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Shaa Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Shaa 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.

$585
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$100
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$1kAnimals$495Health$350Arts & Culture$200Environment$75Human Services$50Food & Nutrition$25Recreation & Sports$25
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$50
Median grant
7
States reached
$157k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEHIGH UNIVERSITY$100
University of Maryland$100
Humane Society Silicon Valley$50
World Wildlife Fund Inc$50
ASPCA$50
The Humane Society of The UNITED STATES$50
St Jude Childrens Research Hospita$50
Best Friends Animal Society$50
Alzheimers Association$35
CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION$25
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley$25
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 (FY20–20, $50) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Girls Who Code Inc: $50 → 17%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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2k · 8 repeat orgs$350 to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
2

Total granted

$2k
$250

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+46%

Still filing today

75%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100 went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsEducationHealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesEnvironmentOther
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

  • LU
    LEHIGH UNIVERSITY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $800 · revenue +66%
  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $290 · revenue +78%
  • TA
    THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
    6× · 2020–2025 · $225 · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • TE
    TIANMU EDUCATION FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $200 · revenue +46%
  • GIRLS WHO CODE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50 · revenue +27%
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
Humane World for Animals International

HUMANE WORLD FOR ANIMALS INTERNATIONAL, FKA HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL (HSI), works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, rescue and protect dogs and cats, improve farm animal welfare, protect wildlife, promote animal-free…

Animals
2
The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

To ensure every companion animal has access to quality medical care, compassionate shelter, and a loving home.

Animals
3
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Inc

Protection of animal rights

Animals
4
Sweet Farm Foundation

Sweet farm is the world's first nonprofit sanctuary to address the devastating impact that factory farming has on climate change from the perspective of animals, plants, and the planet. we must first understand how these pieces are…

Animals
5
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals
6
World Animal Protection

World animal protection is a global organization working to end factory farming and wildlife exploitation. we expose cruel systems, promote animal-friendly alternatives, and influence policy change. for over 75 years, we've been rewriting…

Animals
7
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
8
Animal Wellness Action

To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. enacting good laws depends upon electing good lawmakers, and we remind voters which candidates care about and support animal issues.

Human Services
9
Four Paws International Inc

Our vision is a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding. four paws mission is to be the strong, global and independent voice for animals.

Animals
10
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
11
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Northern Nv

Our mission is to be an innovative regional leader in responsible treatment of homeless dogs and cats, primarily through their rescue and placement in forever loving homes and by promoting spaying and neutering to control pet…

Unclassified
12
Wildlife Conservation Society

The wildlife conservation society (wcs) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Best Friends Animal Society; the most unlike its peers is Tianmu Education Foundation. 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

11 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. 11 of the 13 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)
11/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LEHIGH UNIVERSITY: $800 · EducationLEHIGH UNIVERSITYTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $225 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR…HUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY: $120 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY SILICON V…Humane World for Animals Inc: $100 · AnimalsHumane World for Animals…BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $50 · AnimalsBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCI…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $290 · HealthST JUDE CHILDR…University of Maryland: $225 · OtherUniversity of Ma…Alzheimers Association: $60 · OtherAlzheimers Assoc…CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $25 · OtherCALIFORNIA STATE…SECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $25 · OtherSECOND HARVEST O…TIANMU EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $200 · Arts & CultureTIANMU EDU…WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $75 · EnvironmentGIRLS WHO CODE INC: $50 · Human Services
Education$800Animals$495Health$290Other$335Arts & Culture$200Environment$75Human Services$50

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 budgetLEHIGH UNIVERSITY: $800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $290 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $225 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTIANMU EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY: $120 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc: $100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $75 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIRLS WHO CODE INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $25 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $25 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Shaa Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shaa 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 13 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

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    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