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Severns Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Severns Family 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.

$720k
Granted FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$85k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Education$3.2MAnimals$860kFood & Nutrition$718kHousing & Shelter$505kCivil Rights$493kScience & Tech$325kArts & Culture$200kHealth$186kOther$0
02FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $215k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $495k
$15,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Benetech$85,000
Reading Partners$80,000
Second Harvest$75,000
Tipping Point Community$55,000
Teach For America - Bay Area$50,000
Humane Society Silicon Valley$50,000
Pangea Legal Services$50,000
826 Valencia$50,000
NorCal Resist$40,000
Sunnyvale Community Services$30,000
WWRAP - Womens Repro Rights Assist$25,000
LYRIC Lavender Youth Rec Info Cente$15,000
Jewish Family Community Services-EB$15,000
Care Humane Society$10,000
Planned Parenthood Federation of Am$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 (FY17–25, $948k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 3% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%The Brigid Alliance: $10k → 17%THE BRIGID ALLIANCE: $8k → 17%The Brigid Alliance: $5k → 17%The Brigid Alliance: $5k → 17%THE BRIGID ALLIANCE: $5k → 17%Benetech: $85k → 8%BENETECH: $70k → 8%BENETECH: $70k → 8%BENETECH: $55k → 8%BENETECH: $50k → 8%BENETECH: $50k → 8%BENETECH: $50k → 8%BENETECH: $50k → 8%BENETECH: $20k → 8%BENETECH: $20k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $75k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $75k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $55k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $50k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $50k → 8%SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $30k → 8%Sunnyvale Community Services: $30k → 8%Sunnyvale Community Services: $30k → 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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.5M · 31 repeat orgs$398k to everyone else

31 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
9

Total granted

$6.5M
$193k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+68%

Still filing today

68%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $205k 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
Civil RightsEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureInternationalHealthOther
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

  • HS
    HUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $730k · revenue +55%
  • RP
    READING PARTNERS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $685k · revenue +1%
  • 8V
    826 Valencia
    9× · 2017–2025 · $630k · revenue +261%

Funded once

  • GN
    GROUNDSWELL NETWORK INC
    one grant, 2024 · $50k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $50k
  • ZW
    Zambia Wildlife and Community Foundation (FKA Friends of Charity Begins at Home)graduated
    one grant, 2019 · $20k · revenue +245% · 54% of their budget
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
Public Advocates Inc

For more than five decades, public advocates has challenged the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing,…

—
3
Legal Aid Association of California

The Legal Aid Association of California, the statewide membership of legal services nonprofits, serves its members through advocacy and other support in efforts to provide legal assistance to low-income Californians and ensure access to…

—
4
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

The american civil liberties union of northern california (aclu nc union) defends and advances the principles of freedom, equality and justice contained in the united states constitution. aclu nc union, a california mutual benefit…

—
5
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
6
Arc Research Institute

Our mission is to accelerate scientific progress, understand the root causes of disease, and narrow the gap between discoveries and impact on patients.

Health
7
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
8
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
9
The Bar Association of San Francisco

The bar association of san francisco champions equal access to justice and promotes humanity, excellence, and diversity in the legal profession. we provide legal services to disadvantaged and underserved individuals in san francisco. we…

—
10
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
11
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
12
Aids Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Area

Our mission is to advance and protect the rights, dignity, and health of people living with hiv/aids in the bay area. continued on schedule owe accomplish this through direct legal representation by one of our staff attorneys, by careful…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Tipping Point Community; the most unlike its peers is Computer History Museum. 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

32 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. 32 of the 47 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/32
Grantees still filing
21/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

READING PARTNERS: $685,000 · EducationREADING PARTNERSTeach for America Inc: $680,000 · EducationTeach for America Inc826 Valencia: $630,000 · Education826 Valencia+1 more: $50,000 · EducationSECOND HARVEST: $717,585 · OtherSECOND HARVESTACE PUBLIC SCHOOLS NETWORK: $400,000 · OtherACE PUBLIC SCHOOLS NETWORKDOWNTOWN COLLEGE PREPATORY: $200,000 · OtherDOWNTOWN COLLEGE PREPATORYPLANNED PARENTHOOD: $115,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD+23 more: $565,900 · Other+23 moreBENEFICENT TECHNOLOGY INC: $520,000 · Human ServicesBENEFICENT TECH…SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $395,000 · Human ServicesSUNNYVALE COMMU…THE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $32,500 · Human ServicesHUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY: $730,000 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY…CARE HUMANE SOCIETY: $130,000 · AnimalsCARE HUMANE SO…COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM: $325,000 · Arts & CultureSHAKESPEARE'S ASSOCIATES INC: $120,000 · Arts & CultureSan Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles: $80,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $165,000 · Civil RightsTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $77,500 · Civil RightsMALDEF - MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND: $45,000 · Civil RightsNorCal Resist: $40,000 · Civil RightsNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $30,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $20,000 · Civil Rights+1 more: $10,000 · Civil RightsSan Jose Grail Family Services: $110,000 · Housing & Shelter
Education$2,045,000Other$1,998,485Human Services$947,500Animals$860,000Arts & Culture$525,000Civil Rights$387,500Housing & Shelter$110,000

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 budgetHUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY: $730,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetREADING PARTNERS: $685,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $680,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budget826 Valencia: $630,000 over 9y, 3.4% of budgetBENEFICENT TECHNOLOGY INC: $520,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetSUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $395,000 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetCOMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM: $325,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $165,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCARE HUMANE SOCIETY: $130,000 over 9y, 2.2% of budgetSHAKESPEARE'S ASSOCIATES INC: $120,000 over 7y, 6.8% of budgetSan Jose Grail Family Services: $110,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetSan Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles: $80,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $77,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $55,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGROUNDSWELL NETWORK INC: $50,000 over 1y, 9.2% of budgetMALDEF - MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND: $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetVote Solar: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $36,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $32,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetZambia Wildlife and Community Foundation (FKA Friends of Charity Begins at Home): $20,000 over 1y, 54% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJET CITY ROLLERDERBY: $19,900 over 2y, 12% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $17,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKRISTI YAMAGUCHI'S ALWAYS DREAM: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL WORKING GROUP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBALGIVING FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 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.

  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds READING PARTNERS ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds 826 Valencia ↗
  • Who funds BENEFICENT TECHNOLOGY INC ↗
  • Who funds SUNNYVALE COMMUNITY SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CARE HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds SHAKESPEARE'S ASSOCIATES INC ↗
  • Who funds San Jose Grail Family Services ↗
  • Who funds San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC ↗
  • Who funds TIPPING POINT COMMUNITY ↗
  • Who funds GROUNDSWELL NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds Pangea Legal Services ↗
  • Who funds MALDEF - MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND ↗
  • Who funds NorCal Resist ↗
  • Who funds Vote Solar ↗
  • Who funds ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds Zambia Wildlife and Community Foundation (FKA Friends of Charity Begins at Home) ↗
  • Who funds EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds JET CITY ROLLERDERBY ↗
  • Who funds DIRECT RELIEF ↗
  • Who funds KRISTI YAMAGUCHI'S ALWAYS DREAM ↗

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.

Silicon Valley Commun…The Grove FoundationThe David and Lucile …The San Francisco Fou…Tides FoundationMorgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…Paypal Charitable Giv…National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA19.4× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The Grove Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Tides Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Severns Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Severns Family 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%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 47 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 Severns 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