Skip to content
The Sobrato Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Sobrato Foundation

The Sobrato Foundation supports nonprofits and social impact organizations serving at-risk and vulnerable members of our community.

$4.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$4.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of The Sobrato Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Silicon Valley Community Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.

Organizations named directly on the return

0
’18
1
’19
0
’20
1
’21
8
’22
9
’23
0
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Philanthropy$78MCommunity Improvement$23MEnvironment$18MRecreation & Sports$150kHealth$80k
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$4,100,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$123M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SILICON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$4,100,000
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 (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 12% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Ceres Inc: $350k → 16%MAGICAL BRIDGE FOUNDATION: $150k → 8%ClimateWorks Foundation: $1.8M → 10%Rockefeller Family Fund Inc: $1.5M → 17%Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund: $350k → 10%Environmental Defense Fund Inc: $350k → 14%Global Greengrants Fund Inc: $200k → 12%Nia Tero Foundation: $500k → 9%Center for Planning Excellence Inc: $300k → 19%Ceres Inc: $350k → 16%SILICON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $4.1M → 8%Rainforest Action Network: $1.0M → 10%Rockefeller Family Fund Inc: $750k → 17%Worker's Assistance Program: $80k → 10%Environmental Defense Fund Inc: $225k → 14%Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $3.1M → 8%Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc: $375k → 17%Environmental Integrity Project: $450k → 14%Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $75k → 8%Environmental Defense Fund Inc: $75k → 17%Windward Fund: $3.0M → 14%SILICON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $78.0M → 8%Windward Fund: $1.1M → 14%Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $11.8M → 8%Rights and Resources Group: $850k → 14%Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $4.2M → 8%Oceana Inc: $500k → 14%The Real Estate Trust of Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $445k → 8%Earthworks: $175k → 14%SILICON VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $198k → 8%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
NY
MA
CA
CO
MD
DC
LA
TX
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.

18%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 3 repeat orgs$8.5M to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2023, 0 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
7

Total granted

$1.9M
$5.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
+7%

Still filing today

100%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 24% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.8M went to new ones.

50%100%’19’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’21’22’23
EnvironmentScience & TechSocial ScienceHealthHousing & ShelterPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • CI
    CERES INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $700k · revenue +6%
  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    3× · 2021–2023 · $650k · revenue +21%
  • The Partnership Project Inc
    2× · 2022–2023 · $525k · revenue -23%

Funded once

  • IL
    International Land and Forest Tenure Facility
    one grant, 2021 · $2.0M
  • CF
    CLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $1.8M · revenue +6%
  • RA
    RIGHTS AND RESOURCES INSTITUTE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $850k · revenue -76%
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
Climate Foundation

To research and develop healthy climate solutions comprising global food security, ecosystem regeneration and carbon balance in seas and soils.

Science & Tech
2
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
3
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
4
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
5
CarbonPlan

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

Environment
6
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
7
Global Forest Generation

Global Forest Generation restores and protects forest ecosystems in partnership with grassroots leaders and local communities across vast landscapes which play a critical role in preserving water, protecting biodiversity, storing carbon,…

Environment
8
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
9
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
10
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
11
Cdp North America Inc

Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…

Environment
12
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated; the most unlike its peers is Workers Assistance Program 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

21 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. 21 of the 22 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
11/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $101,467,786 · PhilanthropySilicon Valley Community Foundation+3 more: $3,570,000 · PhilanthropyWINDWARD FUND: $4,875,000 · EnvironmentWINDWARD …Rainforest Action Network: $1,000,000 · EnvironmentRainfores…RIGHTS AND RESOURCES INSTITUTE INC: $850,000 · EnvironmentRIGHTS AN…CERES INC: $700,000 · EnvironmentCERES INCENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $650,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONME…The Partnership Project Inc: $525,000 · EnvironmentOCEANA INC: $500,000 · EnvironmentNIA TERO FOUNDATION: $500,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT: $450,000 · Environment+1 more: $200,000 · EnvironmentInternational Land and Forest Tenure Facility: $2,000,000 · OtherEarthworks: $175,000 · OtherMAGICAL BRIDGE FOUNDATION: $150,000 · Other+1 more: $80,000 · OtherCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $1,800,000 · Science & TechTexas Campaign for the Environment Fund: $350,000 · Housing & ShelterCENTER FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE: $300,000 · Public Safety & DisasterINSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC: $300,000 · Social Science
Philanthropy$105,037,786Environment$10,250,000Other$2,405,000Science & Tech$1,800,000Housing & Shelter$350,000Public Safety & Disaster$300,000Social Science$300,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSilicon Valley Community Foundation: $101,467,786 over 7y, 2.7% of budgetWINDWARD FUND: $4,875,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND INC: $2,250,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $1,800,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetRainforest Action Network: $1,000,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $875,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRIGHTS AND RESOURCES INSTITUTE INC: $850,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetCERES INC: $700,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $650,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Partnership Project Inc: $525,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetOCEANA INC: $500,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetNIA TERO FOUNDATION: $500,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY PROJECT: $450,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetThe Real Estate Trust of Silicon Valley Community Foundation: $445,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetTexas Campaign for the Environment Fund: $350,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetCENTER FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE: $300,000 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetINSIDE CLIMATE NEWS INC: $300,000 over 1y, 9.9% of budgetGLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND: $200,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEarthworks: $175,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetMAGICAL BRIDGE FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetWorkers Assistance Program Inc: $80,000 over 1y, 1.2% 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.

Silicon Valley Commun…Jacob and Terese Hers…United States Energy …The David and Lucile …The William & Flora H…Amalgamated Charitabl…The Ford FoundationTides FoundationHigh Tide FoundationClimate Imperative Fo…Climateworks Foundati…The Bloomberg Family …
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA16.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Jacob and Terese Hershey Foundation · United States Energy Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · The Ford Foundation · Tides Foundation · High Tide Foundation · Climate Imperative Foundation · Climateworks Foundation · The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
typical government reliance, FY20–24
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 Sobrato Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Sobrato 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 22 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 Sobrato’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