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The Chen Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Chen Family Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$24k
Granted FY2026still arriving
4
Grants FY2026still arriving
1
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2026.

Education$216kArts & Culture$54kHuman Services$13kCommunity Improvement$10kHealth$3kYouth Development$2kPublic Benefit$399Other$0
02FY2026 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2026

  • Under $10k3 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $18k
$3,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAGE HILL SCHOOL$17,500
CHINESE AMERICAN ASSOC OF ORANGE CO$3,000
THE STANFORD FUND$2,500
BOY SCOUNTS OF AMERICA$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–26) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%SURGEON VOLUNTEERS: $3k → 11%TECHIES WITHOUT BORDORS: $5k → 14%BOY SCOUNTS OF AMERICA: $1k → 8%FOUNTAIN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL: $3k → 10%CHINESE AHA: $3k → 14%TECHIES WITHOUT BORDORS: $5k → 14%FOUNTAIN VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL: $3k → 10%AMERICAN SONG OF SONGS CHORUS ASSOC: $12k → 10%AMERICAN SONG OF SONGS CHORUS ASSOC: $12k → 10%AMERICAN SONG OF SONGS CHORUS ASSOC: $10k → 10%AMERICAN SONG OF SONGS CHORUS ASSOC: $8k → 10%CHINESE AMERICAN ASSOC OF ORANGE CO: $6k → 10%PACIFIC SYMPHONY: $6k → 10%CHINESE AMERICAN ASSOC OF ORANGE CO: $4k → 10%CHINESE AMERICAN ASSOC OF ORANGE CO: $3k → 10%RICHARD NIXON FOUNDATION: $399 → 10%ORANGE COUNTY COUNCIL: $1k → 10%SAGE HILL SCHOOL: $21k → 10%SAGE HILL SCHOOL: $20k → 10%SAGE HILL SCHOOL: $18k → 10%SAGE HILL SCHOOL: $17k → 10%IUSD-Irvine Unified School District: $400 → 10%SAGE HILL SCHOOL: $16k → 10%PTF ONLINE AUCTIONS: $23k → 10%ST MARGARET'S: $20k → 10%ST MARGARET'S: $18k → 10%SMES: $15k → 10%ST MARGARET'S: $11k → 10%SMES 2019 FOREVER PLAID: $8k → 10%SMES: $5k → 10%ST MARGARET'S: $2k → 10%TURTLE ROCK ELEMENTARY PTA: $1k → 10%TURTLE ROCK ELEMENTARY: $800 → 10%JCC: $500 → 10%UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 10%UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $1k → 10%UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $500 → 10%UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $150 → 10%UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL PTSA: $130 → 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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$250k · 8 repeat orgs$48k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +27% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2026, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
12

Total granted

$250k
$47k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+11%

Still filing today

50%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26
EducationCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureHealthOther
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

  • SH
    SAGE HILL SCHOOL
    5× · 2022–2026 · $92k · revenue +27%
  • UH
    UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL
    4× · 2019–2023 · $17k · revenue +21%
  • FV
    FOUNTAIN VALLEY ROYAL REGIMENT BOOSTER ASSOCIATION
    2× · 2019–2020 · $6k · revenue +21%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $23k
  • S2
    SMES 2019 FOREVER PLAID
    one grant, 2019 · $8k
  • PS
    Pacific Symphonygraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $6k · revenue +102%
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
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
2
Pacific University

A diverse and sustainable learning community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, pacific university inspires students to think, care, create and pursue justice in our world.

Education
3
Rancho Mirage High School Instrumental
Education
4
University of the Pacific

To provide a superior, student-centered learning experience integrating liberal arts and professional education and preparing individuals for lasting achievement and responsible leadership in their careers and communities.

Education
5
California Lutheran University

The mission of the university is to educate leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice.

Education
6
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
7
Loma Linda University

Loma linda university, a seventh-day adventist christian health sciences institution, seeks to further the healing and teaching ministry of jesus christ "to make man whole" by: - educating ethical and proficient christian health…

Education
8
San Francisco Girls' School

To educate and inspire girls to become innovators and leaders in stem.

—
9
Silicon Valley International School

Silicon valley international school's focus on inquiry and bilingualism empowers young minds to embrace complexity, think critically from multiple perspectives, and demonstrate integrity and sensitivity across cultures.

—
10
High Tech High

High tech high's mission is to develop and support innovative public schools where all students develop the academic, workplace and citizenship skills for postsecondary success.

Education
11
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
12
Pacific Ridge School

In a community that fosters academic excellence, ethical responsibility and global engagement, pacific ridge school prepares students for college and a purposeful life.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Pacific Symphony; the most unlike its peers is Techies Without Borders. 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

9 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. 9 of the 22 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
8/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $50,580 · OtherIndividual grant recipientAMERICAN SONG OF SONGS CHORUS ASSOC: $42,000 · OtherAMERICAN SONG OF SONGS CHORUS ASSOCIndividual grant recipient: $23,450 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSMES: $20,000 · OtherSMESCHINESE AMERICAN ASSOC OF ORANGE CO: $13,000 · OtherCHINESE AMERICAN ASSOC OF ORANGE COSMES 2019 FOREVER PLAID: $7,700 · Other+10 more: $13,729 · Other+10 moreSAGE HILL SCHOOL: $91,760 · EducationSAGE HILL SCHOOLUNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $16,940 · EducationUNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL+1 more: $2,500 · EducationTECHIES WITHOUT BORDERS: $10,000 · Community ImprovementPacific Symphony: $6,000 · Arts & CultureSURGEON VOLUNTEERS: $3,000 · Health
Other$170,459Education$111,200Community Improvement$10,000Arts & Culture$6,000Health$3,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSAGE HILL SCHOOL: $91,760 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $16,940 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTECHIES WITHOUT BORDERS: $10,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetPacific Symphony: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNTAIN VALLEY ROYAL REGIMENT BOOSTER ASSOCIATION: $5,500 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetSURGEON VOLUNTEERS: $3,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetTURTLE ROCK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTA: $800 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE RICHARD NIXON FOUNDATION: $399 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 SAGE HILL SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds TECHIES WITHOUT BORDERS ↗
  • Who funds Pacific Symphony ↗
  • Who funds FOUNTAIN VALLEY ROYAL REGIMENT BOOSTER ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds SURGEON VOLUNTEERS ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds TURTLE ROCK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTA ↗
  • Who funds THE RICHARD NIXON FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA4.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Chen Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Chen Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 Chen Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Chen Family 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 22 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Chen Family’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