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Plinth

· Private foundation

Tella Sakamoto 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.

$136k
Granted FY2025still arriving
20
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What you fund
0191% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Education$385kArts & Culture$127kCivil Rights$115kHealth$82kInternational$81kHuman Services$55kPublic Safety & Disaster$14kRecreation & Sports$13kOther$0
02FY2025 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $65k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$2,100
Median grant
4
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GiveDirectly Inc$50,000
Carnegie Mellon University$20,000
Fdn for Liberty and Human Rights$15,000
Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation$10,000
Palo Alto Medical Foundation$10,000
Martha Graham Dance Company$10,000
Ballet Theatre Foundation$5,000
KQED$5,000
HaoExpression Dance Company$5,000
Childrens International$2,100
Doctors Without Borders USA$1,000
Osmania University$1,000
UNICEF USA$500
Individual grant recipient$500
Consumer Reports$420
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 (FY23–23, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%TeleVisit: $1k → 8%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.

Which US states your grants reach

NY
OH
PA
CA
MO
VA
MD
TN
DC
LA

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.

04

Where the work is directed

The same grants, placed two ways — where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose earmarks the money.

About 11% of Tella Sakamoto Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another.

Tella Sakamoto Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 19% directed abroad (not shown)

Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.

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.

64%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$576k · 22 repeat orgs$329k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +32% since the first grant, against +20% for the ones you funded once.

22 repeat relationships — 17 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
25

Total granted

$576k
$273k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+20%

Still filing today

59%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $56k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationInternationalHuman ServicesHealthPublic BenefitOther

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

  • CM
    Carnegie Mellon University
    4× · 2022–2025 · $81k · revenue +26%
  • SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
    3× · 2023–2025 · $75k · revenue +41%
  • SB
    SUTTER BAY MEDICAL FOUNDATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $50k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • CI
    Childrens Int'l Tablets Project
    one grant, 2021 · $75k
  • CI
    Children Intl HOPE Fund
    one grant, 2020 · $40k
  • I
    IITMAANA
    one grant, 2021 · $30k · revenue -96%

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
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
2
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
3
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences

The Television Academy is dedicated to celebrating excellence, innovation and the advancement of the telecommunications arts and sciences through recognition, education and leadership, while fostering a diverse, inclusive and accessible…

4
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

5
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

6
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
7
The American Institute of Architects California

The AIA California, in collaboration with local components, is the voice of the architectural profession.

8
American Gas Association

American gas association's (the association) mission is to develop and advocate for informed, innovative, and durable policy that fulfills our nation's energy needs, environmental aspirations and economic potential. we are committed to…

9
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
10
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
11
California Dental Association

The california dental association is committed to the success of our members in service to their patients and the public.

Community Improvement
12
The Common Application Inc

The common application is a not-for-profit membership organization of over 1,100 colleges and universities across the globe committed to access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process. every year, over 1.5 million students…

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Palo Alto Community Fund and the most unlike its peers is Iitmaana. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Land Conservation Organizat…Christian Missionary Organi…Community FoundationsSchool Parent OrganizationsEnvironmental Advocacy Orga…Government Accountability R…Legal Aid & Immigration Ser…Professional Ballet Compani…Community Health CentersCommunity Arts OrganizationsSouth Asian Cultural and Sp…
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 34 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%8%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%12%10–20yr16%32%20–35yr13%12%35–55yr16%36%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%2%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%2%10–20yr16%31%20–35yr13%2%35–55yr16%64%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 8% of your grantees by number, and just 2% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/28
the rest of the field
13%
240,396/1,819,537

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.

05the grantee network

25 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. 25 of the 51 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
19/25
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

Childrens International — $118,250 · OtherChildrens InternationalFdn for Liberty and Human Rights — $100,000 · OtherFdn for Liberty and Human RightsCarnegie Mellon University — $81,000 · OtherCarnegie Mellon UniversityChildrens Int'l Tablets Project — $75,000 · OtherChildrens Int'l Tablets ProjectChildren Intl HOPE Fund — $40,000 · OtherChildren Intl HOPE FundMahatmaGandhi Inst forMental Health — $30,000 · OtherMartha Graham Dance Company — $28,500 · Other+25 more — $96,989 · Other+25 moreSWARTHMORE COLLEGE — $75,100 · EducationSWARTHMORE COLL…IITMAANA — $30,000 · EducationIITMAANAPALO ALTO PARTNERS IN EDUCATION — $20,000 · EducationPALO ALTO PARTN…+1 more — $750 · EducationALVIN AILEY DANCE FOUNDATION INC — $32,000 · Arts & CultureALVIN AILE…BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC — $25,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET THE…KQED INC — $18,000 · Arts & CultureKQED INCMONTALVO ASSOCIATION — $10,000 · Arts & CultureMONTALVO A…+2 more — $500 · Arts & CultureGIVEDIRECTLY INC — $50,000 · Human ServicesNo One Left Behind — $3,683 · Human Services+1 more — $1,000 · Human ServicesSUTTER BAY MEDICAL FOUNDATION — $50,000 · HealthUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC — $10,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $3,450 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF — $2,312 · InternationalTHE KILGORIS PROJECT — $1,128 · InternationalCONSUMER REPORTS INC — $2,100 · Public Benefit
Other$569,739Education$125,850Arts & Culture$85,500Human Services$54,683Health$50,000International$16,890Public Benefit$2,100

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 budgetCarnegie Mellon University — $81,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSWARTHMORE COLLEGE — $75,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSUTTER BAY MEDICAL FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALVIN AILEY DANCE FOUNDATION INC — $32,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetIITMAANA — $30,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetBALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC — $25,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPALO ALTO PARTNERS IN EDUCATION — $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetKQED INC — $18,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMONTALVO ASSOCIATION — $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNo One Left Behind — $3,683 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $3,450 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF — $2,312 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCONSUMER REPORTS INC — $2,100 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE KILGORIS PROJECT — $1,128 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTELEVISIT INC — $1,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetZOHAR DANCE COMPANY — $750 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPalo Alto High School PTSA — $590 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCLEAN WATER FUND — $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAXIS Dance Company — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON SENSE MEDIA — $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT INC — $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PALO ALTO COMMUNITY FUND — $100 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 Carnegie Mellon University
  • Who funds SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
  • Who funds SUTTER BAY MEDICAL FOUNDATION
  • Who funds GIVEDIRECTLY INC
  • Who funds ALVIN AILEY DANCE FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds IITMAANA
  • Who funds BALLET THEATRE FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds PALO ALTO PARTNERS IN EDUCATION
  • Who funds KQED INC
  • Who funds MONTALVO ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds UNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC
  • Who funds No One Left Behind
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
  • Who funds UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
  • Who funds CONSUMER REPORTS INC
  • Who funds THE KILGORIS PROJECT
  • Who funds TELEVISIT INC
  • Who funds ZOHAR DANCE COMPANY

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.

The Intuit FoundationCA13.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Intuit Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · The Bessemer Giving Fund · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · United Way Worldwide · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Tella Sakamoto 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%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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.

    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 51 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph