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The Gordon Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Gordon 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.

$128k
Granted FY2024still arriving
15
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$65k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$1.3MPhilanthropy$273kEducation$181kArts & Culture$130kHealth$25kYouth Development$17kEnvironment$10kInternational$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $38k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $65k
$1,540
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC$65,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC$25,000
YESHIVA UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL$12,500
ORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION$6,000
CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA'ALOT$5,000
OCEANAORG$5,000
HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$3,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM$1,540
LIVE LIKE NOAH FOUNDATION$1,041
ORANGE COUNTY UNITED WAY$1,040
LION'S HEART$1,000
JUVENILE DIABETES RESEARCH FOUNDATION$1,000
CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA'ALOT$1,000
DTCARE$250
ORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION$88
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 9% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHOC Foundation: $6k → 10%Friend of the IDF: $2k → 11%YESHIVA UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $13k → 14%Judaica of Monsey: $2k → 14%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $2k → 17%OCEANAORG: $5k → 14%CHOC FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%LIVE LIKE NOAH FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%AMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC: $65k → 17%OCEANAORG: $5k → 14%HARKHAM HILLEL HEBREW ACADEMY: $18k → 14%AMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC: $25k → 17%CHOC FOUNDATION: $5k → 10%AMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC: $25k → 17%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%AMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC: $15k → 17%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%SAMUELI ACADEMY: $2k → 10%TEMPLE BETH EL OF SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY: $15k → 10%ORANGE COUNTY UNITED WAY: $1k → 10%ORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $6k → 10%ORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%ORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%Sage Hill School: $73k → 10%Sage Hill School: $30k → 10%Sage Hill School: $30k → 10%SAGE HILL SCHOOL: $30k → 10%SAGE HILL SCHOOL: $5k → 10%Jewish Federation of Orange Co: $200k → 10%JEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $15k → 10%Jewish Federation of Orange Co: $15k → 10%JEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $10k → 10%JEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $8k → 10%Jewish Federation of Orange County: $5k → 10%Jewish Federation of Orange Co: $5k → 10%JEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $5k → 10%Jewish Federation of Orange Co: $5k → 10%JEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $3k → 10%CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA'ALOT: $400k → 10%Congregation Shir Ma'alot: $209k → 10%Congregation Shir Ma'alot: $206k → 10%Congregation Shir Ma'alot: $200k → 10%CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA'ALOT: $197k → 10%Congregation Shir Ma'alot: $8k → 10%CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA'ALOT: $8k → 10%CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA'ALOT: $5k → 10%Congregation Shir Ma'alot: $5k → 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.
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 8 repeat orgs$60k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +53% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
10

Total granted

$1.6M
$42k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+53%
+23%

Still filing today

50%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $17k 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
EducationHealthInternationalCrime & LegalPublic BenefitPhilanthropyOther
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

  • SH
    SAGE HILL SCHOOL
    5× · 2017–2022 · $168k · revenue +70%
  • CF
    CHOC FOUNDATION
    3× · 2018–2023 · $16k · revenue +53%
  • OF
    ORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $11k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • HH
    HARKHAM HILLEL HEBREW ACADEMY
    one grant, 2021 · $18k
  • TB
    TEMPLE BETH EL OF LAGUNA NIGUEL
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
  • FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCESgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $2k · revenue +41%
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
Children's Hospital of Orange County

To nurture, advance and protect the health and well-being of children.

Health
2
Orange County Technology Action Network

Octane connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology growth in orange county. our members represent orange county technology executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and…

Community Improvement
3
Children's Healthcare of California

The primary exempt purpose of children's healthcare of california includes without limitation the receipt of distributions and grants for the making of distributions and grants to children's hospital of orange county (choc) and to…

Health
4
University of California Irvine Foundation

The mission of the university of california, irvine foundation (uc irvine foundation) is to raise and manage private funds to support uc irvine's broader mission of excellence in teaching, research and public service. to this end, the uc…

Education
5
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
6
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
7
Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Promotion and advancement of children's health through patient care, research, and education.

Health
8
Irvine Hebrew Day School

Ihds utilizes a dual general and judaic studies curriculum. the judaic studies curriculum emphasizes the fundamentals of hebrew reading, writing and speaking, jewish history, holidays, jewish values, torah, the jewish life cycle, the land…

—
9
Children's Hospital & Research Center At Oakland

The mission of children's hospital & research center at oakland is to protect and advance the health and well-being of children through clinical care, teaching and research.

Health
10
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
11
Acadia General Hospital Inc

The organization provides medical care to improve, maintain, and restore the health of the people in the communities we serve.

Health
12
Occidental College

See schedule othe mission of occidental college is to provide a gifted and diverse group of students with a total educational experience of the highest quality - one that prepares them for leadership in an increasingly complex,…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Orange County Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Live Like Noah Foundation Inc. 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

17 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. 17 of the 27 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
8/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA ALOT: $1,239,053 · OtherCONGREGATION SHIR HA-MA ALOTAMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC: $130,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC+8 more: $60,503 · OtherJEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $270,483 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATIO…+3 more: $3,040 · PhilanthropySAGE HILL SCHOOL: $167,508 · EducationSAGE HILL …+3 more: $3,500 · EducationCHOC FOUNDATION: $16,000 · HealthHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $6,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $1,000 · Health+1 more: $525 · HealthORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $11,088 · Crime & LegalFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $2,300 · InternationalAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $1,540 · InternationalLive Like Noah Foundation Inc: $1,041 · Public BenefitDTCare: $250 · Employment
Other$1,429,556Philanthropy$273,523Education$171,008Health$23,525Crime & Legal$11,088International$3,840Public Benefit$1,041Employment$250

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 budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF ORANGE COUNTY: $270,483 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetSAGE HILL SCHOOL: $167,508 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCHOC FOUNDATION: $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $11,088 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $2,300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAMUELI ACADEMY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF MAGEN DAVID ADOM: $1,540 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLive Like Noah Foundation Inc: $1,041 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetORANGE COUNTY'S UNITED WAY: $1,040 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTILLY'S LIFE CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLion's Heart: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS ASSN: $525 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPATRICK'S PURPOSE FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDTCare: $250 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.

Jewish Community Foun…Samueli FoundationOrange County Communi…Morgan Stanley Global…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Jewish Community Foundation of Orange CountyCA17.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County · Samueli Foundation · Orange County Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Gordon Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Gordon Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 Gordon Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Gordon 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 27 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 Gordon’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