Does Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) accept unsolicited applications?

Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

Which funders back the same organizations as Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation)?

Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Brandenburg Family Foundation, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Tahoe Community Foundation.

Foundation Dossiers

California · Private foundation

Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star 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.

$170k
Granted FY2025(still arriving): 22
Grants FY2025: 18
Organizations funded FY2024: 11%
First-time grantees FY2024

Read the full brief

Median grant, FY2025: $10,000
Largest grant, FY2025: $24,500
Organizations funded a year: 17 to 27; FY2018 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025: 5
Total assets, FY2025: $583k
Applications: Preselected organizations only; Per its most recent filing; check its own site

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 11% of the organizations Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) funded were first-time grantees, receiving 1% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

RenewedFirst-time

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

EducationHealthPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesOther

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.

The numbers by year

Fiscal year	Organizations funded	To those organizations	First-time grantees
FY2025still arriving	22	$170k	36%
FY2024	18	$150k	11%
FY2023	21	$168k	29%
FY2022	19	$169k	26%
FY2021	18	$113k	17%
FY2020	17	$93k	35%
FY2019	27	$122k	37%
FY2018	25	$104k	44%

100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Human Services$368kRecreation & Sports$220kHealth$211kYouth Development$185kArts & Culture$103kPhilanthropy$50kInternational$25kEducation$5kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Ncga Foundation	$132,500	7	n/a
Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation	$111,500	6	1%
San Jose Childrens Musical Theater	$102,500	5	1%
Stroke Awareness Foundation	$85,000	9	6%
The Sharks Foundation	$60,000	6	1%
Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Nevada	$52,500	9	1%
Achieve Tahoe	$40,500	9	0%
Lucious Bateman Foundation	$33,961	3	24%
The San Jose Sports Authority	$28,500	3	1%
Boy Scouts of America 55 Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council	$25,000	1	0%

Show all 43 grantees

All grantees of Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) by total granted
Grantee	Total granted	Years	Share of their budget
Ncga Foundation	$132,500	7	n/a
Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation	$111,500	6	1%
San Jose Childrens Musical Theater	$102,500	5	1%
Stroke Awareness Foundation	$85,000	9	6%
The Sharks Foundation	$60,000	6	1%
Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Nevada	$52,500	9	1%
Achieve Tahoe	$40,500	9	0%
Lucious Bateman Foundation	$33,961	3	24%
The San Jose Sports Authority	$28,500	3	1%
Boy Scouts of America 55 Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council	$25,000	1	0%
Almaden Valley Womans Club	$25,000	1	10%
Love for Kenya	$15,000	3	n/a
The Ben Hogan Foundation	$11,000	2	2%
Friends of Sutro Tunnel Charity	$10,000	1	2%
Tahoe Forest Health System Foundation	$10,000	1	1%
Ncga Foundation	$10,000	1	0%
The Britt George Foundation	$10,000	1	8%
The Brandenburg Family Foundation	$5,930	4	0%
Nevada County Sheriffs Search & Rescue I	$5,000	5	2%
Kroenke Sports Charities Inc	$4,850	2	0%
Make-A-Wish Foundation of Arizona Inc	$3,500	2	0%
Project Mana	$2,000	2	0%
Special Olympics Colorado	$1,750	4	0%
Odd Fellow- Rebekah Childrens Home of California	$1,500	3	0%
Allonas Angels Inc	$1,500	3	6%
Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County	$1,500	1	0%
Feed the Gap Inc	$1,500	3	1%
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Monterey County Inc	$1,500	1	0%
Learning & Loving Education Center	$1,250	3	0%
Monterey Peninsula College Foundation	$1,000	1	0%
Trinity Christian High School	$1,000	1	0%
The Fair Education Foundation Inc	$1,000	1	n/a
Greenway Foundation Inc	$1,000	1	n/a
Breast Cancer Assistance Group	$1,000	1	0%
Bikes Because We Care	$750	3	2%
Incline Boosters Club	$500	1	0%
Community Solutions for Children Families and Individuals	$500	1	0%
Speak Your Silence Inc	$500	1	0%
Boise Bicycle Project Inc	$500	1	0%
SOUTH COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICES fka ST JOSEPHS FAMILY CENTER	$500	1	0%
Carmel River School Parent Teacher Organization	$500	1	0%
Wounded Warrior Project Inc	$250	1	0%
American Cancer Society Inc	$250	1	0%

What it could do for these grantees

Plus 31 recipients with no EIN on record ($372k), not named here.

Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) supplied at peak.

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured

Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 39.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

The Brandenburg Family FoundationCA22× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Brandenburg Family Foundation · Monterey Peninsula Foundation · Tahoe Community Foundation · Robert V and Laraine M Sanford Charitable Foundation · The Kirkorian Family Foundation · Pebble Beach Company Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Heffernan Group Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc

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.

Compare Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) with peer funders

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About Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation)

How much does Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) give?: Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) reported 22 grants totaling $169,704 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 17 and 27 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
What does Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) fund?: By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Human Services (31%), Recreation & Sports (19%), Health (18%).
Who are Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation)'s largest grantees?: By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Ncga Foundation ($133k), Incline Village Community Hospital Foundation ($112k), San Jose Childrens Musical Theater ($103k).
Does Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) fund new organizations?: In FY2024, 11% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Does Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) accept unsolicited applications?: Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Which funders back the same organizations as Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation)?: Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Brandenburg Family Foundation, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Tahoe Community Foundation.
Where is Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) based?: Small World Foundation (Previously Known as Bright Star Foundation) is based in CA.