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The Fenton Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Fenton Family 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.

$625k
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$135k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$1.0MAnimals$688kArts & Culture$684kCommunity Improvement$210kEnvironment$159kRecreation & Sports$126kReligion$120kYouth Development$70kOther$0
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $53k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $80k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $492k
$5,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$7.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AUDUBON SOCIETY CALIFORNIA$135,000
STANDFORD UNIVERSITY$132,000
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA$125,300
THE ACCELERATION PROJECT$100,000
HUMANE SOCIETY$25,000
POST$20,000
CHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY$15,000
THE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION$10,000
EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREP$10,000
ENVIRONMENTAL VOLUNTEERS$6,000
GRASSROOTS ECOLOGY$5,000
ST RAYMOND SCHOOL$5,000
GRACE SCIENCE FOUNDATION$5,000
SANTA FE OPERA$5,000
EPISCOPAL IMPACT FUND$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 42% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%THE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION: $10k → 7%PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $41k → 8%POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $20k → 10%SANTA FE OPERA: $11k → 12%HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: $25k → 14%CONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $100k → 9%POST: $20k → 9%THE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION: $10k → 7%PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $20k → 8%POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $10k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO OPERA: $200k → 10%HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: $25k → 14%CONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $75k → 9%POST: $20k → 9%THE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION: $10k → 7%POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $10k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO OPERA: $125k → 10%HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES: $25k → 14%CONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $75k → 9%POST: $20k → 9%THE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION: $10k → 7%SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $125k → 10%HUMANE SOCIETY: $25k → 14%CONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $70k → 9%SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $125k → 10%CONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $50k → 9%SAN FRANCISCO OPERA: $40k → 10%CHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY: $40k → 7%SAN FRANCISCO OPERA: $25k → 10%THE ACCELERATION PROJECT: $100k → 9%CHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY: $15k → 7%THE ACCELERATION PROJECT: $50k → 9%CHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY & WOODSIDE: $15k → 7%THE ACCELERATION PROJECT: $35k → 9%CHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY: $15k → 7%THE ACCELERATION PROJECT: $25k → 9%CHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY & WOODSIDE: $15k → 7%AUDUBON SOCIETY SANTA CLARA: $25k → 8%CHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY & WOODSIDE: $15k → 7%AUDUBON SOCIETY SANTA CLARA: $25k → 8%EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $20k → 8%EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREP: $10k → 8%EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREP: $10k → 8%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $138k → 8%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $135k → 8%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $135k → 8%STANDFORD UNIVERSITY: $132k → 8%STANFORD ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: $125k → 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

WA
ID
NY
CT
CA
VA
NM
DC
HI
GA
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 34 repeat orgs$62k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
7

Total granted

$2.5M
$36k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
0%

Still filing today

65%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationAnimalsYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureHealthOther
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

  • CC
    CONNECTICUT COLLEGE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $370k · revenue +22%
  • TA
    THE ACCELERATION PROJECT INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $210k · revenue +32%
  • HW
    Humane World for Animals Inc
    4× · 2022–2025 · $100k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • EC
    EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue +50%
  • VW
    VENTANA WILDLIFE SOCIETY
    one grant, 2024 · $7k · revenue -2%
  • SI
    STANFORD INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC POLICY RESEARCH
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
2
Conservation International Foundation

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

Environment
3
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
4
Property and Environment Research Center

Perc is dedicated to advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.

Public Benefit
5
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
6
Chile-California Council

The Chile-California Council is a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to developing and promoting joint endeavors and cooperative relations between Chile and California, as well as individuals, legal entities and other institutions in…

International
7
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
8
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
9
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
10
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
11
National Geographic Society

To increase and diffuse geographic knowledge in the broadest sense, using the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of the world.

Education
12
Panthera Corporation

Panthera's mission is the conservation of the world's 40 wild cat species, many of which are endangered or threatened. panthera develops, implements and oversees wild cat conservation strategies on a global scale.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Partners in School Innovation; the most unlike its peers is Grace Science 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

32 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. 32 of the 51 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)
32/32
Grantees still filing
21/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $540,500 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND S…CONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $370,000 · EducationCONNECTICUT COLLEGEPOST: $60,000 · EducationPOSTPOSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $50,000 · Education+3 more: $30,000 · EducationAUDUBON SOCIETY CALIFORNIA: $510,000 · OtherAUDUBON SOCIETY CALIFORNIASTANFORD ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION: $126,000 · OtherSTANFORD ATHLETIC ASSOCIATIONCHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY: $70,000 · OtherCHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEYAUDUBON SOCIETY SANTA CLARA: $50,000 · OtherCHRIST CHURCH PORTOLA VALLEY & WOODSIDE: $45,000 · Other+22 more: $138,500 · Other+22 moreSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $640,300 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSO…THE SANTA FE OPERA: $35,500 · Arts & CultureTHE ACCELERATION PROJECT INC: $210,000 · Community ImprovementHumane World for Animals Inc: $100,000 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY: $20,000 · AnimalsVENTANA WILDLIFE SOCIETY: $6,500 · Animals+1 more: $1,000 · AnimalsPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $61,000 · EnvironmentEnvironmental Volunteers Inc: $11,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $6,000 · EnvironmentGRASSROOTS ECOLOGY: $5,000 · EnvironmentActerra Action for a Healthy Planet: $4,000 · Environment+2 more: $5,500 · EnvironmentTHE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $10,000 · Youth Development
Education$1,050,500Other$939,500Arts & Culture$675,800Community Improvement$210,000Animals$127,500Environment$92,500Youth Development$65,000

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 budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $640,300 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $540,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECTICUT COLLEGE: $370,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ACCELERATION PROJECT INC: $210,000 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetHumane World for Animals Inc: $100,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $61,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPOST: $60,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetPOSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE: $50,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $35,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGRACE SCIENCE FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEnvironmental Volunteers Inc: $11,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVENTANA WILDLIFE SOCIETY: $6,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $6,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSUTTER BAY MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE JIM SAUNDERS FUND: $5,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGRASSROOTS ECOLOGY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSUN VALLEY WRITERS' CONFERENCE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetActerra Action for a Healthy Planet: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetVENTANA WILDERNESS ALLIANCE: $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPARTNERS IN SCHOOL INNOVATION: $3,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSEMPERVIRENS FUND: $2,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNURU INTERNATIONAL: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONSERVATION SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIA: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds THE ACCELERATION PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds Humane World for Animals Inc ↗
  • Who funds PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST ↗
  • Who funds POST ↗
  • Who funds POSITIVE COACHING ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds THE FIT KIDS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE SANTA FE OPERA ↗
  • Who funds GRACE SCIENCE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds EASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY SILICON VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds Environmental Volunteers Inc ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA ↗
  • Who funds VENTANA WILDLIFE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds SUTTER BAY MEDICAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Episcopal Impact Fund FKA Episcopal Charities ↗
  • Who funds THE JIM SAUNDERS FUND ↗
  • Who funds GRASSROOTS ECOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds SUN VALLEY WRITERS' CONFERENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds Acterra Action for a Healthy Planet ↗
  • Who funds VENTANA WILDERNESS ALLIANCE ↗

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…Jewish Community Fede…The San Francisco Fou…Morgan Stanley Global…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Gordon E and Betty I …The David and Lucile …PatagoniaorgTides FoundationAmerican Online Givin…Vanguard Charitable E…
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA22.8× affinity11 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 · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The San Francisco Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Tides Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Connecticut College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
9report 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 Fenton Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Fenton Family 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 51 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 Fenton Family’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