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The Play Equity Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Play Equity Fund

Bringing the transformational power of sport and play to all children, regardless of their race, gender, zip code or socio-economic status.

$1.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$110k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Youth Development$2.3MRecreation & Sports$1.6MEducation$1.1MHuman Services$613kCommunity Improvement$255kEmployment$138kHealth$120kHousing & Shelter$80kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $80k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $1.0M
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PROJECT BLUE - (FORMERLY KIDS & COPS MAKING A DIFFERENCE)$110,200
INGLEWOOD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT$90,000
LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION$89,899
YMCA OF METROPOLITAN LOS ANGELES$60,200
WOODCRAFT RANGERS$60,200
BOYLE HEIGHTS YOUTH FOOTBALL$60,200
HOLLENBECK POLICE ACTIVITIES LEAGUE$60,200
EVERYBODY DANCE LA$60,200
PROYECTO PASTORAL$60,200
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF WEST SAN GABRIEL VALLEY AND EASTSIDE$60,200
STREET SOCCER USA INC$60,200
AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS LOS ANGELES$60,200
THINKWATTS FOUNDATION$55,000
ESP EDUCATION & LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE - BOSS$50,000
INNER CITY EDUCATION FOUNDATION$50,000
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, $1.2M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHALLENGED ATHLETES FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%STREET SOCCER USA INC: $60k → 17%STREET SOCCER USA: $175k → 17%STREET SOCCER USA INC: $81k → 17%OUR OWN: $95k → 14%STREET SOCCER USA INC: $60k → 17%HARVEST HOME: $10k → 14%OUR OWN: $50k → 14%ANGEL CITY SPORTS: $50k → 14%YMCA OF METROPOLITAN LOS ANGELES: $60k → 14%PUKUU CULTURAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $10k → 14%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $10k → 14%JENESSE CENTER INC: $10k → 14%FRIENDSHIP FOUNDATION: $8k → 14%SHAREFEST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC: $25k → 14%EL CENTRO DEL PUEBLO: $10k → 14%PROYECTO PASTORAL: $60k → 14%PROYECTO PASTORAL: $60k → 14%JOVENES INC: $50k → 14%ALL PEOPLES COMMUNITY CENTER: $8k → 14%BROTHERS SONS SELVES (BSS) COALITION: $10k → 14%LOVING HANDS COMMUNITY CARE INC: $50k → 14%SAFE PLACE FOR YOUTH: $10k → 14%PROJECT KNUCKLEHEAD: $10k → 14%UNITED AMERICAN INDIAN INVOLVEMENT: $100k → 14%YMCA OF METROPOLITAN LOS ANGELES: $51k → 14%YMCA OF METROPOLITAN LOS ANGELES: $50k → 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.
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.

56%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.6M · 27 repeat orgs$2.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +80% since the first grant, against +44% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
103

Total granted

$3.6M
$2.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+80%
+44%

Still filing today

93%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $207k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24
Youth DevelopmentHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsHealthEmploymentOther
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

  • SS
    STREET SOCCER USA INC
    4× · 2017–2024 · $376k · revenue +266%
  • PB
    PROJECT BLUE CORPS
    3× · 2021–2024 · $320k · revenue +126% · 32% of their budget
  • WR
    WOODCRAFT RANGERS
    3× · 2021–2024 · $235k · revenue +220%

Funded once

  • PE
    PLAYWORKS EDUCATION ENERGIZED
    one grant, 2022 · $361k · revenue -27%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF CARSON INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +111%
  • TG
    THE GRYD FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue -35%
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
Los Angeles Team Mentoring Inc

Los Angeles Team Mentorings (LATM) mission is to guide middle school students growing up in challenging urban environments to recognize and reach their full potential. See Schedule O for more details.

Youth Development
2
All About Kids La
Philanthropy
3
Los Angeles Youth Network

Youth Emerging Stronger (YES) empowers young people, between ages of 12 and 24 within Los Angeles County, including but not limited to run-away and homeless youth. YES mission is to end homelessness one youth at a time to become…

Human Services
4
Western Avenue Community Action Inc

Provide resources, education and services to the underserved African-American youth population in Los Angeles.

Community Improvement
5
Inner-City Arts

Inner-city arts believes that the arts and creativity are transformational, and we envision a society that honors the human capacity for creativity, and values its cultivation in the education of young people. inner-city arts uses arts…

Arts & Culture
6
Trauma Informed La
Civil Rights
7
Stem Advantage

Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. STEM Advantage mentors, prepares, and inspires first-generation, low-income, and underserved college students for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We level…

Youth Development
8
Los Angeles Urban League

The los angeles urban league (laul) is an independent affiliate of the national urban league. the laul was founded in 1921 to help african americans and others in underserved communities achieve their highest true social parity, economic…

—
9
Da Vinci Schools La County

Da Vinci Schools: LA County consists of a public charter school, RISE High, which exists to provide our students an individualized education through the coalescence of their personal and professional goals, their interests, and the…

Education
10
Urban Compass

Urban Compass provides a safe, welcoming, and innovative environment that challenges our youth to envision and navigate a course for a rewarding future characterized by achievement, independent thought, and social responsibility through…

Youth Development
11
Industry Sheriff's Youth Athletic League

Showing youths a path to a better life the sheriffs youth foundation of los angeles county exists because we believe safe communities dont just happen. we believe it takes vigilance, teamwork and the collective desire of residents to live…

Youth Development
12
Pf Bresee Foundation

Bresee battles poverty by empowering youth and families in LA with the skills, resources and relationships necessary to thrive.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is After-School All-Stars Los Angeles; the most unlike its peers is Glorya Kaufman Foundation. 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

132 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. 132 of the 140 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
47
Early backer (in before they grew)
126/132
Grantees still filing
100/132
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PLAYWORKS EDUCATION ENERGIZED: $361,000 · Youth DevelopmentPLAYWORKS EDUCATION ENERGIZEDPROJECT BLUE CORPS: $320,200 · Youth DevelopmentPROJECT BLUE CORPSHOLLENBECK POLICE ACTIVITIES LEAGUE: $225,355 · Youth DevelopmentHOLLENBECK POLICE ACTIVITIES LE…BOSS Inc: $167,500 · Youth DevelopmentBOSS IncSTUDENTS RUN AMERICA: $110,400 · Youth DevelopmentSTUDENTS RUN AMERICABOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF CARSON INC: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF CARSON INCTHE GRYD FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE GRYD FOUNDATIONThe Antelope Valley Boys and Girls Club: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentThe Antelope Valley Boys and Gi…PROJECT JOY: $77,525 · Youth Development+19 more: $216,125 · Youth Development+19 moreINGLEWOOD UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: $305,000 · OtherINGLEWOOD UNIFIED SCHOOL DIST…WOODCRAFT RANGERS: $235,200 · OtherWOODCRAFT RANGERSBOYLE HEIGHTS YOUTH FOOTBALL: $130,200 · OtherBOYLE HEIGHTS YOUTH FOOTBALLBoys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley: $120,200 · OtherBoys & Girls Club of West San…VARIETY BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $100,000 · OtherVARIETY BOYS & GIRLS CLUBBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WHITTIER INC: $82,000 · OtherLOS ANGELES COUNTY REGISTRAR-RECORDERCOUNTY CLERK: $80,000 · OtherEASTSIDE UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT: $77,000 · OtherLEGACY LA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CORP: $60,000 · Other+35 more: $469,975 · Other+35 moreSTREET SOCCER USA INC: $375,800 · Human ServicesSTREET SOCCER USA IN…Young Men's Christian Association of Metropolitan Los Angeles: $160,920 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christia…OUR OWN NON PROFIT INC: $145,000 · Human ServicesOUR OWN NON PROFIT I…Proyecto Pastoral: $120,200 · Human ServicesProyecto PastoralUNITED AMERICAN INDIAN INVOLVEMENT INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesUNITED AMERICAN INDI…LOVING HANDS COMMUNITY CARE INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesJOVENES INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesAngel City Alliance: $50,000 · Human Services+12 more: $130,000 · Human Services+12 moreINNER CITY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $228,448 · EducationINNER CITY EDUCAT…AFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS LOS ANGELES: $135,200 · EducationAFTER-SCHOOL ALL-…Friends of GALA: $129,155 · EducationFriends of GALAEVERYBODY DANCE LA: $110,200 · EducationEVERYBODY DANCE L…INGLEWOOD EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $95,000 · EducationINGLEWOOD EDUCATI…LA PROMISE FUND: $75,000 · EducationLA PROMISE FUNDGIRLS ATHLETIC LEADERSHIP SCHOOL LOS ANGELES: $35,675 · Education+14 more: $183,299 · Education+14 moreSLOANE STEPHENS FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 · Recreation & SportsSLOANE ST…LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION: $89,899 · Recreation & SportsLOS ANGEL…WATTS SKILLS ACADEMY INC: $65,200 · Recreation & SportsWATTS SKI…CALIFORNIA ULTIMATE ASSOCIATION: $50,000 · Recreation & SportsCALIFORNI…DOWNTOWN SOCCER CLUB: $27,500 · Recreation & SportsDOWNTOWN …East Side Riders Bike Club: $19,375 · Recreation & Sports+13 more: $111,875 · Recreation & Sports+13 moreANTELOPE VALLEY PARTNERS FOR HEALTH: $100,000 · Community ImprovementTHINKWATTS FOUNDATION: $55,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $40,000 · Community ImprovementOptimist Boys' Home and Ranch Inc: $57,500 · HealthBLACK EMOTIONAL AND MENTAL HEALTH COLLEC: $10,000 · HealthMENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY SERVICES INC: $10,000 · HealthKEDREN COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERINC: $10,000 · HealthA NEW WAY OF LIFE REENTRY PROJECT: $10,000 · Health
Youth Development$1,778,105Other$1,659,575Human Services$1,181,920Education$991,977Recreation & Sports$513,849Community Improvement$195,000Health$97,500

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 budgetSTREET SOCCER USA INC: $375,800 over 4y, 11% of budgetPLAYWORKS EDUCATION ENERGIZED: $361,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPROJECT BLUE CORPS: $320,200 over 3y, 32% of budgetWOODCRAFT RANGERS: $235,200 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetINNER CITY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $228,448 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetHOLLENBECK POLICE ACTIVITIES LEAGUE: $225,355 over 3y, 16% of budgetBOSS Inc: $167,500 over 3y, 18% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Metropolitan Los Angeles: $160,920 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetOUR OWN NON PROFIT INC: $145,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetAFTER-SCHOOL ALL-STARS LOS ANGELES: $135,200 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBOYLE HEIGHTS YOUTH FOOTBALL: $130,200 over 3y, 53% of budgetFriends of GALA: $129,155 over 2y, 12% of budgetBoys & Girls Club of West San Gabriel Valley: $120,200 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetProyecto Pastoral: $120,200 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSTUDENTS RUN AMERICA: $110,400 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetEVERYBODY DANCE LA: $110,200 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF CARSON INC: $100,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetTHE GRYD FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetANTELOPE VALLEY PARTNERS FOR HEALTH: $100,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetVARIETY BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $100,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetThe Antelope Valley Boys and Girls Club: $100,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetUNITED AMERICAN INDIAN INVOLVEMENT INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetINGLEWOOD EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION: $95,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetLOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION: $89,899 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF WHITTIER INC: $82,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetPROJECT JOY: $77,525 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetLA PROMISE FUND: $75,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetWATTS SKILLS ACADEMY INC: $65,200 over 2y, 79% of budgetLEGACY LA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CORP: $60,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetOptimist Boys' Home and Ranch Inc: $57,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHINKWATTS FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budget2ND CALL: $50,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetLOVING HANDS COMMUNITY CARE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetJOVENES INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCALIFORNIA ULTIMATE ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetAngel City Alliance: $50,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOTBALL FOR HER INC: $37,375 over 2y, 13% of budgetGIRLS ATHLETIC LEADERSHIP SCHOOL LOS ANGELES: $35,675 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetIT S BIGGER THAN US: $35,600 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetDOWNTOWN SOCCER CLUB: $27,500 over 2y, 18% of budgetCitizens of the World Charter Schools Los Angeles: $27,462 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO LOS ANGELES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSharefest Community Development Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES ORGANIZATION: $25,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetTUDELA FUTBOL CLUB LOS ANGELES INC: $20,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetA PLACE CALLED HOME: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGLORYA KAUFMAN FOUNDATION: $20,000 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.

The Ralph M Parsons F…Weingart FoundationThe Annenberg Foundat…California Community …La84 FoundationThe Ahmanson Foundati…The Rose Hills Founda…Kaiser Foundation Hos…United Way IncThe Los Angeles Dodge…Great Public Schools …Elbridge Stuart Found…
The Ralph M Parsons FoundationCA85.5× affinity45 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · Weingart Foundation · The Annenberg Foundation · California Community Foundation · La84 Foundation · The Ahmanson Foundation · The Rose Hills Foundation · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · United Way Inc · The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation · Great Public Schools Now · Elbridge Stuart Foundation Dba Stuart 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 Play Equity Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Play Equity Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%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
    3get no government money at all
    53report 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.

    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 140 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 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 Play Equity’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