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The Callison Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Callison Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$790k
Granted FY2023
1
Grants FY2023
1
States reached
$790k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$840kEducation$641kHuman Services$608kHealth$577kCrime & Legal$380kYouth Development$255kHousing & Shelter$215kFood & Nutrition$116kOther$0
02FY2023 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$790,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$9.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VARIOUS ENTITES$790,000
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 (FY17–22, $635k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 46% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%Community Action of Napa Valley: $13k → 9%Friends in Sonoma Helping: $30k → 9%City Youth Now: $15k → 10%Molly's Angels: $25k → 9%Meals on Wheels Diablo Region: $25k → 9%Friends in Sonoma Helping: $23k → 9%City Youth Now: $15k → 10%Molly's Angels: $25k → 9%Canine Companions for Independence: $1k → 9%LIFE Eldercare: $22k → 10%Molly's Angels: $25k → 9%Monument Crisis Center: $18k → 9%At The Crossroads: $25k → 10%At The Crossroads: $25k → 10%Village Community Resource Center: $25k → 9%Village Community Resource Center: $20k → 9%At The Crossroads: $25k → 10%Village Community Resource Center: $15k → 9%At The Crossroads: $25k → 10%First Place For Youth: $25k → 10%Mujeres Unidas y Activas: $25k → 10%Coastside Hope: $25k → 7%Mujeres Unidas y Activas: $25k → 10%Coastside Hope: $25k → 7%Coastside Hope: $25k → 7%Mujeres Unidas y Activas: $25k → 10%Coastside Hope: $25k → 7%Mujeres Unidas y Activas: $25k → 10%Mujeres Unidas y Activas: $15k → 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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.1M · 43 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +74% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

43 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2023, 43 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

43
18

Total granted

$3.1M
$290k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+74%
+23%

Still filing today

65%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $790k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Human ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentArts & CulturePhilanthropyHealthOther
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

  • CF
    Center for Early Intervention on Deafness
    5× · 2018–2022 · $125k · revenue +10%
  • JA
    JUSTICE AT LAST INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $125k · revenue +553%
  • CR
    CHILDREN RISING INC
    5× · 2018–2022 · $125k · revenue +53%

Funded once

  • MO
    MEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue +154%
  • MI
    Music In Schools Today
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue -35%
  • FP
    FIRST PLACE FOR YOUTHgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +78%
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
Friends of the Children - San Francisco Bay Area

Impacting generational change by empowering youth who are facing the greatest obstacles through relationships with professional mentors - 12+ years, no matter what.

Education
2
Legal Link

Legal Link removes legal barriers that prolong poverty by adding critically needed capacity to the legal ecosystem.

Crime & Legal
3
Berkeley Community Scholars Dba Berkeley Community Fund

Berkeley Community Scholars empowers Berkeley youth who face racial, economic, and other barriers to achieving their college dreams by providing a unique experience of scholarships, advising, mentoring, and a community of support.

Philanthropy
4
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area

To create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

—
5
Bridge the Gap College Prep

The mission of Bridge the Gap is to provide comprehensive educational, social and emotional resources to underserved students in Marin City and Southern Marin. Our goal is to ensure that all students graduate high school, and achieve their…

Youth Development
6
Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco

PPS-SF's mission is to promote the fundamental value of public education and pursue the success of every public school by sharing knowledge, bridging communities, and informing policy.

—
7
Bay Area Community Services Housing Corp

Improve the quality of life for individuals in Alameda County, Contra Costa County, Solano County, Monterey County, Sacramento County and the surrounding area in the State of California.

Housing & Shelter
8
San Francisco Casa

San Francisco CASA transforms the lives of children and youth traumatized and displaced in the foster care and related systems by providing one consistent, caring volunteer advocate, trained to address each childs needs in the court and…

Civil Rights
9
Unitedly

Unitedly is a nonprofit organization based in San Mateo County, California. Unitedly was established to ensure Asian families and communities have access to equitable opportunities and resources to thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Human Services
10
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
11
California Alliance of Caregivers

California Alliance of Caregivers represents the voices of relative and non-relative caregivers to promote the well-being of children in foster care. California Alliance of Caregivers provides training information support and advocacy for…

Health
12
Upward Scholars

Upward Scholars provides adult immigrants the boost they need to move up the economic ladder through education and career development support.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Breakthrough Silicon Valley; the most unlike its peers is Chi Am Circle Club. 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

43 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. 43 of the 62 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
40/43
Grantees still filing
31/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VARIOUS ENTITES: $790,000 · OtherVARIOUS ENTITESGreene Scholars Program: $125,000 · OtherGLOBAL CENTER FOR SUCCESS INC: $115,000 · OtherCourt Appointed Special Advocates o: $115,000 · OtherAlameda County Care Alliance: $110,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherScience from Scientists: $93,000 · OtherPROJECT AVARY INC ALTERNATIVE VENTURES FOR AT RISK YOUTH: $85,000 · Other+25 more: $874,200 · Other+25 moreMujeres Unidas y Activas: $115,000 · Human ServicesMujeres Unidas y …AT THE CROSSROADS: $100,000 · Human ServicesAT THE CROSSROADSCOASTSIDE HOPE: $100,000 · Human ServicesCOASTSIDE HOPEMOLLYS ANGELS: $75,000 · Human ServicesMOLLYS ANGELSVillage Community Resource Center: $60,000 · Human ServicesVillage Community…Friends In Sonoma Helping Inc: $52,500 · Human ServicesFriends In Sonoma…CITY YOUTH NOW FKA VOLUNTEER AUXILIARY YOUTH GUIDANCE CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO: $30,000 · Human ServicesMEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION: $25,000 · Human ServicesFIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $25,000 · Human ServicesLIFE ELDERCARE INC: $21,612 · Human Services+3 more: $31,000 · Human ServicesCenter for Early Intervention on Deafness: $125,000 · EducationCenter for Ea…Next Generation Scholars Inc: $125,000 · EducationNext Generati…Community Resources for Science: $85,000 · EducationCommunity Res…BREAKTHROUGH SILICON VALLEY: $50,000 · EducationBREAKTHROUGH …Alameda County Library Foundation: $40,000 · EducationAlameda Count…Chi Am Circle Club: $30,000 · EducationChi Am Circle…SCHOOLS MENTORING AND RESOURCES TEAM INC (SMART): $25,000 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationSHINE TOGETHER INC: $85,000 · Youth DevelopmentFRIENDS FOR YOUTH INC: $75,000 · Youth DevelopmentBROTHERS ON THE RISE: $60,000 · Youth DevelopmentFIRST GRADUATE: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentALISA ANN RUCH BURN FOUNDATION: $100,000 · HealthMILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $37,000 · HealthJUSTICE AT LAST INC: $125,000 · Civil RightsCHILDREN RISING INC: $125,000 · Religion
Other$2,407,200Human Services$635,112Education$481,000Youth Development$245,000Health$137,000Civil Rights$125,000Religion$125,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCenter for Early Intervention on Deafness: $125,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetJUSTICE AT LAST INC: $125,000 over 5y, 7.2% of budgetCHILDREN RISING INC: $125,000 over 5y, 3.4% of budgetNext Generation Scholars Inc: $125,000 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetGLOBAL CENTER FOR SUCCESS INC: $115,000 over 5y, 43% of budgetMujeres Unidas y Activas: $115,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetALISA ANN RUCH BURN FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetAT THE CROSSROADS: $100,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetCOASTSIDE HOPE: $100,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetCommunity Resources for Science: $85,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetPROJECT AVARY INC ALTERNATIVE VENTURES FOR AT RISK YOUTH: $85,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetSHINE TOGETHER INC: $85,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetEAST PALO ALTO KIDS FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 3y, 8.5% of budgetMOLLYS ANGELS: $75,000 over 3y, 6.9% of budgetFRIENDS FOR YOUTH INC: $75,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetHopes Corner Inc: $65,700 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetEMPOWERED AGING INC: $60,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetBROTHERS ON THE RISE: $60,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetVillage Community Resource Center: $60,000 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetFriends In Sonoma Helping Inc: $52,500 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetNarika: $50,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetREBUILDING TOGETHER SOLANO COUNTY INC: $50,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH SILICON VALLEY: $50,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetAlameda County Library Foundation: $40,000 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetMILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $37,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCITY YOUTH NOW FKA VOLUNTEER AUXILIARY YOUTH GUIDANCE CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO: $30,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetStern Grove Festival Association: $30,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetChi Am Circle Club: $30,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS DIABLO REGION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetMusic In Schools Today: $25,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetFIRST PLACE FOR YOUTH: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSCHOOLS MENTORING AND RESOURCES TEAM INC (SMART): $25,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCenterforce Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetMONUMENT CRISIS CENTER: $17,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMoebius Syndrome Foundation: $15,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetALEARN: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION OF NAPA VALLEY: $12,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS HOPE GIRLS HOPE OF SAN FRANCISCO: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetCHINESE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PROJECT: $10,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetTHE ODYSSEY SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds Center for Early Intervention on Deafness ↗
  • Who funds JUSTICE AT LAST INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN RISING INC ↗
  • Who funds Next Generation Scholars Inc ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL CENTER FOR SUCCESS INC ↗
  • Who funds Mujeres Unidas y Activas ↗
  • Who funds ALISA ANN RUCH BURN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AT THE CROSSROADS ↗
  • Who funds COASTSIDE HOPE ↗
  • Who funds Community Resources for Science ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT AVARY INC ALTERNATIVE VENTURES FOR AT RISK YOUTH ↗
  • Who funds SHINE TOGETHER INC ↗
  • Who funds EAST PALO ALTO KIDS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MOLLYS ANGELS ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS FOR YOUTH INC ↗
  • Who funds Hopes Corner Inc ↗
  • Who funds EMPOWERED AGING INC ↗
  • Who funds BROTHERS ON THE RISE ↗
  • Who funds Village Community Resource Center ↗
  • Who funds Friends In Sonoma Helping Inc ↗
  • Who funds Narika ↗
  • Who funds REBUILDING TOGETHER SOLANO COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH SILICON VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds Alameda County Library Foundation ↗
  • Who funds MILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CITY YOUTH NOW FKA VOLUNTEER AUXILIARY YOUTH GUIDANCE CENTER OF SAN FRANCISCO ↗
  • Who funds Stern Grove Festival Association ↗
  • Who funds Chi Am Circle Club ↗

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…East Bay Community Fo…Silicon Valley Commun…Kaiser Foundation Hos…Bothin FoundationMarin Community Found…Jewish Community Fede…McNabb FoundationCrescent Porter Hale …The Sobrato Family Fo…Philanthropic Venture…The David and Lucile …
The San Francisco FoundationCA30.3× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Bothin Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · McNabb Foundation · Crescent Porter Hale Foundation · The Sobrato Family Foundation · Philanthropic Ventures Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard 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 Callison Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Callison Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Callison Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Callison 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 62 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $474k of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Callison’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