Skip to content
Plinth
Foundation Dossiers
Plinth

· Private foundation

The Seaver Institute

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$3.7M
Granted FY2025still arriving
50
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$875k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2024–2025.

Education$3.5MEnvironment$1.4MPhilanthropy$486kArts & Culture$346kAnimals$154kHuman Services$64kCrime & Legal$50kYouth Development$45kOther$0
02FY2025 · 50 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $52k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $336k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.1M
$15,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$40M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SCRIPPS COLLEGE$875,000
HARVARD WESTLAKE SCHOOL$502,000
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO$350,000
Individual grant recipient$350,000
SUTAINABLE CONSERVATION$200,000
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY$200,000
SANTA BARBARA BOTANICAL GARDEN$165,000
CALTECH$158,771
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGEL$140,000
UW FOUNDATION$135,000
UC SANTA CRUZ$100,000
Individual grant recipient$60,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$56,000
THE UCLA FOUNDATION$50,000
MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM$40,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY24–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 82% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MIT PRESS: $15k → 8%WOODS HOLE OCEONGRAPHIC: $350k → 8%SAN DIEGO ZOO WILDLIFE ALLIANCE: $120k → 11%MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM: $40k → 12%SANTA BARBARA BOTANICAL GARDEN: $366k → 14%WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: $30k → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $16k → 16%UW FOUNDATION: $210k → 9%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $245k → 7%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $200k → 19%MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLO: $30k → 8%SANTA BARBARA BOTANICAL GARDEN: $165k → 14%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $16k → 16%UW FOUNDATION: $135k → 9%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $56k → 7%WATCH DUTYSHERWOOD FORESTRY SERVICE: $10k → 10%SUTAINABLE CONSERVATION: $200k → 10%CATALINA ISLAND CONSERVANCY: $250k → 14%SUTAINABLE CONSERVATION: $10k → 10%DIGITAL NEST: $10k → 13%CALTECH: $159k → 14%LOS ANGELES PARKS FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%UC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION: $203k → 13%UC SANTA CRUZ: $100k → 13%LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPT FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%COASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL: $31k → 13%BABY2BABY: $30k → 14%PASADENA SIERRA MADRE YMCA: $30k → 14%HARVARD WESTLAKE SCHOOL: $502k → 14%SALASTINA: $30k → 14%THE UCLA FOUNDATION: $75k → 14%ARCS FOUNDATION LOS ANGELES CHAPTER: $20k → 14%THE UCLA FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%ARCS FOUNDATION LOS ANGELES CHAPTER: $20k → 14%SCRIPPS COLLEGE: $875k → 14%SCRIPPS COLLEGE: $290k → 14%POMONA COLLEGE: $200k → 14%THE RAYMOND M ALF MUSEUM: $30k → 14%POMONA COLLEGE: $10k → 14%POMONA COLLEGE: $10k → 14%LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY LAW SCH: $40k → 14%USC FOUNDATION: $33k → 14%LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $10k → 14%LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY LAW SCH: $10k → 14%WESTSIDE FOOD BANK: $30k → 14%NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGEL: $140k → 14%NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGEL: $135k → 14%WLACCBSAEMERALD BAY: $60k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

WA
MI
NY
MA
NJ
CA
CO
KY
VA
MD
DC
TX

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

64%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$3.6M · 24 repeat orgs$2.0M to everyone else

24 repeat relationships — 24 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 23 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
23

Total granted

$3.6M
$544k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
0%

Still filing today

79%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.5M went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
EducationEnvironmentAnimalsArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • SC
    Scripps College
    2× · 2024–2025 · $1.2M · revenue +20%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $345k · revenue +7%
  • POMONA COLLEGE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $220k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • SC
    SANTA CATALINA ISLAND CONSERVANCY
    one grant, 2024 · $250k · revenue 0%
  • ZS
    ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO
    one grant, 2024 · $120k · revenue 0%
  • UF
    USC FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $33k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — 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
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
3
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

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

Education
4
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.

—
5
Pitzer College

Pitzer College produces engaged socially responsible citizens of the world through an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary liberal arts education emphasizing social justice, intercultural understanding and environmental sensitivity.…

Education
6
President-Board of Trustees Santa Clara College

Scu is a catholic and jesuit institution that makes student learning its central focus, promotes faculty and staff learning in its various forms, and exhibits organizational learning.

Education
7
The Uc Davis Foundation

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

Education
8
Uc Riverside Foundation

To support educational, research and public functions and programs of the riverside campus of the university of california.

Education
9
California College of the Arts

California college of the arts educates students to shape culture and society through the practice and critical study of art, architecture, design, and writing. benefitting from its san francisco bay area location, the college prepares…

Education
10
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
11
University of La Verne

The university of la verne offers a distinctive and relevant educational experience to a diverse population of traditional-age, adult, and graduate learners, preparing them for successful careers and a commitment to lifelong learning…

Education
12
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Center for Family Philanthropy Inc and the most unlike its peers is Burr Oak 4-H Club - Michigan State. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyIndustry & Professional Ass…Local Business & Community …Disease Research & Awarenes…Labor Union Benefit TrustsYouth Sports ProgramsDog Rescue and Rehabilitati…Senior Affordable Housing
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 44 years old; the field is 14. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number24%0%<5yr15%4%5–10yr20%21%10–20yr17%19%20–35yr11%23%35–55yr13%33%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value24%0%<5yr15%1%5–10yr20%9%10–20yr17%6%20–35yr11%14%35–55yr13%71%55yr+

The field is 24% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/55
the rest of the field
14%
26,003/186,923

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

54 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 54 of the 73 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/54
Grantees still filing
24/54
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

Scripps College — $1,165,000 · EducationScripps CollegeHARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL — $504,000 · EducationHARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOLUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION — $345,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATIONPOMONA COLLEGE — $220,000 · EducationPOMONA COLLEGEUC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION — $211,000 · EducationUC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATIONJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — $200,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYTHE CALTECH Y — $158,771 · EducationUCLA FOUNDATION — $125,000 · Education+7 more — $74,000 · EducationIndividual grant recipient — $350,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO — $350,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGOTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $301,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYNATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGEL — $275,000 · OtherNATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELSANTA CATALINA ISLAND CONSERVANCY — $250,000 · OtherSANTA CATALINA ISLAND CONSERVANCYUC SANTA CRUZ — $100,000 · Other+33 more — $428,300 · Other+33 moreSANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN — $530,500 · EnvironmentSANTA BARBARA …Sustainable Conservation — $210,000 · EnvironmentSustainable Co…COASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL — $31,000 · Environment+2 more — $4,575 · EnvironmentZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO — $120,000 · AnimalsMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION — $40,000 · Animals+3 more — $6,000 · AnimalsTHE RAYMOND M ALF MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY — $30,000 · Arts & CultureSALASTINA — $30,000 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA ART CLUB — $5,000 · Arts & CultureBROADWAY SACRAMENTO — $2,575 · Arts & Culture+1 more — $1,000 · Arts & CultureBurr Oak 4-H Club - Michigan State — $32,000 · Youth DevelopmentDIGITAL NEST INC — $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC — $30,000 · InternationalPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND — $2,575 · International
Education$3,002,771Other$2,054,300Environment$776,075Animals$166,000Arts & Culture$68,575Youth Development$42,000International$32,575

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetScripps College — $1,165,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSANTA BARBARA BOTANIC GARDEN — $530,500 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetHARVARD-WESTLAKE SCHOOL — $504,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION — $345,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $301,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA CATALINA ISLAND CONSERVANCY — $250,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetPOMONA COLLEGE — $220,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION — $211,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetSustainable Conservation — $210,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — $200,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUCLA FOUNDATION — $125,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO — $120,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology — $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL — $31,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetWESTSIDE FOOD BANK — $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE RAYMOND M ALF MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY — $30,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetSALASTINA — $30,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD LOS ANGELES — $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCHOOL FOR FIELD STUDIES INC — $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDIGITAL NEST INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION — $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC — $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY PHILANTHROPY INC — $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBEREA COLLEGE — $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON COLLEGE — $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND — $2,575 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUnited for A Fair Economy Inc — $2,575 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE URBAN FOREST — $2,575 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBROADWAY SACRAMENTO — $2,575 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAQUARIUM OF THE PACIFIC CORPORATION — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER LOS ANGELES ZOOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION — $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONeill Sea Odyssey — $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBEYOND BARRIERS ATHLETIC FOUNDATION — $2,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetNEW VILLAGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC — $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity Bridges — $1,575 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPACIFIC ASIAN COUNSELING SERVICES — $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVENICE JAPANESE COMMUNITY CENTER INC — $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSANTA CRUZ MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget1979 LEGACY CORP — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPUG NATION RESCUE OF LOS ANGELES — $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetActive San Gabriel Valley — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVOLUNTEER CENTERS OF SANTA CRUZ COUNTY — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Seaver InstituteCalifornia Community …Community Foundation …The Annenberg Foundat…The David and Lucile …Silicon Valley Commun…Richard C Seaver 1978…The Joseph and Vera L…Monterey Peninsula Fo…The J Miles and Rosan…Helen and Will Webste…The Nicholson Family …
The Seaver InstituteCA39× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Seaver Institute · California Community Foundation · Community Foundation Santa Cruz County · The Annenberg Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Richard C Seaver 1978 Trust · The Joseph and Vera Long Foundation · Monterey Peninsula Foundation · The J Miles and Rosanne Reiter Family Foundation · Helen and Will Webster Foundation · The Nicholson Family Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Seaver Institute funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology — 35% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University — 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Princeton University — 11% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College — 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
15report 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

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 73 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines