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Tsao Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Tsao Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$5.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
22
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$1.6M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$7.8MPhilanthropy$4.1MEducation$3.3MArts & Culture$1.1MReligion$613kEnvironment$401kInternational$340kHuman Services$260kOther$0
02FY2024 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $125k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $831k
  • $250k+5 grants · $4.2M
$60,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$123M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHOC FOUNDATION$1,640,000
ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$1,320,000
THE PURPOSE OF RECOVERY$606,700
CHINA INSTITUTE IN AMERICA$340,000
RENEWAL FOUNDATION$261,335
HOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$200,000
SOUTH COAST CHINESE CULTURE ASSOC$200,000
CHARITABLE VENTURES OF ORANGE CNTY$157,500
IRVINE CANAAN CHRISTIAN COMM CHURCH$138,000
PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY$75,000
BOWERS MUSEUM$60,000
SEGERSTROM CTR FOR THE ARTS$25,000
ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$25,000
WOMENS STEP HOUSE OC$25,000
CORNERSTONE MARRIAGE AND FAMILY MIN$10,000
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 (FY19–24, $285k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 18% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%YOUNG PEOPLE IN RECOVERY: $50k → 12%PROJECT KINSHIP: $10k → 10%KIDWORKS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $175k → 10%THE NET FAMILY SUPPORT: $50k → 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

ID
IL
NY
MA
OH
CA
CO
MO
TN
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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 23 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +87% since the first grant, against -3% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
19

Total granted

$15M
$744k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+87%
-3%

Still filing today

78%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $649k 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
HealthEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesPhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • CF
    CHOC FOUNDATION
    7× · 2018–2024 · $3.3M · revenue +53%
  • PO
    PURPOSE OF RECOVERY INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $2.3M · revenue ×13 · 97% of their budget
  • II
    Illinois Institute of Technology
    4× · 2021–2024 · $2.1M · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • DF
    DREAMS FOR SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2023 · $175k · revenue -35%
  • KC
    KIDWORKS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP
    one grant, 2023 · $175k · revenue +3%
  • RS
    Red Songbird Foundation
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue -86%
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 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
2
California Institute of Integral Studies

Ciis is an institution of higher education that encourages an interdisciplinary approach to learning. over 1,700 students are enrolled in masters, doctoral, bachelor of arts completion programs, and certifications. ours is a mosaic of…

Education
3
The Scripps Research Institute

The scripps research institute ("tsri") performs high impact basic biomedical research, improves the human condition by fostering translation of its discoveries into useful products and engages in the highest quality graduate scientific…

Health
4
California Institute for BioMedical Research

Our mission is to build a unique institute that bridges basic research and drug discovery, and that attracts the best and brightest scientists, physicians and students to work together synergistically to find cures for neglected human…

—
5
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
6
The Uc Davis Foundation

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

Education
7
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
8
University of the Pacific

To provide a superior, student-centered learning experience integrating liberal arts and professional education and preparing individuals for lasting achievement and responsible leadership in their careers and communities.

Education
9
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
10
Uc Riverside Foundation

To support educational, research and public functions and programs of the riverside campus of the university of california.

Education
11
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The Chicago School educates the next generation of change-makers in innovative theory and culturally competent practice to strengthen the integrated health of individuals, organizations, and communities.

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Center for Family Philanthropy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Ancient Art Archive. 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

42 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. 42 of the 57 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/42
Grantees still filing
28/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHOC FOUNDATION: $3,272,250 · HealthCHOC FOUNDATIONPURPOSE OF RECOVERY INC: $2,256,700 · HealthPURPOSE OF RECOVERY INCHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1,890,275 · HealthHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION+9 more: $377,300 · HealthIllinois Institute of Technology: $2,060,000 · EducationIllinois Institute …PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: $375,000 · EducationPEPPERDINE UNIVERSI…THE CRAIG SCHOOL: $350,000 · EducationTHE CRAIG SCHOOLUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $277,400 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIF…+4 more: $128,800 · EducationRENEWAL FOUNDATION INC: $1,437,310 · OtherRENEWAL FOUNDATION…IRVINE CANAAN CHRISTIAN C: $270,000 · OtherIRVINE CANAAN CHRI…IRVINE CANAAN CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHURCH INC: $180,000 · OtherIRVINE CANAAN CHRI…PEPPERDINE: $150,000 · OtherIRVINE CANAAN CHRISTIAN COMM CHURCH: $138,000 · OtherECOLOGY CENTER: $401,200 · OtherECOLOGY CENTERCHINA INSTITUTE IN AMERICA INCORPORATED: $340,000 · OtherCHINA INSTITUTE IN…+14 more: $171,902 · Other+14 moreORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,815,000 · PhilanthropyORANGE COUN…ASIAN AMERICAN FUTURES: $110,000 · PhilanthropyASIAN AMERI…+1 more: $2,500 · PhilanthropySOUTH COAST CHINESE CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: $1,030,000 · Arts & CultureDREAMS FOR SCHOOLS: $175,000 · Arts & CultureCHARLES W BOWERS MUSEUM CORPORATION: $60,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $35,950 · Arts & CultureFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $726,000 · Community ImprovementCHARITABLE VENTURES OF ORANGE COUNTY: $221,500 · Community ImprovementKIDWORKS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $175,000 · Human ServicesWOMEN'S STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY: $140,000 · Human ServicesNET FAMILY SUPPORT: $50,000 · Human ServicesYOUNG PEOPLE IN RECOVERY: $50,000 · Human Services+1 more: $10,000 · Human Services
Health$7,796,525Education$3,191,200Other$3,088,412Philanthropy$1,927,500Arts & Culture$1,300,950Community Improvement$947,500Human Services$425,000

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 budgetCHOC FOUNDATION: $3,272,250 over 7y, 2.9% of budgetPURPOSE OF RECOVERY INC: $2,256,700 over 5y, 97% of budgetIllinois Institute of Technology: $2,060,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHOAG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1,890,275 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,815,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetSOUTH COAST CHINESE CULTURAL ASSOCIATION: $1,030,000 over 8y, 7.4% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $726,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetECOLOGY CENTER: $401,200 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetPEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: $375,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CRAIG SCHOOL: $350,000 over 3y, 23% of budgetCHINA INSTITUTE IN AMERICA INCORPORATED: $340,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE FOUNDATION: $277,400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCHARITABLE VENTURES OF ORANGE COUNTY: $221,500 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetDREAMS FOR SCHOOLS: $175,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetKIDWORKS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $175,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetWOMEN'S STEP HOUSE OF ORANGE COUNTY: $140,000 over 3y, 26% of budgetPHOENIX MULTISPORT INC: $125,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetASIAN AMERICAN FUTURES: $110,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetRed Songbird Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetCENTER FOR VENTURE EDUCATION: $100,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCHARLES W BOWERS MUSEUM CORPORATION: $60,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNET FAMILY SUPPORT: $50,000 over 1y, 53% of budgetYOUNG PEOPLE IN RECOVERY: $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetThe Happier Life Project Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetNew PATH: $40,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetPARTNERSHIP TO END ADDICTION: $35,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMAKARIOS MINISTRIES INC: $35,000 over 4y, 16% of budgetSegerstrom Center for the Arts: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITIES FOR RECOVERY: $19,800 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetProject Hope Alliance: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF ORANGE COUNTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR COMPREHENSIVE CARE AND DIAGNOSIS OF INHERITED BLOOD DISORDERS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Salk Institute for Biological Studies: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT KINSHIP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILD CREATIVITY LAB: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetPacific Symphony: $5,950 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWalk Intuit Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetANCIENT ART ARCHIVE: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetSEEDS ARTS AND EDUCATION INC: $3,800 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY PHILANTHROPY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,500 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.

Orange County Communi…Sun Family FoundationTarsadia FoundationO L Halsell FoundationThe Devto Support Fou…Argyros Family Founda…California Community …Silicon Valley Commun…American Online Givin…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…
Orange County Community FoundationCA24× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · Sun Family Foundation · Tarsadia Foundation · O L Halsell Foundation · The Devto Support Foundation · Argyros Family Foundation · California Community Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Tsao Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Tsao Family 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 57 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 Tsao 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