California · Private foundation
Vital Spark Foundation
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
- $724k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 4
- Grants FY2025
- 12
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 83%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $357,793
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $357,793
- Organizations funded a year
- 2 to 12
- FY2018 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 3
- Applications
- Takes unsolicited applications
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 83% of the organizations Vital Spark Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 73% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 27% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $19k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 4 | $724k | 75% |
| FY2024 | 12 | $26k | 83% |
| FY2023 | 8 | $46k | 50% |
| FY2022 | 4 | $34k | 75% |
| FY2021 | 2 | $29k | 100% |
| FY2020 | 5 | $37k | 20% |
| FY2019 | 5 | $40k | 20% |
| FY2018 | 4 | $38k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smj Spark Foundation | $357,793 | 1 | n/a |
| Center for Biological Diversity Inc | $61,000 | 5 | 0% |
| US Right to Know | $20,000 | 1 | 3% |
| The Innocence Project Inc | $19,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Population Media Center Inc | $19,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Reading Legacies | $19,000 | 3 | 2% |
| The White Coat Waste Project Inc | $18,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Organic Consumers Association | $16,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Pacific Repertory Theatre | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Josephine Kernes Memorial Pool | $2,500 | 1 | 1% |
Show all 18 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smj Spark Foundation | $357,793 | 1 | n/a |
| Center for Biological Diversity Inc | $61,000 | 5 | 0% |
| US Right to Know | $20,000 | 1 | 3% |
| The Innocence Project Inc | $19,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Population Media Center Inc | $19,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Reading Legacies | $19,000 | 3 | 2% |
| The White Coat Waste Project Inc | $18,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Organic Consumers Association | $16,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Pacific Repertory Theatre | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Josephine Kernes Memorial Pool | $2,500 | 1 | 1% |
| Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated | $2,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research Education and Conservation | $2,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Institute of Noetic Sciences | $2,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Middle East Children's Alliance | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Mara Elephant Project USA Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Chimp Haven Inc | $1,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Lantern Theater Company | $500 | 1 | 0% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 10 recipients with no EIN on record ($420k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Vital Spark Foundation supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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: The Chicago Community Trust · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
About Vital Spark Foundation
- How much does Vital Spark Foundation give?
- Vital Spark Foundation reported 4 grants totaling $723,934 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 2 and 12 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2024.
- What does Vital Spark Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2025, its largest causes are Philanthropy (73%), Environment (9%), Health (3%).
- Who are Vital Spark Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2018 to FY2025: Smj Spark Foundation ($358k), Center for Biological Diversity Inc ($61k), US Right to Know ($20k).
- Does Vital Spark Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 83% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Vital Spark Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Vital Spark Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Chicago Community Trust, National Philanthropic Trust, Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc.
- Where is Vital Spark Foundation based?
- Vital Spark Foundation is based in CA.
Play a game based on Vital Spark’s filings →