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The Martis Fund at a glance

· Public charity

The Martis Fund

THE MARTIS FUND supports programs to conserve open space; manage and restore habitat and forest lands; and promote opportunities for workforce housing and related community purposes in the martis valley region.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$400k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Environment$6.1MHousing & Shelter$2.2MArts & Culture$1.4MEmployment$1.0MRecreation & Sports$427kHuman Services$300kEducation$91k
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $65k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $520k
  • $250k+2 grants · $750k
$100,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Sierra Community House$400,000
Tahoe Truckee Community Found$350,000
CONSERVATION SCIENCE PARTNERS$150,000
ADVOCATES FOR MENTALLY AMI$140,000
Tahoe Truckee Community Found$100,000
CONSERVATION SCIENCE PARTNERS$80,000
Tahoe Truckee Community Found$50,000
Sierra Business Council$33,000
CLEAN UP THE CAYES$31,500
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 (FY24–24, $140k) land where the poverty rate runs at 6%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ADVOCATES FOR MENTALLY AMI: $140k → 6%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 18% of The Martis Fund’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 90% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 84%.

The Martis Fundlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 5.8% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.1M · 13 repeat orgs$1.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +56% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.

13 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
6

Total granted

$8.1M
$1.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+56%
+37%

Still filing today

85%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $172k 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
EnvironmentHousing & ShelterEducationRecreation & SportsScience & TechHuman 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

  • TR
    Truckee River Watershed Council
    6× · 2017–2023 · $3.5M · revenue +212%
  • CI
    CRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES DBA SIERRA COMMUNITY HOUSE
    5× · 2019–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +248%
  • MA
    Mountain Area Preservation Foundation
    7× · 2018–2024 · $923k · revenue +103% · 86% of their budget

Funded once

  • CR
    Community Resources Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $1.0M · revenue -16%
  • TD
    TRUCKEE DONNER LAND TRUST
    one grant, 2022 · $298k · revenue -50%
  • NF
    NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $108k · revenue +436%
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 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
2
Sierra Watch

Sierra watch secures conservation outcomes to protect the natural resources, mountain communities, and timeless values of the tahoe sierra.

Environment
3
Tahoe Community Foundation

The Foundation envisions a thriving community created through meaningful philanthropy, inclusive communication, and the willingness to explore possibilities together.

Education
4
Sierra State Parks Foundation

The Sierra State Parks Foundation provides critically needed financial and professional support to the Lake Tahoe-Donner Sierra State Parks for Education, Restoration, and Cultural and Environmental Preservation in partnership with…

Recreation & Sports
5
Tuolumne River Preservation Trust dba Yosemite Rivers Alliance

At Yosemite Rivers Alliance, we unite conservation and community to protect and restore the three rivers that ?ow through the Yosemite Regionthe Tuolumne, Stanislaus, and Merced.

—
6
Tahoe Institute for Natural Science

To advance the natural history, conservation and ecosystem knowledge of the Tahoe region through science, education and outreach.

Environment
7
Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce

A membership organization dedicated to developing, promoting, and serving your business and community. Our goal is to sustain a high quality of life by achieving economic vitality, with sensitivity and respect for the environment.

—
8
Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center Inc

CSERC protects water, wildlife, and wild places of the Northern Yosemite region.

Unclassified
9
Clean Tahoe Program

To improve the visual quality of the Tahoe Basin portion of El Dorado County through community education, citizen involvement and enforcecment of litter and nuisance ordinances.

Environment
10
Friends of the Inyo

The Friends of the Inyos mission is to protect, and care for, the lands and waters of Californias Eastern Sierra.

Environment
11
Sequoia Riverlands Trust

We conserve the lands and waters of California's heartland.

Environment
12
Bear Yuba Land Trust

Bear Yuba Land Trust exists to conserve and protect the natural, working, and cultural lands in the Bear and Yuba River watersheds and empower a healthy, resilient community through nature access and education.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Community Resources Inc. 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

20 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. 20 of the 22 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
15/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Truckee River Watershed Council: $3,479,250 · EnvironmentTruckee River Watershed CouncilTRUCKEE DONNER LAND TRUST: $298,440 · EnvironmentTRUCKEE DONNER LAND TRUSTTruckee Trails Foundation Inc: $149,839 · Environment+2 more: $85,053 · EnvironmentCRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES DBA SIERRA COMMUNITY HOUSE: $1,531,250 · OtherCRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES DBA SIER…Mountain Area Preservation Foundation: $923,000 · OtherMountain Area Preservation FoundationSOUTH YUBA RIVER CITIZENS LEAGUE: $710,000 · OtherSOUTH YUBA RIVER CITIZENS LEAGUETRUCKEE METHODIST CHURCH: $220,000 · OtherTRUCKEE METHODIST CHURCHFAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF TRUCKEE: $200,000 · Other+5 more: $222,940 · Other+5 moreTAHOE TRUCKEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,696,193 · PhilanthropyTAHOE TRUCKEE CO…Community Resources Inc: $1,000,000 · Housing & ShelterCommunity …Pacific Housing Inc: $100,000 · Housing & ShelterPacific Ho…Stephen J Wampler Foundation Camp WAMP: $266,160 · Recreation & SportsNATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION: $108,000 · Recreation & SportsConservation Science Partners Inc: $363,000 · Science & TechAdvocates for the Mentally Ill Housing Inc: $140,000 · Human Services
Environment$4,012,582Other$3,807,190Philanthropy$1,696,193Housing & Shelter$1,100,000Recreation & Sports$374,160Science & Tech$363,000Human Services$140,000

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 budgetTruckee River Watershed Council: $3,479,250 over 6y, 23% of budgetTAHOE TRUCKEE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,696,193 over 5y, 37% of budgetCRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES DBA SIERRA COMMUNITY HOUSE: $1,531,250 over 5y, 6.7% of budgetMountain Area Preservation Foundation: $923,000 over 7y, 86% of budgetSOUTH YUBA RIVER CITIZENS LEAGUE: $710,000 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetConservation Science Partners Inc: $363,000 over 3y, 8.7% of budgetTRUCKEE DONNER LAND TRUST: $298,440 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetStephen J Wampler Foundation Camp WAMP: $266,160 over 2y, 21% of budgetFAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF TRUCKEE: $200,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetTruckee Trails Foundation Inc: $149,839 over 3y, 27% of budgetAdvocates for the Mentally Ill Housing Inc: $140,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetNATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION: $108,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPacific Housing Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetSierra Business Council: $81,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCLEAN UP THE CAYES dba CLEAN UP THE LAKE: $70,053 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetLEAGUE TO SAVE LAKE TAHOE: $70,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSUGAR PINE FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetTAHOE FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTAHOE EXPEDITION ACADEMY INC: $10,440 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.

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.

Tahoe Truckee Communi…Tahoe Community Found…Martis Camp Community…Marin Community Found…The Corrigan-Walla Fo…Community Foundation …Mightycause Charitabl…The San Francisco Fou…Truckee Donner Chambe…Park L Loughlin Chari…Rdh FoundationReissa Foundation
Tahoe Truckee Community FoundationCA34.7× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation · Tahoe Community Foundation · Martis Camp Community Foundation Dba Martis Camp Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · The Corrigan-Walla Foundation · Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce · Park L Loughlin Charitable Foundation · Rdh Foundation · Reissa 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 Martis Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Martis Fund. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Martis Fund?

    Find your warmest path to The Martis Fund 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 22 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 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 Martis’ 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