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Shirley & David Allen Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Shirley & David Allen 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.

$98k
Granted FY2025still arriving
74
Grants FY2025still arriving
16
States reached
$28k
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.

Human Services$222kEnvironment$88kInternational$63kArts & Culture$44kHealth$33kEducation$32kFood & Nutrition$28kAnimals$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 74 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k73 grants · $70k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $28k
$825
Median grant
16
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
KIWANIS CLUB OF LINDSAY$28,300
RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITY$5,450
SALVATION ARMY$2,450
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$2,100
LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE$1,950
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPIT$1,800
DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVIC$1,800
USA FOR UNHCR$1,650
SIERRA CLUB$1,500
FOOD LIFELINE$1,475
COMPASSION WITHOUT BORDERS$1,425
MARY'S PLACE$1,375
AAUW$1,375
THE CARTER CENTER$1,100
NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOC$1,100
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, $38k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 16% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 11%BRIAN OTHMER FOUNDATION: $3k → 14%UPLIFT NORTHWEST: $2k → 9%UPLIFT NORTHWEST: $2k → 9%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 11%BRIAN OTHMER FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%UPLIFT NORTHWEST: $2k → 9%BRIAN OTHMER FOUNDATION: $500 → 14%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 11%MILLIONAIR CLUB CHARITY: $1k → 9%CENTER FOR CONSCIOUS LIVING & DYING: $550 → 12%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 11%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 11%MILLIONAIR CLUB CHARITY: $1k → 9%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 11%CENTER FOR CONSCIOUS LIVING & DYING: $500 → 12%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $1k → 11%MILLIONAIR CLUB CHARITY: $1k → 9%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $927 → 11%SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES: $890 → 11%UPLIFT NORTHWEST: $550 → 9%DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVIC: $2k → 9%UPLIFT NORTHWEST: $500 → 9%DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVIC: $2k → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $1k → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $1k → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $550 → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $550 → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $500 → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $500 → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $500 → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $463 → 9%MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $444 → 9%DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVIC: $2k → 9%DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVIC: $2k → 9%DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVIC: $500 → 9%DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVIC: $500 → 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

WA
IL
NY
MA
NV
SD
IN
PA
CA
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
NC
DC
GA
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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$697k · 93 repeat orgs$10k to everyone else

93 repeat relationships: 70 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

93
8

Total granted

$697k
$7k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+56%

Still filing today

55%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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
EnvironmentAnimalsHuman ServicesArts & CultureInternationalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • LT
    LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $17k · revenue +122%
  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $13k · revenue +145%
  • T
    TREEHOUSE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $13k · revenue +172%

Funded once

  • EN
    EEG NEURO BRIAN OTHMER FDN
    one grant, 2019 · $2k
  • MC
    MILLIONAIRE CLUB CHARITY
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
  • GS
    GARY SENISE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $1k
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
3
Amazon Conservation Team

The amazon conservation team (act) partners with indigenous and other local communities to protect tropical forests and strengthen traditional culture.

Science & Tech
4
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
5
The Jmt Wilderness Conservancy

Working to restore the watersheds, wilderness, and wildlife in the high sierra nevada following the john muir trail (est. 1915) for all life in california.

Environment
6
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
7
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
8
Western Resource Advocates

Western Resource Advocates (WRA) is a regional nonprofit advocacy organization fighting climate change and its impacts to sustain the environment, economy, and people of the West. As the region's go-to experts for more than three decades,…

Crime & Legal
9
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
10
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
11
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
12
Rare

Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Wilderness Society; the most unlike its peers is Dreams for Orphans. 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

60 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. 60 of the 105 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
57/60
Grantees still filing
42/60
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

KIWANIS CLUB: $157,735 · OtherKIWANIS CLUBKIWANIS CLUB OF LINDSAY: $54,300 · OtherKIWANIS CLUB OF LINDSAYSALVATION ARMY: $21,991 · Other+66 more: $313,357 · Other+66 moreOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $9,017 · EnvironmentNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $8,090 · EnvironmentRainforest Action Network: $5,007 · Environment350ORG: $4,957 · EnvironmentSave The Bay: $4,507 · EnvironmentThe Pachamama Alliance: $3,507 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $2,100 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $1,817 · Environment+2 more: $1,500 · EnvironmentUPLIFT NORTHWEST: $9,353 · Human ServicesSIERRA SENIOR SERVICES DBA MEALS ON WHEELS TAHOE: $9,017 · Human ServicesDADS DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVICES: $8,135 · Human ServicesTHE MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $5,507 · Human ServicesTHE BRIAN OTHMER FOUNDATION: $4,890 · Human Services+1 more: $1,050 · Human ServicesMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $9,017 · InternationalTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $9,017 · InternationalUnited States Association for UNHCR: $6,467 · InternationalAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OF THE USA INC: $4,507 · InternationalTahoe Rim Trail Association: $9,017 · Recreation & SportsYOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $8,017 · Recreation & SportsOutdoors for all Foundation: $2,457 · Recreation & SportsSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $2,255 · Recreation & SportsThe Metropolitan Opera Guild Inc: $9,017 · Arts & CultureLAKE TAHOE DANCE COLLECTIVE: $5,007 · Arts & CultureTUCSON MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORIC BLOCK INC: $4,507 · Arts & CultureNORTH LAKE TAHOE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,255 · Arts & CultureTRAILS & VISTAS: $928 · Arts & CultureCOMPASSION WITHOUT BORDERS: $12,099 · AnimalsCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $2,957 · AnimalsNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $2,530 · AnimalsAPPALACHIAN WILDLIFE REFUGE: $1,971 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $1,050 · Animals+2 more: $1,000 · Animals
Other$547,383Environment$40,502Human Services$37,952International$29,008Recreation & Sports$21,746Arts & Culture$21,714Animals$21,607

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $17,284 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $12,753 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTREEHOUSE: $12,517 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION WITHOUT BORDERS: $12,099 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetUPLIFT NORTHWEST: $9,353 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $9,017 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTahoe Rim Trail Association: $9,017 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetCOMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE: $9,017 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetVISHAL HIMALAYA FOUNDATION: $9,017 over 9y, 27% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $9,017 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA SENIOR SERVICES DBA MEALS ON WHEELS TAHOE: $9,017 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $9,017 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $9,017 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetThe Metropolitan Opera Guild Inc: $9,017 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetFOOD LIFELINE: $8,699 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDADS DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVICES: $8,135 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $8,090 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetYOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $8,017 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB: $7,517 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetMaris Place: $6,602 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetUnited States Association for UNHCR: $6,467 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetArts For The Schools dba Fox Cultural Hall: $6,027 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetTHE MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY: $5,507 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN INC: $5,102 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRainforest Action Network: $5,007 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE TAHOE DANCE COLLECTIVE: $5,007 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetDREAMS FOR ORPHANS: $5,000 over 3y, 5.1% of budget350ORG: $4,957 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRIAN OTHMER FOUNDATION: $4,890 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTAHOE TRUCKEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $4,688 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OF THE USA INC: $4,507 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Bay: $4,507 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $4,507 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetThe Primavera Foundation Inc: $4,507 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTUCSON MUSEUM OF ART AND HISTORIC BLOCK INC: $4,507 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPATRONATO SAN XAVIER: $4,507 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetBELOVED ASHEVILLE: $3,652 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT MANA: $3,513 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetThe Pachamama Alliance: $3,507 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $2,957 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $2,530 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetHARVEST AGAINST HUNGER: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOutdoors for all Foundation: $2,457 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $2,255 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $2,255 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH LAKE TAHOE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,255 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetMANNA FOOD BANK INC: $2,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCatching the Dream: $2,100 over 2y, 0.3% 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 LEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds TREEHOUSE ↗
  • Who funds COMPASSION WITHOUT BORDERS ↗
  • Who funds UPLIFT NORTHWEST ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds Tahoe Rim Trail Association ↗
  • Who funds COMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds VISHAL HIMALAYA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA SENIOR SERVICES DBA MEALS ON WHEELS TAHOE ↗
  • Who funds THE CARTER CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds The Metropolitan Opera Guild Inc ↗
  • Who funds FOOD LIFELINE ↗
  • Who funds DADS DIVINE ALTERNATIVES FOR DADS SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds YOSEMITE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB ↗
  • Who funds Maris Place ↗
  • Who funds United States Association for UNHCR ↗
  • Who funds Arts For The Schools dba Fox Cultural Hall ↗
  • Who funds THE MOCKINGBIRD SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN INC ↗
  • Who funds Rainforest Action Network ↗
  • Who funds LAKE TAHOE DANCE COLLECTIVE ↗

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.

Lucky Seven FoundationThe Norcliffe Foundat…Mightycause Charitabl…Seattle FoundationTahoe Truckee Communi…Liberty Mutual Founda…Real Progress Foundat…Tahoe Community Found…Puget Sound Energy Fo…Beeks Family Legacy F…Marin Community Found…Martis Camp Community…
Lucky Seven FoundationDE19.4× affinity7 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lucky Seven Foundation · The Norcliffe Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Seattle Foundation · Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation · Liberty Mutual Foundation Inc · Real Progress Foundation · Tahoe Community Foundation · Puget Sound Energy Foundation · Beeks Family Legacy Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Martis Camp Community Foundation Dba Martis Camp 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 Shirley & David Allen Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shirley & David Allen Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%8%17%30%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
    1get no government money at all
    15report 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 Shirley & David Allen Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Shirley & David Allen 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 105 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 Shirley & David Allen’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