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· Private foundation

The Crean 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.

$3.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
104
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$9.1MHuman Services$6.6MHealth$6.4MYouth Development$1.9MArts & Culture$1.2MAnimals$686kHousing & Shelter$477kReligion$421kOther$0
02FY2024 · 104 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k47 grants · $180k
  • $10k–50k44 grants · $645k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.4M
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.0M
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$64M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Orangewood Foundation - Samueli Aca$500,000
ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY$250,000
Children's Bureau$250,000
Anaheim Family YMCA$215,000
Olive Crest$205,000
HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$200,000
Concordia University Foundation$200,000
Children's Hospital of OC Foundatio$117,500
ALZHEIMER'S ORANGE COUNTY$100,000
Individual grant recipient$100,000
Friends of Santa Ana Zoo$100,000
Crean Lutheran High School$65,000
The Priority Center$50,000
NEW VISTA SCHOOL FOUNDATION$40,000
Big BrothersBig Sisters$35,000
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 (FY17–24, $2.7M) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 9% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%Guide Dogs of America: $10k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%The Midnight Mission: $20k → 14%SHARE OURSELVES CORPORATION: $10k → 10%SHARE OUR SELVES CORPORATION: $10k → 10%SHARE OUR SELVES CORPORATION: $10k → 10%The Teen Project Inc: $200k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $215k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $215k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $215k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $215k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $215k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $115k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $115k → 10%Anaheim Family YMCA: $115k → 10%Illumination Foundation: $15k → 10%Illumination Foundation: $15k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $35k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $35k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $35k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $35k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $35k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $35k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $35k → 10%YMCA of Orange County: $25k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%CALIFORNIA YOUTH SERVICES: $13k → 10%American Red Cross: $25k → 10%American Red Cross: $25k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ND
IN
CA
KY
VA
NC
DC
FL
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26M · 117 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against -7% for those funded once.

117 repeat relationships: 97 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

117
8

Total granted

$26M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
-7%

Still filing today

72%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $525k 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
Human ServicesHealthArts & CultureEducationHousing & ShelterCrime & LegalOther
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

  • CU
    CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $5.2M · revenue +62%
  • HH
    HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    7× · 2017–2024 · $2.9M · revenue +300%
  • AA
    ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY CARLSBAD CALIFORNIA
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • WS
    WOMEN'S STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY
    one grant, 2022 · $1.0M · revenue -74% · 35% of their budget
  • TT
    The Teen Project Incgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $200k · revenue +102%
  • PM
    Pat McCormick Educational Foundatio
    one grant, 2017 · $37k
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
Mercy House Living Centers

Mercy house's most significant exempt activities focus on ending homelessness and providing comprehensive housing and support services. the organization offers homeless prevention, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and…

Housing & Shelter
2
Irvine Adult Day Health Services Inc

Irvine adult day health services, together with families and the community, promotes a lifestyle of health, independence and active living for disabled and older adults.

Human Services
3
Mary's Shelter

Believing in the value of every life, mary's path empowers vulnerable teen mothers in foster care and their babies to create lives of dignity, hope and self-sufficiency.

Human Services
4
New Alternatives Inc

New alternatives, inc. is committed to providing abused and negelected youth with hope and opportunities through a comprehensive array of social, residential and mental health services that we provide in san diego and orange county.

—
5
Waymakers

Waymakers builds safer communities by helping individuals make their way through conflict and crisis to a place of strength and stability. we redirect youthful offenders, stabilize children dealing with mental health concerns, counsel…

Crime & Legal
6
Interval House

The mission of the organization is to ensure safety and stability for people who are battered, abused, homeless or at risk; to create public awareness about the epidemic of violence; and to mobilize the community to prevent violence and…

Human Services
7
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.

—
8
Altamed Health Services Corporation

To eliminate disparities in health care access and outcomes by providing superior quality health and human services through an integrated world-class delivery system for latino, multi-ethnic underserved communities in southern california.

Health
9
Homeless Intervention Services of Orange County

The mission of homeless intervention services of orange county is to provide support and assistance to the underprivileged and unhoused to improve their quality of life and to help them regain stability and hope.

—
10
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…

—
11
Heritage Group Homes Inc

Our mission is to serve foster youth, families and our community through intensive clinical evidence-based treatment services, along with personalized and compassionate care. we provide mental health treatment that changes lives through a…

Unclassified
12
Laguna Beach Community Clinic

The mission of laguna beach community clinic (lbcc) is to provide excellent medical care regardless of the patient's ability to pay.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Olive Crest; the most unlike its peers is Heroes Hall Veterans Foundation. 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

97 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. 97 of the 131 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
93/97
Grantees still filing
76/97
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Children's Bureau: $1,971,000 · OtherChildren's BureauLUTHERAN HIGH SOUTH - ORANGE COUNTY CREAN LUTHERAN SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL: $1,125,000 · OtherLUTHERAN HIGH SOUTH - ORANGE COUNTY C…Children's Hospital of OC Foundatio: $910,000 · OtherChildren's Hospital of OC FoundatioOrangewood Foundation - Samueli Aca: $500,000 · OtherOrangewood Foundation - Samueli AcaIndividual grant recipient: $445,000 · OtherPRETEND CITY THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $439,300 · OtherNEW VISTA SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $320,000 · Other+64 more: $3,560,669 · Other+64 moreCHAPMAN UNIVERSITY: $5,195,000 · EducationCHAPMAN UNIVERSITYCONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE FOUNDATION: $1,400,000 · EducationCONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE FOUND…ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY CARLSBAD CALIFORNIA: $1,010,000 · EducationARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY CARLSBAD CA…SAMUELI ACADEMY: $300,000 · Education+5 more: $406,000 · EducationHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2,900,000 · HealthHOAG HOSPITAL FOUN…ALZHEIMER'S ORANGE COUNTY: $800,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S ORANGE…OLIVE CREST: $425,000 · HealthOLIVE CREST+10 more: $545,000 · Health+10 moreYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ANA: $1,420,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG MEN'S CHRI…WOMEN'S STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY: $1,000,000 · Human ServicesWOMEN'S STEP HOU…YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $270,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG MEN'S CHRI…CHILDHELP INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesThe Teen Project Inc: $200,000 · Human ServicesTHE MIDNIGHT MISSION: $160,000 · Human Services+16 more: $743,000 · Human Services+16 morePHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY: $200,000 · Arts & CultureRV-MH HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC: $160,760 · Arts & CultureARTS ORANGE COUNTY: $105,000 · Arts & CultureSegerstrom Center for the Arts: $80,000 · Arts & CulturePacific Symphony: $80,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ALL-AMERICAN BOYS CHORUS: $40,000 · Arts & CultureTHE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT: $40,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL GAME FISH ASSOCIATION INC: $36,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $41,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF SANTA ANA ZOO: $570,000 · AnimalsTHE PRIORITY CENTER ENDING THE GENERATIONAL CYCLE: $175,000 · Crime & LegalORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $70,000 · Crime & LegalAMERICA ON TRACK: $40,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$9,270,969Education$8,311,000Health$4,670,000Human Services$3,993,000Arts & Culture$782,760Animals$570,000Crime & Legal$285,000

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 budgetCHAPMAN UNIVERSITY: $5,195,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2,900,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ANA: $1,420,000 over 8y, 1.7% of budgetCONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE FOUNDATION: $1,400,000 over 7y, 24% of budgetARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY CARLSBAD CALIFORNIA: $1,010,000 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetWOMEN'S STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY: $1,000,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetALZHEIMER'S ORANGE COUNTY: $800,000 over 8y, 2.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF SANTA ANA ZOO: $570,000 over 8y, 11% of budgetOLIVE CREST: $425,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSAMUELI ACADEMY: $300,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $270,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetLUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE MASTER: $208,000 over 8y, 19% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $200,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetPHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY: $200,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetCHILDHELP INC: $200,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetThe Teen Project Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetTHE PRIORITY CENTER ENDING THE GENERATIONAL CYCLE: $175,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetRV-MH HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC: $160,760 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetTHE MIDNIGHT MISSION: $160,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetLAGUNA BEACH SENIORS INC: $160,000 over 8y, 3.2% of budgetFIRST STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY INC: $160,000 over 8y, 12% of budgetSAGE HILL SCHOOL: $152,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetANGEL FACES: $150,000 over 8y, 13% of budgetWORLD FIT FOUNDATION INC: $125,000 over 8y, 100% of budgetARTS ORANGE COUNTY: $105,000 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetThe Prentice School: $100,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetCalifornia Youth Services: $100,000 over 8y, 2.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY SENIORSERV INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Guiding Eyes Inc DBA Guide Dogs of America: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF ORANGE COUNTY INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetPACIFICA CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL: $80,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCASA DE AMMA: $80,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetWorking Wardrobes For A New Start: $80,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $80,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBEYOND BLINDNESS: $80,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetSUPPORT THE ENLISTED PROJECT INC: $80,000 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetFACES: $80,000 over 8y, 3.6% of budgetSegerstrom Center for the Arts: $80,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetOrange County Rescue Mission Inc: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPacific Symphony: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetAcacia Adult Day Services: $80,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetKIDWORKS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $80,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetShare Our Selves Corporation: $80,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetLAURA'S HOUSE: $80,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTH EMPLOYMENT SERVICE OF THE HARBOR AREA INC: $70,000 over 7y, 3.5% of budgetORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetProject Access Inc: $70,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetWOMENS TRANSITIONAL LIVING CENTER INC RADIANT FUTURES: $50,000 over 8y, 0.4% 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 CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ANA ↗
  • Who funds CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY IRVINE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY CARLSBAD CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN'S STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds ALZHEIMER'S ORANGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF SANTA ANA ZOO ↗
  • Who funds OLIVE CREST ↗
  • Who funds SAMUELI ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds LUTHERAN CHURCH OF THE MASTER ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds CHILDHELP INC ↗
  • Who funds The Teen Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE PRIORITY CENTER ENDING THE GENERATIONAL CYCLE ↗
  • Who funds RV-MH HERITAGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MIDNIGHT MISSION ↗
  • Who funds LAGUNA BEACH SENIORS INC ↗
  • Who funds FIRST STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds SAGE HILL SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds ANGEL FACES ↗
  • Who funds WORLD FIT FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTS ORANGE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds The Prentice School ↗
  • Who funds California Youth Services ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY SENIORSERV INC ↗

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 Community FoundationCA93.1× affinity54 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · O L Halsell Foundation · Sisters of St Joseph Healthcare Foundation · Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian · The Devto Support Foundation · Argyros Family Foundation · Edwards Lifesciences Foundation · Croul Family Foundation · Orange County's United Way · Glen and Dorothy Stillwell Charitable Trust · Farmers & Merchants Bank Foundation · Oneoc

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 Crean Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Crean Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • International Game Fish Association Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
34report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Crean Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Crean 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 131 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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