· Private foundation
The Stensrud Foundation
Its FY2021 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
Read this first · the figures below need context
100% of The Stensrud Foundation’s FY2021 grant dollars went to The San Diego Foundation, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2021 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year The Stensrud Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 5 organizations, $68k. It is dated, not current.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2019
- Under $10k2 grants · $13k
- $10k–50k3 grants · $55k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| SOLUTIONSEXPLORING SUCCESS POST HS | $25,000 |
| Feeding San Diego | $20,000 |
| San Diego Food Bank | $10,000 |
| ART OF ELAN | $7,524 |
| KIDS' TURN SAN DIEGO | $5,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY18–19, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +79% since the first grant, against -7% for those funded once.
4 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2019, 0 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call). Read against FY2019, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2020, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- JCJACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK3× · 2017–2019 · $50k · revenue +169%
- AOART OF ELAN3× · 2017–2019 · $20k · revenue +79%
- KTKids Turn San Diego2× · 2018–2019 · $20k · revenue +1%
Funded once
- SDSan Diego Opera Associationone grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue -15%
- FNFamilies NOWone grant, 2017 · $50k · 28% of their budget
- ROReach Out and Readone grant, 2017 · $5k
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.
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.
San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.
To partner with youth, families, adults and communities to reach their full potential and is achieved through comprehensive and integrated programming in the areas of child and youth development; youth, adult and family wellness and…
To spark breakthrough community action that elevates every child and family toward a brighter future.
produce, distribute, prepare, serve, and eat nutritional and culturally appropriate food.
The san diego municipal employees association (sdmea) is dedicated to being a strong and effective advocate for san diego city employees. sdmea is united to improve employees' standard of living and promote their fair treatment by…
The university of san diego is a contemporary catholic university, grounded in the liberal arts and anchored along an international border, advancing academic excellence to create a more inclusive, sustainable and hopeful world.
Jewish family service is a client-centered, impact-driven organization working to build a stronger, healthier, more resilient san diego.
Hannahs Family Center envisions a world where strong families enable children to thrive and communities to prosper. Since 1993, we have helped San Diego families navigate significant adverse changes, trauma and loss. As experts in…
To support and cultivate sustainable employment opportunities for San Diego County residents contributing to a prosperous local economy.
How this is measured
9 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. 9 of the 10 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 SOLUTIONS EXPLORING SUCCESS POST HS ↗
- Who funds San Diego Opera Association ↗
- Who funds Families NOW ↗
- Who funds JACOBS & CUSHMAN SAN DIEGO FOOD BANK ↗
- Who funds THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds ART OF ELAN ↗
- Who funds Kids Turn San Diego ↗
- Who funds FEEDING SAN DIEGO ↗
- Who funds SIERRA FOREVER FAMILIES ↗
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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.
Open a dossier: The San Diego Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Stensrud Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Stensrud Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Stensrud’s filings →