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The Fat Tire Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Fat Tire 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.

$3.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
43
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$4.3MEducation$3.9MEnvironment$1.2MYouth Development$812kFood & Nutrition$642kCivil Rights$297kInternational$292kArts & Culture$205kOther$0
02FY2024 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $370k
  • $50k–250k14 grants · $1.5M
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.3M
$25,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$87M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO$1,000,000
JDRF T1D FUND LLC$250,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$200,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA$200,000
ADVENTURE SCIENTISTS$200,000
ABORTION CARE NETWORK$200,000
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK$100,000
CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL$100,000
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION$100,000
CENTER FOR DISASTER PHILANTHROPY$100,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY$51,000
TIAM FOUNDATION$50,000
RMI$50,000
WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE$50,000
NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL$50,000
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 (FY22–24, $154k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE INDIAN LAND TENURE FOUNDATION: $83k → 14%SWEETWATER SPECTRUM: $1k → 9%CANINE COMPANIONS: $5k → 9%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $20k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $15k → 10%RAPHAEL HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO: $30k → 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

WA
MT
MN
NY
MA
OR
SD
NJ
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
DC
HI
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.7M · 71 repeat orgs$1.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

71 repeat relationships: 34 still active in FY2024, 37 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

71
44

Total granted

$9.7M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+3%

Still filing today

73%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $355k 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
HealthEnvironmentEducationArts & CultureInternationalHuman ServicesOther
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

  • BT
    BREAKTHROUGH T1D
    5× · 2017–2021 · $2.5M · revenue +49%
  • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION
    3× · 2019–2021 · $583k · revenue +51%
  • PEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL
    5× · 2018–2022 · $450k · revenue +59%

Funded once

  • SU
    STANFORD UNIVERSITY (3RD OF 5)
    one grant, 2018 · $250k
  • SU
    Stanford University (2nd of 5)
    one grant, 2017 · $250k
  • JAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM
    one grant, 2023 · $200k · revenue -12%
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
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
2
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
3
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
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
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
6
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
7
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
8
Public Health Institute

Public health institute generates and promotes research, leadership and partnerships to build capacity for strong public health policy, programs, systems and practices.

Health
9
Society for Neuroscience

Sfn's mission is to: 1. advance the understanding of the brain and the nervous system by bringing together scientists of all segments of neuroscience, by facilitating the integration of research directed at all levels of biological…

Health
10
Compass Science Communication Inc

Compass champions, connects, and supports diverse scientist leaders to improve the well-being of people and nature.

Science & Tech
11
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
12
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Francisco Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Pandemonium Aviaries. 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

93 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. 93 of the 129 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
89/93
Grantees still filing
60/93
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO: $1,666,666 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCOJDRF T1D FUND LLC: $750,000 · OtherJDRF T1D FUND LLCSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $500,000 · OtherSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANKSTANFORD UNIVERSITY (3RD OF 5): $250,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $250,000 · OtherStanford University (2nd of 5): $250,000 · Other+72 more: $1,890,254 · Other+72 moreBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $2,497,883 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1DABORTION CARE NETWORK: $255,000 · HealthABORTION CARE NETWORK+15 more: $145,585 · HealthTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,335,035 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUST…UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $583,333 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALI…CALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ARTS: $99,000 · Education+4 more: $43,000 · EducationADVENTURERS AND SCIENTISTS FOR CONSERVATION: $300,000 · EnvironmentSolutions Project Inc: $158,333 · EnvironmentNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $100,000 · EnvironmentHAWAIIAN ISLANDS LAND TRUST: $83,333 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $67,500 · EnvironmentAMAZON FRONTLINES: $50,000 · EnvironmentCanary Media Inc: $35,000 · Environment+7 more: $63,500 · EnvironmentPEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL: $450,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $352,000 · Youth DevelopmentMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $250,000 · InternationalWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $60,000 · InternationalWATERORG: $20,000 · International+2 more: $7,000 · InternationalJAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM: $200,000 · Arts & CultureDENSHO: $20,000 · Arts & CulturePartners Asia: $14,500 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $10,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$5,556,920Health$2,898,468Education$2,060,368Environment$957,666Youth Development$802,000International$337,000Arts & Culture$244,500

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 budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $2,497,883 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $1,335,035 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $583,333 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPEACEPLAYERS INTERNATIONAL: $450,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $352,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetADVENTURERS AND SCIENTISTS FOR CONSERVATION: $300,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetABORTION CARE NETWORK: $255,000 over 3y, 3.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $250,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJAPANESE AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM: $200,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetSolutions Project Inc: $158,333 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetCENTER FOR DISASTER PHILANTHROPY INC: $127,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSECOND HARVEST OF SILICON VALLEY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ARTS: $99,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetGLIDE FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetINDIAN LAND TENURE FOUNDATION: $83,333 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHAWAIIAN ISLANDS LAND TRUST: $83,333 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetThe diaTribe Foundation: $75,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY WORKSHOP INC DBA FORWARD GLOBAL: $73,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $67,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHAMILTON FAMILIES: $67,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetWORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE: $60,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $60,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED STATES OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC FOUNDATION: $56,250 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAMAZON FRONTLINES: $50,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetSPUR - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA PLANNING AND URBAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $45,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBRADY CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $45,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSTROKE ONWARD INC: $45,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCanary Media Inc: $35,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetCURRY SENIOR CENTER: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCARB DM INC: $30,200 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAPHAEL HOUSE OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetAMHERST COLLEGE TRUSTEES: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNDN COLLECTIVE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHonnold Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetDENSHO: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetINSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetWATERORG: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO PARKS ALLIANCE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTransgender Law Center: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGrist Magazine Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY: $18,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY HOUSING PARTNERSHIP: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPartners Asia: $14,500 over 7y, 0.2% 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.

Silicon Valley Commun…Marin Community Found…The San Francisco Fou…The David and Lucile …Jewish Community Fede…McNabb FoundationTides FoundationGordon E and Betty I …Gs Donor Advised Phil…Philanthropic Venture…Morgan Stanley Global…Clif Family Foundation
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA32.3× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · McNabb Foundation · Tides Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Philanthropic Ventures Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Clif Family 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 Fat Tire Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Fat Tire Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Als Therapy Development Foundation Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Amherst College Trustees: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
21report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Fat Tire Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Fat Tire 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 129 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

Play a game based on Fat Tire’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