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· Private foundation

The Seed Fund Grants Inc

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.

$464k
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0193% classified

What you funded, over time

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

Environment$1.4MCommunity Improvement$447kRecreation & Sports$180kScience & Tech$140kPublic Benefit$140kCivil Rights$125kPhilanthropy$85kFood & Nutrition$75kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $395k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$20,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$9.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BRONX RIVER ALLIANCE$50,000
SHARED-USE MOBILITY CENTER$40,000
TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES$30,000
AMERICAN FORESTS$25,000
OPEN PLANS$23,000
CLIMATE RIDE$22,326
STREET LAB INC$20,000
EL PUENTE$20,000
RIDERS ALLIANCE FUND INC$20,000
REGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
RIDERS ALLIANCE$20,000
TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND$20,000
ISLAND PRESS$20,000
EXPLORATORIUM$15,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 47% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%CLIMATE RIDE: $36k → 9%THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20k → 22%MARIN AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUST: $20k → 8%GREENBELT ALLIANCE: $20k → 10%RIDERS ALLIANCE: $35k → 17%BRONX RIVER ALLIANCE: $50k → 28%USDN: $25k → 6%CLIMATE RIDE: $22k → 9%TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20k → 22%RIDERS ALLIANCE: $20k → 17%BRONX RIVER ALLIANCE: $25k → 28%AMERICAN FORESTS: $25k → 14%USDN: $20k → 6%THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20k → 10%TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES: $30k → 17%NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN: $25k → 28%AMERICAN FORESTS: $25k → 14%THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20k → 10%TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES: $20k → 17%AMERICAN FORESTS: $20k → 14%MARIN COUNTY BICYCLE COALITION: $20k → 8%THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20k → 10%TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES: $20k → 17%AMERICAN FORESTS: $20k → 14%GREENLINING INSTITUTE: $20k → 10%THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $20k → 10%RIDERS ALLIANCE FUND INC: $20k → 17%EL PUENTE: $20k → 20%TRANSFORM: $20k → 10%SHARED-USE MOBILITY CENTER: $40k → 14%EL PUENTE: $20k → 20%CLIMATE PLAN: $20k → 10%SHARED USE MOBILITY CENTER: $20k → 14%STREET LAB INC: $20k → 20%SHARED-USE MOBILITY CENTER: $20k → 14%CARBON CYCLE INSTITUTE: $20k → 8%ISLAND PRESS: $25k → 14%ISLAND PRESS: $25k → 14%ISLAND PRESS: $20k → 14%TRI-STATE TRANSPORTATION: $20k → 17%TRI-STATE TRANSPORTATION: $20k → 17%TRI-STATE TRANSPORTATION: $20k → 17%OPEN PLANS: $23k → 17%OPEN PLANS: $20k → 17%REGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION: $20k → 17%SAN FRANCISCO WALDORF SCHOOL: $34k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%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

NH
MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
PA
CA
CO
VA
DC

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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$2.5M · 51 repeat orgs$601k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +34% since the first grant, against +33% for the ones you funded once.

51 repeat relationships — 14 still active in FY2025, 37 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

51
43

Total granted

$2.5M
$531k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+33%

Still filing today

78%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $71k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementEducationYouth DevelopmentAnimalsOther

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

  • CR
    CLIMATE RIDE INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $133k · revenue +15%
  • THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
    6× · 2017–2025 · $120k · revenue +109%
  • American Forests
    6× · 2019–2025 · $91k · revenue +253%

Funded once

  • MA
    MARIN AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUSTgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $35k · revenue +33%
  • SF
    SAN FRANCISCO WALDORF SCHOOL
    one grant, 2019 · $34k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $20k

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
Bay Nature Institute dba Bay Nature Bay Nature Magazine

Bay Nature connects the people of the San Francisco Bay Area to our natural world and motivates people to solve problems with nature in mind. Our vision is that all people have a close relationship with theirnatural world.

Environment
2
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
3
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
4
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
5
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats through science and outreach.

Environment
6
Green Cities Accord

Green Cities Accord is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering climate resilient communities through investments in tree canopy infrastructure to improve environmental health, climate resilience, and equity in communities. We focus…

Environment
7
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
8
Rescape California

ReScape addresses climate change by providing a regenerative, nature-based whole systems foundation for landscaping education, workforce development and policy.Foundational to our work is a whole systems watershed framework that…

Environment
9
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
10
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
11
Bayorg

Bay ecotarium is the largest non-profit 501(c)(3) watershed conservation group in the san francisco bay area committing to global climate resilience and ocean conservation, inspiring actionable environmental stewardship locally, and…

Arts & Culture
12
North East Trees Inc

In 2024, our work made a lasting impact on both people and the environment. Together with our community, we planted 2,739 new plants and trees, ensuring future shade, cleaner air, and greener neighborhoods. We also cared for 7,442 trees,…

Environment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Francisco Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Wildlife Conservation Society. 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 backsteadyLow-Income Housing Developm…Youth Education and Develop…Family FoundationsArts Media Cultural Organiz…Environmental Sustainabilit…
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 29 years old; the field is 15. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%3%<5yr15%6%5–10yr20%25%10–20yr20%26%20–35yr13%20%35–55yr11%20%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%1%<5yr15%6%5–10yr20%18%10–20yr20%23%20–35yr13%28%35–55yr11%25%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 3% of your grantees by number, and just 1% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 12% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/73
the rest of the field
12%
10,806/90,364

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

70 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. 70 of the 103 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
69/70
Grantees still filing
49/70
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

ISLAND PRESS — $170,000 · EnvironmentISLAND PRESSCLIMATE RIDE INC — $132,951 · EnvironmentCLIMATE RIDE INCTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND — $120,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LANDAmerican Forests — $91,000 · EnvironmentAmerican ForestsBRONX RIVER ALLIANCE INC — $75,000 · EnvironmentBRONX RIVER ALLIANCE INCSan Francisco Estuary Institute — $65,000 · EnvironmentSan Francisco Estuary InstituteSan Francisco Bicycle Coalition — $50,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL AREAS CONSERVANCY INC — $50,000 · EnvironmentBaykeeper — $45,000 · EnvironmentNEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN — $40,000 · Environment+17 more — $264,100 · Environment+17 moreTRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INC — $110,500 · OtherTRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INCSPUR - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA PLANNING AND URBAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION — $110,000 · OtherSPUR - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA PLANNING AND URBAN…California Bicycle Coalition — $80,000 · OtherCalifornia Bicycle CoalitionSHARED-USE MOBILITY CENTER — $80,000 · OtherSHARED-USE MOBILITY CENTERIndividual grant recipient — $60,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient — $51,000 · OtherTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION — $50,000 · OtherRIDERS ALLIANCE FUND INC — $75,000 · OtherRIDERS ALLIANCE FUND INCWalk San Francisco Foundation — $55,000 · Other+45 more — $680,950 · Other+45 moreREGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION INC — $110,000 · Community ImprovementTransformca dba Transform — $50,000 · Community ImprovementTHE GREENLINING INSTITUTE — $20,000 · Community ImprovementSTREET LAB INC — $20,000 · Community ImprovementSan Francisco Transit Riders — $15,000 · Community ImprovementTHE EXPLORATORIUM — $110,000 · Arts & CultureIntersection for the Arts — $20,000 · Arts & CultureSTUDIO REV — $15,000 · Arts & CultureIndependent Arts & Media — $10,000 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES — $10,000 · Arts & CultureSouthern California Streets Initiative — $8,000 · Arts & CultureHeyday — $8,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more — $500 · Arts & CultureMARIN COUNTY BICYCLE COALITION — $56,100 · EducationPROCTOR ACADEMY — $30,000 · EducationSTERNE SCHOOL — $20,000 · EducationASPEN GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE INC — $15,000 · EducationLiteracy for Environmental Justice — $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentMycelium Youth Network — $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentCYCLES OF CHANGE — $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentOPENPLANS INC — $61,000 · Public BenefitSeamless Bay Area Alliance formerly Seamless Bay Area — $30,000 · Public Benefit
Environment$1,103,051Other$1,352,450Community Improvement$215,000Arts & Culture$181,500Education$121,100Youth Development$95,000Public Benefit$91,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetISLAND PRESS — $170,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetCLIMATE RIDE INC — $132,951 over 8y, 1.7% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND — $120,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INC — $110,500 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetTHE EXPLORATORIUM — $110,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetREGIONAL PLAN ASSOCIATION INC — $110,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSPUR - SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA PLANNING AND URBAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION — $110,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetAmerican Forests — $91,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCalifornia Bicycle Coalition — $80,000 over 4y, 4.1% of budgetRIDERS ALLIANCE FUND INC — $75,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetBRONX RIVER ALLIANCE INC — $75,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetSan Francisco Estuary Institute — $65,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetOPENPLANS INC — $61,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMARIN COUNTY BICYCLE COALITION — $56,100 over 5y, 2.4% of budgetLiteracy for Environmental Justice — $55,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetWalk San Francisco Foundation — $55,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetSan Francisco Bicycle Coalition — $50,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetNATURAL AREAS CONSERVANCY INC — $50,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetTransformca dba Transform — $50,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBaykeeper — $45,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetPOINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY — $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN — $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEL PUENTE DE WILLIAMSBURG INC — $40,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSPRING STREET CLIMATE FUND INC — $35,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetMARIN AGRICULTURAL LAND TRUST — $35,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSeamless Bay Area Alliance formerly Seamless Bay Area — $30,000 over 2y, 9.1% of budgetPROCTOR ACADEMY — $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMycelium Youth Network — $30,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetPIE RANCH — $30,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetGOWANUS CANAL CONSERVANCY INC — $25,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc — $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOUTDOORS EMPOWERED NETWORK — $20,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetGLOBAL PHILANTHROPY PARTNERSHIP — $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSTERNE SCHOOL — $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetURBAN SUSTAINABILITY DIRECTORS NETWORK — $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE URBAN FOREST — $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE GREENLINING INSTITUTE — $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSTREET LAB INC — $20,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetGREENBELT ALLIANCEPEOPLE FOR OPEN SPACE — $20,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetIntersection for the Arts — $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND — $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN GREENWAY INITIATIVE — $15,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetSan Francisco Transit Riders — $15,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetCanopy — $15,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetASPEN GLOBAL CHANGE INSTITUTE INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCALIFORNIA WILDLIFE FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSMART GROWTH AMERICA — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

PatagoniaorgTransitcenter IncThe San Francisco Fou…Lily Auchincloss Foun…Clif Family FoundationThe New York Communit…Resources Legacy FundImpactassetsincThe Summit Charitable…Mary a Crocker TrustGordon E and Betty I …Freedom Together Foun…
PatagoniaorgCA32.9× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Patagoniaorg · Transitcenter Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Lily Auchincloss Foundation Inc · Clif Family Foundation · The New York Community Trust · Resources Legacy Fund · Impactassetsinc · The Summit Charitable Foundation Inc · Mary a Crocker Trust · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Freedom Together 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 Seed Fund Grants Inc 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 · 00%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 45%
  • Boston Harbor Now Inc — 45% of income from government
  • The Cambridge Historical Society — 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
23report 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

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.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Seed Fund Grants Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Seed Fund Grants Inc 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 103 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