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The Khosla Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Khosla 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.

$18k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$8k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Arts & Culture$37kEnvironment$25kEducation$20kHealth$13kPublic Safety & Disaster$7kPhilanthropy$5kHuman Services$4kFood & Nutrition$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$298k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL$8,450
CANCER RESOURCE CENTER MENDOCINO$5,000
ALBION LITTLE RIVER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT$2,000
THE WHIRLYBIRD PROJECT$1,000
MENDOCINO COAST HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION$1,000
LATINO COALITION OF THE MENDOCINO COAST (LATCO)$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%POINT BLUE CONSERVATION SCIENCE: $500 → 9%ARTS COUNCIL OF MENDOCINO COUNTY: $2k → 10%PACIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER: $1k → 10%COMMUNITY THROUGH HOPE: $2k → 11%KZYX - MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $1k → 18%LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR: $2k → 16%THE WHIRLYBIRD PROJECT: $1k → 28%ARTS COUNCIL OF MENDOCINO COUNTY: $2k → 10%KZYX - MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $1k → 18%UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI: $20k → 16%KZYX - MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $500 → 18%FREESTORE FOODBANK: $2k → 16%KZYX - MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $250 → 18%CINCINNATI OPERA: $2k → 16%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $8k → 18%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $5k → 18%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $5k → 18%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $3k → 18%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $3k → 18%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $2k → 18%MENDOCINO LAND TRUST: $1k → 18%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $1k → 18%MENDOCINO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5k → 18%MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL: $500 → 18%ALBION LITTLE RIVER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: $5k → 18%ALBION LITTLE RIVER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: $2k → 18%CANCER RESOURCE CENTER MENDOCINO: $5k → 18%MENDOCINO COAST CLINICS: $5k → 18%MENDOCINO LAND TRUST: $5k → 18%MENDOCINO LAND TRUST: $5k → 18%MENDOCINO LAND TRUSTS: $3k → 18%MENDOCINO LAND TRUST: $1k → 18%PACIFIC ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER: $1k → 18%NOYO CENTER FOR MARINE SCIENCE: $1k → 18%LA COALICION LATINA DE LA COSTA DE MENDOCINO: $1k → 18%LA COALICION LATINA DE LA COSTA DE MENDOCINO: $1k → 18%NOYO CENTER FOR MARINE SCIENCE: $1k → 18%MENDOCINO COAST HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $1k → 18%LA COALICION LATINA DE LA COSTA DE MENDOCINO: $1k → 18%MENDOCINO COAST HUMANE SOCIETY: $500 → 18%LATINO COALITION OF THE MENDOCINO COAST (LATCO): $500 → 18%MENDOCINO LAND TRUST: $250 → 18%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.

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$62k · 7 repeat orgs$53k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +73% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
12

Total granted

$62k
$46k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+73%
0%

Still filing today

57%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 58% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k 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
AnimalsArts & CultureHealthEnvironmentFood & NutritionOther
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

  • MF
    MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $28k · revenue +31%
  • ML
    Mendocino Land Trust
    5× · 2017–2024 · $16k · revenue +73%
  • NC
    Noyo Center For Marine Science
    2× · 2018–2019 · $2k · revenue +313%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
    one grant, 2023 · $20k
  • MC
    MENDOCINO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA FIELD
    one grant, 2017 · $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
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy

To conserve lands for recreational, educational, ecological, agricultural, scenic & open space opportunities. We develop & maintain public access ways & trails to the ocean, rivers & other natural or scenic features along coastal Mendocino…

Environment
2
The Mendocino Community Library Inc

To operate a community library for information retrieval and enjoyment by the general public.

—
3
Mendocino Food and Nutrition Inc

To provide nutritious food that supports people in creating a healthy and better life. the organization operates a food bank providing emergency food and nutritional information to people in need of assistance in the county of mendocino,…

—
4
Northcoast Environmental Center

To promote understanding of the relations between people and the biosphere and to conserve, protect, and celebrate terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems of northern California and southern Oregon.

Environment
5
Sonoma Ecology Center

The Mission of Sonoma Ecology Center is to work with our community to enhance and sustain ecological health in the Sonoma valley.

Environment
6
Mendocino Coast Childrens Fund

Mccf resources and assists underserved children, families, and community members experiencing misfortune due to environmental disasters and economic inequality

Human Services
7
Peninsula Conservation Center Management Council

Manage the facility in which various non-profits, primarily conservation organizations, are housed.

Education
8
Marin Open Studios

Marin open studios is a non-profit visual arts organization dedicated to engaging and supporting marin county artists and their audiences through events, programs and services. marin open studios champions a diverse and inclusive community…

Arts & Culture
9
Redwood Coast Seniors Inc

Redwood Coast Seniors Inc. operates a senior center providing meals, transportation, day care, activities and support services that contribute to optimal wellness and healthy aging for all seniors on the Mendocino North Coast.

Human Services
10
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
—
11
Mendocino County Fire Safe Council Inc

To inform, empower and mobilize county residents to survive and thrive in a wildfire-prone environment.

Public Safety & Disaster
12
Community Health Centers of the Central Coast Inc

To provide primary health and dental care services to low income patients in the Central Coast Communities of California

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mendocino Land Trust; the most unlike its peers is Freestore Foodbank 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

11 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. 11 of the 23 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
5/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI: $20,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATIALBION LITTLE RIVER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: $7,000 · OtherALBION LITTLE RIVER FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTCANCER RESOURCE CENTER MENDOCINO: $5,000 · OtherCANCER RESOURCE CENTER MENDOCINOMENDOCINO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherMENDOCINO COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONFRIENDS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA FIELD: $5,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE SIERRA NEVADA FIELDMENDOCINO COAST CLINICS INC: $5,000 · OtherMENDOCINO COAST CLINICS INCLA COALICION LATINA DE LA COSTA DE MENDOCINO: $3,000 · OtherKZYX - MENDOCINO COUNTY PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $2,750 · OtherCINCINNATI OPERA: $2,000 · Other+5 more: $5,000 · Other+5 moreMENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL INC: $28,350 · Arts & CultureMENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL INCArts Council of Mendocino County: $3,250 · Arts & CultureArts Council of Mendocino Count…Mendocino Land Trust: $15,500 · EnvironmentMendocino Land …LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR SACRED HEART HOME: $2,000 · HealthMendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation: $1,000 · HealthNoyo Center For Marine Science: $2,000 · AnimalsPOINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY: $500 · AnimalsMendocino Coast Humane Society: $500 · AnimalsFREESTORE FOODBANK INC: $2,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$59,750Arts & Culture$31,600Environment$15,500Health$3,000Animals$3,000Food & Nutrition$2,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL INC: $28,350 over 8y, 2.6% of budgetMendocino Land Trust: $15,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMENDOCINO COAST CLINICS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetArts Council of Mendocino County: $3,250 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetLITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR SACRED HEART HOME: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREESTORE FOODBANK INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNoyo Center For Marine Science: $2,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPacific Environmental Education Center: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPOINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMendocino Coast Humane Society: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 MENDOCINO FILM FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds Mendocino Land Trust ↗
  • Who funds MENDOCINO COAST CLINICS INC ↗
  • Who funds Arts Council of Mendocino County ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR SACRED HEART HOME ↗
  • Who funds FREESTORE FOODBANK INC ↗
  • Who funds Noyo Center For Marine Science ↗
  • Who funds Pacific Environmental Education Center ↗
  • Who funds Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation ↗
  • Who funds POINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY ↗
  • Who funds Mendocino Coast Humane Society ↗

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.

Community Foundation …Tarbell Family Founda…Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation of Mendocino CountyCA24.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Mendocino County · Tarbell Family Foundation · 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 Khosla Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Khosla 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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.

    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 23 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 Khosla’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