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

· Private foundation

The Michelson Found Animals 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.

$2.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
66
Grants FY2024still arriving
17
States reached
$750k
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.

Animals$10MPhilanthropy$188kHealth$169kEnvironment$150kHousing & Shelter$116kCrime & Legal$113kPublic Benefit$101kEducation$69kOther$0
02FY2024 · 66 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k40 grants · $156k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $408k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $363k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.0M
$5,000
Median grant
17
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Community Animal Medicine Project$750,000
COMPANIONS AND ANIMALS FOR REFORM AND EQUITY INC$289,701
Animal Balance$108,644
The Little Lion Foundation$53,000
The PAW Mission Inc$51,000
Downtown Dog Rescue$50,000
STRAY PAWS ANIMAL HAVEN$50,000
FixNation Inc$50,000
Pacific Coast Dog Rescue Inc$36,000
STAND Foundation Inc$32,801
Human Animal Bond Research Foundation$32,500
Open Door Veterinary Collective$28,100
THE RESCUE TRAIN$25,000
Center for Biological Diversity$25,000
Humane Society of Western Montana$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 (FY17–24, $182k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE NAGI FOUNDATION: $495 → 11%Housing California: $4k → 12%Tarrant County Hands of Hope: $2k → 11%New Horizons Service: $250 → 12%MIAMI DADE COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $5k → 15%Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue and Adoption Inc: $18k → 8%Urban Resource Institute: $25k → 17%Union Rescue Mission: $2k → 14%Union Rescue Mission: $817 → 14%The Giving Spirit: $25k → 14%The Giving Spirit: $5k → 14%THE GIVING SPIRIT: $360 → 14%Housing Equality & Advocacy Resource Team: $5k → 14%The Giving Spirit: $28k → 14%The Giving Spirit: $15k → 14%The Pawerful Rescue: $2k → 14%Housing Equality & Advocacy Resource Team (HEART L: $16k → 14%Housing Equality & Advocacy Resource Team: $15k → 14%Housing Equality & Advocacy Resource Team: $10k → 14%Housing Equality & Advocacy Resource Team (HEART L: $4k → 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
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$9.9M · 104 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

104 repeat relationships: 32 still active in FY2024, 72 since wound down; 31 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

104
262

Total granted

$9.9M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+25%

Still filing today

77%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $327k 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
AnimalsHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyEnvironmentEducationOther
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

  • CA
    COMMUNITY ANIMAL MEDICINE PROJECT INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +259%
  • FI
    FixNation Inc
    7× · 2017–2024 · $846k · revenue +28%
  • SC
    STRAY CAT ALLIANCE
    7× · 2017–2023 · $775k · revenue +111%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $205k
  • CF
    CENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY INC
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +12%
  • FH
    Fresno Humane Animal Shelter
    one grant, 2021 · $40k
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
Hope Fur Paws Rescue

To help injured, abandoned and unwanted animals. We provide food, vet care that includes heartworm prevention and spay or neuter services, shelter and anything else needed.

Animals
2
Paws and Claws Animal Shelter
Animals
3
Pets Without Partners

Find homes for homeless/abandoned dogs. Provide full vet car and housing while awaiting adoption,

Animals
4
Safe Haven Inc
Animals
5
Adopt and Save a Life Rescue Mission Inc
—
6
Paws Animal Rescue Center

To help rescue unwanted pets

Animals
7
Raskels Rescue
Animals
8
Animal Rescue and Adoption Agency Inc

An animal rescue/adoption Agency. Rescued animals are from kill shelters or owner surrenders facing hardship then rehabbed/medical completed while in foster care then adopted into loving homes.

Animals
9
Fur Animal Rescue

Animal rescue organization dedicated to finding homes for animals at the animal shelter. we also provde vet care foster homes, and assistance with homing for special needs animals.

Animals
10
Anas Safe Haven Rescue Inc

Animal Welfare

Animals
11
Claws and Paws for a Cause

For our community we provide high quality low cost spay and neuter services as well as low cost vaccinations. we do have programs that allows us to help the families that have pets but are in financial strain and not able to have their…

Religion
12
Animal Rescuers Without Borders

Battling against the overpopulation of homeless pets and improving the lives of companion animals through rescue, fostering programs, adoption, pet care, educational programs and of course spaying and neutering.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Save-a-Pet Inc; the most unlike its peers is Miami Dade Community Services 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

293 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. 293 of the 399 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
86
Early backer (in before they grew)
283/293
Grantees still filing
209/293
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY ANIMAL MEDICINE PROJECT INC: $1,361,268 · AnimalsCOMMUNITY ANIMAL MEDICINE PROJECT INCFixNation Inc: $846,020 · AnimalsFixNation IncSTRAY CAT ALLIANCE: $775,129 · AnimalsSTRAY CAT ALLIANCESPAY4LA INC: $759,349 · AnimalsSPAY4LA INCDowntown Dog Rescue: $538,328 · AnimalsDowntown Dog RescueSIMI VALLEY NONPROFIT SPAY AND NEUTER CL: $475,402 · AnimalsSIMI VALLEY NONPROFIT SPAY AND NEUTER CLTHE RESCUE TRAIN: $379,296 · AnimalsCOMPANIONS AND ANIMALS FOR REFORM AND EQUITY INC: $324,701 · Animals+104 more: $2,479,657 · Animals+104 moreCITY OF LOS ANGELES ANIMAL SERVICES: $329,510 · OtherCITY OF LOS ANGELES ANIM…Individual grant recipient: $205,400 · OtherIndividual grant recipie…STAND Foundation Inc: $186,448 · OtherSTAND Foundation IncHUMAN ANIMAL BOND RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $166,000 · OtherHUMAN ANIMAL BOND RESEAR…WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES: $163,852 · OtherWESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HE…PAW MISSION INC: $149,607 · OtherPAW MISSION INCANIMAL BALANCE: $108,644 · OtherHOME DOG LA: $92,601 · Other+68 more: $1,067,346 · Other+68 moreSOCIAL COMPASSION: $435,800 · Environment+1 more: $10,675 · EnvironmentTHE GIVING SPIRIT: $73,360 · Human ServicesHOUSING EQUITY & ADVOCACY RESOURCE TEAM: $49,800 · Human ServicesURBAN RESOURCE INSTITUTE: $25,000 · Human ServicesMostly Mutts Animal Rescue and Adoption Inc: $18,000 · Human Services+2 more: $8,890 · Human ServicesInner City Law Center: $112,500 · Crime & LegalPETCO LOVE: $100,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $3,220 · PhilanthropyTHE GOOD FOOD INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 · Food & Nutrition
Animals$7,939,150Other$2,469,408Environment$446,475Human Services$175,050Crime & Legal$112,500Philanthropy$103,220Food & Nutrition$50,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetCOMMUNITY ANIMAL MEDICINE PROJECT INC: $1,361,268 over 6y, 6.5% of budgetFixNation Inc: $846,020 over 7y, 9.0% of budgetSTRAY CAT ALLIANCE: $775,129 over 7y, 9.4% of budgetSPAY4LA INC: $759,349 over 5y, 17% of budgetDowntown Dog Rescue: $538,328 over 8y, 16% of budgetSIMI VALLEY NONPROFIT SPAY AND NEUTER CL: $475,402 over 7y, 10% of budgetSOCIAL COMPASSION: $435,800 over 5y, 66% of budgetTHE RESCUE TRAIN: $379,296 over 8y, 14% of budgetCOMPANIONS AND ANIMALS FOR REFORM AND EQUITY INC: $324,701 over 2y, 25% of budgetFRIENDS TO THE FORLORN PITBULL RESCUE INC: $203,325 over 4y, 7.9% of budgetWESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES: $163,852 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFARM SANCTUARY INC: $155,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetBETTERTOGETHER FOREVER: $134,075 over 5y, 21% of budgetHUMAN ANIMAL BOND RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $130,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $125,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetInner City Law Center: $112,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetANIMAL BALANCE: $108,644 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetANIMAL FRIENDS ALLIANCE: $108,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetTHE LITTLE LION FOUNDATION: $101,637 over 4y, 10% of budgetHOME DOG LA: $92,601 over 4y, 21% of budgetHeaven on Earth Society for Animals Inc: $87,270 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF WESTERN MONTANA: $85,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetPACIFIC COAST DOG RESCUE INC: $76,500 over 3y, 31% of budgetTHE GIVING SPIRIT: $73,360 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetKITTEN RESCUE: $72,470 over 7y, 2.4% of budgetCENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetDogs Playing for Life Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetSTRAY PAWS ANIMAL HAVEN: $50,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetTHE GOOD FOOD INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHOUSING EQUITY & ADVOCACY RESOURCE TEAM: $49,800 over 5y, 7.6% of budgetMY DOG IS MY HOME INC: $43,800 over 2y, 21% of budgetAUSTIN PETS ALIVE INC: $40,185 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetPreventing Euthanasia Through Rescue DBA Pet Rescue: $38,550 over 2y, 12% of budgetKitty of Angels Inc: $36,962 over 1y, 30% of budgetANGEL CITY PIT BULLS: $36,172 over 3y, 6.6% of budgetThe Association for Animal Welfare Advancement: $35,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetBAKERSFIELD FOUNDATION: $33,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetHELEN SANDERS CAT PROTECTION AND WELFARE SOCIETY: $30,825 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetOPEN DOOR VETERINARY COLLECTIVE: $28,100 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetSISKIYOU HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetSpace for Giants USA Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetURBAN RESOURCE INSTITUTE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT STREET VET: $25,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSECOND CITY CANINE RESCUE: $22,375 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetTHE DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST USA INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPALM VALLEY ANIMAL SOCIETY FKA PALM VALLEY ANIMAL CENTER: $18,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMostly Mutts Animal Rescue and Adoption Inc: $18,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $17,815 over 2y, 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 COMMUNITY ANIMAL MEDICINE PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds FixNation Inc ↗
  • Who funds STRAY CAT ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds SPAY4LA INC ↗
  • Who funds Downtown Dog Rescue ↗
  • Who funds SIMI VALLEY NONPROFIT SPAY AND NEUTER CL ↗
  • Who funds SOCIAL COMPASSION ↗
  • Who funds THE RESCUE TRAIN ↗
  • Who funds COMPANIONS AND ANIMALS FOR REFORM AND EQUITY INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS TO THE FORLORN PITBULL RESCUE INC ↗
  • Who funds WESTERN UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES ↗
  • Who funds FARM SANCTUARY INC ↗
  • Who funds BETTERTOGETHER FOREVER ↗
  • Who funds HUMAN ANIMAL BOND RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds Inner City Law Center ↗
  • Who funds ANIMAL BALANCE ↗
  • Who funds ANIMAL FRIENDS ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds THE LITTLE LION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PETCO LOVE ↗
  • Who funds HOME DOG LA ↗
  • Who funds Heaven on Earth Society for Animals Inc ↗
  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY OF WESTERN MONTANA ↗
  • Who funds PACIFIC COAST DOG RESCUE INC ↗
  • Who funds RESCUED PETS MOVEMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GIVING SPIRIT ↗
  • Who funds KITTEN RESCUE ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY INC ↗
  • Who funds Dogs Playing for Life Inc ↗
  • Who funds STRAY PAWS ANIMAL HAVEN ↗
  • Who funds THE GOOD FOOD INSTITUTE INC ↗

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.

The Duffield Family F…Best Friends Animal S…Petco LovePetsmart Charities IncThe American Society …Greater Good CharitiesBISSELL Pet FoundationHumane World for Anim…Banfield FoundationThornton S Jr and Kat…Mary Jo and Hank Gree…Pedigree Foundation
The Duffield Family Foundation Dba Maddie's FundCA140.3× affinity110 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Duffield Family Foundation Dba Maddie's Fund · Best Friends Animal Society · Petco Love · Petsmart Charities Inc · The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals · Greater Good Charities · BISSELL Pet Foundation · Humane World for Animals Inc · Banfield Foundation · Thornton S Jr and Katrina D Glide Foundation · Mary Jo and Hank Greenberg Animal Welfare Foundation · Pedigree 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 Found Animals Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Michelson Found Animals Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 150%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    15get no government money at all
    35report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Found Animals Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to The Michelson Found Animals 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 399 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 Found Animals’ 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