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The Nicholson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Nicholson Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$313k
Granted FY2025still arriving
49
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$25k
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, FY2022 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$349kHealth$320kYouth Development$254kHuman Services$100kFood & Nutrition$89kEducation$58kEnvironment$40kCrime & Legal$25kOther$0
02FY2025 · 49 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k34 grants · $148k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $165k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$6.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GEORGE MARK CHILDREN'S HOUSE$25,000
HOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ$10,000
SAN FRANCISCO YOUTH THEATRE$10,000
PERFORMING ARTS WORKSHOP$10,000
SURVIVORS HEALING CENTER$10,000
SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE$10,000
ULTIMATE IMPACT$10,000
HACK THE HOOD$10,000
BE A MENTOR INC$10,000
FIRST GRADUATE$10,000
BERKELEY ART CENTER$10,000
ARTOGETHER$10,000
TIDES CENTER FIRST EXPOSURES$10,000
VISTA CENTER FOR THE BLIND$10,000
CAMPING UNLIMITED$10,000
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 (FY22–25, $108k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 74% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%NATIONAL CENTER FOR PEDIATRIC PALLATIVE CARE HOMES: $5k → 11%MY NEW RED SHOES: $10k → 7%GIRL VENTURES: $10k → 10%NEW LIFE CENTER: $5k → 11%NEW LIFE CENTER: $5k → 11%MY NEW RED SHOES: $10k → 7%NEW LIFE CENTER: $5k → 11%PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $5k → 12%NEW LIFE CENTER: $5k → 11%PACIFICA RESOURCE CENTER: $2k → 7%GIRLVENTURES: $5k → 10%PACIFICA RESOURCE CENTER: $1k → 7%ANIMAL ASSISTED HAPPINESS INC: $5k → 8%PAJARO VALLEY SHELTER SERVICES: $5k → 13%LOVED TWICE: $5k → 10%FAMILY CONNECTIONS CENTERS: $5k → 10%BEYOND EMANCIPATION: $10k → 10%BEYOND EMANCIPATION: $10k → 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.
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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$982k · 49 repeat orgs$327k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +12% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

49 repeat relationships: 29 still active in FY2025, 20 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

49
42

Total granted

$982k
$211k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
0%

Still filing today

78%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $116k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesHealthEducationCivil RightsOther
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

  • GM
    George Mark Childrens Fund
    4× · 2022–2025 · $175k · revenue +37%
  • FG
    FIRST GRADUATE
    4× · 2022–2025 · $30k · revenue +12%
  • HO
    HOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
    3× · 2022–2025 · $30k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • UR
    United Roots
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -99%
  • 1G
    1 Grain to 1000 Grains
    one grant, 2022 · $8k · revenue -64%
  • SF
    SAN FRANCISCO GAY MENS CHORUS
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
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
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
2
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
3
Arts for Oakland Kids

To advance arts justice by ensuring that all students in under-resourced oakland public schools receive a comprehensive arts education in order to improve learning and promote achievement.

Arts & Culture
4
Unitedly

Unitedly is a nonprofit organization based in San Mateo County, California. Unitedly was established to ensure Asian families and communities have access to equitable opportunities and resources to thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Human Services
5
Youth in Arts

Youth in Arts builds visual and performing arts skills through innovative and in-depth programs that foster confidence, compassion and resilience in students of all abilities. We develop capacity among educators and teaching artists,…

Arts & Culture
6
Santa Cruz Local Inc

Independent nonpartisan newsroom serving Santa Cruz County, California we are all watching and engaged in our local government, our needs are addressed, democracy works better and our community is stronger.

—
7
The California Center for Civic Participation

To educate california youth about the operations of local, state, and federal government.

Public Benefit
8
Ross Valley Children for Change

Our mission is to empower youth to become global change-makers with the knowledge, confidence and empathy to make a positive impact in their world. We envision a just and inclusive world in which empathy, care and social engagement are at…

Youth Development
9
The Kids Co-op Inc Dba Mariposa Kids

Support and inspire children's natural curiosity and independence through free play during their out-of-school time.

Education
10
Bay Area Creative Foundation

The Bay Area Creative Foundation celebrates, cultivates, and inspires creativity in youth and young adults. We believe in fostering a society that embodies creative spirit, art, and innovation.

Arts & Culture
11
Children's Council of San Francisco

By advocating for quality early care and education, empowering families with information and financial support, and building the capabilities of educators, Children's Council of San Francisco ensures that every child in San Francisco has…

Human Services
12
Institute for Applied Tinkering

Institute for Applied Tinkering IAT develops, practices and shares educational methods that challenge and support all children to engage deeply in their learning via real interests and real tools.

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Young STEAMers; the most unlike its peers is Building for Generations. 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

84 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. 84 of the 111 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
83/84
Grantees still filing
39/84
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $30,000 · OtherHOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTYPAJARO VALLEY ARTS: $30,000 · OtherPAJARO VALLEY ARTSBERKELEY ARTS CENTER: $30,000 · OtherBERKELEY ARTS CENTERLEAP ARTS IN EDUCATION FKA LEAP IMAGINATION IN LEARNING: $30,000 · OtherLEAP ARTS IN EDUCATION FKA LEAP IMAGINATIO…CAMPING UNLIMITED: $20,000 · OtherSURVIVORS HEALING CENTER: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · Other+43 more: $288,670 · Other+43 moreGeorge Mark Childrens Fund: $175,000 · HealthGeorge Mark Childrens …Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $30,000 · HealthVista Center for the B…COASTAL KIDS HOME CARE: $20,000 · HealthCOASTAL KIDS HOME CAREProject Commotion: $15,000 · HealthProject CommotionDOWN SYNDROME CONNECTION OF THE BAY AREA: $15,000 · HealthDOWN SYNDROME CONNECTI…+2 more: $10,000 · HealthFIRST GRADUATE: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentFIRST GRADUATESHINE TOGETHER INC: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentSHINE TOGETHER I…TEEN KITCHEN PROJECT: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentTEEN KITCHEN PRO…DIGITAL NEST INC: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentDIGITAL NEST INCFoodWhat Incorporated: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentFoodWhat Incorpo…Ultimate Impact Inc: $15,000 · Youth DevelopmentUltimate Impact …CYCLES OF CHANGE: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentOld Skool Cafe: $10,000 · Youth Development+6 more: $30,000 · Youth Development+6 moreMusic In Schools Today: $30,000 · Arts & CultureMusic In School…ARTogether: $22,500 · Arts & CultureARTogetherSAN FRANCISCO YOUTH THEATRE: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO Y…Hack the Hood Inc: $15,000 · Arts & CultureHack the Hood I…Performing Arts Workshop Inc: $10,000 · Arts & CulturePerforming Arts…GOLDEN GATE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureGOLDEN GATE PER…Young Audiences of Northern California: $10,000 · Arts & CultureYoung Audiences…CANTARE CON VIVO: $10,000 · Arts & CultureCANTARE CON VIV…+11 more: $51,000 · Arts & Culture+11 moreBEYOND EMANCIPATION: $20,000 · Human ServicesBEYOND EM…MBOLDEN CHANGE: $20,000 · Human ServicesMBOLDEN C…New Life Center: $20,000 · Human ServicesNew Life …GIRLVENTURES: $15,000 · Human ServicesGIRLVENTU…Animal Assisted Happiness Inc: $5,000 · Human ServicesLoved Twice: $5,000 · Human ServicesPartnership for Children: $5,000 · Human ServicesPAJARO VALLEY SHELTER SERVICES: $5,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY CONNECTIONS CENTERS: $5,000 · Human ServicesNATIONAL CENTER FOR PEDIATRIC PALLIATIVE CARE HOMES: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $3,000 · Human ServicesBUILDING FOR GENERATIONS: $13,100 · EducationLIVE EARTH FARM DISCOVERY PROGRAM: $10,000 · EducationUnited Roots: $10,000 · EducationTHE OAKLAND PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: $5,000 · EducationCommunity Resources for Science: $5,000 · EducationREACH FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationJUDICIAL DISTRICT VII CASA PROGRAM: $20,000 · Civil RightsVOICE OF WITNESS A NONPROFIT PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION: $5,000 · Civil RightsCourt Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Cruz County: $5,000 · Civil Rights
Other$488,670Health$265,000Youth Development$190,000Arts & Culture$178,500Human Services$108,000Education$48,100Civil Rights$30,000

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 budgetGeorge Mark Childrens Fund: $175,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetFIRST GRADUATE: $30,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetHOSPICE OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMusic In Schools Today: $30,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetSHINE TOGETHER INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLEAP ARTS IN EDUCATION FKA LEAP IMAGINATION IN LEARNING: $30,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetVista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $30,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTEEN KITCHEN PROJECT: $25,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetARTogether: $22,500 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetBEYOND EMANCIPATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCOASTAL KIDS HOME CARE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDIGITAL NEST INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJUDICIAL DISTRICT VII CASA PROGRAM: $20,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetMBOLDEN CHANGE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetFoodWhat Incorporated: $20,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO YOUTH THEATRE: $20,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetNew Life Center: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetONeill Sea Odyssey: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUltimate Impact Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetProject Commotion: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetBe A Mentor Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetDOWN SYNDROME CONNECTION OF THE BAY AREA: $15,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetHack the Hood Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetZACCHO SF: $15,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetGIRLVENTURES: $15,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetBUILDING FOR GENERATIONS: $13,100 over 2y, 9.0% of budgetPerforming Arts Workshop Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetGOLDEN GATE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIVE EARTH FARM DISCOVERY PROGRAM: $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetYoung Audiences of Northern California: $10,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCYCLES OF CHANGE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetUnited Roots: $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetOld Skool Cafe: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCOASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetDestiny Arts Center: $10,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCANTARE CON VIVO: $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetVALLEY CHURCHES UNITED: $8,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes Inc: $8,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budget1 Grain to 1000 Grains: $7,500 over 1y, 15% of budgetVOLUNTEER CENTERS OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY: $7,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAnimal Assisted Happiness Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetLoved Twice: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSKILLS OF LIFE CAFE: $5,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetCity Surf Project: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVOICE OF WITNESS A NONPROFIT PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCHILDREN RISING INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTRIPS FOR KIDS MARIN: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% 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.

East Bay Community Fo…The Morris Stulsaft F…The Joseph and Vera L…Monterey Peninsula Fo…Bothin FoundationThe San Francisco Fou…Kaiser Foundation Hos…Silicon Valley Commun…The William & Flora H…The Barrios TrustCommunity Foundation …Marin Community Found…
East Bay Community FoundationCA49.6× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: East Bay Community Foundation · The Morris Stulsaft Foundation · The Joseph and Vera Long Foundation · Monterey Peninsula Foundation · Bothin Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · The Barrios Trust · Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · Marin Community 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 Nicholson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Nicholson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%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
    42report 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 Nicholson Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Nicholson Family 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 111 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Nicholson Family’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