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The Petunia Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Petunia Foundation

Its FY2026 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$15k
Granted FY2026still arriving
3
Grants FY2026still arriving
2
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$10kReligion$5kEducation$3kFood & Nutrition$3kAnimals$3kArts & Culture$500Philanthropy$250Other$0
02FY2026 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$22k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY$5,000
ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION$5,000
GROSSMONT HOSPITAL$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–26) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS SCHOOL: $3k → 7%CORONADO HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%ST JUDES HOSPITAL: $2k → 17%ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION: $5k → 14%JACOBS & CUSHMAN FOOD BANK: $1k → 11%ST JUDE'S HOSPITAL: $2k → 17%ALZHEIMER'S ASSOCIATION: $3k → 14%JACOBS & CUSHMAN FOOD BANK: $1k → 11%SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $250 → 11%SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $250 → 11%SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY: $5k → 11%SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY: $3k → 11%CHURCH OF ST TIMOTHY: $3k → 11%CHURCH OF ST TIMOTHY: $3k → 11%SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 → 11%SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $250 → 11%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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$34k · 7 repeat orgs$9k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2026, 4 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
4

Total granted

$34k
$9k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+138%

Still filing today

71%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2026, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’22’24’25’26
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’22’24’25’26
HealthAnimalsEducationFood & NutritionOther
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

  • SD
    SAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA
    2× · 2025–2026 · $8k · revenue 0%
  • AD
    ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC
    2× · 2025–2026 · $8k · revenue 0%
  • GH
    Grossmont Hospital Corporation
    2× · 2025–2026 · $8k · revenue 0%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • CS
    CRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS SCHOOLgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $3k · revenue +138%
  • CH
    Coronado Hospital Foundation
    one grant, 2018 · $1k · revenue -22%
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
Sharp Memorial Hospital

Sharp memorial hospital provides comprehensive medical services to the san diego community.

Health
2
Sharp Healthcare

To promote health care through supporting and/or operating, directly or through wholly-owned subsidiaries and other appropriate management arrangements, hospitals and other medically-related facilities and activities in the state of…

Health
3
Sutter Bay Hospitals

MISSION STATEMENT: MISSION: CARING FOR OUR PATIENTS FIRST AND OUR PEOPLE ALWAYS. VISION: TO BE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE, INTEGRATED AND CONNECTED HEALTH SYSTEM FOR GETTING AND STAYING WELL. VALUES: EXCELLENCE - We deliver high-quality,…

Health
4
Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center

Sharp chula vista medical center provides inpatient and outpatient medical services to the community.

Health
5
Scripps Health

Founded in 1924 by philanthropist ellen browning scripps, scripps health is a $4.8 billion, private not-for-profit integrated health system in san diego, ca. (see sch o)

Health
6
Southern California University of Health Sciences

The mission of southern california university of health sciences (scu) is to educate students as competent, caring and successful practitioners of integrative healthcare. the university is committed to providing excellence in academics,…

Education
7
Ucsf Health Community Hospitals Fka Saint Francis Memorial Hospital

Ucsf health community hospital's mission statement is caring, healing, teaching, and discovering.

Health
8
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
9
Connect Foundation

Connect is an innovation instigator established to cultivate san diego's life science and tech communities. a trusted partner for more than 30 years, we propel our region's entrepreneurs as they create and scale their companies from…

Education
10
Sutter Bay Medical Foundation

Mission statement: mission: caring for our patients first and our people always. vision: to be the most comprehensive, integrated and connected health system for getting and staying well. values: excellence - we deliver high-quality,…

Health
11
Rady Children's Hospital San Diego

To restore, sustain and enhance the health and developmental potential of children through excellence in care, education, research and advocacy.

Health
12
San Antonio Regional Hospital

Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of the people we serve.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Diego Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Crystal Springs Uplands School. 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

9 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. 9 of the 12 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
5/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $7,500 · HealthALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION …Grossmont Hospital Corporation: $7,500 · HealthGrossmont Hospital CorporationST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $4,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INCCoronado Hospital Foundation: $1,000 · HealthIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientCHURCH OF ST TIMOTHY: $5,000 · OtherCHURCH OF ST TIMOTHYJACOBS & CUSHMAN FOOD BANK: $2,000 · OtherJACOBS & CUSHMAN FOOD BANKSAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 · OtherSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $7,500 · AnimalsSAN DIEGO HUMANE SO…CRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS SCHOOL: $2,500 · EducationJACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $500 · Food & NutritionTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $250 · Philanthropy
Health$20,000Other$12,500Animals$7,500Education$2,500Food & Nutrition$500Philanthropy$250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSAN DIEGO HUMANE SOCIETY AND SPCA: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGrossmont Hospital Corporation: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCRYSTAL SPRINGS UPLANDS SCHOOL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCoronado Hospital Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Petunia Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Petunia Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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.

    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 12 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 2026, released 2026. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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    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