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The Step Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Step Family Foundation

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.

$897k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$349k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$989kHealth$987kPhilanthropy$147kHuman Services$35kArts & Culture$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $222k
  • $250k+2 grants · $664k
$153,088
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE$349,482
TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DIABETES$314,565
UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION$153,088
POWER FOR PARKINSON'S$68,995
SAN DIEGO AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM INC$10,486
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%JEWISH FEDERATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $84k → 11%POWER FOR PARKINSON'S: $69k → 10%UNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF SAN DIEGO: $64k → 11%POWER FOR PARKINSON'S: $5k → 10%THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $349k → 11%POWER FOR PARKINSONS: $5k → 10%CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: $239k → 11%TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DIABETES: $315k → 11%UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $538k → 11%UCSD FOUNDATION: $298k → 11%UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $153k → 11%SAN DIEGO AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM INC: $10k → 11%NORTH COAST REPERTORY: $100k → 11%NORTH COAST REP: $99k → 11%TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DIABETES: $5k → 11%USO COUNCIL OF SAN DIEGO: $35k → 11%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.
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.

62%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 3 repeat orgs$833k to everyone else

3 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
4

Total granted

$1.4M
$473k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+78%
+180%

Still filing today

100%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 60% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $360k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’24’25
HealthEducationArts & CultureOther
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

  • US
    UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2025 · $989k · revenue +78%
  • TC
    TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DIABETES DBA TCOYD
    2× · 2019–2025 · $320k · revenue -14%
  • PF
    POWER FOR PARKINSONS
    3× · 2019–2025 · $79k · revenue +237%

Funded once

  • CI
    California Institute for BioMedical Research
    one grant, 2017 · $239k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $99k
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
California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy

To harness the power of the human immune system and advanced computing technologies to create and translate scientific discoveries into next generation vaccines and therapies for prevention, control and cure of chronic diseases, enabling…

Health
2
La Jolla Institute for Immunology

At la jolla institute for immunology, our scientists focus on understanding how the immune system works in order to promote human health and prevent disease. our discoveries apply to many diseases, ranging from diabetes to heart disease,…

—
3
San Diego State University Foundation Sdsu Research Foundation

To support and further the research, education and community service objectives of san diego state university.

Education
4
The San Diego Foundation

The san diego foundation inspires enduring philanthropy and enables community solutions to improve the quality of life in our region.

Philanthropy
5
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

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

Education
6
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.

—
7
The California Medical Innovations Institute Inc

The Institute is a scientific research center dedicated to conducting basic and applied research to advance the understanding of human disease and the improvement of human health. The Institute fosters an innovative research environment…

Education
8
Associated Students of San Diego State University

To support the social, recreational, cultural and education programs and facilities, both on campus and in the community, and to advocate for student interests, provide leadership opportunities and participate in shared governance.

—
9
San Diego Jewish Academy

San Diego Jewish Academy empowers each student to learn for life, guided by Jewish values and rooted in strength of community.

Education
10
The Uc Davis Foundation

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

Education
11
Curebound

The organization's mission is to provide funding for the best cancer research ideas in san diego. all proceeds from curebound stay in san diego to fund innovative and collaborative cancer research.

Health
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Uc San Diego Foundation; the most unlike its peers is San Diego Automotive Museum. 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

8 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. 8 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
6/8
Grantees still filing
5/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $989,341 · EducationUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATIONTHE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $349,482 · HealthTHE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTETAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DIABETES DBA TCOYD: $319,829 · HealthTAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DIABETES DBA…POWER FOR PARKINSONS: $79,450 · HealthPOWER FOR PARKINSONSCalifornia Institute for BioMedical Research: $238,735 · OtherCalifornia Institute for BioM…JEWISH FEDERATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $147,302 · OtherJEWISH FEDERATION OF SAN DIEG…Individual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $99,337 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATION USO COUNCIL OF SAN DIEGO: $35,260 · OtherUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATION U…SAN DIEGO AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM: $10,486 · Arts & Culture
Education$989,341Health$748,761Other$620,634Arts & Culture$10,486

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 budgetUC SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $989,341 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTAKING CONTROL OF YOUR DIABETES DBA TCOYD: $319,829 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCalifornia Institute for BioMedical Research: $238,735 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY: $147,302 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetPOWER FOR PARKINSONS: $79,450 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATION USO COUNCIL OF SAN DIEGO: $35,260 over 1y, 13% of budgetSAN DIEGO AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM: $10,486 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

The San Diego Foundat…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The San Diego FoundationCA13.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Diego Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Step Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Step Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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.

    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 10 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Step Family’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