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Smart & Final Charitable Foundation

The Smart & Final Charitable Foundation is committed to giving back, improving quality of life, and nourishing the communities we serve.

$1.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
33
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$67k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2024.

Health$712kFood & Nutrition$522kEducation$300kHuman Services$238kRecreation & Sports$185kYouth Development$117kHousing & Shelter$73kPhilanthropy$64kOther$0
02FY2024 · 33 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 33 grants below total $519,995 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $1,410,915 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $890,920 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $45k
  • $10k–50k26 grants · $408k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $67k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
City of Hope$67,449
American Heart Association$44,200
SCGA Foundation$30,000
Olive Crest$29,000
Scholastic Book Fair$28,096
Boy Scouts of America Orange County$22,000
The American Red Cross$20,000
Orange County Rescue Mission$20,000
Food Finders$20,000
Citrus Little League$15,250
WAFC$15,000
West Valley Food Pantry$13,000
Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation$11,000
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation$10,500
Project Angel Food$10,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY19–24, $125k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ILLUMINATION FOUNDATION: $8k → 10%St Anne's: $10k → 14%CATERINA'S CLUB: $15k → 10%Caterina's Club: $10k → 10%Yorba Linda Sunrise Rotary Foundation: $9k → 10%CATERINA'S CLUB: $10k → 10%YORBA LINDA SUNRISE ROTARY FOUNDATION: $8k → 10%CATERINA'S CLUB: $10k → 10%YORBA LINDA ROTARY: $6k → 10%CATARINA'S CLUB: $5k → 10%THE FARMLINK PROJECT: $10k → 14%YORBA LINDA ROTARY: $5k → 10%The American Red Cross: $20k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

IL
MA
NV
OH
CA
MD
AZ
GA
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.3M · 18 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

18 repeat relationships — 11 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 21 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
59

Total granted

$1.3M
$820k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
+40%

Still filing today

83%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $233k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthFood & NutritionEducationHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsYouth DevelopmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • OC
    OLIVE CREST
    6× · 2019–2024 · $120k · revenue +71%
  • AH
    American Heart Association Inc
    2× · 2017–2024 · $74k · revenue +33%
  • TP
    TUSTIN PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2022 · $72k · revenue +87%

Funded once

  • CC
    CALIFORNIA CREATIVITY ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $89k · revenue +248%
  • SJ
    SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION COUNCILgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $77k · revenue +54%
  • BH
    BECKMAN HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION FUND
    one grant, 2018 · $77k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
League of California Community Foundations

The league of california community foundations promotes and strengthens community foundations in california. through collaboration and shared learning among member foundations and building partnerships with private and public entities, we…

Philanthropy
2
California Association of Food Banks

California association of food banks (cafb) is a non-profit public benefit corporation located in oakland, california. together with its 41-member foodbanks, cafb is the largest charitable hunger-relief and anti-hunger leader in the state.…

Food & Nutrition
3
Central California Food Bank

Ccfb is dedicated to ending hunger, working with over 200 partner agencies to provide food to those experiencing hunger. our mission: transforming lives together, in the passionate pursuit to end hunger in central ca - one meal, one…

Food & Nutrition
4
Feeding San Diego

On a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. through direct service and community partnerships, feeding san diego provides more than 26 million meals each year to children, families,…

Food & Nutrition
5
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
6
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
7
California State University Los Angeles Foundation

To advance the educational, cultural, scholarly, and creative activities and the role of community service of csula by increasing private funding, responsibly managing donated resources and supporting the university and its diverse and…

Education
8
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
9
The California Channel

To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…

—
10
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
11
California State University Los Angeles Alumni Association Inc

To foster relationships among alumni, students and community by providing services and activities that build loyalty, support and a lifelong connection to the university.

—
12
Foundation for California Community Colleges

The foundation's mission is to benefit, support, and enhance the missions of the california community college system.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles and the most unlike its peers is Ign Foundation Dba Heart of the Brain. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 39 years old; the field is 13. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number25%1%<5yr16%5%5–10yr20%14%10–20yr17%25%20–35yr11%29%35–55yr12%26%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value25%1%<5yr16%3%5–10yr20%6%10–20yr17%20%20–35yr11%49%35–55yr12%22%55yr+

The field is 25% startups (under 5 years old) — 1% of your grantees by number, and just 1% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.9% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.9%1/105
the rest of the field
14%
15,896/111,267

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

79 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 79 of the 100 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
75/79
Grantees still filing
54/79
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CITY OF HOPE — $425,198 · HealthCITY OF HOPEOLIVE CREST — $120,310 · HealthOLIVE CRESTAmerican Heart Association Inc — $74,200 · HealthAmerican Heart Association IncCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION — $40,250 · HealthSAFE HARBOR CORONADO — $40,000 · HealthChildren's Hospital Los Angeles — $27,289 · Health+5 more — $32,000 · HealthSAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION COUNCIL — $77,000 · OtherSAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION …BECKMAN HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION FUND — $77,000 · OtherBECKMAN HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION FUNDSCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIRS — $73,195 · OtherSCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIRSORANGE COUNTY COUNCIL 039 BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA — $49,250 · OtherORANGE COUNTY COUNCIL 039 BOY SCOUTS OF AM…WAFC 1 — $45,000 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES — $32,296 · OtherACTIVE VALOR — $30,150 · Other+51 more — $519,783 · Other+51 moreCALIFORNIA CREATIVITY ASSOCIATION — $89,433 · EducationCALIFORNI…TUSTIN PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION — $71,549 · EducationTUSTIN PU…THE SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $10,000 · EducationCERRITOS COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $10,000 · EducationCal High Football Boosters Inc — $10,000 · Education+1 more — $6,500 · EducationTHE SCGA FOUNDATION — $130,000 · Recreation & SportsAMERICAN YOUTH SOCCER ORGANIZATION — $24,600 · Recreation & SportsCAMP DEL CORAZON INC — $10,000 · Recreation & SportsTHE NATASHA WATLEY FOUNDATION — $8,000 · Recreation & SportsAMERICA SCORES LA — $6,000 · Recreation & SportsWESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC — $45,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD FINDERS INC — $20,000 · Food & NutritionFEEDING AMERICA TAMPA BAY INC — $18,000 · Food & NutritionSOUTH COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICES fka ST JOSEPHS FAMILY CENTER — $14,000 · Food & NutritionRegional Food Bank of Northeast Florida Inc — $10,000 · Food & NutritionLong Beach Food & Beverage — $10,000 · Food & NutritionFOODBANK OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — $10,000 · Food & NutritionSECOND HARVEST OF SOUTH GEORGIA INC — $10,000 · Food & NutritionCOASTAL BEND FOOD BANK — $5,000 · Food & NutritionCATERINAS CLUB — $49,545 · Human ServicesYORBA LINDA SUNRISE ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION — $32,282 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $20,000 · Human ServicesSt Anne's Family Services — $10,000 · Human ServicesFARMLINK PROJECT — $10,000 · Human ServicesIllumination Health Home formerly The Illumination Foundation — $7,800 · Human ServicesONEOC — $43,000 · PhilanthropyPAT TILLMAN FOUNDATION — $20,000 · PhilanthropyVENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $17,293 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY CALIFORNIA CAPITAL REGION — $10,000 · PhilanthropyCAL STATE FULLERTON PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION — $8,050 · Philanthropy
Health$759,247Other$903,674Education$197,482Recreation & Sports$178,600Food & Nutrition$142,000Human Services$129,627Philanthropy$98,343

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetCITY OF HOPE — $425,198 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SCGA FOUNDATION — $130,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetOLIVE CREST — $120,310 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSAN JOAQUIN COUNTY CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION COUNCIL — $77,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc — $74,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTUSTIN PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION — $71,549 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetCATERINAS CLUB — $49,545 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COUNCIL 039 BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA — $49,250 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWESTERN ASSOCIATION OF FOOD CHAINS INC — $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetONEOC — $43,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION — $40,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE HARBOR CORONADO — $40,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF GREATER LOS ANGELES — $32,296 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetYORBA LINDA SUNRISE ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION — $32,282 over 5y, 44% of budgetACTIVE VALOR — $30,150 over 1y, 54% of budgetCONFLUENCE RISING — $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetChildren's Hospital Los Angeles — $27,289 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK — $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN YOUTH SOCCER ORGANIZATION — $24,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOrange County Rescue Mission Inc — $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPAT TILLMAN FOUNDATION — $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFOOD FINDERS INC — $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches — $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDING AMERICA TAMPA BAY INC — $18,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVENTURA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $17,293 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBayview Community Development Corp — $15,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetSOUTH COUNTY COMMUNITY SERVICES fka ST JOSEPHS FAMILY CENTER — $14,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLOS ANGELES LADIES BIKUR CHOLIM — $11,400 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetLOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT FOUNDATION — $11,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSt Anne's Family Services — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON THREADS — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SHADE TREE INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetEl Toro High School Girls Soccer Booster Attn Steve Van Dam — $10,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetRegional Food Bank of Northeast Florida Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCERRITOS COLLEGE FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE NORTH VALLEY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetALTAMED FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT ANGEL FOOD — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH COUNTY OUTREACH — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFARMLINK PROJECT — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP DEL CORAZON INC — $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetFOODBANK OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY CALIFORNIA CAPITAL REGION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAL STATE FULLERTON PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION — $8,050 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CALIFORNIA GROCERS ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION — $8,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE NATASHA WATLEY FOUNDATION — $8,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Sempra FoundationOrange County Communi…The Ralph M Parsons F…California Community …California Foundation…Food Forward IncThe Albertsons Compan…Earl B & Loraine H Mi…Henry L Guenther Foun…In-N-Out Burgers Foun…Shelter Partnership I…The Rose Hills Founda…
Sempra FoundationCA24.2× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sempra Foundation · Orange County Community Foundation · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · California Community Foundation · California Foundation for Stronger Communities · Food Forward Inc · The Albertsons Companies Foundation · Earl B & Loraine H Miller Foundation · Henry L Guenther Foundation · In-N-Out Burgers Foundation · Shelter Partnership Inc · The Rose Hills Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Smart & Final Charitable Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%13%28%50%your share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Feeding America Tampa Bay Inc — 2% of income from government
  • Regional Food Bank of Northeast Florida Inc — 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
typical government reliance, FY20–25

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Smart & Final Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Smart & Final Charitable 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 100 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines