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Small River Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Small River 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.

$266k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$88k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Education$227kPhilanthropy$138kFood & Nutrition$80kInternational$75kCrime & Legal$70kPublic Safety & Disaster$65kScience & Tech$50kArts & Culture$35kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $1k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $128k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $138k
$15,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$2.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Gladstone Foundation$87,500
Lisa & Marcus Ogawa Endowed Fund SHS$50,000
Institute for Justice$20,000
Nishimachi Foundation$20,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA$15,000
World Central Kitchen Incorporated$15,000
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley$15,000
Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc$12,500
US- JAPAN COUNCIL$10,000
North Caroline Disaster Relief Rund$10,000
SF Opera$10,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 91% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%Nishimachi Foundation: $25k → 10%Bentley University: $12k → 8%Sacred Heart Schools Atherton: $100k → 7%Gunn Sports Boosters: $1k → 8%Gladstone Foundation: $88k → 10%Medecins Sans Frontiers USA Inc: $25k → 17%World Central Kitchen Incorporated: $25k → 14%North Caroline Disaster Relief Rund: $10k → 8%Institute for Justice: $25k → 7%Nishimachi Foundation: $20k → 10%Sacred Heart Schools Atherton: $50k → 7%Second Harvest of Silicon Valley: $50k → 8%San Francisco Opera Association: $25k → 10%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA: $15k → 17%World Central Kitchen Incorporated: $15k → 14%Institute for Justice: $25k → 7%Nishimachi Foundation: $20k → 10%Lisa & Marcus Ogawa Endowed Fund SHS: $50k → 7%Second Harvest of Silicon Valley: $15k → 8%SF Opera: $10k → 10%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS USA: $15k → 17%World Central Kitchen Incorporated: $15k → 14%Institute for Justice: $20k → 7%Second Harvest of Silicon Valley: $15k → 8%Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc: $25k → 10%US- JAPAN COUNCIL: $10k → 14%Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc: $13k → 10%US- JAPAN COUNCIL: $10k → 14%Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc: $13k → 10%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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$545k · 8 repeat orgs$196k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
2

Total granted

$545k
$37k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-1%
+19%

Still filing today

88%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 40% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $159k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
InternationalEducationFood & NutritionCivil RightsArts & CultureOther
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

  • IF
    INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE
    3× · 2022–2024 · $70k · revenue +42%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $55k · revenue +13%
  • UJ
    US- JAPAN COUNCIL
    2× · 2023–2024 · $20k · revenue +230%

Funded once

  • SF
    SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -6%
  • BENTLEY UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2023 · $12k · revenue +19%
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
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Inc

International consortium of investigative journalists, inc.'s (icij) mission is to show people how the world really works through stories that rock the world; forcing positive change.

International
2
The International Institute for Strategic Studies - Us

To provide accurate, objective information and analysis on international strategic issues for legislators, diplomats, foreign affairs analysts, international business leaders, economists, the military, defense commentators, journalists,…

International
3
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
4
Just Capital Foundation Inc

Just capital's mission is to build a more just economy that works for all americans by helping companies improve how they serve all their stakeholders - workers, customers, communities, the environment, and shareholders - as defined by the…

Social Science
5
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
6
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
7
Us-Japan Research Institute Suite 801
—
8
United States - Japan Foundation
—
9
American National Standards Institute

To enhance both the global competitiveness of u.s. business and the u.s. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity.

Public Benefit
10
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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.

Education
11
International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation

The ifrs foundation's mission is to develop ifrs standards that bring transparency, accountability and efficiency to capital markets around the world. our work serves the public interest by fostering trust, growth and long-term financial…

Community Improvement
12
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Medecins Sans Frontieres Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is San Francisco Opera Association. 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

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 15 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)
10/10
Grantees still filing
4/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SACRED HEART SCHOOLS ATHERTON: $150,000 · OtherSACRED HEART SCHOOLS ATHERTONNISHIMACHI FOUNDATION: $65,000 · OtherNISHIMACHI FOUNDATIONElectronic Frontier Foundation Inc: $50,000 · OtherElectronic Frontier Foundation IncLisa & Marcus Ogawa Endowed Fund SHS: $50,000 · OtherLisa & Marcus Ogawa Endowed Fund SHS+3 more: $21,000 · Other+3 moreWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $55,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCH…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $55,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONT…US- JAPAN COUNCIL: $20,000 · InternationalUS- JAPAN COUNCILGLADSTONE FOUNDATION: $87,500 · EducationGLADSTONE FOUND…BENTLEY UNIVERSITY: $12,000 · EducationBENTLEY UNIVERS…SECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $80,000 · Food & NutritionSECOND HARVE…INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $70,000 · Civil RightsINSTITUTE …SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$336,000International$130,000Education$99,500Food & Nutrition$80,000Civil Rights$70,000Arts & Culture$25,000

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 budgetGLADSTONE FOUNDATION: $87,500 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $80,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $70,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNISHIMACHI FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 3y, 8.9% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetElectronic Frontier Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUS- JAPAN COUNCIL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBENTLEY UNIVERSITY: $12,000 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.

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.

Six Tree FoundationFidelity Investments …
Six Tree FoundationCA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Six Tree Foundation · 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 Small River Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Small River Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Bentley University: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
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 15 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 Small River’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