· Private foundation
Sutherland Foundation
Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
Read this first · the figures below need context
97% of Sutherland Foundation’s FY2021 grant dollars went to Christian Community Foundation Of Memphis And The Mid-South Inc, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 5 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2020, the last year Sutherland Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 6 organizations, $45k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2021.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2020
- Under $10k12 grants · $35k
- $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Radiant Church | $10,000 |
| New Village Arts Theater | $6,000 |
| Marian E Smith Foundation | $6,000 |
| La Jolla Playhouse | $4,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $4,000 |
| San Diego Rep Theater | $3,000 |
| YMCA of San Diego | $3,000 |
| San Diego Food Bank | $2,000 |
| Voice of San Diego | $2,000 |
| Boys and Girls Club | $1,500 |
| International Bipolar Foundation | $1,000 |
| Oceanside Community Theater | $1,000 |
| San Diego Zoo | $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 (FY20–21, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 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
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.
7 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2020, 0 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2020 (too recent to call). Read against FY2020, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.
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 FY2021, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- MEMARIAN E SMITH FOUNDATION2× · 2020–2021 · $12k · revenue -39% · 48% of their budget
- TATHEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE2× · 2020–2021 · $8k · revenue -57%
- IGIndividual grant recipient2× · 2020–2021 · $8k
Funded once
- RCRadiant Churchone grant, 2020 · $10k
- VOVOICE OF SAN DIEGOgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue +97%
- BABoys and Girls Clubone grant, 2020 · $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.
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.
The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.
The san francisco jazz organization (the organization) is a recognized international leader in jazz creation, presentation, and education. the organization explores the full spectrum of jazz, from the music's origins in the african…
Connect is an innovation instigator established to cultivate san diego's life science and tech communities. a trusted partner for more than 30 years, we propel our region's entrepreneurs as they create and scale their companies from…
The santa fe community foundation inspires philanthropic generosity, strengthens nonprofits, and fosters positive change to build a more vibrant, healthy, and resilient region. the foundation's vision is a thriving northern new mexico,…
To improve the quality of life of communities throughout the city of San Diego through equitable investments in parks, greenspace, and recreational opportunities.Vison - Every San Diegan has access to quality recreational facilities as…
How this is measured
9 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. 9 of the 17 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 CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MEMPHIS ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ↗
- Who funds MARIAN E SMITH FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THEATER & ARTS FOUNDATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY DBA LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE ↗
- Who funds YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY ↗
- Who funds JACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK ↗
- Who funds VOICE OF SAN DIEGO ↗
- Who funds CARLSBAD MUSIC FESTIVAL ↗
- Who funds INTERNATIONAL BIPOLAR FOUNDATION ↗
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Sutherland Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sutherland Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Sutherland Foundation?
Find your warmest path to Sutherland 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.
Play a game based on Sutherland’s filings →