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The Roberto Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Roberto 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.

$1.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$4.4MArts & Culture$3.9MEducation$3.0MPhilanthropy$1.9MEnvironment$1.1MYouth Development$1.1MReligion$1.1MFood & Nutrition$906kOther$0
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $50k–250k3 grants · $500k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.0M
$200,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$74M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$1,000,000
CASA TERESA$200,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS - CENTRAL ORANGE COAST$150,000
SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION$150,000
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 (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%UA FOUNDATION: $340k → 15%TALLER SAN JOSE HOPE BUILDERS: $325k → 10%WHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $500k → 14%THOMPSON FOUNDATION FOR AUTISM: $100k → 17%ESOPHAGEAL CANCER ACTION NETWORK: $100k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA FOUNDATION: $335k → 15%TALLER SAN JOSE HOPE BUILDERS: $175k → 10%WHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $500k → 14%ESOPHAGEAL CANCER ACTION NETWORK: $100k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA FOUNDATION: $165k → 15%WHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $150k → 14%ESOPHAGEAL CANCER ACTION NETWORK: $100k → 11%SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $150k → 10%SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $300k → 14%SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $200k → 14%SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $200k → 14%MOXI (FKACHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SANTA BARBARA): $200k → 14%MOXI (FKACHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF SANTA BARBARA): $200k → 14%SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $150k → 14%SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $150k → 14%SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $150k → 14%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1.3M → 10%SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $150k → 14%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 10%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $500k → 10%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%ORANGE CATHOLIC FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%BRACKEN'S KITCHEN: $170k → 10%ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%GOALS: $150k → 10%ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150k → 10%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS - CENTRAL ORANGE COAST: $190k → 10%BRACKEN'S KITCHEN: $250k → 10%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS - CENTRAL ORANGE COAST: $185k → 10%BRACKEN'S KITCHEN: $106k → 10%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS - CENTRAL ORANGE COAST: $150k → 10%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS - CENTRAL ORANGE COAST: $150k → 10%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS - CENTRAL ORANGE COAST: $125k → 10%UCI FOUNDATION: $2.0M → 10%ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $1.1M → 10%ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $1.0M → 10%ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $1.0M → 10%ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $300k → 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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 16 repeat orgs$2.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +43% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
8

Total granted

$15M
$2.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+43%

Still filing today

75%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
HealthEducationArts & CultureEnvironmentHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • HH
    HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2024 · $3.6M · revenue +300%
  • WB
    WHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST
    3× · 2019–2023 · $1.1M · revenue +174%
  • CT
    CASA TERESA INC
    5× · 2018–2024 · $885k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $2.0M · revenue +128%
  • OC
    ORANGE CATHOLIC FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $200k
  • GO
    GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH ATHLETICS LEARNING AND SERVICE - GOALS
    one grant, 2018 · $150k · revenue -71%
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
Uc Santa Barbara Foundation

The uc santa barbara foundation actively works to further the goals of the university of california, santa barbara. the foundation seeks to maintain and nurture the university's quality and distinction. on behalf of the campus, the…

Education
2
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
3
Arizona Community Foundation

To lead, serve and collaborate to mobilize enduring philanthropy for a better arizona.

Philanthropy
4
Community Foundation Santa Cruz County

To promote philanthropy to make santa cruz county a better place to live, now and in the future.we bring together people, ideas, and resources to inspire philanthropy and accomplish great things.

Philanthropy
5
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
6
The California Channel

To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…

—
7
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
8
California Dental Association Foundation

The foundation's mission is to improve the oral health of all californians by supporting the dental profession and its efforts to meet community needs.

Science & Tech
9
Orange County Technology Action Network

Octane connects people and ideas with capital and resources to fuel technology growth in orange county. our members represent orange county technology executive leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, academicians, and…

Community Improvement
10
Santa Barbara Zoological Foundation

The santa barbara zoo is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of the natural world and its living treasures through education, research, recreation and conservation.

Animals
11
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
12
South Central Family Health Center

To improve the quality of life for the diverse communities we serve providing affordable and comprehensive healthcare and education in a welcoming multi-cultural environment.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Orange County Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Esophageal Cancer Action Network 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

20 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. 20 of the 26 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
13/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $3,600,000 · HealthHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONESOPHAGEAL CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $300,000 · HealthESOPHAGEAL CANCER ACTION N…Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation: $200,000 · HealthMISSION HOSPITAL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: $200,000 · Health+1 more: $100,000 · HealthBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL ORANGE COAST: $800,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF…Brackens Kitchen Inc: $706,000 · OtherBrackens Kitchen IncMOXI THE WOLF MUSEUM OF EXPLORATION INNOVATION: $500,000 · OtherMOXI THE WOLF MUSEUM …ST MICHAELS ABBEY FOUNDATION: $500,000 · OtherST MICHAELS ABBEY FOU…ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC FOUNDATION: $400,000 · OtherORANGE COUNTY CATHOLI…MEDIA4GOOD INC: $300,000 · OtherMEDIA4GOOD INCSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK: $200,000 · OtherSECOND HARVEST FOOD B…ORANGE CATHOLIC FOUNDATION: $200,000 · OtherORANGE CATHOLIC FOUND…+2 more: $31,490 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFOR…University of Arizona Foundation: $840,000 · EducationUniversity of Arizona…TALLER SAN JOSE HOPE BUILDERS: $650,000 · EducationTALLER SAN JOSE HOPE …+2 more: $95,000 · EducationORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $3,350,000 · Arts & CultureORANGE COUNTY MUSEU…SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 · PhilanthropySANTA BARBA…ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $350,000 · PhilanthropyORANGE COUN…WHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $1,150,000 · EnvironmentCASA TERESA INC: $885,000 · Human ServicesGROWTH OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH ATHLETICS LEARNING AND SERVICE - GOALS: $150,000 · Recreation & Sports
Health$4,400,000Other$3,637,490Education$3,585,000Arts & Culture$3,350,000Philanthropy$1,850,000Environment$1,150,000Human Services$885,000Recreation & Sports$150,000

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 budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $3,600,000 over 6y, 3.0% of budgetORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $3,350,000 over 3y, 6.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $1,500,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetWHITE BUFFALO LAND TRUST: $1,150,000 over 3y, 24% of budgetCASA TERESA INC: $885,000 over 5y, 8.9% of budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $840,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF CENTRAL ORANGE COAST: $800,000 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetBrackens Kitchen Inc: $706,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetTALLER SAN JOSE HOPE BUILDERS: $650,000 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetMOXI THE WOLF MUSEUM OF EXPLORATION INNOVATION: $500,000 over 5y, 5.8% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetESOPHAGEAL CANCER ACTION NETWORK INC: $300,000 over 3y, 38% of budgetMEDIA4GOOD INC: $300,000 over 3y, 34% of budgetSanta Barbara Cottage Hospital Foundation: $200,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMISSION HOSPITAL REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: $200,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGROWTH OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH ATHLETICS LEARNING AND SERVICE - GOALS: $150,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetTHOMPSON FOUNDATION FOR AUTISM & NEURODEVELOPMENT: $100,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetSANTA BARBARA MIDDLE SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICAN CHINESE CULTURE AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $45,000 over 1y, 30% 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.

Orange County Communi…Farmers & Merchants B…American Endowment Fo…The Levecke Family Fo…Ueberroth Family Foun…Croul Family Foundati…The Devto Support Fou…O L Halsell FoundationHutton Foundation Dba…Samueli FoundationThe Ayco Charitable F…The US Charitable Gif…
Orange County Community FoundationCA28.8× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · Farmers & Merchants Bank Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · The Levecke Family Foundation · Ueberroth Family Foundation · Croul Family Foundation · The Devto Support Foundation · O L Halsell Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Samueli Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · The US Charitable Gift Trust

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 Roberto Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Roberto Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 Roberto Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Roberto 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 26 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 Roberto’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