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The McKenzie Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The McKenzie Foundation

Its FY2021 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$8k
Granted FY2021
6
Grants FY2021
2
States reached
$5k
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, FY2017 to 2021.

Housing & Shelter$221kEducation$186kPhilanthropy$108kRecreation & Sports$75kHealth$72kYouth Development$65kArts & Culture$60kPublic Benefit$25kOther$0
02FY2021 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$750
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY$5,000
NETWORK FOR GOOD$1,000
Individual grant recipient$750
NCGORG$750
Individual grant recipient$150
WALK SAN FRANCISCO$25
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 (FY17–20, $223k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%FAM 1ST FAMILY FOUNDATION: $855 → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $100k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $75k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $25k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $21k → 10%LARKIN STREET YOUTH SERVICES: $1k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
NC
DC
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 6% of The McKenzie Foundation’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, 87%.

The McKenzie 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.

59%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$516k · 13 repeat orgs$366k to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2021, 10 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
52

Total granted

$516k
$365k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+47%

Still filing today

85%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $775 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21
HealthArts & CultureEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesEnvironmentOther
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

  • CF
    COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES
    4× · 2017–2020 · $221k · revenue +283%
  • MA
    MARIN ACADEMY
    3× · 2017–2019 · $123k · revenue +67%
  • SF
    SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
    2× · 2017–2018 · $20k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • TB
    THE BATTERY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue -41%
  • PENCILS OF PROMISE INCORPORATED
    one grant, 2017 · $40k · revenue -75%
  • TC
    The Center for Investigative Reporting Inc
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue -96%
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 International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
2
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
3
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
4
The San Francisco School

A private school that cultivates and celebrates the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of each student in a community that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires passion for learning.

—
5
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
6
California College of the Arts

California college of the arts educates students to shape culture and society through the practice and critical study of art, architecture, design, and writing. benefitting from its san francisco bay area location, the college prepares…

Education
7
San Francisco Friends School

At san francisco friends school, students learn in a community grounded in the quaker values of reflection, integrity, peaceful problem-solving and stewardship. our teachers challenge students with a dynamic curriculum that inspires…

Education
8
San Francisco Casa

San Francisco CASA transforms the lives of children and youth traumatized and displaced in the foster care and related systems by providing one consistent, caring volunteer advocate, trained to address each childs needs in the court and…

Civil Rights
9
San Francisco University High School

At san franicisco university high school, we engage our community of diverse voices in a transformational experience that embraces the spirited pursuit of learning and empowers purpose larger than self.

Education
10
San Francisco Girls' School

To educate and inspire girls to become innovators and leaders in stem.

—
11
Marin Humane Society

Marin humane transforms lives through exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. every day, marin humane inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals.

Animals
12
Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

To promote philanthropy to make santa cruz county a better place to live, now and in the future.we bring together people, ideas, and resources to inspire philanthropy and accomplish great things.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Compass Family Services; the most unlike its peers is Saint Helena Forum for Innovation and Creativity the Saint Helena Forum. 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

51 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. 51 of the 69 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
49/51
Grantees still filing
37/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $221,000 · Human ServicesCOMPASS FAMILY SERVICES+2 more: $1,855 · Human ServicesMARIN ACADEMY: $122,500 · EducationMARIN ACADEMYTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUST…UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Education+2 more: $5,500 · EducationThe Center for Investigative Reporting Inc: $25,000 · OtherThe Center for Investigative …Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area: $17,600 · OtherBig Brothers Big Sisters of t…Individual grant recipient: $10,318 · OtherINSTITUTO FAMILIAR DE LA RAZA: $10,000 · OtherALL STARS HELPING KIDS INC: $9,427 · OtherPENCILS OF PROMISE INCORPORATED: $40,000 · OtherPENCILS OF PROMISE INCORPORAT…RYSE INC: $15,000 · OtherRYSE INCYOUTH SPEAKS INC: $15,000 · OtherYOUTH SPEAKS INCSOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS: $10,000 · Other+28 more: $77,583 · Other+28 moreTHE BATTERY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · PhilanthropyTHE BATTERY …+3 more: $1,700 · PhilanthropySAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANC…CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $19,999 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNI…CALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE: $15,000 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNI…Saint Helena Forum for Innovation and Creativity The Saint Helena Forum: $10,000 · Arts & CultureSaint Hel…COMMUNITY WORKS WEST INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMUNITY…ART WITH IMPACT: $5,000 · Arts & CultureART WITH …+2 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $53,500 · EnvironmentClean Air Council: $10,000 · EnvironmentPROJECT CORNERSTONE INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentBRING CHANGE 2 MIND: $10,000 · HealthWESTCOAST CHILDREN'S CLINIC: $10,000 · HealthADOLESCENT COUNSELING SERVICES: $10,000 · HealthGREENLIGHT CLINIC: $7,500 · HealthAccess Institute for Psychological Services: $7,500 · HealthCalifornia School-Based Health Alliance: $2,500 · HealthMOMENTUM FOR HEALTH: $2,500 · HealthACKNOWLEDGE ALLIANCE: $2,500 · Health+1 more: $250 · Health
Human Services$222,855Education$143,000Other$229,928Philanthropy$101,700Arts & Culture$76,999Environment$68,500Health$52,750

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 budgetCOMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $221,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetMARIN ACADEMY: $122,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BATTERY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetGOLDEN GATE NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVANCY: $53,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPENCILS OF PROMISE INCORPORATED: $40,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Center for Investigative Reporting Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $19,999 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area: $17,600 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetRYSE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetYOUTH SPEAKS INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCALIFORNIA FILM INSTITUTE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRING CHANGE 2 MIND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetWESTCOAST CHILDREN'S CLINIC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSaint Helena Forum for Innovation and Creativity The Saint Helena Forum: $10,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetADOLESCENT COUNSELING SERVICES: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetALL STARS HELPING KIDS INC: $9,427 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetGREENLIGHT CLINIC: $7,500 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetAccess Institute for Psychological Services: $7,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SAN FRANCISCO: $5,498 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY WORKS WEST INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT CORNERSTONE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO PARKS ALLIANCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNETWORK FOR GOOD: $3,855 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGATEWAY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCalifornia School-Based Health Alliance: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMOMENTUM FOR HEALTH: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACKNOWLEDGE ALLIANCE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLife Learning Academy: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FREE CLINIC: $1,700 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUMA VENTURES INC: $1,200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLarkin Street Youth Services: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSwim Across America Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SANDY HOOK FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetFACING HISTORY & OURSELVES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAM 1ST FAMILY FOUNDATION: $855 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNorthern California Grantmakers: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWalk San Francisco: $25 over 1y, 1.6% 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 Fede…The San Francisco Fou…Silicon Valley Commun…Marin Community Found…Kaiser Foundation Hos…East Bay Community Fo…Gordon E and Betty I …The William & Flora H…Bothin FoundationLisa Stone Pritzker F…John Pritzker Family …The Stanley S Langend…
Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & SonomaCA33.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · The San Francisco Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Marin Community Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · East Bay Community Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Bothin Foundation · Lisa Stone Pritzker Family Fund · John Pritzker Family Fund · The Stanley S Langendorf 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 McKenzie Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The McKenzie Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get no government money at all
    20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 McKenzie Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The McKenzie 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 69 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on McKenzie’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