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The Cox Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Cox Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$3.6M
Granted FY2021
1
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$3.6M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2021.

Philanthropy$3.6MEducation$33kCrime & Legal$23kHuman Services$19kHealth$13kEmployment$8kFood & Nutrition$6kArts & Culture$4kOther$0
02FY2021 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$3,628,840
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE COX FOUNDATION DAF$3,628,840
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 (FY20–20, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, 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%HOSPICE BY THE BAY: $3k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO: $2k → 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 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
Sutter Bay Hospitals

MISSION STATEMENT: MISSION: CARING FOR OUR PATIENTS FIRST AND OUR PEOPLE ALWAYS. VISION: TO BE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE, INTEGRATED AND CONNECTED HEALTH SYSTEM FOR GETTING AND STAYING WELL. VALUES: EXCELLENCE - We deliver high-quality,…

Health
2
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
3
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
4
Southern California University of Health Sciences

The mission of southern california university of health sciences (scu) is to educate students as competent, caring and successful practitioners of integrative healthcare. the university is committed to providing excellence in academics,…

Education
5
Pomona College

Throughout its history, pomona college has educated men and women of exceptional promise. we gather individuals, regardless of financial circumstances, into a small residential community that is strongly rooted in southern california yet…

Education
6
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
7
Sutter Bay Medical Foundation

Mission statement: mission: caring for our patients first and our people always. vision: to be the most comprehensive, integrated and connected health system for getting and staying well. values: excellence - we deliver high-quality,…

Health
8
California Institute of Contemporary Art
—
9
San Jose Museum of Art Association

Nurture empathy and connection by engaging communities with socially relevant contemporary art

Arts & Culture
10
Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & clark is a premier private higher education institution offering an exceptional education in an inclusive environment. by fostering critical thinking, innovation, creativity, civic engagement, and leadership, both inside and…

Education
11
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
12
Atlantic Legal Foundation

The mission of the alf is to advance the rule of law by advocating limited and efficient government, free enterprise, individual liberty, property rights, effective education, and the use of sound science in judicial and regulatory…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Pacific Medical Center Foundation; the most unlike its peers is San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 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

19 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. 19 of the 26 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
16/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE COX FOUNDATION DAF: $3,628,840 · OtherTHE COX FOUNDATION DAF+16 more: $48,500 · OtherHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $30,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,500 · EducationCriminal Justice Legal Foundation: $10,000 · Crime & LegalPacific Legal Foundation: $7,500 · Crime & LegalFOUNDATION FOR STUDENTS RISING ABOVE: $10,000 · PhilanthropyPacific Research Institute For Public Policy: $2,000 · PhilanthropyCALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthGOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL INC: $8,000 · Recreation & SportsINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $5,000 · Civil Rights
Other$3,677,340Education$31,500Crime & Legal$17,500Philanthropy$12,000Health$10,000Recreation & Sports$8,000Civil Rights$5,000

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 budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCriminal Justice Legal Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR STUDENTS RISING ABOVE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPacific Legal Foundation: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBY THE BAY HEALTH: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAPHAEL HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY MUSIC CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPacific Research Institute For Public Policy: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLAREMONT EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA RANGELAND TRUST: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetColonial Williamsburg Foundation: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $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.

Marin Community Found…McNabb FoundationThe San Francisco Fou…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Network for GoodNational Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
Marin Community FoundationCA15.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Marin Community Foundation · McNabb Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Cox Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Cox 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%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 35%
  • Goodwill Industries International Inc: 35% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 26 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Cox’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