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Thistle & Rose Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Thistle & Rose 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.

$151k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$245kEducation$205kFood & Nutrition$182kHealth$161kHuman Services$125kInternational$95kHousing & Shelter$85kArts & Culture$49kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $125k
$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FOODBANK OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY$75,000
CALM$50,000
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART$10,000
SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION$5,000
WOMENS FUND OF SANTA BARBARA$5,000
SANTA BARBARA IMMIGRATION DEFENSE FUND$5,000
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF TRANSPLANTATION$500
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 (FY18–23, $36k) 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.

area typical 10%KESEM: $500 → 19%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $15k → 14%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $15k → 14%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $5k → 14%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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$881k · 19 repeat orgs$154k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +33% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
20

Total granted

$881k
$144k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+33%

Still filing today

74%
70%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthFood & NutritionAnimalsPhilanthropyEducationHuman ServicesOther
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

  • FO
    Foodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc
    3× · 2020–2025 · $175k · revenue +5%
  • LF
    LAKE FOREST ACADEMY
    2× · 2023–2024 · $100k · revenue +33%
  • CI
    CALM INC
    4× · 2017–2025 · $90k · revenue +85%

Funded once

  • SY
    SANTA YNEZ VALLEY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $30k · revenue +33%
  • PI
    PARTNERS IN HOUSING SOLUTIONS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $25k · revenue +143%
  • GW
    GANNA WALSKA LOTUSLANDgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue +160%
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 San Diego Foundation

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

Philanthropy
2
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
3
Santa Barbara Education Foundation

Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) provides and supports programs that enrich the academic, artistic, and personal development of all students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Education
4
Santa Barbara Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Santa barbara humane operates two campuses located in santa barbara and santa maria providing care for community-owned and homeless animals. both campuses offer affordable high quality veterinary care, compassionate behavior training…

Animals
5
Marin Humane Society

Marin humane transforms lives through exceptional animal care, humane education, and advocacy. every day, marin humane inspires compassion and positive relationships between people and animals.

Animals
6
Santa Barbara Zoological Foundation

The santa barbara zoo is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and enhancement of the natural world and its living treasures through education, research, recreation and conservation.

Animals
7
St Francis Foundation of Santa Barbara

The mission of st. francis foundation of santa barbara is to promote and support health care.

Health
8
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
9
Asante Foundation

The asante foundation's primary exempt purpose is to raise monies and in-kind donations to further the exempt purpose of asante, a 501(c)(3) hospital and healthcare system which services the healthcare needs of the citizens of southern…

Health
10
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

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

Education
11
Arbor Research Collaborative for Health

Arbor research collaborative for health is committed to improving patient care through research that shapes medical policies and practice. in particular, arbor research conducts health outcomes research on chronic disease and end-stage…

Health
12
Fund for Santa Barbara Inc

Provide cash grants and free consulting to grassroots organizations in santa barbara county.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Santa Barbara Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The United States Holocaust Memorial 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

32 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. 32 of the 43 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/32
Grantees still filing
30/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $115,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOODNORTH SHORE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $40,000 · OtherNORTH SHORE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOLSANTA YNEZ VALLEY FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherSANTA YNEZ VALLEY FOUNDATIONSTORYTELLER CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $30,000 · OtherSTORYTELLER CHILDRENS CENTER INCPARTNERS IN HOUSING SOLUTIONS INC: $25,000 · OtherPARTNERS IN HOUSING SOLUTIONS INCSOLVANG FESTIVAL THEATER: $22,500 · OtherGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $15,000 · OtherSANTA BARBARA IMMIGRATION DEFENSE FUND: $15,000 · OtherSANTA BARBARA RESCUE MISSION: $30,000 · OtherSANTA BARBARA RESCUE MISSION+21 more: $109,500 · Other+21 moreSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $90,000 · PhilanthropySANTA BARBARA FOUN…WOMEN'S FUND OF SANTA BARBARA: $75,000 · PhilanthropyWOMEN'S FUND OF SA…The Rona Barrett Foundation: $30,000 · PhilanthropyThe Rona Barrett F…LAKE FOREST ACADEMY: $100,000 · EducationLAKE FOREST ACADE…SOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $80,000 · EducationSOCIAL GOOD FUND …+1 more: $5,000 · EducationFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $175,000 · Food & NutritionFoodbank of Santa…+2 more: $7,000 · Food & NutritionCALM INC: $90,000 · Crime & LegalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $85,000 · InternationalWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $35,000 · Human Services+1 more: $500 · Human Services
Other$432,000Philanthropy$195,000Education$185,000Food & Nutrition$182,000Crime & Legal$90,000International$85,000Human Services$35,500

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 budgetFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $175,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLAKE FOREST ACADEMY: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCALM INC: $90,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $90,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $85,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $80,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN'S FUND OF SANTA BARBARA: $75,000 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetNORTH SHORE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $40,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA YNEZ VALLEY FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetSTORYTELLER CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetSANTA BARBARA RESCUE MISSION: $30,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetThe Rona Barrett Foundation: $30,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetGANNA WALSKA LOTUSLAND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCASA DEL HERRERO: $11,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSPONDYLITIS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: $10,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTEAM RUBICON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSanta Barbara Cottage Hospital: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHorsefeathers Therapeutic Riding NFP: $5,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetIN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSchoolCARE: $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetADVANCING COLLECTIVE TRANSFORMATION (FKA UFFIZI ORDER)(DBA-SBACT): $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetORPHANS OF THE STORM: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NORA PROJECT: $3,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORGANIC SOUP KITCHEN: $2,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPAW WORKS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBREM FOUNDATION TO DEFEAT BREAST CANCER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCamp Kesem National: $500 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.

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.

Santa Barbara Foundat…Ann Jackson Family Fo…Hutton Foundation Dba…Towbes FoundationWilliams-Corbett Foun…AbbVie FoundationBarbara N Rubin Found…Alice Tweed Tuohy Fou…Latkin Charitable Fou…June G Outhwaite Char…G a Fowler Family Fou…Patricia Bragg Founda…
Santa Barbara FoundationCA23.3× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Santa Barbara Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Towbes Foundation · Williams-Corbett Foundation · AbbVie Foundation · Barbara N Rubin Foundation · Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation · Latkin Charitable Foundation · June G Outhwaite Charitable Trust JS Poucher KL Englert & CM Cooney Co-Tr · G a Fowler Family Foundation · Patricia Bragg 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 Thistle & Rose Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Thistle & Rose Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 43 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 Thistle & Rose’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