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Vesper Society at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Vesper Society

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.

$34k
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$116kPhilanthropy$64kHealth$47kEmployment$42kYouth Development$23kEducation$22kCivil Rights$15kArts & Culture$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k14 grants · $24k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$1,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$32M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HUMBOLDT AREA FOUNDATION$10,000
NATIVE AMERICANS IN PHILANTHROPY$5,000
THE INK PEOPLE$5,000
ALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK$2,000
MARIN CITY HEALTH$1,750
THE LOS ANGELES UNITED METHODIST URBAN FOUNDATION$1,128
BELOVED EVERYBODY CHURCH$1,000
COMMUNITY PARTNERS$1,000
WALK OAKLAND BIKE OAKLAND$1,000
PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTE$1,000
TAULAMA FOR TONGANS$1,000
NEXT DOOR SOLUTIONS$1,000
OPERATION ACCESS$1,000
ERV COMMUNITY CENTER$1,000
NAPA VALLEY COLLEGE$1,000
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 (FY17–25, $116k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE FREEDOM CENTER: $100 → 7%NEXT DOOR SOLUTIONS: $1k → 8%ON THE MOVE: $1k → 9%LATINO COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 10%KEE CHA-E-NAR CORP: $3k → 17%KEE CHAR E NAR CORPORATION: $3k → 17%SISTERSONG INC: $1k → 13%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1k → 9%THE INN BETWEEN: $1k → 8%FRESNO ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION: $1k → 19%COLLEGE BOUND DORCHESTER: $1k → 16%TWO FEATHERS NATIVE AMERCAN FAMILY SERVICES: $100k → 18%FAMILY INDEPENDENCE INITIATIVE: $1k → 10%BEYOND EMANCIPATION: $1k → 10%BEYOND EMANCIPATION: $1k → 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

IL
NY
MA
NV
OH
CA
UT
MD
AZ
DC
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

30%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$110k · 18 repeat orgs$253k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
93

Total granted

$110k
$238k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+13%

Still filing today

72%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 37% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
HealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureCivil RightsCrime & LegalEducationOther
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

  • IV
    IMPERIAL VALLEY REGIONAL OCCUPATIONAL PROGRAM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2019–2020 · $41k · revenue ×93 · 51% of their budget
  • Native Americans in Philanthropy
    2× · 2022–2025 · $15k · revenue +70%
  • AS
    Ambulatory Surgery Access Coalition
    5× · 2018–2025 · $9k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • TF
    TWO FEATHERS-NAFSgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue +225%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $12k
  • F5
    FIRST 5 HUMBOLDT
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
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
California Consortium for Urban Indian Health

The mission of ccuih is to facilitate shared development resources for our members and to raise public awareness in order to support a health and wellness network that meets the needs of american indians living in urban communities in…

—
2
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

To promote health equity by advocating for public policies and sufficient resources to address the health needs of communities of color.

Health
3
Centro Binacional Para El Desarrollo Indigena Oaxaqueno

Building Indigenous power through collective action to achieve economic, social and cultural development.

International
4
Homeless Childrens Network

To provide direct mental health services, psychotherapy, and counseling to homeless families in San Francisco, CA and in particular to children of such families, to provide referral services for such families and their children to other…

Human Services
5
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
6
Fresno American Indian Health Project

FAIHP promotes a culture of wellness and enhances the quality of life for All Tribal Nations and Communities.

Health
7
Equity Health

Our mission is to ensure health care access to quality comprehensive health care services for persons who are medically needy or medically under-served and have traditionally experienced difficulty in getting care from traditional sources.

—
8
California Black Health Network

The Organization advocates for health equity by leading and facilitating convenings in all regions of California for the purpose of providing policy analysis, research and training that promotes best practices, which supports the creation…

—
9
California Donor Table

California Donor Table anchors a hub of donors, foundations, and community leaders. We pool together our resources to shape California into a truly democratic state that works for the people, not the powerful. Rooted in our commitment to…

Civil Rights
10
Asian Pacific Health Care Venture Inc

Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. is a family of community health centers whose mission is to be the medical home for our patients by providing personalized, quality health care services in a culturally accessible manner.

—
11
Institute for Public Strategies

Institute of Public Strategies (IPS) is a nonprofit corporation that receives its funding from local and federal governmental agencies and private foundations, through long-term grants or contracts to provide community-level services…

Health
12
Inland Behavioral & Health Services Inc

IBHS is dedicated to helping the community achieve and maintain general good health, education and welfare through commitment in providing excellent service in the areas of physical health care, substance abuse treatment, mental health…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Motivating Inspiring Supporting and Serving Sexually Exploited Youth; the most unlike its peers is Washington Interfaith Network. 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

79 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. 79 of the 123 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
77/79
Grantees still filing
50/79
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TWO FEATHERS-NAFS: $100,000 · Human ServicesTWO FEATHERS-NAFSKEE CHA-E-NAR CORPORATION: $5,000 · Human Services+12 more: $12,100 · Human Services+12 moreIndividual grant recipient: $12,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFIRST 5 HUMBOLDT: $10,000 · OtherFIRST 5 HUMBOLDTMARIN CITY HEALTH: $6,750 · OtherMARIN CITY HEALTH+73 more: $94,736 · Other+73 moreHUMBOLDT AREA FOUNDATION: $59,200 · PhilanthropyHUMBOLDT AREA FOUN…TARIQ KHAMISA FOUNDATION INC TKF: $7,000 · PhilanthropyTARIQ KHAMISA FOUN…+2 more: $2,000 · PhilanthropyIMPERIAL VALLEY REGIONAL OCCUPATIONAL PROGRAM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $41,000 · EducationIMPERIAL VALLE…COLLEGE OF THE REDWOODS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationCOLLEGE OF THE…All Five: $3,000 · EducationAll Five+1 more: $1,000 · EducationAmbulatory Surgery Access Coalition: $9,000 · HealthVOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE - SAN FRANCISCO: $5,000 · HealthCalifornia School-Based Health Alliance: $2,500 · HealthCONNECTING TO CARE: $2,000 · HealthASIAN HEALTH SERVICES: $1,538 · Health+11 more: $11,000 · HealthNative Americans in Philanthropy: $15,000 · Civil RightsAsian & Pacific Islander American Vote: $2,500 · Civil RightsNEW GEORGIA PROJECT INC: $1,000 · Civil RightsELLA BAKER CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: $1,000 · Civil RightsINK PEOPLE INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureNOTE-ABLE MUSIC THERAPY SERVICES: $1,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN INDIAN CENTER: $1,000 · Arts & CultureMENDOCINO MUSIC FESTIVAL: $1,000 · Arts & CultureAdvocates for Indigenous California Language Survival: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Human Services$117,100Other$123,486Philanthropy$68,200Education$55,000Health$31,038Civil Rights$19,500Arts & Culture$9,000

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 budgetTWO FEATHERS-NAFS: $100,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetHUMBOLDT AREA FOUNDATION: $59,200 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetIMPERIAL VALLEY REGIONAL OCCUPATIONAL PROGRAM COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $41,000 over 2y, 51% of budgetNative Americans in Philanthropy: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOLLEGE OF THE REDWOODS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAmbulatory Surgery Access Coalition: $9,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTARIQ KHAMISA FOUNDATION INC TKF: $7,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetVOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE - SAN FRANCISCO: $5,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetINK PEOPLE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKEE CHA-E-NAR CORPORATION: $5,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetNative American Health Center Inc: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMPERIAL VALLEY FOOD BANK: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAll Five: $3,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAsian & Pacific Islander American Vote: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCalifornia School-Based Health Alliance: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCONNECTING TO CARE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetOCO CLUB: $2,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAlliance in Mentorship: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetALAMEDA COUNTY COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYES Nature to Neighborhoods: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBEYOND EMANCIPATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHEALTHRIGHT 360: $1,893 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASIAN HEALTH SERVICES: $1,538 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES URBAN FOUDATION: $1,203 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFriendship House Association of American Indians Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSudanese American Physicians Assn: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW GEORGIA PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetON THE MOVE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLADIES EMPOWERMENT AND ACTION PROGRAM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWalk Oakland Bike Oakland: $1,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetAmerican Youth Service Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetEast Bay Bicycle Coalition DBA Bike East Bay: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSustainable Harvest International: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSave California Salmon: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNCORNERED INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMENDOCINO MUSIC FESTIVAL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAdvocates for Indigenous California Language Survival: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON REGIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GRANTMAKERS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHANDSON BAY AREA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Indian Center of Salt Lake: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEAST BAY COMMUNITY LAW CENTER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDREAMORG: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthern Nevada HIV Outpatient Program Education and Services: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEXT DOOR SOLUTIONS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMINDRIGHT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAsian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center Inc: $1,000 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.

The California Wellne…The California Endowm…Kaiser Foundation Hos…The San Francisco Fou…East Bay Community Fo…Sierra Health Foundat…ImpactassetsincThe James Irvine Foun…Tides FoundationFirst Nations Develop…Silicon Valley Commun…McNabb Foundation
The California Wellness FoundationCA38.6× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The California Wellness Foundation · The California Endowment · Kaiser Foundation Hospitals · The San Francisco Foundation · East Bay Community Foundation · Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management · Impactassetsinc · The James Irvine Foundation · Tides Foundation · First Nations Development Institute · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · McNabb 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 Vesper Society funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Vesper Society. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 24%
  • Uncornered Inc: 24% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
24report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 Vesper Society?

Find your warmest path to Vesper Society 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 123 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 Vesper Society’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