· Private foundation
Silicon Valley Luminary Society
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| STANFORD UNIVERSITY | $5,000 |
| SOUTH DAKOTA DISCOVERY CENTER | $5,000 |
| THE TECH INTERACTIVE | $5,000 |
| MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HERITAGE | $5,000 |
| SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION | $5,000 |
| SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS OF THE UNIVERSITY CLUB OF PALO ALTO | $1,000 |
| COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM | $250 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 6%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +78% since the first grant, against +34% for those funded once.
4 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 6% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- GIGEOHAZARDS INTERNATIONAL2× · 2020–2021 · $6k · revenue +9%
- SFSCHOLARSHIP FUND OF THE UNIVERSITY CLUB OF PALO ALTO4× · 2021–2024 · $4k · revenue +82%
- CHCOMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM5× · 2019–2024 · $1k · revenue +78%
Funded once
- ACAURORA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYone grant, 2020 · $6k
- SDSOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $6k · revenue +34%
- TCTHE COLORADO COLLEGEone grant, 2021 · $3k · revenue +12%
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.
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.
The museum's mission statement is "turn on the science: inspire learning. inform policy. improve lives."
The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."
The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.
The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…
As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…
The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…
Chartered by a unanimous act of congress, the museum is america's national institution for the documentation, study, interpretation, and education of holocaust history and serves as our country's memorial to the victims of the holocaust.…
The nstmf's mission is to build inclusive stem communities across the united states. fundamental to these communities are the significant, inspirational connections we foster between the individuals who have received national recognition…
*increase and diffusion of knowledge* is the mission set forth by james smithson. the smithsonian endeavors to shape the future by preserving our heritage, discovering new knowledge, and sharing our resources with the world.
See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…
The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
How this is measured
10 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. 10 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds US RESILIENCY COUNCIL ↗
- Who funds SOUTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds GEOHAZARDS INTERNATIONAL ↗
- Who funds MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HERITAGE ↗
- Who funds THE TECH INTERACTIVE ↗
- Who funds South Dakota Discovery Center ↗
- Who funds SCHOLARSHIP FUND OF THE UNIVERSITY CLUB OF PALO ALTO ↗
- Who funds THE COLORADO COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds COMPUTER HISTORY MUSEUM ↗
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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.
Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Silicon Valley Luminary Society funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Silicon Valley Luminary Society. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Silicon Valley Luminary Society?
Find your warmest path to Silicon Valley Luminary Society 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.
Play a game based on Silicon Valley Luminary Society’s filings →