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Valley Strong Cu Fka Kern Schools Federal Credit Union at a glance

· Public charity

Valley Strong Cu Fka Kern Schools Federal Credit Union

See schedule ovalley strong credit union is a cooperative, organized for the purpose of promoting thrift and savings among its members, creating a source of credit for them at rates of interest set by the board of directors, and providing an opportunity for them to use and control their own money on a democratic basis in order to improve…

$2.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
45
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$3.5MPhilanthropy$762kCommunity Improvement$570kHealth$557kRecreation & Sports$199kArts & Culture$127kYouth Development$123kEmployment$106kOther$0
02FY2024 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 45 grants below total $1,716,984, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,315,876 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $598,892 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k11 grants · $73k
  • $10k–50k29 grants · $541k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $293k
  • $250k+2 grants · $811k
$12,965
Median grant
4
States reached
$3.9B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BAKERSFIELD COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC$500,000
CSUB FOUNDATION$310,500
CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK HOSPITALS$117,500
CUSPINCDBA CU STRATEGIC PLANNING$105,000
GREATER BAKERSFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE$70,000
KERN COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS EDUCATIONAL$40,000
KERN HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT$40,000
BAKERSFIELD WOMEN'S BUSINESS CONFERENCE$35,000
MENDIBURU MAGIC FOUNDATION AGAINST CANCER$30,200
MEALS ON WHEELS OF SOLANO COUNTY INC$28,400
GLOBAL FAMILY CARE NETWORK INC$27,500
TAFT COLLEGE FOUNDATION$25,000
AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION INC$25,000
KERN COUNTY HISPANIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE$25,000
CALIFORNIA FORWARD$25,000
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 (FY20–24, $97k) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%HOFFMANN HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY INC: $20k → 18%HOFFMAN HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY INC: $15k → 18%HOFFMANN HOSPICE OF THE VALLEY INC: $10k → 18%ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF BAKERSFIELD: $8k → 18%COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF KERN: $10k → 18%COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF KERN: $6k → 18%GARDEN PATHWAYS INC: $10k → 18%THE OPEN DOOR NETWORK DBA ALLIANCE AGAINST FAMILY: $8k → 18%KERN COUNTY NETWORK FOR CHILDREN: $6k → 18%CHILD GUIDANCE GUILD OF BAKERSFIELD INC: $5k → 18%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 11% of Valley Strong Cu Fka Kern Schools Federal Credit Union’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 98% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 87%.

Valley Strong Cu Fka Kern Schools Federal Credit Unionlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 8.2% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.9M · 31 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

31 repeat relationships: 27 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
23

Total granted

$4.9M
$837k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+2%

Still filing today

84%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $285k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureInternationalOther
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

  • GB
    GREATER BAKERSFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
    4× · 2020–2024 · $344k · revenue +2%
  • CM
    CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK
    4× · 2020–2024 · $247k · revenue +33%
  • TC
    TAFT COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $135k · revenue +65%

Funded once

  • T5
    THE 54 FUNDgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue +122% · 68% of their budget
  • FF
    FCCU2 FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $250k
  • BC
    BAKERSFIELD CIVIC LIGHT OPERA ASSOCIATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $92k · revenue +80%
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
Kern County Cancer Foundation

Dedicated to assisting kern county residents who need financial assistance in obtaining treatment for cancer and associated diseases.

Health
2
Kern County Library Foundation
Education
3
Kern Medical Center Foundation

Kern medical center foundation is dedicated to promote education and programs that support the mission of kern medical center

Health
4
Kern County Law Enforcement Foundation

Support of local law enforcement

—
5
United Way of Central Eastern California Dba United Way of Kern County

The mission of the united way of kern county is to "mobilize donors, advocates and volunteers to improve lives in kern county." the organization accomplishes this by raising and investing financial resources in programs that advance the…

Philanthropy
6
California Chamber of Commerce

Represent members and cal employers to members of cal legislature and other agencies of state government through in-house legislative analysts, lobbying staff, and contract lobbyists. cal chamber publishes books and software related to…

—
7
Epilepsy Society of Kern County
Health
8
Cbcc Foundation for Community Wellness Inc

Serving the educational, financial, and emotional needs of kern county cancer patients and their families. providing assistance to individuals with financial hardship to relieve medical debt.

Health
9
Kern County Farm Bureau

To represent, protect and advance the social, economic and educational interest of the farmers in kern county, california.

—
10
Credit Unions in the State of California Sierra Central Credit Union

As your financial institution, we pledge to serve you and our community faithfully. we will be friendly, helpful, and professional, and we will provide great products and competitive rates.

—
11
Central California Food Bank

Ccfb is dedicated to ending hunger, working with over 200 partner agencies to provide food to those experiencing hunger. our mission: transforming lives together, in the passionate pursuit to end hunger in central ca - one meal, one…

Food & Nutrition
12
Friends of the Kern County Fair

The primary purpose of Friends of the Kern County fair is to raise money for the benefit of the 15th district agricultural association and showcasing agricultural industries to the community.

Recreation & Sports
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce; the most unlike its peers is The 54 Fund. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

57 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 57 of the 71 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
55/57
Grantees still filing
33/57
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BAKERSFIELD COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $1,677,500 · EducationBAKERSFIELD COLLEGE FOUNDATIONCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY BAKERSFIELD FOUNDATION: $1,194,605 · EducationCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY BAKERSFIELD FOUNDATIONTAFT COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $135,000 · Education+7 more: $347,600 · Education+7 moreGREATER BAKERSFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $343,845 · OtherGREATER BAKERSFIELD CHAMBER OF C…FCCU2 FOUNDATION: $250,000 · OtherFCCU2 FOUNDATIONCHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK: $246,550 · OtherCHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORKKern High School District: $164,778 · OtherKern High School DistrictGAMEDAY SPORTS ACADEMY: $110,000 · OtherGAMEDAY SPORTS ACADEMYCUSPINCDBA CU STRATEGIC PLANNING: $105,000 · OtherCUSPINCDBA CU STRATEGIC PLANNINGBASKETBALL UNIVERSE ACADEMY INCORPO: $71,154 · Other+31 more: $537,328 · Other+31 moreKERN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $261,700 · PhilanthropyKERN COMM…THE 54 FUND: $250,000 · PhilanthropyTHE 54 FU…+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyAmerican Heart Association Inc: $121,500 · HealthMENDIBURU MAGIC FOUNDATION AGAINST CANCER: $36,200 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $35,000 · HealthBAKERSFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $35,000 · HealthLINKS FOR LIFE: $25,000 · Health+1 more: $5,000 · HealthHoffmann Hospice of The Valley: $45,000 · Human ServicesMARY GRAHAM CHILDRENS FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF KERN: $15,819 · Human ServicesGarden Pathways Inc: $10,000 · Human ServicesNAMI KERN COUNTY CHAPTER: $8,000 · Human ServicesVISALIA EMERGENCY AID COUNCIL INC: $7,500 · Human ServicesTHE OPEN DOOR NETWORK: $7,500 · Human ServicesASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF BAKERSFIELD: $7,500 · Human ServicesKern County Network for Children: $6,000 · Human ServicesChild Guidance Guild of Bakersfield: $5,000 · Human ServicesGlobal Family Care Network Inc: $72,500 · InternationalWORLDWIDE FOUNDATION FOR CREDIT UNIONS INC: $30,000 · InternationalBAKERSFIELD CIVIC LIGHT OPERA ASSOCIATION: $91,667 · Arts & CultureBakersfield City Ballet: $5,150 · Arts & Culture
Education$3,354,705Other$1,828,655Philanthropy$521,700Health$257,700Human Services$137,319International$102,500Arts & Culture$96,817

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 budgetBAKERSFIELD COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $1,677,500 over 4y, 12% of budgetCALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY BAKERSFIELD FOUNDATION: $1,194,605 over 5y, 4.6% of budgetGREATER BAKERSFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $343,845 over 4y, 22% of budgetKERN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $261,700 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetTHE 54 FUND: $250,000 over 1y, 68% of budgetCHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK: $246,550 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTAFT COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $135,000 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $121,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKERN COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS EDUCATIONAL SERVICES FOUNDATION: $110,500 over 4y, 6.7% of budgetBakersfield Womens Business Conference: $106,100 over 4y, 17% of budgetBAKERSFIELD CIVIC LIGHT OPERA ASSOCIATION: $91,667 over 1y, 14% of budgetKern High School District Educational Foundation: $90,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetGlobal Family Care Network Inc: $72,500 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetFAIRFIELD-SUISUN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $49,100 over 3y, 7.8% of budgetCALIFORNIA FORWARD: $45,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetHoffmann Hospice of The Valley: $45,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMENDIBURU MAGIC FOUNDATION AGAINST CANCER: $36,200 over 2y, 47% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBAKERSFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetVACAVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $34,185 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetWORLDWIDE FOUNDATION FOR CREDIT UNIONS INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetKERN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $30,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF SOLANO COUNTY: $28,400 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLINKS FOR LIFE: $25,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetSHEPOWER LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $25,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetMARY GRAHAM CHILDRENS FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetKern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: $25,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetSolano Economic Devco Corp: $22,500 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF THE SEQUOIAS dba IMAGINE U CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $20,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetMOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVING: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTULARE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $18,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP OF KERN: $15,819 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES OF KERN COUNTY: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetAFRICAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF SAN JOAQUIN FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $11,293 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRICHARD MYLES JOHNSON FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetGarden Pathways Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSUPPORT STOCKTON POLICE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budget1984 Grupe Fair Fund: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetTHE GRIMM FAMILY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCALIFORNIA PUMPKIN GROWERS CLUB: $10,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetNAMI KERN COUNTY CHAPTER: $8,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetVISALIA EMERGENCY AID COUNCIL INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE OPEN DOOR NETWORK: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF BAKERSFIELD: $7,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFAMILY RESOURCE & REFERRAL CENTER OF SAN JOAQUIN: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDINUBA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $7,300 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetTHE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF KERN COUNTY: $6,000 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.

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.

Kern Community Founda…The Virginia and Alfr…Dignity HealthBakersfield Memorial …Kaiser Foundation Hos…Bakersfield West Rota…Seedcore FoundationThe California Endowm…Ravi and Naina Patel …Diane S Lake Charitab…William & Florence Wh…Batey Family Charitab…
Kern Community FoundationCA55.6× affinity25 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Kern Community Foundation · The Virginia and Alfred Harrell Foundation · Dignity Health · Bakersfield Memorial Hospital · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · Bakersfield West Rotary-Stroope Family Foundation · Seedcore Foundation · The California Endowment · Ravi and Naina Patel Foundation · Diane S Lake Charitable Trust Lake Diane S Ttee · William & Florence Wheeler Foundation · Batey Family Charitable Trust

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 Valley Strong Cu Fka Kern Schools Federal Credit Union funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Valley Strong Cu Fka Kern Schools Federal Credit Union. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    17report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 71 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 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

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    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