605 · HealthTHE HEALTH TRUSTHEARTS & MINDS ACTIVITY CENTER: $139,867 · HealthHEARTS & MINDS AC…HEALTHIER KIDS FOUNDATION: $109,900 · HealthHEALTHIER KIDS FO…EASTER SEALS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA: $82,000 · HealthEASTER SEALS CENT…JACOBS HEART CHILDRENS CANCER SUPPORT SERVICES: $62,000 · HealthCOASTAL KIDS HOME CARE: $60,000 · HealthVALLEY HEALTH FOUNDATION (VHF): $58,500 · HealthVIA REHABILITATION SERVICES INC: $54,450 · HealthCalifornia Clubhouse DBA Aspire House: $50,000 · HealthLIONS CENTER FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED INC: $49,600 · Health+22 more: $529,421 · Health+22 moreLOAVES & FISHES FAMILY KITCHEN: $169,928 · Food & NutritionSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $96,961 · Food & NutritionSERVICE OPPORTUNITY FOR SENIORS: $62,525 · Food & NutritionECUMENICAL HUNGER PROGRAM: $57,821 · Food & NutritionHopes Corner Inc: $54,944 · Food & NutritionFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $50,003 · Food & NutritionMEALS ON WHEELS CONTRA COSTA INC: $45,000 · Food & NutritionPeninsula Food Runners Inc: $40,000 · Food & NutritionOPEN HEART KITCHEN OF LIVERMORE INC: $37,000 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $12,000 · Food & NutritionHABITAT FOR HUMANITY EAST BAY SILICON VALLEY: $100,050 · Housing & ShelterSHELTER INC: $94,000 · Housing & ShelterWEST VALLEY COMMUNITY SERVICES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY INC: $56,000 · Housing & ShelterABODE SERVICES: $52,500 · Housing & ShelterWinter Nights Family Shelter Inc: $50,084 · Housing & ShelterEAST BAY INNOVATIONS INC: $32,410 · Housing & ShelterHOUSING CHOICES COALITION FOR PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES INC: $23,121 · Housing & Shelter+2 more: $21,500 · Housing & ShelterThiebaut Method: $50,050 · EducationSAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationTHE TOWER FOUNDATION OF SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationREADING PARTNERS: $41,319 · EducationCRISTO REY SAN JOSE HIGH SCHOOL: $39,000 · EducationRESOURCE AREA FOR TEACHING: $32,500 · EducationREBUILDING TOGETHER SILICON VALLEY: $25,000 · EducationThe Peninsula College Fund: $24,000 · EducationSACRED HEART NATIVITY SCHOOL: $20,000 · EducationACHIEVEKIDS: $16,000 · EducationBREAKTHROUGH SILICON VALLEY: $15,000 · EducationLIVE EARTH FARM DISCOVERY PROGRAM: $12,959 · Education+1 more: $11,050 · EducationSHINE TOGETHER INC: $116,280 · Youth DevelopmentLIVE IN PEACE: $60,000 · Youth DevelopmentCIVICORPS: $47,682 · Youth DevelopmentFRIENDS FOR YOUTH INC: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentWEHOPE: $26,180 · Youth DevelopmentBerkeley Baby Book Project: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF SILICON VALLEY: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $21,600 · Youth Development
Human Services$2,698,471Other$2,719,738Health$1,338,343Food & Nutrition$626,182Housing & Shelter$429,665Education$386,878Youth Development$361,742

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLOAVES & FISHES FAMILY KITCHEN: $169,928 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF SILICON VALLEY: $159,238 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetFIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $152,722 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE HEALTH TRUST: $142,605 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHEARTS & MINDS ACTIVITY CENTER: $139,867 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetBEYOND EMANCIPATION: $129,357 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetMARTHA'S KITCHEN: $126,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetSHINE TOGETHER INC: $116,280 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY: $110,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHEALTHIER KIDS FOUNDATION: $109,900 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetLIFEMOVES: $108,964 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: $107,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY EAST BAY SILICON VALLEY: $100,050 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $96,961 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPIVOTAL CONNECTIONS: $95,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetSHELTER INC: $94,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetBAY AREA COMMUNITY HEALTH: $88,178 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHUNGER AT HOME: $88,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetIMMIGRATION INSTITUTE OF THE BAY AREA: $87,848 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $87,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSilicon Valley Independent Living Center: $84,700 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetOPPORTUNITY JUNCTION INC: $83,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetEASTER SEALS CENTRAL CALIFORNIA: $82,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetHOMEFIRST SERVICES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY: $71,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBattle Tested Kids INC: $69,500 over 3y, 18% of budgetSourcewise: $65,539 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetDISTRICT COUNCIL OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL DIOCESE: $65,414 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetMBOLDEN CHANGE: $65,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetYOUTH SCIENCE INSTITUTE: $64,178 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION: $64,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSERVICE OPPORTUNITY FOR SENIORS: $62,525 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetJACOBS HEART CHILDRENS CANCER SUPPORT SERVICES: $62,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetLoaves and Fishes of Contra Costa: $62,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetCITYTEAM MINISTRIES: $60,050 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIVE IN PEACE: $60,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetCOASTAL KIDS HOME CARE: $60,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSUNDAY FRIENDS FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetCENTER FOR EMPLOYMENT TRAINING: $60,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPAJARO VALLEY SHELTER SERVICES: $59,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetVALLEY HEALTH FOUNDATION (VHF): $58,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetECUMENICAL HUNGER PROGRAM: $57,821 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWEST VALLEY COMMUNITY SERVICES OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY INC: $56,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTH COUNTY COMPASSION CENTER: $56,000 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetAFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY: $55,243 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetALUM ROCK COUNSELING CENTER INC: $55,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFOSTERING PROMISE: $55,000 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetHopes Corner Inc: $54,944 over 2y, 8.9% 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.

Los Altos Mountain View Community FoundationCA105.2× affinity53 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · The Sobrato Family Foundation · Destination Home SV co Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Sunlight Giving · East Bay Community Foundation · Second Harvest of Silicon Valley · The Health Trust · United Way of the Bay Area · Valley Health Foundation (Vhf) · Sutter Bay Hospitals · Heffernan Group 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 San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    98report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund Inc?

    Find your warmest path to San Jose Mercury News Wish Book Fund Inc 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 212 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 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

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