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The Bernard P Novak Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bernard P Novak Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$20k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$392kCommunity Improvement$80kCrime & Legal$68kHousing & Shelter$45kCivil Rights$20kYouth Development$15kReligion$10kPublic Benefit$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$123k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LIBERTY LIFE AND LAW FOUNDATION$10,000
ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFFS ADVISORY COUNCIL$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 (FY22–22, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $3k → 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.
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.

48%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$316k · 5 repeat orgs$342k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +380% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
11

Total granted

$316k
$342k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+380%
+3%

Still filing today

80%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureReligionCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • VU
    VANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL
    4× · 2019–2023 · $103k · revenue +33%
  • WC
    WOODSON CENTER
    3× · 2018–2021 · $80k · revenue +482%
  • OC
    ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFFS ADVISORY COUNCIL
    8× · 2017–2024 · $68k · revenue +380%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $289k · revenue +3%
  • SF
    SEAL-NSW FAMILY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +60%
  • TL
    TEEN LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue -27%
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
The California Channel

To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…

—
2
Children's Hospital of Orange County

To nurture, advance and protect the health and well-being of children.

Health
3
Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund

As the charitable giving and fundraising arm of the orange county bar association, the ocba charitable fund provides resources to organizations and programs in order to enhance the system of justice and promote equal justice for all.

Unclassified
4
Habitat for Humanity of Orange County Inc

Habitat for humanity's mission is to give witness to the christian gospel by working with god's people to build decent habitats for those who are inadequately sheltered in orange county.

—
5
San Gabriel Valley Ymca

The san gabriel valley ymca puts christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.

—
6
Orange County Technology Action Network

Octane connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology growth in orange county. our members represent orange county technology executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and…

Community Improvement
7
Children's Healthcare of California

The primary exempt purpose of children's healthcare of california includes without limitation the receipt of distributions and grants for the making of distributions and grants to children's hospital of orange county (choc) and to…

Health
8
Associated Students University of California Riverside

To serve as the student government body at the university of california, riverside.

Education
9
Orange County School of the Arts

We provide an unparalleled arts and acdademic education in a creative, challenging and nurturing environment to a diverse student body passionate about the arts, preparing them to reach their highest potential.

Education
10
Young Men's Christian Association

The burbank community ymca (burbank y) is committed to strengthening the foundation of our community through youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. we work within our community to ensure that everyone, regardless of…

Human Services
11
For the Children

To transform lives and communities by providing an array of programs, all directed toward changing the lives of children in the foster care system aimed to prevent academic failure, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, sex trafficking,…

Recreation & Sports
12
Uc Riverside Foundation

To support educational, research and public functions and programs of the riverside campus of the university of california.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Young Men's Christian Association of Orange County; the most unlike its peers is Hope for Life. 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

12 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. 12 of the 16 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $289,383 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATIONVANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL: $103,000 · EducationVANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CALProject Hope Alliance: $44,500 · EducationProject Hope AllianceWOODSON CENTER: $79,688 · Community ImprovementWOODSON CENTE…ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFFS ADVISORY COUNCIL: $68,316 · Crime & LegalORANGE COUN…LIBERTY LIFE AND LAW FOUNDATION: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $6,500 · OtherBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF ORANGE COUNTY AND THE INLAND EMPIRE INC: $5,000 · OtherTHE CHURCH AT KOLOA: $5,000 · OtherHope For Life: $5,000 · OtherYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $2,500 · OtherCHOC FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Other+1 more: $1,500 · OtherSEAL-NSW FAMILY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Public BenefitTEEN LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentBROADWAY OC INC: $5,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$436,883Community Improvement$79,688Crime & Legal$68,316Other$48,000Public Benefit$10,000Youth Development$10,000Arts & Culture$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $289,383 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVANGUARD UNIVERSITY OF SO CAL: $103,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWOODSON CENTER: $79,688 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetORANGE COUNTY SHERIFFS ADVISORY COUNCIL: $68,316 over 8y, 3.7% of budgetProject Hope Alliance: $44,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetSEAL-NSW FAMILY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTEEN LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF ORANGE COUNTY AND THE INLAND EMPIRE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHope For Life: $5,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHOC FOUNDATION: $2,500 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.

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.

Orange County Communi…The Watts Family Foun…O L Halsell FoundationArgyros Family Founda…Samueli FoundationEdwards Lifesciences …Natl Christian Charit…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Orange County Community FoundationCA15.2× affinity5 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · The Watts Family Foundation · O L Halsell Foundation · Argyros Family Foundation · Samueli Foundation · Edwards Lifesciences Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Bernard P Novak Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bernard P Novak 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%1%3%4%5%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 · 0–5%
    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 16 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 2024, released 2024. 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