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The Cappello Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Cappello 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.

$315k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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.

Crime & Legal$1.9MEducation$224kArts & Culture$27kHealth$18kAnimals$18kRecreation & Sports$13kPublic Safety & Disaster$8kEnvironment$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $15k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $300k
$2,121
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE UCLA FOUNDATIONSCHOOL OF LAW$150,000
THE UCLA FOUNDATIONSCHOOL OF LAW$150,000
GREEN BRIGADE AT UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS$5,000
NATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION$2,500
THE CAVALIERS DRUM & BUGLE CORPS$2,121
BELLA AND SUNSHINE RESCUE$2,011
DOBERMAN PINSCHER RESCUE$1,500
THE GENTLE BARN$1,000
DONKEY LAND$500
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 (FY17–19, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHANNEL ISLANDS YMCA: $1k → 14%CHANNEL ISLANDS YMCA: $1k → 14%UNITY SHOPPE INC: $500 → 14%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

WA
IL
NY
IN
CA
VA
AZ
TX
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 11 repeat orgs$47k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
31

Total granted

$2.2M
$38k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+78%

Still filing today

55%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
AnimalsHealthEducationRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesArts & CultureOther
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

  • LC
    Lambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation
    5× · 2017–2022 · $208k · revenue +142%
  • SB
    SANTA BARBARA BOWL FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2018 · $10k · revenue +54%
  • ND
    NATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION
    7× · 2018–2024 · $8k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • FF
    Foundation for Cottage Rehab and Goleta Valley Cottage Hospgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +114%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • CO
    Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abusegraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +86%
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
Santa Barbara Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Santa barbara humane operates two campuses located in santa barbara and santa maria providing care for community-owned and homeless animals. both campuses offer affordable high quality veterinary care, compassionate behavior training…

Animals
2
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for Monterey County

The SPCA Monterey County's Mission is assuring compassionate treatment of all animals through rescue, rehabilitation, protection and education. The SPCA shelters homeless, neglected, and abused pets, including dogs, cats, horses, exotic…

Animals
3
Santa Barbara Zoological Foundation

The santa barbara zoo is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of the natural world and its living treasures through education, research, recreation and conservation.

Animals
4
Santa Barbara County Trails Council

Our mission is to protect public trail access build and maintain safe and sustainable trails and promote public engagement in land stewardship and trail use for all types of outdoor recreation.

Recreation & Sports
5
Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation Inc

To provide better care for animals in santa barbara county shelters.

Animals
6
Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara County

To provide high-quality civil legal services to vulnerable santa barbara county residents.

Crime & Legal
7
The Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary

To rescue, house and rehabilitate unwanted birds and provide education to parrot owners.

Animals
8
Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation

The santa barbara public library foundation supports the long-term health and sustainability of the santa barbara public library through public-private partnerships.

Public Benefit
9
Spark Rescue Santa Barbara

It is Spark Rescue's mission to rescue, rehabilitate, medically treat, spay and neuter unwanted dogs and cats and place them into permanent homes. To prevent future un wanted litters we spay the mother of the litter being surrendered. We…

Animals
10
The Land Trust for Santa Barbara County

To conserve natural resources, agricultural land and open spaces for present and future generations.

Environment
11
Uc Santa Barbara Foundation

The uc santa barbara foundation actively works to further the goals of the university of california, santa barbara. the foundation seeks to maintain and nurture the university's quality and distinction. on behalf of the campus, the…

Education
12
Domestic Violence Solutions for Santa Barbara County

Domestic violence solutions of santa barbara county is dedicated to providing safe harbor to all victims of domestic violence and their children throughout santa barbara county.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Santa Barbara Foundation; the most unlike its peers is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Inc. 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

29 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. 29 of the 47 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/29
Grantees still filing
22/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE UCLA FOUNDATIONSCHOOL OF LAW: $1,905,411 · OtherTHE UCLA FOUNDATIONSCHOOL OF LAW+23 more: $54,989 · OtherLambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation: $207,660 · EducationLambda Chi…+2 more: $1,302 · EducationFoundation for Cottage Rehab and Goleta Valley Cottage Hosp: $10,000 · HealthNATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION: $7,750 · HealthCouncil on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse: $5,000 · HealthLUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $1,000 · Health+2 more: $750 · HealthDOBERMAN PINSCHER RESCUE: $7,280 · AnimalsTHE GENTLE BARN FOUNDATION: $5,650 · AnimalsBella and Sunshine Rescue Inc: $2,011 · AnimalsANIMAL HOPE AND WELLNESS FOUNDATION: $1,250 · Animals+3 more: $850 · AnimalsSANTA BARBARA BOWL FOUNDATION: $10,300 · Recreation & SportsSANTA BARBARA MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL VOLUNTEERS INC: $500 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $100 · Recreation & SportsChannel Islands Young Men's Christian Association: $2,000 · Human ServicesUNITY SHOPPE INC: $500 · Human ServicesTHE CAVALIERS AP&E INC: $2,121 · Arts & CultureDRUM CORPS INTERNATIONAL INC: $100 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,960,400Education$208,962Health$24,500Animals$17,041Recreation & Sports$10,900Human Services$2,500Arts & Culture$2,221

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 budgetLambda Chi Alpha Educational Foundation: $207,660 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetSANTA BARBARA BOWL FOUNDATION: $10,300 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFoundation for Cottage Rehab and Goleta Valley Cottage Hosp: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNATIONAL DISASTER SEARCH DOG FOUNDATION: $7,750 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDOBERMAN PINSCHER RESCUE: $7,280 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetTHE GENTLE BARN FOUNDATION: $5,650 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCouncil on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CAVALIERS AP&E INC: $2,121 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBella and Sunshine Rescue Inc: $2,011 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetChannel Islands Young Men's Christian Association: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetANIMAL HOPE AND WELLNESS FOUNDATION: $1,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJODI HOUSE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetELINGS PARK FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSanta Barbara Education Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITY SHOPPE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAIL VOLUNTEERS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDonkeyLand: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF LANAI BOOSTER: $302 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSANTA BARBARA RESCUE MISSION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH VALLEY ANIMAL DISASTER GROUP: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPEOPLE FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF ANIMALS INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA SOCCER CLUB: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDRUM CORPS INTERNATIONAL INC: $100 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.

Santa Barbara Foundat…June G Outhwaite Char…Ann Jackson Family Fo…Hutton Foundation Dba…Mosher FoundationWilliams-Corbett Foun…The John C Mithun Fou…Alice Tweed Tuohy Fou…Latkin Charitable Fou…The Kirby-Jones Found…The Wood-Claeyssens F…California Community …
Santa Barbara FoundationCA21.2× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Santa Barbara Foundation · June G Outhwaite Charitable Trust JS Poucher KL Englert & CM Cooney Co-Tr · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Mosher Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · The John C Mithun Foundation · Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation · Latkin Charitable Foundation · The Kirby-Jones Foundation · The Wood-Claeyssens Foundation · California Community 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 Cappello Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Cappello 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 Cappello Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Cappello 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 47 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

    Play a game based on Cappello’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