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Waitt Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Waitt 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.

$9.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
42
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$7.1M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Environment$30MSocial Science$27MAnimals$3.2MHealth$984kScience & Tech$520kEducation$503kInternational$390kPhilanthropy$231kOther$0
02FY2024 · 42 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k26 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $140k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $453k
  • $250k+6 grants · $9.3M
$1,500
Median grant
11
States reached
$136M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WAITT INSTITUTE$7,141,280
BREN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT (UCSB)$692,444
SEASKETCH$600,366
OCEANO AZUL FOUNDATION$300,000
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA- SD$275,000
THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND$250,000
GLOBAL FISHING WATCH$200,000
CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION$153,377
SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE$100,000
BARBUDANGO$30,000
UNYT UTO NI YALO TRUST$25,000
BERMUDA UNDERWATER EXPLORATION INSTITUTE BUEI$20,000
MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY$20,000
MICRONESIA CONSERVATION TRUST$20,000
OCEAN FOUNDATION$15,000
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 (FY17–24, $41k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, 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%KULTURECITY: $10k → 16%KULTURECITY: $10k → 16%SIOUXLAND Y: $755 → 12%CENTER FOR SIOUXLAND: $200 → 13%UNION OF PAN ASIAN COMMUNITIES: $250 → 11%PARTNERS FOR PATRIOTS: $100 → 13%SIMPLE LIFE: $100 → 13%CAMP HIGH HOPES: $10k → 13%CRITTENTON CENTER: $3k → 13%CRITTENTON CENTER: $3k → 13%CRITTENTON CENTER: $2k → 13%MARY TREGLIA COMMUNITY HOUSE: $1k → 13%CRITTENTON CENTER: $2k → 13%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

WA
ID
MN
IL
NY
MA
SD
IA
IN
PA
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
VA
MD
AZ
TN
DC
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$58M · 78 repeat orgs$4.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +43% for those funded once.

78 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 59 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

78
138

Total granted

$58M
$4.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+43%

Still filing today

58%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $337k 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
EnvironmentAnimalsHuman ServicesEducationArts & 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

  • WI
    WAITT INSTITUTE
    7× · 2018–2024 · $27M · revenue +293% · 100% of their budget
  • WC
    Wildlife Conservation Society
    3× · 2017–2019 · $3.0M · revenue +59%
  • CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
    5× · 2019–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +120%

Funded once

  • WI
    WAITT INSTITUTE
    one grant, 2017 · $1.6M
  • CI
    CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $300k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES UCLA INSTITUTE OF THE ENVIRONMENT & SU
    one grant, 2017 · $300k
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 Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
3
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc

Connect conservationists and supporters, deploy resources to the field, provide conservationists with tools and support they need to succeed.

Animals
4
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
5
Wildaid Inc

Wildaid's mission is to inspire change and empower the world to protect wildlife and vital habitats from critical threats.

Animals
6
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
7
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
8
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
9
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
10
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
11
Aquarium of the Pacific Corporation

The aquarium of the pacific's mission is to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the pacific ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems.

Animals
12
The Humane Society for Seattleking County

Seattle humane promotes the human-animal bond by saving and serving pets in need, regardless of age, ability, circumstance or geography.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Diego Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Waitt Institute. 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

126 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. 126 of the 244 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)
36
Early backer (in before they grew)
125/126
Grantees still filing
94/126
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OCEANS 5: $6,500,000 · OtherOCEANS 5BREN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & MANAGEMENT (UCSB): $5,357,751 · OtherBREN SCHOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & MANAGEMEN…SEASKETCH: $3,604,149 · OtherSEASKETCHWAITT INSTITUTE: $1,550,000 · OtherWAITT INSTITUTEOCEANO AZUL FOUNDATION: $1,282,762 · OtherPHOENIX ISLANDS PROTECTED AREA CONSERVATION TRUST: $1,125,000 · OtherFISH FOREVER RARE INC: $1,000,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO: $924,930 · Other+140 more: $5,648,345 · Other+140 moreWAITT INSTITUTE: $26,841,280 · Arts & CultureWAITT INSTITUTE+5 more: $38,280 · Arts & CultureCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,240,813 · EnvironmentGLOBAL FISHING WATCH INC: $600,000 · EnvironmentOCEANA INC: $325,000 · EnvironmentOCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE ACTION ALLIANCE INC: $310,000 · EnvironmentEnvironmental Law Institute: $260,000 · EnvironmentOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $191,333 · EnvironmentSUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC: $116,000 · Environment+8 more: $329,495 · EnvironmentWildlife Conservation Society: $3,010,000 · Animals+11 more: $237,287 · AnimalsMARINE CONSERVATION BIOLOGY INSTITUTE: $550,000 · EducationNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $500,000 · EducationWAITT INSTITUTE FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION: $400,000 · Education+4 more: $12,398 · EducationINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $291,387 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $200,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF SIOUXLAND INC: $28,080 · Philanthropy+2 more: $3,500 · PhilanthropyGLOBAL EMERGENCY RELIEF RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION: $79,600 · International+6 more: $4,306 · International
Other$26,992,937Arts & Culture$26,879,560Environment$3,372,641Animals$3,247,287Education$1,462,398Philanthropy$522,967International$83,906

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetWAITT INSTITUTE: $26,841,280 over 7y, 100% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $3,010,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,240,813 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetGLOBAL FISHING WATCH INC: $600,000 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetMARINE CONSERVATION BIOLOGY INSTITUTE: $550,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY: $500,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWAITT INSTITUTE FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION: $400,000 over 4y, 100% of budgetOCEANA INC: $325,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetOCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE ACTION ALLIANCE INC: $310,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $291,387 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetEnvironmental Law Institute: $260,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetTHE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $191,333 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $182,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC: $116,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetINT'L UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE & NATURAL RESOURCES - US: $100,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetPaso Pacifico: $100,000 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSave the Waves Coalition: $80,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetGLOBAL EMERGENCY RELIEF RECOVERY AND RECONSTRUCTION: $79,600 over 1y, 11% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetINTERNEWS NETWORK: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SIOUXLAND INC: $28,080 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetKultureCity: $20,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetSHARKS PACIFIC: $19,987 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetCORE COMMUNITY ORGANIZED RELIEF EFFORT: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSAN DIEGO DIPLOMACY COUNCIL: $15,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetISLAND CONSERVATION: $14,365 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBLUE WORLD FOUNDATION INC: $13,400 over 1y, 9.1% of budgetFOOD BANK OF SIOUXLAND INC: $12,264 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetEARTH LAW CENTER: $12,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetSIOUXLAND HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $10,300 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCAMP HIGH HOPES: $10,187 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBENEATH THE WAVES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMIGRAMAR: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSEACOLOGY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOcean Alliance Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE CRITTENTON CENTER: $10,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY: $9,955 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES LGBT CENTER: $9,496 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSEA SHEPHERD LEGAL: $8,590 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetSHESLER HALL: $5,600 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetCHURCH WORLD SERVICE INC: $2,250 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WARMING SHELTER INC: $2,100 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE ANC & EFF ORD OF LTLE YLW DOG: $2,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetHER HEALTH WOMENS CENTER: $1,550 over 3y, 0.1% 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.

  • Who funds WAITT INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Wildlife Conservation Society ↗
  • Who funds CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL FISHING WATCH INC ↗
  • Who funds MARINE CONSERVATION BIOLOGY INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds WAITT INSTITUTE FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION ↗
  • Who funds OCEANA INC ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE ACTION ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Environmental Law Institute ↗
  • Who funds THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds SUSTAINABLE OCEAN ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds INT'L UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE & NATURAL RESOURCES - US ↗
  • Who funds Paso Pacifico ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds Save the Waves Coalition ↗

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.

Missouri River Histor…Siouxland Community F…The Chesterman Family…Berenstein Family Fou…Peterson Family Found…Helios FoundationThe Marisla FoundationRonald B and Joan B K…The Roth & Letch Fami…Mercy Health Services…Food Bank of Siouxlan…Baird Foundation Inc
Missouri River Historical Development IncIA51.5× affinity23 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Missouri River Historical Development Inc · Siouxland Community Foundation · The Chesterman Family Foundation · Berenstein Family Foundation · Peterson Family Foundation · Helios Foundation · The Marisla Foundation · Ronald B and Joan B Krage Foundation · The Roth & Letch Family Charitable Foundation · Mercy Health Services - Iowa Corp · Food Bank of Siouxland Inc · Baird Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
29report 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 Waitt Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Waitt 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 244 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 Waitt’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