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The Daylight Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Daylight 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.

$115k
Granted FY2023
8
Grants FY2023
4
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2023.

Food & Nutrition$550kAnimals$275kHealth$135kEducation$135kHuman Services$105kPhilanthropy$100kPublic Safety & Disaster$90kEnvironment$80kOther$0
02FY2023 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $95k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$6k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FOOD BANK CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO$40,000
MEALS ON WHEELS OF CONTRA COSTA INC$25,000
CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE$20,000
EAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$10,000
NORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA INC$5,000
ST MARYS HEALTH WAGON$5,000
CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION$5,000
HEART OF ALABAMA FOOD BANK$5,000
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 (FY18–22, $85k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 41% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $15k → 8%BAY AREA RESCUE MISSION: $5k → 9%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $25k → 9%PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS: $30k → 14%THE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDRENS RIGHTS: $5k → 14%GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $5k → 8%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

IL
NY
CA
CO
VA
MD
KS
DC
AL
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 14% of The Daylight Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Daylight Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

46%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$675k · 10 repeat orgs$782k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2023, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
35

Total granted

$675k
$782k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+27%

Still filing today

100%
91%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’21’22’23
Food & NutritionHuman ServicesEducationAnimalsEnvironmentHealthOther
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

  • FB
    FOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO
    2× · 2021–2023 · $165k · revenue +25%
  • SM
    ST MARYS HEALTH WAGON INC
    3× · 2018–2023 · $90k · revenue +147%
  • RE
    REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK
    3× · 2017–2022 · $85k · revenue +118%

Funded once

  • INSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT NEWSgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $65k · revenue +185%
  • SH
    SECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -4%
  • ALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +2%
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
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
2
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
3
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
4
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
5
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
6
Feeding San Diego

On a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. through direct service and community partnerships, feeding san diego provides more than 26 million meals each year to children, families,…

Food & Nutrition
7
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank

Our mission is to solve hunger in central pennsylvania by ensuring that everyone struggling with hunger has access to enough wholesome food every day. we will achieve this bold goal with the help of our generous donors, volunteers and…

Food & Nutrition
8
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
9
Central California Food Bank

Ccfb is dedicated to ending hunger, working with over 200 partner agencies to provide food to those experiencing hunger. our mission: transforming lives together, in the passionate pursuit to end hunger in central ca - one meal, one…

Food & Nutrition
10
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank

The organization's mission is to mobilize resources to fight hunger in our community. to fulfill its mission, the food bank:* sources and acquires nutritious food and other products and distribute them to people experiencing nutrition…

—
11
California State Parks Foundation

California state parks foundation is an independent, member-supported nonprofit dedicated to protecting and preserving the california state park system for the benefit of all.

Recreation & Sports
12
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is National Geographic Society. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

47 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. 47 of the 49 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/47
Grantees still filing
31/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $165,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND …REDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $85,000 · Food & NutritionREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANKMEALS ON WHEELS CONTRA COSTA INC: $85,000 · Food & NutritionMEALS ON WHEELS CONTRA COSTA I…SECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $50,000 · Food & NutritionSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALL…HEART OF ALABAMA FOOD BANK INC: $30,000 · Food & NutritionHEART OF ALABAMA FOOD BANK INCCALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF FOOD BANKS: $25,000 · Food & NutritionCALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF FOOD…+1 more: $10,000 · Food & NutritionCALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION: $60,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATIONALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $50,000 · OtherALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANKSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $50,000 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANKHOPALONG ANIMAL RESCUE: $45,000 · OtherHOPALONG ANIMAL RESCUENATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $35,000 · OtherNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INCMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC - DOCTORS WITHOUT: $25,000 · OtherFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $20,000 · OtherNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $20,000 · OtherWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $30,000 · OtherWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INCSAVE MOUNT DIABLO: $25,000 · OtherDorothy Day House: $25,000 · OtherLINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM: $25,000 · OtherSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $20,000 · Other+8 more: $82,000 · Other+8 moreTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $119,685 · EducationTHE BOARD OF T…INSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT NEWS: $65,000 · EducationINSTITUTE FOR …WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · EducationNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $10,000 · Education+1 more: $5,000 · EducationCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $80,000 · Human ServicesCANINE COMPAN…WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRI…Partnership With Native Americans: $30,000 · Human ServicesPartnership W…GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesGUIDING EYES …GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesGUIDE DOGS FO…+2 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesST MARYS HEALTH WAGON INC: $90,000 · HealthPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA: $10,000 · HealthBETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER: $10,000 · HealthCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · PhilanthropyEAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $40,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE NORTH STATE: $10,000 · PhilanthropyNORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA INC: $40,000 · AnimalsNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $40,000 · AnimalsAlley Cat Allies Inc: $10,000 · Animals
Food & Nutrition$450,000Other$512,000Education$209,685Human Services$205,000Health$110,000Philanthropy$100,000Animals$90,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFOOD BANK OF CONTRA COSTA AND SOLANO: $165,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $119,685 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST MARYS HEALTH WAGON INC: $90,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetREDWOOD EMPIRE FOOD BANK: $85,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS CONTRA COSTA INC: $85,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $80,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT NEWS: $65,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION: $60,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEAST BAY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH SHORE ANIMAL LEAGUE AMERICA INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF ALABAMA FOOD BANK INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPartnership With Native Americans: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF FOOD BANKS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDorothy Day House: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSAVE MOUNT DIABLO: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCITYTEAM MINISTRIES: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCalifornia Native Plant Society: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetYOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREGIONAL PARKS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHELTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAlley Cat Allies Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOOD SHARE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDRENS RIGHTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Cedars of Marin: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBAY AREA RESCUE MISSION: $5,000 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.

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…The Blackbaud Giving …East Bay Community Fo…McKesson Foundation I…The San Francisco Fou…Morgan Stanley Global…California Community …The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Verizon FoundationJpmorgan Chase Founda…Shell USA Company Fou…
Marin Community FoundationCA18.6× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Marin Community Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · East Bay Community Foundation · McKesson Foundation Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · California Community Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Verizon Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Shell USA Company 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 Daylight Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Daylight Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 49 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 but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Daylight’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