· Private foundation
The Zaffaroni 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.
Read this first · the figures below need context
63% of The Zaffaroni Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 3 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2019, the last year The Zaffaroni Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 6 organizations, $187k. 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 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2019
- Under $10k5 grants · $12k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $25k
- $50k–250k2 grants · $150k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF THE PENINSULA | $100,000 |
| UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION | $50,000 |
| SAN FRANCISCO OPERA | $15,000 |
| PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST | $10,000 |
| THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP SERVICES | $2,500 |
| MENLO CHARITY HORSE SHOW INC | $2,500 |
| UC REGENTS BERKELEY THE CAL ATHLETICS FUND | $2,500 |
| PENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA | $2,500 |
| 10000 DEGREES | $2,000 |
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 (FY17–19, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-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.
10 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2019, 4 since wound down; 10 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 FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- BGBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA8× · 2017–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +133%
- POPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST3× · 2017–2019 · $30k · revenue +164%
- APASHLAND PARKS FOUNDATION5× · 2020–2025 · $22k · revenue +45%
Funded once
- SUSTANFORD UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF MEDICAL CENTER DEVELOPMENTone grant, 2017 · $10k
- GIGEOHAZARDS INTERNATIONALgraduatedone grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue +57%
- AOASSOCIATION OF WALDORF SCHOOLS OF NORTH AMERICAone grant, 2018 · $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.
To ensure coast redwood forests in the santa cruz mountains thrive for generations to come. since 1900, sempervirens has protected more than 36,000 acres. learn more about our mission, vision, and strategic plan through 2030 at:…
To ensure every companion animal has access to quality medical care, compassionate shelter, and a loving home.
MISSION STATEMENT: MISSION: CARING FOR OUR PATIENTS FIRST AND OUR PEOPLE ALWAYS. VISION: TO BE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE, INTEGRATED AND CONNECTED HEALTH SYSTEM FOR GETTING AND STAYING WELL. VALUES: EXCELLENCE - We deliver high-quality,…
See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…
To change the future for nature and humanity by conserving birds of prey worldwide.
Mission statement: mission: caring for our patients first and our people always. vision: to be the most comprehensive, integrated and connected health system for getting and staying well. values: excellence - we deliver high-quality,…
Throughout its history, pomona college has educated men and women of exceptional promise. we gather individuals, regardless of financial circumstances, into a small residential community that is strongly rooted in southern california yet…
The mission of the san diego history center is to preserve our region's history - tell the diverse story of our region's past, present, and future; educate and enrich our community; and foster civic pride.
Phipps' mission is to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants, to advance sustainability and promote human and environmental well-being through action and research, and to celebrate its historic glasshouse.
The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…
The mission of southern california university of health sciences (scu) is to educate students as competent, caring and successful practitioners of integrative healthcare. the university is committed to providing excellence in academics,…
We inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the sonoran desert.
How this is measured
12 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. 12 of the 24 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 BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE PENINSULA ↗
- Who funds SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds PENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST ↗
- Who funds ASANTE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds ASHLAND PARKS FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds PEACE HOUSE ↗
- Who funds CALIFORNIA FIRE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds MENLO CHARITY HORSE SHOW INC ↗
- Who funds GEOHAZARDS INTERNATIONAL ↗
- Who funds 10000 DEGREES ↗
- Who funds PENINSULA HUMANE SOCIETY & SPCA ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Zaffaroni Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Zaffaroni Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Zaffaroni’s filings →