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The William Gillespie Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The William Gillespie Foundation

$27k
Granted FY2024still arriving
5
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$784kHealth$692kHuman Services$502kEducation$486kCrime & Legal$420kRecreation & Sports$198kHousing & Shelter$127kAnimals$105kOther$0
02FY2024 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Donations under 5K$9,500
Paris 2024 Olympic Society$5,678
Newport Library Foundation$5,000
Orange County Museum of Art$5,000
Hoop Justice$2,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–23, $305k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 13% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Canine Companions: $10k → 11%Canine Companions: $10k → 11%Canine Companions: $10k → 11%Canine Companions: $5k → 11%Canine Companions: $5k → 11%Share Our Selves: $10k → 10%Share Our Selves: $10k → 10%Share our Selves: $5k → 10%Share our Selves: $5k → 10%Share our Selves: $5k → 10%Share our Selves: $5k → 10%Share Our Selves: $5k → 10%Wise Place: $5k → 10%Wise Place: $5k → 10%Wise Place: $5k → 10%Wise Place: $5k → 10%Wise Place: $5k → 10%Wise Place: $5k → 10%Wise Place: $5k → 10%Lauras House: $100k → 10%Lauras House: $10k → 10%Patriots and Paws: $10k → 10%Patriots and Paws: $10k → 10%Patriots and Paws: $5k → 10%Katerinas Club: $25k → 10%Caterinas Club: $5k → 10%Caterinas Club: $5k → 10%Caterinas Club: $5k → 10%Caterinas Club: $5k → 10%Caterinas Club: $5k → 10%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
ID
NY
OR
CA
UT
DC
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 86 repeat orgs$414k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

86 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 82 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

86
51

Total granted

$3.5M
$408k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+31%

Still filing today

51%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • CA
    Court Appointed Special Advocates
    7× · 2017–2023 · $310k · revenue +41%
  • OC
    ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART
    6× · 2019–2024 · $310k · revenue +26%
  • SH
    SAGE HILL SCHOOL
    3× · 2020–2022 · $204k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • UP
    UNSILENCED PROJECT INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $105k · revenue +57% · 42% of their budget
  • WM
    Windfest Montenegro cultural arts
    one grant, 2023 · $94k
  • RC
    Ryder Cup Euro Development Trust
    one grant, 2022 · $12k
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
The California Channel

To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…

—
2
Los Angeles Conservancy

The los angeles conservancy is a nonprofit membership organization that works through education and advocacy to recognize, preserve, and revitalize the historic architectural and cultural resources of los angeles county.

Arts & Culture
3
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
4
The American Institute of Architects California

The AIA California, in collaboration with local components, is the voice of the architectural profession.

—
5
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
6
Los Angeles County Bar Association (Lacba)

Meeting the professional needs of los angeles lawyers, and improving the administration of justice.

—
7
Orange County School of the Arts

We provide an unparalleled arts and acdademic education in a creative, challenging and nurturing environment to a diverse student body passionate about the arts, preparing them to reach their highest potential.

Education
8
Los Angeles Opera Company

To serve the public by producing world-class opera that preserves, promotes and advances the art form while embodying the diversity, spirit and artistic sensibility unique to los angeles. we envision an engaged and enlightened community in…

Arts & Culture
9
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce

Chamber's mission: design and advance opportunities and solutions for a thriving regional economy that are inclusive and globally competitive. 1) advocacy - be a bold advocate for business as a driver of a strong economy that enables…

—
10
Festival of Arts of Laguna Beach

To promote, produce, and sponsor events and activities that encourage the appreciation, study and performance of the arts.

Arts & Culture
11
Los Angeles Conservation Corps

The la conservation corps creates equitable opportunities for young people to build resilience in themselves, their communities and the environment through a program of work, education and support.

Employment
12
California State University Long Beach Research Foundation

Serves the mission of the university by supporting and engaging in research, entrepreneurship, community service, sponsored programs and the acquisition of private resources.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Families Forward; the most unlike its peers is Cloudstone Foundation. 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

62 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. 62 of the 139 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
61/62
Grantees still filing
49/62
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

United Cerebral Palsy: $180,000 · OtherUnited Cerebral PalsyMontenegro Olympic Sailing: $163,311 · OtherMontenegro Olympic SailingDonations under 5K: $122,910 · OtherDonations under 5KUCSB Propel Program: $100,000 · OtherWindfest Montenegro cultural arts: $94,086 · OtherMOUNTAIN FIFES AND DRUMS: $75,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $75,000 · Other+98 more: $1,174,528 · Other+98 moreORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $309,800 · Arts & CultureORANGE COUNTY M…Anaheim Ballet: $45,000 · Arts & CultureAnaheim BalletTHE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE: $30,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LAGUNA PLAY…THE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT: $25,000 · Arts & CultureLAGUNA ART MUSEUM: $25,000 · Arts & CultureARTS ORANGE COUNTY: $22,500 · Arts & CulturePHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY: $20,000 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $68,000 · Arts & Culture+9 moreHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $350,000 · HealthHOAG HOSPIT…FREE WHEELCHAIR MISSION: $30,000 · HealthFREE WHEELC…ALZHEIMER'S ORANGE COUNTY: $15,000 · Health+4 more: $18,000 · HealthSAGE HILL SCHOOL: $204,000 · EducationSAGE HILL…UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $90,000 · EducationUNIVERSIT…LAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN: $60,200 · EducationLAGUNA CO…Court Appointed Special Advocates: $310,000 · Civil RightsLAURA'S HOUSE: $110,000 · Human ServicesCATERINAS CLUB: $50,000 · Human ServicesShare Our Selves Corporation: $45,000 · Human ServicesCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesWISEPLACE: $35,000 · Human ServicesPATRIOTS AND PAWS: $25,000 · Human ServicesUNSILENCED PROJECT INC: $105,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$1,984,835Arts & Culture$545,300Health$413,000Education$354,200Civil Rights$310,000Human Services$305,000Crime & Legal$105,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCourt Appointed Special Advocates: $310,000 over 7y, 18% of budgetORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART: $309,800 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetSAGE HILL SCHOOL: $204,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetLAURA'S HOUSE: $110,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetUNSILENCED PROJECT INC: $105,000 over 1y, 42% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN: $60,200 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBrackens Kitchen Inc: $57,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCATERINAS CLUB: $50,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetShare Our Selves Corporation: $45,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetAnaheim Ballet: $45,000 over 6y, 3.0% of budgetCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $40,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCASA YOUTH SHELTER: $37,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetPATHWAYS TO INDEPENDENCE: $35,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetBEYOND BLINDNESS: $35,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetWISEPLACE: $35,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetBOARDRIDERS FOUNDATION: $34,500 over 2y, 22% of budgetFAMILIES FORWARD: $30,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE: $30,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetFREE WHEELCHAIR MISSION: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPATRIOTS AND PAWS: $25,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetLAGUNA ART MUSEUM: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCHP 11-99 FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetOrange County Rescue Mission Inc: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSOMEONE CARES SOUP KITCHEN: $25,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetARTS ORANGE COUNTY: $22,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetLAGUNA FOOD PANTRY: $22,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetPHILHARMONIC SOCIETY OF ORANGE COUNTY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGIVING CHILDREN HOPE: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWorking Wardrobes For A New Start: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetChildren's Cancer Association: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALZHEIMER'S ORANGE COUNTY: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LAGUNA BEACH: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLiving Design Foundation Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 9.7% of budgetSOUTH COAST REPERTORY INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetPacific Symphony: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMUSIC MOVEMENT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetLONG BEACH MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWE CARE OF LOS ALAMITOS INC: $9,500 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetECOLOGY CENTER: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S DENTAL CENTER: $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetART WITH IMPACT: $7,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetNEWPORT BEACH POLICE ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Court Appointed Special Advocates ↗
  • Who funds ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds SAGE HILL SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds LAURA'S HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds UNSILENCED PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds Brackens Kitchen Inc ↗
  • Who funds CATERINAS CLUB ↗
  • Who funds Share Our Selves Corporation ↗
  • Who funds Anaheim Ballet ↗
  • Who funds CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds CASA YOUTH SHELTER ↗
  • Who funds PATHWAYS TO INDEPENDENCE ↗
  • Who funds BEYOND BLINDNESS ↗
  • Who funds WISEPLACE ↗
  • Who funds BOARDRIDERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FAMILIES FORWARD ↗
  • Who funds THE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE ↗
  • Who funds FREE WHEELCHAIR MISSION ↗
  • Who funds THE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT ↗
  • Who funds PATRIOTS AND PAWS ↗
  • Who funds LAGUNA ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds CHP 11-99 FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Orange County Rescue Mission Inc ↗

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.

Orange County Communi…O L Halsell FoundationArgyros Family Founda…Sisters of St Joseph …Farmers & Merchants B…Macgillivray Family F…Ueberroth Family Foun…Samueli FoundationThe Crean FoundationJewish Community Foun…Glen and Dorothy Stil…Hoag Memorial Hospita…
Orange County Community FoundationCA53.1× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · O L Halsell Foundation · Argyros Family Foundation · Sisters of St Joseph Healthcare Foundation · Farmers & Merchants Bank Foundation · Macgillivray Family Foundation · Ueberroth Family Foundation · Samueli Foundation · The Crean Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County · Glen and Dorothy Stillwell Charitable Trust · Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    26report 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
    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 William Gillespie Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The William Gillespie 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 139 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on William Gillespie’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