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The Roberts Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Roberts 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.

$46M
Granted FY2023
65
Grants FY2023
18
States reached
$10M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$101MEmployment$13MArts & Culture$11MPhilanthropy$8.3MHealth$5.3MYouth Development$4.7MEnvironment$3.8MSocial Science$3.7MOther$0
02FY2023 · 65 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 65 grants below total $21,717,950, the rows itemized in this filing. The $45,741,340 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $24,023,390 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k29 grants · $58k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $415k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $975k
  • $250k+9 grants · $20M
$13,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$324M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Claremont McKenna College (The Roberts Plan) - Pledge$10,000,000
REDF Strategic Growth Campaign - Pledge$5,000,000
Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula$1,920,000
The Joy Culture Foundation$1,000,000
Environmental Now/Inc. Network$600,000
San Francisco Symphony (Annual Fund)$500,000
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art$500,000
Boys and Girls Club of the Big Island (Hawaii)$400,000
China/Hualalai Community Economic Development Corporat$350,000
NB3 Foundation$200,000
Monterey Peninsula Foundation$200,000
REDF - The Carls Javits Award$150,000
Los Angeles Opera Company$100,000
African American Community Services Agency$100,000
UCSF Foundation (Cardiovascular Research Institute)$75,000
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 (FY17–18, $310k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 62% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%African-American Community Service Agency: $100k → 8%The Jewish Board: $350 → 17%Kokua Christian Ministries: $5k → 15%Menlo Charity Horse Show Inc: $10k → 7%Association to Benefit Children: $100k → 17%Association to Benefit Children: $75k → 17%Menlo Charity Horse Show Inc: $7k → 7%Hospice by the Bay: $3k → 10%Girls Who Code Inc: $10k → 17%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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
ID
IL
NY
MA
IN
NJ
CA
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
DC
HI
AL
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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$114M · 53 repeat orgs$40M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +70% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

53 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2023, 36 since wound down; 47 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
126

Total granted

$114M
$28M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+70%
+24%

Still filing today

60%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 41% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $13M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’21’22’23
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • CM
    Claremont McKenna College
    3× · 2017–2022 · $34M · revenue +89%
  • R
    REDF
    3× · 2017–2022 · $11M · revenue +89% · 48% of their budget
  • Culver Educational Foundation
    2× · 2017–2018 · $8.0M · revenue +73%

Funded once

  • RT
    REDF - The Carla Javits Award
    one grant, 2022 · $5.0M
  • CM
    Claremont McKenna College (Roberts Pavilion) - Pledge
    one grant, 2021 · $4.9M
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATEDgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $2.5M · revenue +202%
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
3
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
4
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
5
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
6
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
7
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
8
San Francisco Friends School

At san francisco friends school, students learn in a community grounded in the quaker values of reflection, integrity, peaceful problem-solving and stewardship. our teachers challenge students with a dynamic curriculum that inspires…

Education
9
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
10
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
11
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
12
Pacific University

A diverse and sustainable learning community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, pacific university inspires students to think, care, create and pursue justice in our world.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Basic Fund; the most unlike its peers is Del Monte Forest Conservancy. 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

111 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. 111 of the 234 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)
22
Early backer (in before they grew)
108/111
Grantees still filing
75/111
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Claremont McKenna College: $34,159,975 · OtherClaremont McKenna CollegeClaremont McKenna College (CS Endowment) - Pledge: $26,250,032 · OtherClaremont McKenna College (CS Endowment) - PledgeClaremont McKenna College (The Roberts Plan) - Pledge: $10,000,000 · OtherClaremont McKenna College (The Roberts Plan) - PledgeREDF Strategic Growth Campaign - Pledge: $7,000,000 · OtherREDF Strategic Growth Campaign - PledgeREDF - The Carla Javits Award: $5,000,000 · OtherClaremont McKenna College (Roberts Pavilion) - Pledge: $4,939,918 · Other+136 more: $18,071,877 · Other+136 moreCulver Educational Foundation: $8,000,000 · EducationCulver Educationa…Teach for America Inc: $5,427,500 · EducationTeach for America…NEW LEADERS INC: $3,287,500 · EducationNEW LEADERS INCYEAR UP INC: $2,000,000 · EducationYEAR UP INCUniversity of Chicago: $1,000,000 · EducationDUNN SCHOOL: $900,000 · EducationKIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLS: $825,000 · Education+17 more: $2,107,250 · Education+17 moreREDF: $10,650,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF THE BAY AREA: $790,550 · Philanthropy+10 more: $642,600 · PhilanthropySAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $2,242,800 · Arts & CultureTHE JOY CULTURE FOUNDATION: $1,010,000 · Arts & CultureMemphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $500,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY: $200,000 · Arts & Culture+7 more: $334,500 · Arts & CultureBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $2,944,800 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE BIG ISLAND: $600,000 · Youth DevelopmentPEER HEALTH EXCHANGE INC: $150,000 · Youth Development+4 more: $73,500 · Youth DevelopmentAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $3,500,000 · Social Science+1 more: $10,000 · Social ScienceENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $2,500,000 · EnvironmentPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $500,000 · Environment
Other$105,421,802Education$23,547,250Philanthropy$12,083,150Arts & Culture$4,287,300Youth Development$3,768,300Social Science$3,510,000Environment$3,000,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetClaremont McKenna College: $34,159,975 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetREDF: $10,650,000 over 3y, 48% of budgetCulver Educational Foundation: $8,000,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $5,427,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $3,500,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetNEW LEADERS INC: $3,287,500 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA: $2,944,800 over 2y, 7.3% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $2,500,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: $2,242,800 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetYEAR UP INC: $2,000,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCHILD MIND INSTITUTE INC: $1,855,172 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetTHE JOY CULTURE FOUNDATION: $1,010,000 over 2y, 71% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $1,000,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDUNN SCHOOL: $900,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetKIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLS: $825,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED WAY OF THE BAY AREA: $790,550 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE BIG ISLAND: $600,000 over 2y, 33% of budgetENTITLEMENTS HOW INC: $500,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $500,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetMemphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc: $500,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetQUEEN'S NORTH HAWAII COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: $400,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMONTEREY PENINSULA FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BASIC FUND: $271,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetLUCILE PACKARD FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN'S HEALTH: $210,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $200,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEMPER FI & AMERICA'S FUND: $200,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetINTERMOUNTAIN CENTERS FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetAFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY: $200,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetASSOCIATION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN: $175,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetNew York University: $168,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFARMLINK PROJECT: $150,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPEER HEALTH EXCHANGE INC: $150,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $142,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $130,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetROOM TO READ: $125,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetINNOVATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $100,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetLOS ANGELES OPERA COMPANY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCIVIC NEWS COMPANY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMary's Meals USA Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetTHE NOTAH BEGAY III FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetHORATIO ALGER ASSN OF DISTINGUISHED AMERICANS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALTH COUNCIL INC: $62,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHENRYS FORK FOUNDATION INC: $57,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $50,000 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.

  • Who funds Claremont McKenna College ↗
  • Who funds REDF ↗
  • Who funds Culver Educational Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds NEW LEADERS INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART ↗
  • Who funds YEAR UP INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILD MIND INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE JOY CULTURE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds DUNN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds KIPP BAY AREA SCHOOLS ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF THE BAY AREA ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE BIG ISLAND ↗
  • Who funds ENTITLEMENTS HOW INC ↗
  • Who funds PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST ↗
  • Who funds Memphis Brooks Museum of Art Inc ↗
  • Who funds QUEEN'S NORTH HAWAII COMMUNITY HOSPITAL ↗

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.

Jewish Community Fede…Marin Community Found…Silicon Valley Commun…The San Francisco Fou…The Ayco Charitable F…The Zierk Family Foun…Penner Family Foundat…Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Courtney Roberts …The Hoak FoundationPga Tour IncThe Eric and Lulu Rob…
Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & SonomaCA30.2× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · Marin Community Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · The Zierk Family Foundation · Penner Family Foundation Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Courtney Roberts and Steve Preston Family Foundation · The Hoak Foundation · Pga Tour Inc · The Eric and Lulu Roberts Family 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 Roberts Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Roberts Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
24report 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 Roberts Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Roberts 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 234 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $50M of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Roberts’ 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