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Speramus Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Speramus 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.

$146k
Granted FY2024still arriving
31
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$21k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$564kYouth Development$67kFood & Nutrition$58kHealth$48kReligion$43kHuman Services$41kCivil Rights$31kPhilanthropy$29kOther$0
02FY2024 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k24 grants · $48k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $98k
$2,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$699k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BOSTON COLLEGE$21,131
CALL PRIMROSE$19,973
GLENBROOK UNDERGROUND INC$14,000
HOLY CROSS$11,873
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA$11,002
BOLD IDEA INC$10,000
UNITED WAY$10,000
URSULINE ACADEMY$6,007
BREWSTER ACADEMY$4,987
PEACE PLAYERS INTERNATIONAL$4,810
COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS$4,264
THE FAMILY PLACE$3,000
SACRED HEART SCHOOLS - FOR THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY SUCCESS$2,968
GOLDEN HEARTS EDUCATIONAL SERVICES$2,500
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL$2,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY19–24, $32k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%BOLD IDEA INC: $10k → 14%BOLD IDEA INC: $10k → 14%HOUSE OF CHERITH: $3k → 13%BOLD IDEA INC: $5k → 14%THE FAMILY PLACE: $3k → 14%LYMELIGHT FOUNDATION: $1k → 7%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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
NH
WA
IL
WI
NY
MA
NV
IA
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
VA
TN
DC
LA
GA
TX
FL
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$858k · 45 repeat orgs$144k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

45 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2024, 27 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

45
51

Total granted

$858k
$109k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+7%

Still filing today

58%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $35k 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
EducationHealthEnvironmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $119k · revenue +70%
  • TO
    TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS
    8× · 2017–2024 · $117k · revenue +44%
  • CP
    CALL PRIMROSE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $57k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • PC
    POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE (HOLY CROSS)
    one grant, 2023 · $14k
  • GG
    GOLDEN GATE PARK TENNIS CENTERSF PARKS ALLIANCE
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
  • SH
    SERRA HIGH SCHOOL PADRE FUND
    one grant, 2021 · $8k
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
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
2
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
3
Presidio Hill School

Presidio hill school is a co-ed k-8 independent, progressive school. learning is collaborative and an active experience with an emphasis on inquiry. students are engaged in their own learning and guided by an expert faculty through a…

Education
4
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
5
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
6
Pacific University

A diverse and sustainable learning community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, pacific university inspires students to think, care, create and pursue justice in our world.

Education
7
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
8
University of the Pacific

To provide a superior, student-centered learning experience integrating liberal arts and professional education and preparing individuals for lasting achievement and responsible leadership in their careers and communities.

Education
9
University of Redlands

We welcome, educate, and empower a diverse community of learners for lives of meaning, impact, and joy.

Education
10
San Francisco University High School

At san franicisco university high school, we engage our community of diverse voices in a transformational experience that embraces the spirited pursuit of learning and empowers purpose larger than self.

Education
11
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
12
The San Francisco School

A private school that cultivates and celebrates the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of each student in a community that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires passion for learning.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Tipping Point Community; the most unlike its peers is Echo Park Film Center. 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

60 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. 60 of the 109 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/60
Grantees still filing
40/60
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SACRED HEART SCHOOLS ATHERTON: $83,500 · OtherSACRED HEART SCHOOLS ATHERTONSAFE SPACE: $31,450 · OtherSAFE SPACEURSULINE ACADEMY OF DALLAS FOUNDATION INC: $26,007 · OtherURSULINE ACADEMY OF DALLAS FOUNDATION INCMILLS-PENINSULA FOUNDATION: $18,500 · OtherSHELTON SCHOOL ANNUAL FUND: $16,100 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $16,002 · OtherST ANTHONY'S OF PADUA: $15,500 · Other+69 more: $231,557 · Other+69 moreTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $118,531 · EducationTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGETRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS: $116,514 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSSPOSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $41,550 · EducationPOSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCEEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $27,500 · EducationEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INCHILLSBOROUGH SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $22,130 · EducationHILLSBOROUGH SCHOOLS FOUNDATIONMarquette University: $20,063 · EducationMarquette University+8 more: $18,437 · EducationCALL PRIMROSE: $56,973 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $700 · Food & NutritionPEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL: $32,060 · Youth DevelopmentTHE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $7,500 · HealthCHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL INC: $7,500 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $6,000 · HealthSAFESPACE CENTER INC: $5,000 · HealthPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $3,000 · HealthBRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS INC: $3,000 · HealthTHE JED FOUNDATION: $2,000 · Health+3 more: $2,250 · HealthBOLD IDEA INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesThe Family Place: $3,000 · Human ServicesHouse of Cherith Inc: $2,500 · Human ServicesLymeLight Foundation: $1,150 · Human ServicesGLENBROOK UNDERGROUND INC: $26,000 · Community Improvement
Other$438,616Education$364,725Food & Nutrition$57,673Youth Development$47,060Health$36,250Human Services$31,650Community Improvement$26,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE: $118,531 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS: $116,514 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCALL PRIMROSE: $56,973 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetPOSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $41,550 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetPEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL: $32,060 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $27,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetGLENBROOK UNDERGROUND INC: $26,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBOLD IDEA INC: $25,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetHILLSBOROUGH SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $22,130 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMarquette University: $20,063 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetLIFEMOVES: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNITED WAY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetYOUTH TENNIS ADVANTAGE: $10,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetBrewster Academy: $9,987 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRAVIS MILLS FOUNDATION: $8,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE D: $6,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSAMARITAN HOUSE: $6,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTIPPING POINT COMMUNITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSBOROUGH BEAUTIFICATION FOUNDATION: $4,650 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetTHE PENINSULA BRIDGE PROGRAM: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Family Place: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNOTRE DAME DE NAMUR UNIVERSITY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGoldenHearts Educational Services: $3,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetOUR FRIENDS PLACE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCatholic Charities San Bernardino & Riverside Counties: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHouse of Cherith Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHAPMAN UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetECHO PARK FILM CENTER: $2,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE JED FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCORO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNAVY SEAL FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLymeLight Foundation: $1,150 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSan Francisco Public Golf Alliance: $1,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetGLENBROOK FIREWORKS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetFORTITUDE CAREERS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBay Area Womens Sports Initiative: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetALZHEIMER'S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEDGEWOOD CENTER FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPCA of Texas: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS ↗
  • Who funds CALL PRIMROSE ↗
  • Who funds POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds GLENBROOK UNDERGROUND INC ↗
  • Who funds BOLD IDEA INC ↗
  • Who funds HILLSBOROUGH SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Marquette University ↗
  • Who funds THE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds LIFEMOVES ↗
  • Who funds THE UNITED WAY INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH TENNIS ADVANTAGE ↗
  • Who funds Brewster Academy ↗
  • Who funds TRAVIS MILLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds The Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE D ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗

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.

Silicon Valley Commun…Jewish Community Fede…The San Francisco Fou…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Hoefer Family Foundat…Gordon E and Betty I …The John M Bryan Fami…Greene Van Arsdale Fo…Bny Mellon Charitable…Atkinson FoundationAmerican Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA25.2× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The San Francisco Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Hoefer Family Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · The John M Bryan Family Fund · Greene Van Arsdale Foundation co KKR Accounting Services LLC · Bny Mellon Charitable Gift Fund · Atkinson Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Speramus Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Speramus 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%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Bridge Over Troubled Waters Inc: 32% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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 · 0–90%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Speramus Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Speramus 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 109 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 Speramus’ 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