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· Private foundation

Specialty Family Foundation

Its FY2020 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.2M
Granted FY2020
55
Grants FY2020
3
States reached
$348k
Largest
01What you fund
0194% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172020.

Education$2.5MHuman Services$838kHousing & Shelter$574kPhilanthropy$507kHealth$233kYouth Development$221kArts & Culture$193kReligion$184kOther$0
02FY2020 · 55 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k21 grants · $81k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $444k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.0M
  • $250k+2 grants · $683k
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION$348,133
Individual grant recipient$335,000
PROTOTYPES$200,000
SHIELDS FOR FAMILIES$200,000
CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$127,500
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS$90,000
SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH$80,000
ST FRANCIS CENTER$68,300
HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES$60,000
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE$57,500
ST VINCENT SENIOR CITIZEN PROGRAM INC$50,000
VENICE FAMILY CLINIC$50,000
NATIONAL CATHOLIC EDUCATION ASSOC$50,000
THE PEOPLE CONCERN$45,000
ST JOSEPH CENTER$44,000
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 (FY17–20, $692k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%HARVEST HOME: $28k → 14%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $4k → 10%HARVEST HOME: $5k → 14%A SENSE OF HOME: $10k → 14%A SENSE OF HOME: $3k → 14%PARTNERS FOR CHILDREN SOUTH LA: $5k → 14%STEP UP ON SECOND: $25k → 14%STEP UP ON SECOND: $25k → 14%STEP UP ON SECOND: $25k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $80k → 14%ST JOSEPH CENTER: $44k → 14%THE PEOPLE CONCERN: $145k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $35k → 14%THE PEOPLE CONCERN: $45k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $35k → 14%THE PEOPLE CONCERN: $35k → 14%ST JOSEPH CENTER: $30k → 14%ST JOSEPH CENTER: $27k → 14%THE MIDNIGHT MISSION: $25k → 14%THE MIDNIGHT MISSION: $25k → 14%MIDNIGHT MISSION: $25k → 14%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF LOS ANGELES INC: $1k → 14%FULFILLMENT FUND: $10k → 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.

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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$5.5M · 51 repeat orgs$714k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +110% since the first grant, against +55% for the ones you funded once.

51 repeat relationships — 37 still active in FY2020, 14 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

51
40

Total granted

$5.5M
$500k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+110%
+55%

Still filing today

47%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $214k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20
Human ServicesPhilanthropyHealthArts & CultureEducationCrime & LegalOther

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

  • CS
    CATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE
    3× · 2017–2020 · $349k · revenue +219% · 51% of their budget
  • TP
    THE PEOPLE CONCERN
    3× · 2017–2020 · $225k · revenue +696%
  • SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS
    3× · 2017–2020 · $193k · revenue +351%

Funded once

  • SG
    ST GERTRUDE THE GREAT
    one grant, 2017 · $55k
  • SC
    ST COLUMBKILLE SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $48k
  • SP
    ST PATRICK'S CATHOLIC SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $45k

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
South Central Family Health Center

To improve the quality of life for the diverse communities we serve providing affordable and comprehensive healthcare and education in a welcoming multi-cultural environment.

Health
2
Housing Works

Our mission is to create housing and service options that model, with respect and dignity, sustainable, environmentally sensitive, affordable communities for people of limited resources.

Housing & Shelter
3
The Anti-Recidivism Coalition

The anti-recidivism coalition (arc) works to end mass incarceration in california. to ensure our communities are safe, healthy, and whole, arc empowers formerly and currently incarcerated people to thrive by providing a support network,…

Crime & Legal
4
Interval House

The mission of the organization is to ensure safety and stability for people who are battered, abused, homeless or at risk; to create public awareness about the epidemic of violence; and to mobilize the community to prevent violence and…

Human Services
5
Southern California University of Health Sciences

The mission of southern california university of health sciences (scu) is to educate students as competent, caring and successful practitioners of integrative healthcare. the university is committed to providing excellence in academics,…

Education
6
Didi Hirsch Psychiatric Service

The roots of the los angeles didi hirsch psychiatric service dba didi hirsch mental health services ("dhmhs") extend back to the 1930s, when a group of women funded psychiatric care for people whose lives were devastated by the depression.…

Health
7
The San Francisco Particular Council of the Society of St Vincent De Paul

The mission of the st. vincent de paul society of san francisco (svdp-sf) is to offer hope and service on a direct person-to-person basis, working to break the cycles of homelessness and domestic violence.

Human Services
8
Union Station Homeless Services

We work to end homelessness through housing solutions, supportive services, and connection to community. we advocate for equitable and just systems that ensure all individuals and families will have a safe place they can call home.

Human Services
9
Family Promise of Los Angeles

Family promise of the south bay assists families experiencing housing insecurity with short-term shelter, case management, and navigation with the goal of creating a sustainable solution for their family.

Human Services
10
Wellnest Emotional Health & Wellness

Through a holistic approach to emotional well-being, Wellnest offers hope, healing, and opportunity to the children, young adults, families, and communities we serve. Our commitment remains steadfast as we enter our second century of…

Human Services
11
The Center in Hollywood

The center provides a place of community to end isolation, build relationships, and introduce housing, health and wellness services to adult individuals experiencing homelessness in hollywood. it contracts with public and non-profit grant…

Human Services
12
Mercy House Living Centers

Mercy house's most significant exempt activities focus on ending homelessness and providing comprehensive housing and support services. the organization offers homeless prevention, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and…

Housing & Shelter

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Safe Place for Youth Inc and the most unlike its peers is LA84 Foundation. 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 49 years old; the field is 12. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number25%2%<5yr16%3%5–10yr20%5%10–20yr17%18%20–35yr10%25%35–55yr12%47%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value25%0%<5yr16%4%5–10yr20%14%10–20yr17%23%20–35yr10%25%35–55yr12%33%55yr+

The field is 25% startups (under 5 years old) — 2% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 16% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/63
the rest of the field
16%
7,867/49,753

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

44 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 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 44 of the 111 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/44
Grantees still filing
36/44
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $1,129,448 · OtherCATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient — $617,150 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPROTOTYPES — $400,000 · OtherPROTOTYPESROMAN ARCHBISHOP OF LOS ANGELES A CORPORATION SOLE — $164,000 · OtherHOMEBOY INDUSTRIES — $155,000 · Other+79 more — $1,637,454 · Other+79 moreTHE PEOPLE CONCERN — $225,000 · Human ServicesTHE PEOPLE C…SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH INC — $150,000 · Human ServicesSAFE PLACE F…ST JOSEPH CENTER — $100,850 · Human ServicesST JOSEPH CE…THE MIDNIGHT MISSION — $75,000 · Human ServicesTHE MIDNIGHT…STEP UP ON SECOND STREET INC — $75,000 · Human ServicesSTEP UP ON S…Harvest Home Inc — $33,000 · Human Services+5 more — $33,000 · Human ServicesSHIELDS FOR FAMILIES — $401,000 · HealthVENICE FAMILY CLINIC — $100,000 · Health+1 more — $15,000 · HealthCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $280,000 · PhilanthropySOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS — $192,500 · PhilanthropyLOS ANGELES BROTHERHOOD CRUSADE - BLACK UNITED FUND INC — $28,000 · Philanthropy+2 more — $13,500 · PhilanthropyCATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE — $349,000 · ReligionLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY — $160,000 · EducationPROJECT TOMORROW — $10,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — $8,000 · EducationUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac — $7,500 · EducationSKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER — $80,000 · Arts & CultureART TREK INC — $41,000 · Arts & CultureLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION — $40,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$4,103,052Human Services$691,850Health$516,000Philanthropy$514,000Religion$349,000Education$185,500Arts & Culture$161,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetCATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE — $349,000 over 3y, 51% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION — $280,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PEOPLE CONCERN — $225,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS — $192,500 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY — $160,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOMEBOY INDUSTRIES — $155,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetSt Francis Center — $119,300 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetST JOSEPH CENTER — $100,850 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetHEALTHRIGHT 360 — $100,320 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetVENICE FAMILY CLINIC — $100,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER — $80,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWESTSIDE FOOD BANK — $78,400 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetTHE MIDNIGHT MISSION — $75,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSTEP UP ON SECOND STREET INC — $75,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ASSOCIATION OF CATHOLIC STUDENT COUNCILS — $45,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetART TREK INC — $41,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetLOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION — $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOALITION TO ABOLISH SLAVERY & TRAFFICKING — $36,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetHarvest Home Inc — $33,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetLOS ANGELES BROTHERHOOD CRUSADE - BLACK UNITED FUND INC — $28,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetExtraordinary Families — $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUPWARD BOUND HOUSE — $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK — $22,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Whole Child - Mental Health & Housing Services — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetA SENSE OF HOME — $13,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetA PLACE CALLED HOME — $11,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLA84 FOUNDATION — $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFULFILLMENT FUND — $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPROJECT TOMORROW — $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetPACIFIC PALISADES TASK FORCE ON HOMELESSNESS — $10,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA — $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH PASADENA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION — $8,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac — $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSURFAID INTERNATIONAL USA — $7,500 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE — $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF OMAHA INC — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASS FAMILY SERVICES — $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWestern Center on Law & Poverty Inc — $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLOS ANGELES WATERKEEPER — $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF LOS ANGELES INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds SHIELDS FOR FAMILIES
  • Who funds CATHOLIC SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
  • Who funds THE PEOPLE CONCERN
  • Who funds SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GRANTMAKERS
  • Who funds LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY
  • Who funds HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES
  • Who funds SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH INC
  • Who funds St Francis Center
  • Who funds ST JOSEPH CENTER
  • Who funds HEALTHRIGHT 360
  • Who funds VENICE FAMILY CLINIC
  • Who funds SKIRBALL CULTURAL CENTER
  • Who funds WESTSIDE FOOD BANK
  • Who funds THE MIDNIGHT MISSION
  • Who funds STEP UP ON SECOND STREET INC
  • Who funds THE ASSOCIATION OF CATHOLIC STUDENT COUNCILS
  • Who funds ART TREK INC
  • Who funds LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds COALITION TO ABOLISH SLAVERY & TRAFFICKING
  • Who funds Harvest Home Inc

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.

Specialty Family FoundationCA39× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Specialty Family Foundation · Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation · Conrad N Hilton Foundation · The Rose Hills Foundation · The Ahmanson Foundation · California Community Foundation · Weingart Foundation · Catholic Community Foundation of Los Angeles · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · Sempra Foundation · The Green Foundation · Shelter Partnership Inc

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 Specialty Family 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
202122232425
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 Specialty Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Specialty Family 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 111 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph