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The Michelson 20mm Foundation Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

The Michelson 20mm Foundation Inc

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.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
55
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$125k
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.

Education$2.3MCrime & Legal$359kPhilanthropy$348kScience & Tech$241kPublic Benefit$236kEnvironment$230kCommunity Improvement$206kHealth$175kOther$0
02FY2024 · 55 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $89k
  • $10k–50k27 grants · $600k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $600k
$15,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$4.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
California State University Foundation$125,000
Generation Hope$100,000
California Community Foundation$90,000
New Venture Fund$80,000
UC College of the Law San Francisco$55,000
People Centered Internet$50,000
Northwestern University$50,000
Urban Resource Institute$50,000
NextGen Climate America Inc$45,000
California Competes$30,000
Homeboy Industries$30,000
Unite-LA Inc$25,000
City Heights Community Development Corporation$25,000
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights$25,000
The Friends of Chabot College$25,000
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 (FY20–24, $135k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Urban Resource Institute: $50k → 17%Pukuu Cultural Community Services: $4k → 14%Student Organizing Inc: $5k → 16%TIDES CENTER: $6k → 10%Indigenous Justice: $25k → 12%The Giving Spirit: $25k → 14%SWIPE OUT HUNGER: $20k → 14%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

VT
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
NV
PA
CA
CO
VA
MD
SC
DC
LA
AL
GA
TX
FL
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 5% of The Michelson 20mm Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Michelson 20mm Foundation Inclessmore 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.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.5M · 49 repeat orgs$2.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

49 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2024, 26 since wound down; 28 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

49
66

Total granted

$2.5M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+18%

Still filing today

86%
76%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 30% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $777k 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
EducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyCivil RightsPublic BenefitCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • CP
    COMMUNITY PARTNERS
    4× · 2020–2023 · $200k · revenue +111%
  • CF
    Center for Accessible Technology
    2× · 2022–2023 · $150k · revenue +30%
  • The Education Trust Inc
    5× · 2019–2024 · $129k · revenue +46%

Funded once

  • FC
    FOOTHILL-DEANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $158k · revenue +44%
  • TU
    THE UTILITY REFORM NETWORK
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue -13%
  • TU
    Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +17%
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
University of California Student Association

The University of California Student Association (UCSA) is a coalition of students and student governments that aims to provide a collective voice for all students through advocacy and direct action. UCSA participates in the shared…

Education
2
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
3
National Association of College and University Attorneys

To advance the practice of higher education attorneys for the benefit of the institutions they serve.

—
4
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
5
Pacific University

A diverse and sustainable learning community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, pacific university inspires students to think, care, create and pursue justice in our world.

Education
6
National Association for College Admission Counseling

Empowering college admission counseling professionals through education, advocacy, and community.

Education
7
California State Student Association

CSSA as a student-led organization strives to improve the lives of California State University (CSU) students by advocating for student needs and engaging students in systemwide, state, and federal higher education policy making.

Education
8
University of La Verne

The university of la verne offers a distinctive and relevant educational experience to a diverse population of traditional-age, adult, and graduate learners, preparing them for successful careers and a commitment to lifelong learning…

Education
9
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
10
Pitzer College

Pitzer College produces engaged socially responsible citizens of the world through an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary liberal arts education emphasizing social justice, intercultural understanding and environmental sensitivity.…

Education
11
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
12
Aacsb International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business

Aacsb international provides quality assurance of business school programs, the latest in business education intelligence, thought leadership, and learning and development services.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is California Competes; the most unlike its peers is Mohuman. 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

119 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. 119 of the 147 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
118/119
Grantees still filing
71/119
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The Education Trust Inc: $129,150 · EducationThe Education Trust IncFOUNDATION FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES: $105,000 · EducationFOUNDATION FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY C…GENERATION HOPE: $100,000 · EducationGENERATION HOPENATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP INC: $82,500 · EducationWilliam Marsh Rice University: $80,000 · EducationCREATIVE COMMONS CORPORATION: $75,853 · EducationFOUNDATION FOR THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGES: $70,000 · EducationCALIFORNIA COMPETES: $65,000 · EducationCAMPAIGN FOR COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY: $60,000 · Education+42 more: $849,995 · Education+42 moreCenter for Accessible Technology: $150,000 · OtherCenter for Accessible TechnologyPUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA: $110,000 · OtherPUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIAINSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF KNOWL MNGMT IN EDU: $82,500 · Other+70 more: $1,487,163 · Other+70 moreFOOTHILL-DEANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $158,000 · PhilanthropyFOOTHILL-…CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 · PhilanthropyCALIFORNI…CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 · PhilanthropyCALIFORNI…+3 more: $22,500 · PhilanthropyNEW VENTURE FUND: $195,050 · EnvironmentNEXTGEN CLIMATE AMERICA INC: $120,000 · Environment+1 more: $50 · EnvironmentCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $200,000 · Community ImprovementINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $75,000 · Community ImprovementCITY HEIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $25,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $5,000 · Community ImprovementTHE UTILITY REFORM NETWORK: $100,000 · Public BenefitThe Rand Corporation: $50,500 · Public BenefitCONNECT TO COMPETE INC: $40,500 · Public BenefitPrivacy Rights Clearinghouse: $25,000 · Public BenefitPRO BONO ADVISORY COUNCIL: $15,000 · Public BenefitIMPACT JUSTICE: $75,000 · Civil RightsYOUNG INVINCIBLES: $50,000 · Civil RightsCOALITION FOR HUMANE IMMIGRANT RIGHTS: $25,000 · Civil RightsNATIONAL STUDENT LEGAL DEFENSE NETWORK: $21,415 · Civil Rights+1 more: $1,500 · Civil Rights
Education$1,617,498Other$1,829,663Philanthropy$430,500Environment$315,100Community Improvement$305,000Public Benefit$231,000Civil Rights$172,915

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 budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $200,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $195,050 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFOOTHILL-DEANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $158,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetCenter for Accessible Technology: $150,000 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetThe Education Trust Inc: $129,150 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetNEXTGEN CLIMATE AMERICA INC: $120,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetPUBLIC POLICY INSTITUTE OF CALIFORNIA: $110,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES: $105,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE UTILITY REFORM NETWORK: $100,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP INC: $82,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $80,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCREATIVE COMMONS CORPORATION: $75,853 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $75,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetIMPACT JUSTICE: $75,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGES: $70,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMPETES: $65,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCAMPAIGN FOR COLLEGE OPPORTUNITY: $60,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetUNITE-LA INC: $56,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetThe Rand Corporation: $50,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBELIEVE IN STUDENTS INC: $50,000 over 2y, 5.6% of budgetPeople-Centered Internet Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN ASSOCIATION OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROFESSIONALS INC: $50,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetNorthwestern University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetURBAN RESOURCE INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG INVINCIBLES: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LONG BEACH RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetROOT & REBOUND: $44,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetCONNECT TO COMPETE INC: $40,500 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetHOMEBOY INDUSTRIES: $40,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNational Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance Inc: $37,400 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetLONG BEACH STATE FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY UNDERSTANDING INC: $27,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetPARTNERS FOR COLLEGE AFFORDABILITY & PUBLIC TRUST: $26,000 over 2y, 6.4% of budgetTuskegee University: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Institute for College Access & Success: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPeoples Resource Center: $25,000 over 1y, 9.8% of budgetTHE COMMON APPLICATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetJohn Burton Advocates for Youth: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetHIGHER LEARNING ADVOCATES INC: $25,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetCITY HEIGHTS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC AND SUBSIDIARY: $25,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetXAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetIndigenous Justice: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% 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.

Ecmc FoundationCalifornia Community …Lumina Foundation for…The California Wellne…College Futures Found…The Kresge FoundationThe California Endowm…Gates FoundationWeingart FoundationThe James Irvine Foun…Conrad N Hilton Found…The Rosalinde and Art…
Ecmc FoundationMN44.3× affinity21 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Ecmc Foundation · California Community Foundation · Lumina Foundation for Education Inc · The California Wellness Foundation · College Futures Foundation · The Kresge Foundation · The California Endowment · Gates Foundation · Weingart Foundation · The James Irvine Foundation · Conrad N Hilton Foundation · The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert 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 Michelson 20mm Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Michelson 20mm Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Neighborhood Connections Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Bethune-Cookman University: 6% of income from government
  • Uaspire Inc: 1% of income from government
  • National Academy of Inventors Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
22report 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 Michelson 20mm Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Michelson 20mm Foundation Inc 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 147 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 Michelson 20mm’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