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Sanderson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sanderson 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.

$100k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Religion$326kEducation$102kHuman Services$29kPhilanthropy$10kArts & Culture$9kAnimals$9kYouth Development$7kInternational$6kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$100,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$518k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOPE FOR ISRAEL$100,000
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 (FY17–20, $23k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, 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%HOSPICE BY THE BAY: $500 → 8%HOSPICE BY THE BAY: $500 → 8%HOSPICE BY THE BAY: $500 → 8%BECOMING INDEPENDENT: $1k → 9%VINTAGE HOUSE: $12k → 9%VINTAGE HOUSE: $3k → 9%VINTAGE HOUSE: $2k → 9%VINTAGE HOUSE: $1k → 9%SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 9%SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 9%SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $300 → 9%SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $300 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
NY
NV
CA
CO
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$410k · 31 repeat orgs$111k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 31 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
16

Total granted

$410k
$11k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+5%

Still filing today

58%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’24
Human ServicesArts & CultureEducationInternationalHousing & ShelterPhilanthropyOther
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

  • FO
    Friends of Ninos Adelante Inc
    6× · 2017–2022 · $19k · revenue +36%
  • VH
    Vintage House Multi Purpose Senior Center
    4× · 2017–2020 · $18k · revenue +92%
  • PL
    Pets Lifeline Inc
    3× · 2017–2019 · $7k · revenue +114%

Funded once

  • LR
    LYON RANCH THERAPY ANIMALS
    one grant, 2017 · $2k
  • SC
    SONOMA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION AKA SV FUND
    one grant, 2017 · $2k
  • PR
    PARADISE ROTARY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $2k · revenue -98%
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
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
2
Sonoma Mountain Institute
Environment
3
Sonoma Ecology Center

The Mission of Sonoma Ecology Center is to work with our community to enhance and sustain ecological health in the Sonoma valley.

Environment
4
Solano Community Foundation

The Solano Community Foundation strengthens Solano County by advancing equity, supporting nonprofit resilience, and expanding access to philanthropy. We serve as a community leader, responsive grantmaker, and trusted partner for donors who…

Philanthropy
5
Sonora Area Foundation

Strengthens its community through assisting donors, making grants, and providing leadership.

Philanthropy
6
Sonoma Applied Village Services

Address the homeless crisis in California.

Housing & Shelter
7
Symons Family Fund

The Mission of the Symons Family Fund is to benefit, perform the functions of, and carry out the purposes of the Sonora Area Foundation that engage in charitable activities which benefit the residents of Tuolumne County, California.

Human Services
8
Sonoma County Conservation Action

Sonoma County Conservation Action's mission is to better our quality of life in Sonoma County for all generations, through educating and directly engaging the public on local environmental issues and policies using grassroots organizing.

—
9
Homes for California Dba Homes for Sonoma

Homes for Sonoma is a nonprofit developer creating quality workforce housing options that support safe and sustainable community, and finds efficient, scalable solutions to address the housing crisis in Sonoma County and throughout…

Housing & Shelter
10
Sonoma Valley Film Festival

Sonoma valley film society produces the annual international film festival

Arts & Culture
11
Nami Sonoma County

NAMI Sonoma County's mission is to build better lives for individuals and families affected by mental illness throughout Sonoma County by providing education, support, and advocacy.

—
12
Sonoma-Mendocino-Lake Medical Association

Promote the science and art of medicine, the care and well-being of patients, the protection of the public health and the betterment of the medical profession, to cooperate with organizations of like purposes, and to unite with similar…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sonoma Valley Community Health Center; the most unlike its peers is Sonoma League for Historic Preservation. 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

27 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. 27 of the 48 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/27
Grantees still filing
18/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ST ANDREWS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $215,334 · OtherST ANDREWS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHHOPE FOR ISRAEL: $100,000 · OtherHOPE FOR ISRAELTEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY: $80,000 · OtherTEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY+29 more: $53,300 · Other+29 moreVintage House Multi Purpose Senior Center: $17,700 · Human ServicesSONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,600 · Human ServicesBY THE BAY HEALTH: $1,500 · Human ServicesBecoming Independent: $1,000 · Human ServicesFriends of Ninos Adelante Inc: $18,750 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 · InternationalSonoma Plein Air Foundation: $4,100 · Arts & CultureSonoma Valley Museum of Art: $2,600 · Arts & CultureTRANSCENDENCE THEATRE COMPANY: $2,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $100 · Arts & CulturePets Lifeline Inc: $6,900 · AnimalsSonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance: $5,000 · EducationTHE BAY SCHOOL: $500 · Education+1 more: $100 · EducationSONOMA OVERNIGHT SUPPORT INC: $4,100 · Housing & ShelterREDWOOD GOSPEL MISSIONS: $1,500 · Housing & Shelter
Other$448,634Human Services$22,800International$22,750Arts & Culture$8,800Animals$6,900Education$5,600Housing & Shelter$5,600

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 budgetFriends of Ninos Adelante Inc: $18,750 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetVintage House Multi Purpose Senior Center: $17,700 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetPets Lifeline Inc: $6,900 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance: $5,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSonoma Plein Air Foundation: $4,100 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSONOMA OVERNIGHT SUPPORT INC: $4,100 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $4,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSONOMA VALLEY TEEN SERVICES: $2,650 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetSONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER: $2,600 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSonoma Valley Museum of Art: $2,600 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSeeds of Learning: $2,250 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFood Bank of Northern Nevada Inc: $2,100 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTRANSCENDENCE THEATRE COMPANY: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetREDWOOD GOSPEL MISSIONS: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBY THE BAY HEALTH: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSCHELL VISTA VOLUNTEER FIREMAN'S ASSOCIATION: $1,200 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSONOMA VALLEY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER: $1,150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBecoming Independent: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSonoma Valley Education Foundation: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BAY SCHOOL: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPurpose Driven Connection DBA Pastor Ricks Daily Hope: $450 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSONOMA VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSonoma League for Historic Preservation: $100 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.

  • Who funds Friends of Ninos Adelante Inc ↗
  • Who funds Vintage House Multi Purpose Senior Center ↗
  • Who funds Pets Lifeline Inc ↗
  • Who funds Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance ↗
  • Who funds Sonoma Plein Air Foundation ↗
  • Who funds SONOMA OVERNIGHT SUPPORT INC ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds SONOMA VALLEY TEEN SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds SONOMA COMMUNITY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Sonoma Valley Museum of Art ↗
  • Who funds Seeds of Learning ↗
  • Who funds Food Bank of Northern Nevada Inc ↗
  • Who funds TRANSCENDENCE THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds PARADISE ROTARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds REDWOOD GOSPEL MISSIONS ↗
  • Who funds BY THE BAY HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds SCHELL VISTA VOLUNTEER FIREMAN'S ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds SONOMA VALLEY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds Becoming Independent ↗
  • Who funds Sonoma Valley Education Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE BAY SCHOOL ↗

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.

Sonoma County Communi…McNabb FoundationThe Vadasz Family Fou…Marin Community Found…Simon Blattner Family…Women Giving as One I…Khr McNeely Family Fo…Sonoma County Vintner…Vera C Hendry Foundat…The John & Sandra Lel…Sonoma Valley Vintner…The Heck Foundation
Sonoma County Community FoundationCA42.1× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sonoma County Community Foundation · McNabb Foundation · The Vadasz Family Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Simon Blattner Family Foundation · Women Giving as One Inc · Khr McNeely Family Foundation · Sonoma County Vintners Foundation · Vera C Hendry Foundation · The John & Sandra Leland Foundation · Sonoma Valley Vintners & Growers Foundation · The Heck 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 Sanderson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sanderson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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.

    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 48 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 Sanderson 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