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The Errett Fisher Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Errett Fisher Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$977k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2025.

Education$1.8MHealth$1.4MPhilanthropy$860kFood & Nutrition$600kInternational$513kPublic Safety & Disaster$200kHousing & Shelter$145kYouth Development$105kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k4 grants · $90k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $887k
$75,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$6.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE SHALOM PROJECT$200,000
CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$150,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$150,000
UCSB FOUNDATION$112,500
WAKE FOREST INSTITUTE OF REGENERATIVE MEDICINE$99,306
CITY WITH DWELLINGS COMMUNITY FIRST INITIATIVE$75,000
IFB SOLUTIONS AKA INDUSTRIES FOR THE BLIND$50,000
CAL POLY CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING DEPT$50,000
NC CONGRESS OF LATINO ORGANIZATIONS$30,000
WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY$30,000
DISABILITY ADVOCATES OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA$20,000
GREENEST$10,000
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 (FY18–25, $250k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $150k → 14%DISABILITY ADVOCATES OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA: $20k → 15%DISABILITY ADVOCATES OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA: $20k → 15%DISABILITY ADVOCATES OF NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA: $15k → 15%GREENEST: $10k → 15%GREENEST: $10k → 15%UNITY SHOPPE: $25k → 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.
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.6M · 22 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

22 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
16

Total granted

$4.6M
$870k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+5%
+79%

Still filing today

59%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $299k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
PhilanthropyHuman ServicesInternationalReligionEducationCivil RightsOther
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

  • TS
    THE SHALOM PROJECT INC
    2× · 2019–2025 · $500k · revenue +73% · 49% of their budget
  • DIRECT RELIEF
    3× · 2017–2022 · $300k · revenue +94%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2022 · $265k · revenue +86% · 28% of their budget

Funded once

  • IF
    INDUSTRIES FOR THE BLIND SOLUTIONS
    one grant, 2024 · $150k
  • SP
    SAMARITAN'S PURSE
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue 0%
  • MANNA FOOD BANK INCgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue +141%
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
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
North Carolina Community Foundation

The nccf is the single statewide community foundation serving north carolina and was created in 1988 to build capacity through philanthropy. the nccf administers over 1,300 component funds established to provide long-term support of a…

Philanthropy
4
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
5
United Way of Forsyth County Inc

United way of forsyth county is a catalyst for strengthening our community by identifying and addressing its most significant needs through alignment of resources and strategic partnerships to achieve measureable, lasting impact.

—
6
Food Bank of Central & Eastern Nc Inc

Nourish people. build solutions. empower communities. no one goes hungry.

Food & Nutrition
7
United Way Worldwide

To improve lives by mobilizing caring power of communities around the world to advance common good.

Philanthropy
8
Inland Southern California United Way

The mission of united way of the inland valleys is to unite people, ideas, and resources with our community to improve lives. united way fights for the education, financial stability, and housing of every person in our community. uwiv…

Philanthropy
9
United Way of Greater Charlotte Inc

United way uses collective giving to build pathways to economic opportunity for all, primarily through neighborhood-based, grassroots and responsive solutions.continued on schedule o.united way was founded 90 years ago in mecklenburg…

Philanthropy
10
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
11
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
12
Foundation for California Community Colleges

The foundation's mission is to benefit, support, and enhance the missions of the california community college system.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. 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

21 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. 21 of the 43 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
11/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES: $620,260 · OtherWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCESWAKE FOREST INSTITUTE FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINE: $554,744 · OtherWAKE FOREST INSTITUTE FOR REGENERATIVE MEDICINEIndividual grant recipient: $425,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUCSB FOUNDATION: $337,500 · OtherUCSB FOUNDATIONCALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY: $250,000 · OtherCALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITYWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY DISCOVERY AWARD: $150,000 · OtherINDUSTRIES FOR THE BLIND SOLUTIONS: $150,000 · Other+19 more: $1,039,306 · Other+19 moreUNITED WAY OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOUNDATION: $265,375 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF FO…UNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC: $190,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF SA…CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150,000 · PhilanthropyCALIFORNIA COMMU…UNITED WAY INC: $125,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY INCLions Clubs International Foundation: $70,000 · PhilanthropyLions Clubs Inte…THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $50,000 · PhilanthropyTHE COMMUNITY FO…THE SHALOM PROJECT INC: $500,000 · ReligionTHE SHALOM …SAMARITAN'S PURSE: $100,000 · ReligionSAMARITAN'S…DIRECT RELIEF: $300,000 · InternationalSURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC: $43,200 · InternationalAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $150,000 · Human ServicesDISABILITY ADVOCATES OF NORTHWEST NC INC: $55,000 · Human ServicesUNITY SHOPPE INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesGREENEST: $20,000 · Human ServicesWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $140,000 · EducationCAL POLY CORPORATION: $100,000 · EducationCITY WITH DWELLINGS COMMUNITY FIRST INITIATIVE: $125,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$3,526,810Philanthropy$850,375Religion$600,000International$343,200Human Services$250,000Education$240,000Housing & Shelter$125,000

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 budgetTHE SHALOM PROJECT INC: $500,000 over 2y, 49% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $300,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOUNDATION: $265,375 over 2y, 28% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC: $190,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY: $140,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY INC: $125,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCITY WITH DWELLINGS COMMUNITY FIRST INITIATIVE: $125,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMANNA FOOD BANK INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCAL POLY CORPORATION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWilderness Youth Project Inc: $75,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetLions Clubs International Foundation: $70,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNC CONGRESS OF LATINO ORGANIZATIONS (NCCLO): $70,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetDISABILITY ADVOCATES OF NORTHWEST NC INC: $55,000 over 3y, 30% of budgetCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $50,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC: $43,200 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUNITY SHOPPE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGREENEST: $20,000 over 2y, 1.0% 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 THE SHALOM PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds DIRECT RELIEF ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF FORSYTH COUNTY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY INC ↗
  • Who funds CITY WITH DWELLINGS COMMUNITY FIRST INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds MANNA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds CAL POLY CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Wilderness Youth Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds Lions Clubs International Foundation ↗
  • Who funds NC CONGRESS OF LATINO ORGANIZATIONS (NCCLO) ↗
  • Who funds DISABILITY ADVOCATES OF NORTHWEST NC INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC ↗
  • Who funds SURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITY SHOPPE 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.

Santa Barbara Foundat…Williams-Corbett Foun…Hutton Foundation Dba…The Winston-Salem Fou…California Community …Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…The Bank of America C…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Santa Barbara FoundationCA15.4× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Santa Barbara Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · The Winston-Salem Foundation · California Community Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Errett Fisher Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Errett Fisher 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 →
    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 · 0–50%
    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 Errett Fisher Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Errett Fisher 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 43 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Errett Fisher’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