· Private foundation
The Zelman Family Fund
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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k40 grants · $116k
- $10k–50k3 grants · $33k
- $50k–250k1 grant · $58k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| JEWISH BIG BRFOTHERS BIG SISTERS OF | $58,000 |
| LAFD FOUNDATION | $12,348 |
| NATURE CONSERVANCY | $10,300 |
| WORLD WILDLIFE FUND | $10,010 |
| DIRECT RELIEF | $7,168 |
| HUMANE SOCIETY | $6,500 |
| DIDI HIRSCH MENTAL HEALTH | $6,180 |
| NRDC | $6,000 |
| LOS ANGELES REG FOOD BANK | $6,000 |
| UCLA FOUNDATION | $5,600 |
| OCEANA INC | $5,150 |
| SPCA LA | $5,000 |
| UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION | $5,000 |
| PASADENA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | $5,000 |
| WWWRESCUEORG | $4,215 |
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 (FY20–25, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 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
Which US states its grants reach
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 +37% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.
51 repeat relationships: 31 still active in FY2025, 20 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
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, 61% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $72k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- JBJEWISH BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES2× · 2018–2019 · $94k · revenue +22%
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC7× · 2018–2025 · $72k · revenue +43%- LALOS ANGELES SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS6× · 2020–2025 · $31k · revenue +27%
Funded once
- UOUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES - INFECTIOUS DISEASEone grant, 2018 · $32k
- UOUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES - GERIATRICSone grant, 2018 · $27k
- TSTHE SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +85%
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.
Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.
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…
Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…
To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.
Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.
The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.
Crisis group works to prevent and resolve deadly conflict around the world by informing and influencing the perceptions and actions of policymakers and other key conflict actors. to this end, we endeavour to talk to all sides and provide…
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.
The we are family foundation celebrates the vision of a global family by creating and supporting programs that inspire and educate people about mutual respect, understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity.
Organization mission the observer research foundation america orf america is an independent, non-partisan, and nonprofit organization in washington dc dedicated to addressing policy challenges facing the united states, india, and their…
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…
Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…
How this is measured
43 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. 43 of the 96 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 JEWISH BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS ASSOCIATION OF LOS ANGELES ↗
- Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC ↗
- Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds LOS ANGELES SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ↗
- Who funds OCEANA INC ↗
- Who funds LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF ↗
- Who funds UCLA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Save The Children Federation Inc ↗
- Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
- Who funds Humane World for Animals Inc ↗
- Who funds DIRECT RELIEF ↗
- Who funds WILDWOOD SCHOOL INC ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES ↗
- Who funds MAYO CLINIC ↗
- Who funds HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS INC ↗
- Who funds THE SANTA MONICA COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds OPERATION FINALLY HOME ↗
- Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
- Who funds BRENTWOOD SCHOOL ↗
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: American Endowment Foundation · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Zelman Family Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Zelman Family Fund. Bigger dots raise more.
- Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Zelman Family’s filings →