· Private foundation
The Nelles Foundation
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2023.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| FRANCIS PARKER HIGH SCHOOL | $43,333 |
| THE SALVATION ARMY | $25,000 |
| ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO | $25,000 |
| UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION | $25,000 |
| ST LUKE'S WOOD RIVER FOUNDATION | $15,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 54% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
5 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2023, 2 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 49% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $68k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- SLST LUKE'S WOOD RIVER FOUNDATION INC7× · 2017–2023 · $160k · revenue +144%
- USUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION4× · 2020–2023 · $100k · revenue +61%
- ZSZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO6× · 2018–2023 · $75k · revenue +28%
Funded once
- FPFRANCIS PARKER HIGH SCHOOLone grant, 2023 · $43k
- TSTHE SALVATION ARMYone grant, 2023 · $25k
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.
5 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. 5 of the 8 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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.
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Nelles Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Nelles Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Nelles’ filings →