· Private foundation
Stella and James Melillo 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k9 grants · $22k
- $10k–50k4 grants · $77k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| DVS | $36,500 |
| STESA of Santa Barbara | $20,000 |
| Various Donee | $10,000 |
| Santa Barbara Museum of Art | $10,000 |
| New Beginnings | $5,000 |
| MOXI Museum | $4,500 |
| Museum of Natural History | $2,500 |
| Museum of Modern Art | $2,500 |
| UCSB | $2,000 |
| Sanctuary Center | $2,000 |
| Santa Barbara Opera | $1,000 |
| Seattle Opera | $1,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $1,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY21–21, $11k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Where the work is directed
The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.
About 8% of Stella and James Melillo Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
14 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 40% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $59k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SOLUTIONS FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY3× · 2022–2024 · $67k · revenue -4%- SOSTESA of Santa Barbara3× · 2023–2025 · $42k
SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE2× · 2017–2021 · $35k · revenue +14%
Funded once
- SSTESAone grant, 2022 · $25k
- BIBRAILLE INSTITUTEone grant, 2020 · $15k
- YYMCAone grant, 2024 · $15k
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.
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.
Stages makes plays and tells stories that invite everyone to live more deeply and love more boldly.
Mission: the mission of san diego opera is to deliver exceptional performances and exciting, accessible programs to diverse audiences, focusing on community partnerships, and the transformative and expressive power of the human voice. as…
Domestic violence project, inc. promotes awareness and provides emergency and support services to all those impacted by domestic violence.
Located in scenic Napa Valley, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art engages its community in the connective power of art and nature through its permanent collection of Northern California art, contemporary exhibitions, and thought-provoking…
Disability rights washington's mission is to advance the dignity, equality, and self determination of people with disabilities. we work to pursue justice on matters related to human and legal rights.
SOZO is an international contemporary arts agency and incubator at the intersection of impact, innovation, and culture, empowering transformative artistic innovation and social change.
Professional production of opera for the public, and education about opera and the performing arts for audiences of all ages.
Marin open studios is a non-profit visual arts organization dedicated to engaging and supporting marin county artists and their audiences through events, programs and services. marin open studios champions a diverse and inclusive community…
Opera Parallle presents compelling performances of contemporary operas with high musical and dramatic standards, embracing modern aesthetics, creative use of technology, and social relevance as essential to the future of the art form.…
To serve the public by producing world-class opera that preserves, promotes and advances the art form while embodying the diversity, spirit and artistic sensibility unique to los angeles. we envision an engaged and enlightened community in…
See schedule 0founded in 1994, opera santa barbara is the signature provider of professional opera on the california central coast. we aspire to be a cultural leader in the santa barbara region, voicing and advancing our community's spirit…
Broadway sacramento is committed to the presentation of quality theatrical productions to enrich the cultural life of the city of sacramento, the state of california, the united states, and the international community. the goals of the…
How this is measured
13 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. 13 of the 45 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SOLUTIONS FOR SANTA BARBARA COUNTY ↗
- Who funds SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds Standing Together to End Sexual Assault ↗
- Who funds Magic Wheelchair ↗
- Who funds I-PARK FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds AFGHANISTAN DENTAL RELIEF PROJECT INC ↗
- Who funds CHILDRENS CREATIVE PROJECT ↗
- Who funds NEW BEGINNINGS ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Downtown Dog Rescue ↗
- Who funds SEATTLE OPERA ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Santa Barbara Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Stella and James Melillo Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Stella and James Melillo Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- I-Park Foundation Inc: 10% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Stella and James Melillo’s filings →