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The Joseph W Welch Jr Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Joseph W Welch Jr 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.

$250k
Granted FY2024still arriving
26
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Animals$387kPhilanthropy$358kArts & Culture$345kEducation$325kHealth$325kEnvironment$281kFood & Nutrition$201kHuman Services$178kOther$0
02FY2024 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k15 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $160k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$8.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAN BRUNO EDUCATION FOUNDATION$50,000
SAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION$30,000
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK$30,000
SAN FRANCISCO AUXLIARY FOR CHILDREN$20,000
WIRAQOCHA FOUNDATION$15,000
SAN BRUNO LIONS CLUB$15,000
CALL PRIMROSE$10,000
ORDER OF MALTA CLINIC$10,000
RIO DELL VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
SOLMATEO$10,000
SAN BRUNO ROTARY CLUB$7,000
CONSCIOUS CONNECTIONS FOUNDATION$5,000
SAN BRUNO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$3,000
ST ROBERTS CHURCH$2,500
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 (FY17–24, $90k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 54% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 8%DAISY CHAIN: $7k → 15%NURTURELY: $15k → 15%NURTURELY: $15k → 15%NURTURELY: $5k → 15%MIA MUJERES IN ACTION: $3k → 12%REFUGE CONNECTIONS SPOKANE: $3k → 12%REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT CONNECTIONS SPOKANE: $2k → 12%ABUNDANT GRACE COASTSIDE WORKERS: $20k → 7%COASTSIDE HOPE: $10k → 7%COASTSIDE HOPE: $5k → 7%COASTSIDE HOPE: $4k → 7%COASTSIDE HOPE: $2k → 7%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.
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 97% of The Joseph W Welch Jr Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 80% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 3%.

The Joseph W Welch Jr 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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 50 repeat orgs$313k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +73% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

50 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

50
28

Total granted

$2.5M
$295k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+73%
+23%

Still filing today

58%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $19k 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
HealthEnvironmentEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureAnimalsOther
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

  • WC
    WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $305k · revenue +296%
  • SB
    SAN BRUNO EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    4× · 2017–2024 · $237k · revenue +42%
  • SM
    SAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $134k · revenue +246%

Funded once

  • C
    CHSAA
    one grant, 2018 · $25k
  • SP
    SMITH-BARBIERI PROGRESSIVE FUND A CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +48%
  • BA
    BEL AIR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
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
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
2
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
3
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
4
Sonoma Mountain Institute
Environment
5
Sf Partnership

SF Partnership is an organization comprised of SF's leading employers dedicated to supporting an equitable, resilient, and vibrant economy shared by all people working and living in San Francisco. Through education, advocacy, and research,…

—
6
California Donor Table

California Donor Table anchors a hub of donors, foundations, and community leaders. We pool together our resources to shape California into a truly democratic state that works for the people, not the powerful. Rooted in our commitment to…

Civil Rights
7
San Francisco Public Press

The mission of the San Francisco Public Press is to enrich civic life by publishing investigative and solutions journalism that engages diverse audiences and promotes public accountability. The San Francisco Public Press…

Education
8
The Sierra Fund

The Sierra Fund (TSF) is a non-profit organization with a mission to restore ecosystem and community resiliency in the Sierra Nevada.

Environment
9
Foodwise Community

Foodwise grows thriving communities through the power and joy of local food. We envision a world that nourishes all people, local economies, and the living earth.

—
10
Sempervirens Fund

To ensure coast redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains thrive for generations to come. since 1900, sempervirens has protected more than 36,000 acres. learn more about our mission, vision, and strategic plan through 2030 at:…

Environment
11
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats through science and outreach.

Environment
12
Santa Cruz Community Farmers Market

To serve our community by providing direct access to sustainable sources of fresh produce and other unique foods, and provide education about food issues, both local and beyond.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Bruno Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund a Charitable Foundation. 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

49 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. 49 of the 85 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
48/49
Grantees still filing
38/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $134,000 · OtherSAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONIndividual grant recipient: $105,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSAN BRUNO LIONS CLUB: $90,500 · OtherSAN BRUNO LIONS CLUBImpanda: $65,000 · OtherALAS FOUNDATION: $60,000 · OtherCALL PRIMROSE: $109,500 · OtherCALL PRIMROSECASA of San Mateo County: $117,000 · OtherCASA of San Mateo County+49 more: $968,500 · Other+49 moreTHE SAN BRUNO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $213,000 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN BRUN…NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $120,000 · PhilanthropyNORTH VALLEY…Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $25,000 · PhilanthropySilicon Vall…WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $305,000 · AnimalsWILDLIFE CON…PENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA: $40,000 · AnimalsPENINSULA HU…+1 more: $10,000 · AnimalsSAN BRUNO EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $236,687 · EducationSAN BRUNO E…BOOST OREGON: $47,000 · EducationBOOST OREGO…MILLBRAE EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $15,500 · EducationCALIFORNIA SCOTTISH RITE FOUNDATION: $15,500 · Education+2 more: $12,450 · EducationPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $115,000 · EnvironmentWOMEN FOR CONSERVATION: $59,000 · EnvironmentSEA HUGGER: $25,000 · EnvironmentCoastside Land Trust: $15,000 · EnvironmentPlanting Justice: $11,000 · EnvironmentEarth Island Institute Inc: $10,000 · EnvironmentLUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $30,000 · HealthNAMI National: $30,000 · HealthSan Francisco Auxiliary for Children: $30,000 · HealthWELLMAMA INC: $20,000 · HealthSQUARE PEG FOUNDATION: $17,500 · HealthMILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 · HealthWHITE BIRD CLINIC: $10,000 · HealthSOJOURN TO THE PAST: $69,800 · Arts & CultureJazz at the Ballroom Inc: $30,000 · Arts & CultureCarl Maxey Center: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,649,500Philanthropy$358,000Animals$355,000Education$327,137Environment$235,000Health$152,500Arts & Culture$120,800

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 budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $305,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetSAN BRUNO EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $236,687 over 4y, 23% of budgetTHE SAN BRUNO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $213,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetSAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $134,000 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetCASA of San Mateo County: $117,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $115,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCALL PRIMROSE: $109,500 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetWOMEN FOR CONSERVATION: $59,000 over 4y, 9.6% of budgetWILD SOULS RANCH: $50,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetBOOST OREGON: $47,000 over 4y, 6.3% of budgetHuman Investment Project Inc: $45,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetPENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA: $40,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNurturely: $35,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetLUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNAMI National: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJazz at the Ballroom Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetSan Francisco Auxiliary for Children: $30,000 over 2y, 37% of budgetABILITYPATH: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSilicon Valley Community Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMITH-BARBIERI PROGRESSIVE FUND A CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetCOASTSIDE HOPE: $21,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCarl Maxey Center: $20,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetAbundant Grace Coastside Worker Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetWORLD RELIEF CORP OF NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EVANGELICALS: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetONE HIT AWAY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 7.2% of budgetSQUARE PEG FOUNDATION: $17,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetMILLBRAE EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $15,500 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetCALIFORNIA SCOTTISH RITE FOUNDATION: $15,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCoastside Land Trust: $15,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetMILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLA COCINA: $11,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPlanting Justice: $11,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOOD FOR PEOPLE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMIRANDAS RESCUE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHITE BIRD CLINIC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOLDEN STATE SALMON ASSOCIATION INC: $7,450 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetDAISY C H A I N: $7,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetCONSCIOUS CONNECTIONS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetSPOKANE AREA CHILDRENS CHORUS: $4,500 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetFeast Collective: $4,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetREFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT CONNECTIONS OF SPOKANE: $4,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetMIA MUJERES IN ACTION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFILOLI CENTER: $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 WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds SAN BRUNO EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE SAN BRUNO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SAN MATEO COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds NORTH VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CASA of San Mateo County ↗
  • Who funds PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST ↗
  • Who funds CALL PRIMROSE ↗
  • Who funds SOJOURN TO THE PAST ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN FOR CONSERVATION ↗
  • Who funds WILD SOULS RANCH ↗
  • Who funds BOOST OREGON ↗
  • Who funds Human Investment Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds PENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA ↗
  • Who funds Nurturely ↗
  • Who funds LUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds NAMI National ↗
  • Who funds Jazz at the Ballroom Inc ↗
  • Who funds San Francisco Auxiliary for Children ↗
  • Who funds ABILITYPATH ↗
  • Who funds Silicon Valley Community Foundation ↗
  • Who funds SEA HUGGER ↗
  • Who funds SMITH-BARBIERI PROGRESSIVE FUND A CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Atkinson FoundationSilicon Valley Commun…The David and Lucile …Sand Hill FoundationGordon E and Betty I …Bothin FoundationEast Bay Community Fo…Philanthropic Venture…Innovia FoundationThe Collins FoundationMarie Lamfrom Charita…Monterra Community Fu…
Atkinson FoundationCA23.8× affinity9 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Atkinson Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Sand Hill Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Bothin Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · Philanthropic Ventures Foundation · Innovia Foundation · The Collins Foundation · Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Trust · Monterra Community 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 Joseph W Welch Jr Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Joseph W Welch Jr 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%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 22%
  • World Relief Corp of National Association of Evangelicals: 67% of income from government
  • White Bird Clinic: 29% of income from government
  • Boost Oregon: 22% of income from government
  • Nurturely: 10% of income from government
  • Wellmama Inc: 9% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
23report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Joseph W Welch Jr Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Joseph W Welch Jr 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 85 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

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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