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The Battery Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Battery Foundation

To increase charitable giving by connecting philanthropists to nonprofit organizations and causes that are tackling some of society's toughest challenges.

$2.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
20
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$3.1MHealth$3.0MPublic Benefit$2.8MEducation$2.4MFood & Nutrition$2.1MHousing & Shelter$2.0MCrime & Legal$1.8MYouth Development$1.7MOther$0
02FY2024 · 20 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k10 grants · $100k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $1.2M
  • $250k+3 grants · $750k
$104,088
Median grant
6
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LA COCINA$250,100
MEDIATORS FOUNDATION$250,000
SF NEW DEAL$250,000
MORE IN COMMON$246,202
CIVIC SPACE FOUNDATION$246,193
BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER ACTION$190,536
SAN FRANCISCO HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION$152,168
FREE PRESS$147,951
BRAVER ANGELS$128,855
TENDERLOIN NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION$104,088
LATINO MEDIA COLLABORATIVE$10,000
OTHERING & BELONGING INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY$10,000
CHINESE CULTURE FOUNDATION OF SAN FRANCISCO$10,000
NEW PUBLIC$10,000
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA THEATRE COMPANY$10,000
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, $2.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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.

area typical 10%FAMILY VALUES AT WORK A MULTI-STATE CONSORTIUM: $10k → 17%YOUNG PEOPLE IN RECOVERY: $250k → 12%SPRINGBOARD TO OPPORTUNITIES: $80k → 23%HOMELESS CHILDREN'S NETWORK: $241k → 10%GIRLS WHO CODE INC: $170k → 17%MAMA GLOW FOUNDATION: $10k → 17%MORE IN COMMON: $246k → 17%BRAVER ANGELS: $129k → 17%FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $175k → 10%FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $75k → 10%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES OF SAN FRANCISCO: $12k → 10%A HOME WITHIN: $10k → 10%FAMILY INDEPEDENCE INITIATIVE: $10k → 10%LARKIN STREET YOUTH SERVICES: $250k → 10%A HOME WITHIN: $8k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $11k → 10%YOUNG WOMEN'S FREEDOM CENTER: $206k → 10%CHILDREN'S COUNCIL OF SAN FRANCISCO: $250k → 10%BEYOND EMANCIPATION: $10k → 10%INSIDE CIRCLE: $175k → 10%NORTH BEACH CITIZENS: $10k → 10%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

IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
NM
DC
MS
AL
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

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

About 6% of The Battery Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 74% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 72%.

The Battery Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 2.8% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
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 funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

32%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.9M · 28 repeat orgs$17M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

28 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 26 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

28
153

Total granted

$7.9M
$15M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+25%

Still filing today

100%
95%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 6% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.0M 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
EducationEnvironmentHuman ServicesArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementHealthOther
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

  • Public Health Institute
    2× · 2019–2023 · $500k · revenue +114%
  • I
    IGNITE
    2× · 2017–2018 · $475k · revenue +59%
  • Homeless Prenatal Program Inc
    2× · 2019–2020 · $375k · revenue +63%

Funded once

  • SANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $300k · revenue +423%
  • WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC
    one grant, 2020 · $300k · revenue -13%
  • CP
    Captain Planet Foundation Inc
    one grant, 2018 · $300k · revenue 0%
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
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
2
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
3
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
4
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
5
Common Future

Common future is a network of pioneering leaders across the u.s. and canada who work deeply within their communities to create alternative approaches to business, philanthropy, and investing. we envision an economy that has transitioned…

Community Improvement
6
Sf Partnership

SF Partnership is an organization comprised of SF's leading employers dedicated to supporting an equitable, resilient, and vibrant economy shared by all people working and living in San Francisco. Through education, advocacy, and research,…

—
7
Public Advocates Inc

For more than five decades, public advocates has challenged the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing,…

—
8
San Francisco Public Press

The mission of the San Francisco Public Press is to enrich civic life by publishing investigative and solutions journalism that engages diverse audiences and promotes public accountability. The San Francisco Public Press…

Education
9
Santa Cruz Local Inc

Independent nonpartisan newsroom serving Santa Cruz County, California we are all watching and engaged in our local government, our needs are addressed, democracy works better and our community is stronger.

—
10
International Center for Research On Women

The international center for research for women (icrw) is a global research institute, with a mission to advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and structurally excluded populations with actionable evidence and solutions.

International
11
Forward Together

Forward Together is a national reproductive justice organization that centers people, families, and communities who experience reproductive oppression. They prioritize queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and other peoples of color and utilize…

Health
12
Common Impact Inc

Common impact's mission is to strengthen the capacity of social change organizations, enabling them to better run and scale their programs. through its partnership with companies, common impact taps into the business skills and expertise…

Unclassified
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Policylink; the most unlike its peers is Tomkat Ranch Educational Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

199 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 199 of the 203 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
34
Early backer (in before they grew)
194/199
Grantees still filing
120/199
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

IGNITE: $475,000 · EducationIGNITEBRILLIANT CORNERS: $375,000 · EducationBRILLIANT CORNER…WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $300,000 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNA…Life Learning Academy: $250,420 · EducationLife Learning Ac…YEAR UP INC: $250,000 · EducationYEAR UP INC826 Valencia: $250,000 · Education826 ValenciaCOLLEGE TRACK: $250,000 · EducationCOLLEGE TRACKCivic Space Foundation: $246,193 · EducationCivic Space Foun…SPARK SF PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $228,575 · EducationSPARK SF PUBLIC …BEYOND 12 EDUCATION INC: $197,650 · EducationBEYOND 12 EDUCAT…Life Lab Science Program: $189,430 · EducationAIM HIGH FOR HIGH SCHOOL: $185,470 · EducationINSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT NEWS: $161,951 · Education10000 DEGREES: $149,657 · Education+8 more: $90,000 · EducationAS YOU SOW: $442,254 · Other+103 more: $10,889,991 · Other+103 moreChildren's Council of San Francisco: $250,000 · Human ServicesChildren's …Restoring Lifeways: $250,000 · Human ServicesRestoring L…YOUNG PEOPLE IN RECOVERY: $250,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG PEOPL…Larkin Street Youth Services: $250,000 · Human ServicesLarkin Stre…FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $249,290 · Human ServicesFIRST PLACE…MORE IN COMMON INC: $246,202 · Human ServicesMORE IN COM…Homeless Childrens Network: $240,569 · Human ServicesHomeless Ch…YOUNG WOMEN'S FREEDOM CENTER: $206,205 · Human ServicesYOUNG WOMEN…INSIDE-OUTSIDE CIRCLE FOUNDATION: $175,330 · Human ServicesINSIDE-OUTS…GIRLS WHO CODE INC: $170,171 · Human ServicesGIRLS WHO C…Braver AngelsInc: $128,855 · Human Services+9 more: $170,871 · Human Services+9 moreSAN FRANCISCO GENERAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $536,166 · HealthSAN FRANC…Public Health Institute: $500,000 · HealthPublic He…Homeless Prenatal Program Inc: $375,000 · HealthHomeless …PHOENIX MULTISPORT INC: $250,000 · HealthPHOENIX M…CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL & RESEARCH CENTER AT OAKLAND: $213,266 · HealthCHILDREN'…BRING CHANGE 2 MIND: $140,000 · HealthBRING CHA…CHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL INC: $110,000 · Health+6 more: $60,000 · HealthEVERYDAY PEOPLE FOR CHANGE INC: $345,365 · Community ImprovementEVERYDAY …FAITH IN ACTION NETWORK: $322,000 · Community ImprovementFAITH IN …LA COCINA: $250,100 · Community ImprovementLA COCINACOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $250,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY…PACIFIC COMMUNITY VENTURES INC: $234,045 · Community ImprovementPACIFIC C…BIPARTISAN POLICY CENTER ACTION INC: $190,536 · Community ImprovementBIPARTISA…Bayview-Hunters Point Center for Arts and Technology DBA BAYCAT: $186,423 · Community ImprovementBayview-H…MISSION ASSET FUND: $125,000 · Community ImprovementMISSION A…VOTE RUN LEAD INC: $100,000 · Community Improvement+4 more: $40,000 · Community ImprovementPEPPERWOOD FOUNDATION: $250,000 · EnvironmentTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $250,000 · EnvironmentBaykeeper: $250,000 · EnvironmentPlanting Justice: $237,184 · EnvironmentWESTERN RIVERS CONSERVANCY: $193,676 · EnvironmentMULTIPLIER: $163,712 · EnvironmentEnvironmental Health Coalition: $123,877 · EnvironmentSave California Salmon: $100,610 · EnvironmentAGRICULTURAL INSTITUTE OF MARIN: $95,947 · Environment+12 more: $120,000 · EnvironmentCALLISTO: $481,222 · Crime & LegalSANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION: $300,000 · Crime & LegalTHE CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER INC: $260,000 · Crime & LegalBRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $245,425 · Crime & LegalADVANCE PEACE: $185,496 · Crime & LegalOPEN DOOR LEGAL: $153,894 · Crime & Legal+1 more: $10,000 · Crime & Legal
Education$3,599,346Other$11,332,245Human Services$2,587,493Health$2,184,432Community Improvement$2,043,469Environment$1,785,006Crime & Legal$1,636,037

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetSAN FRANCISCO GENERAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $536,166 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetPublic Health Institute: $500,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCALLISTO: $481,222 over 2y, 47% of budgetIGNITE: $475,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetAS YOU SOW: $442,254 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetNEW DOOR VENTURES FKA GOLDEN GATE COMMUNITY INC: $375,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetBRILLIANT CORNERS: $375,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $375,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetEVERYDAY PEOPLE FOR CHANGE INC: $345,365 over 2y, 11% of budgetFAITH IN ACTION NETWORK: $322,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: $320,760 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetGroundswell Action Fund: $310,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetCalMatters: $303,147 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetPOINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY: $300,518 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetSANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $300,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCaptain Planet Foundation Inc: $300,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetSan Francisco CASA: $284,350 over 2y, 7.8% of budgetPACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR STUDIES IN DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT & SECURITY: $267,292 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetMindful Life Project: $260,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetTHE CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER INC: $260,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetRepresentUs: $260,000 over 2y, 7.9% of budgetDEMOCRACY WORKS INC: $260,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetLEGAL COMMUNITY AGAINST VIOLENCE dba LAW CNTR TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $259,008 over 1y, 19% of budgetLife Learning Academy: $250,420 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetLA COCINA: $250,100 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetPEPPERWOOD FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetGREATNONPROFITS: $250,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetChildren's Council of San Francisco: $250,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetRestoring Lifeways: $250,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetDIGNITYMOVES: $250,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetCODE FOR AMERICA LABS INC: $250,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetMEDIATORS FOUNDATION INC: $250,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetPHOENIX MULTISPORT INC: $250,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $250,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEat Real Certified Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetYOUNG PEOPLE IN RECOVERY: $250,000 over 1y, 9.0% of budgetSHARE OUR STRENGTH: $250,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBaykeeper: $250,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetPREGNANCY JUSTICE INC: $250,000 over 1y, 9.6% of budgetYEAR UP INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budget826 Valencia: $250,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetLarkin Street Youth Services: $250,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOLLEGE TRACK: $250,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTENDERLOIN NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $250,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCARNEGIE INSTITUTION OF WASHINGTON: $250,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

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.

The San Francisco Fou…The William & Flora H…Marin Community Found…East Bay Community Fo…Silicon Valley Commun…The James Irvine Foun…Tipping Point Communi…Crankstart FoundationJewish Community Fede…McNabb FoundationThe California Wellne…Tides Foundation
The San Francisco FoundationCA88.8× affinity79 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The James Irvine Foundation · Tipping Point Community · Crankstart Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · McNabb Foundation · The California Wellness Foundation · Tides Foundation

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 The Battery Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Battery Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Icivics Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Sustainable Northwest: 5% of income from government
  • Upstream Usa Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Western Rivers Conservancy: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
61report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 The Battery Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Battery 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 203 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 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 Battery’s 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