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Sunkara Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sunkara 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.

$147k
Granted FY2020
10
Grants FY2020
4
States reached
$74k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2020.

Education$389kPhilanthropy$38kArts & Culture$11kCommunity Improvement$6kHuman Services$5kHealth$4kEnvironment$1kAnimals$900Other$0
02FY2020 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2020

  • Under $10k7 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $64k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $74k
$2,740
Median grant
4
States reached
$54k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BOSTON UNIVERSITY$74,477
HIGHER ONE FOUNDATION INC$37,888
BROWN UNIVERSITY$26,309
YMCA OF SILICON VALLEY$3,251
TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION CENTER$2,740
MVLA FOUNDATION$1,000
KIWANIS CLUB OF LOS ALTOS FOUNDATION$1,000
MOUNTAIN VIEW HIGH SCHOOL$620
SANTA CLARA HIGH SCHOOL$58
CALPIRG$20
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 (FY19–20, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%YMCA OF SILICON VALLEY: $3k → 8%YMCA OF SILICON VALLEY: $2k → 8%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

NH
WI
NY
MA
CT
RI
CA
MO
VA
DC
OK
TX
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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$221k · 15 repeat orgs$51k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2020, 8 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
23

Total granted

$221k
$10k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+12%

Still filing today

40%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2020, 66% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $41k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20
AnimalsEnvironmentRecreation & SportsEducationHealthHuman 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.

Backed again, and grew

  • TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2018–2020 · $185k · revenue +40%
  • YM
    YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SILICON VALLEY
    2× · 2019–2020 · $5k · revenue +2%
  • TS
    TiE Silicon Valley Inc dba Indus Entrepreneurs
    2× · 2017–2018 · $4k · revenue +0%

Funded once

  • IL
    INDIA LITERACY PROJECT
    one grant, 2019 · $2k · revenue +12%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $2k · revenue +39%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $2k
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Property and Environment Research Center

Perc is dedicated to advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.

Public Benefit
3
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
4
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
5
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
6
Climate Conservation Dba Center for Large Landscape Conservation

We bring science, policy, and proven solutions directly to communities working to restore the integrity and natural connectivity of the landscapes in which they live. (see schedule o)

Environment
7
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
8
The International Dark-Sky Association Inc

Darksky international restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation.

—
9
Earth & Space Research

Increase societal understanding of the earth system through scientific research and education.

Science & Tech
10
International Snow Leopard Trust

The international snow leopard trust aims to ethically conserve snow leopards and their high mountain ecosystems through partnerships with indigenous peoples and local communities, and through research to improve the understanding of snow…

Animals
11
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Food & Nutrition
12
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California State Parks Foundation; the most unlike its peers is TiE Silicon Valley Inc dba Indus Entrepreneurs. 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

20 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. 20 of the 41 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
17/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $184,597 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITYHIGHER ONE FOUNDATION INC: $37,888 · OtherHIGHER ONE FOUNDATION INC+27 more: $36,296 · Other+27 moreBROWN UNIVERSITY: $189,751 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITY+1 more: $2,000 · Community ImprovementYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SILICON VALLEY: $5,039 · Human ServicesINDIA LITERACY PROJECT: $2,250 · InternationalUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $2,000 · EducationNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $100 · EducationLast Chance for Animals: $500 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $300 · AnimalsNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $100 · AnimalsENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $300 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $200 · EnvironmentPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $150 · Environment
Other$258,781Community Improvement$191,751Human Services$5,039International$2,250Education$2,100Animals$900Environment$650

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBROWN UNIVERSITY: $189,751 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $184,597 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF SILICON VALLEY: $5,039 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTiE Silicon Valley Inc dba Indus Entrepreneurs: $3,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINDIA LITERACY PROJECT: $2,250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKIWANIS CLUB OF LOS ALTOS FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLast Chance for Animals: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD ACTION FUND INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $100 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Sunkara Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sunkara Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report 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
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.

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 41 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 2020, released 2020. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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