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Whimsie Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Whimsie Fund

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.

$322k
Granted FY2024still arriving
17
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$111k
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, FY2019 to 2024.

Human Services$575kEducation$534kArts & Culture$180kRecreation & Sports$132kHealth$64kEnvironment$30kPhilanthropy$23kPublic Safety & Disaster$20kOther$0
02FY2024 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $41k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $120k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $161k
$10,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$5.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$111,000
LAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL$50,000
WINDMARK FOUNDATION$25,000
OLDFIELDS SCHOOL$25,000
LOBERTO THEATRE$15,000
SANTA BARBARA MARITIME MUSEUM$15,000
ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY$15,000
SANTA BARBARA YOUTH SAILING FDN$15,000
TRANSPAC YACHT CLUB$10,000
ISLAND ACADEMY$8,500
VNA HEALTH FOUNDATION$5,000
HEARTS THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTE$5,000
ELING'S PARK FOUNDATION$5,000
LAKE FOREST COLLEGE$5,000
SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION$5,000
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 (FY20–21, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, 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%HEARTS THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER: $5k → 14%HEARTS THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER: $5k → 14%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
PA
RI
CA
MD
DC
GA
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 12 repeat orgs$210k to everyone else

12 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
13

Total granted

$1.6M
$127k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+53%

Still filing today

75%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 74% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $84k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • LB
    LAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL
    6× · 2019–2024 · $307k · revenue +42%
  • SB
    SANTA BARBARA MARITIME MUSEUM
    5× · 2020–2024 · $103k · revenue +98%
  • SB
    Santa Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation
    6× · 2019–2024 · $100k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • MB
    MANHATTAN BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +53%
  • NH
    NEWPORT HARBOR SAILING FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $12k · revenue +152%
  • DR
    DIRECT RELIEF FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $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
Uc Santa Barbara Foundation

The uc santa barbara foundation actively works to further the goals of the university of california, santa barbara. the foundation seeks to maintain and nurture the university's quality and distinction. on behalf of the campus, the…

Education
2
Santa Barbara Education Foundation

Santa Barbara Education Foundation (SBEF) provides and supports programs that enrich the academic, artistic, and personal development of all students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District.

Education
3
Santa Barbara Middle School

To operate a school for grades 6-9, delivering a holistic program of academics, arts & athletics, community service, and outdoor education that fosters passion for life and learning, self trust, strength and courage to succeed, and…

Education
4
Santa Barbara Historical Museum

To inspire meaningful connections to santa barbara history.

Arts & Culture
5
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

The following three guiding principles are the foundation for all of the santa barbara museum of natural history's activities: inspiring an awe for nature and a thirst for discovery; promoting sustainability; and connecting our…

Arts & Culture
6
The International School of San Francisco

Guided by the principles of academic rigor and diversity, the international school of san francisco offers programs of study in french and english to prepare its graduates for a world in which the ability to think critically and to…

Education
7
Marin Academy

Marin academy asks every individual to think, question, and create in an environment of encouragement and compassion, and challenges each person to accept the responsibilities posed by education in a democratic society.

Education
8
The Foundation for Santa Barbara City College

The sbcc foundation fuels the excellence of santa barbara city college by engaging the community, building relationships, and inviting the generosity of donors. the resources raised and managed by the foundation enrich college programs,…

Education
9
Santa Barbara Public Library Foundation

The santa barbara public library foundation supports the long-term health and sustainability of the santa barbara public library through public-private partnerships.

Public Benefit
10
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
11
Scripps College

To educate women to develop their intellect and talents through active participation in a community of scholars, so that as graduates they may contribute to society through public and private lives of leadership, service, integrity and…

Education
12
Uc Riverside Foundation

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

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Santa Barbara Foundation; the most unlike its peers is McIntyre House. 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

22 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. 22 of the 33 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
17/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

YMCA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICES: $565,000 · OtherYMCA YOUTH & FAMILY SERVICESIndividual grant recipient: $261,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSanta Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation: $100,000 · OtherSanta Barbara Youth Sailing FoundationLOBERTO THEATRE: $70,000 · OtherLOBERTO THEATRE+12 more: $92,000 · Other+12 moreLAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL: $307,000 · EducationLAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOLLake Forest College: $75,000 · EducationLake Forest CollegeROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY: $67,500 · EducationROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITYMANHATTAN BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationMANHATTAN BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDAT…OLDFIELDS SCHOOL INC: $25,000 · Education+1 more: $8,500 · EducationSANTA BARBARA MARITIME MUSEUM: $102,500 · Arts & CultureNEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $2,500 · Arts & CultureVNA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $30,000 · HealthMcIntyre House: $13,500 · HealthCANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA: $5,000 · HealthCOMMUNITY COALITION: $10,000 · PhilanthropySANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $7,500 · PhilanthropyWOMEN'S FUND OF SANTA BARBARA: $5,500 · PhilanthropyNEWPORT HARBOR SAILING FOUNDATION: $12,000 · Recreation & SportsHEARTS THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER: $10,000 · Human Services
Other$1,088,000Education$533,000Arts & Culture$110,000Health$48,500Philanthropy$23,000Recreation & Sports$12,000Human Services$10,000

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 budgetLAGUNA BLANCA SCHOOL: $307,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetSANTA BARBARA MARITIME MUSEUM: $102,500 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetSanta Barbara Youth Sailing Foundation: $100,000 over 6y, 4.4% of budgetLake Forest College: $75,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY: $67,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMANHATTAN BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetVNA HEALTH FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetOLDFIELDS SCHOOL INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMcIntyre House: $13,500 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetNEWPORT HARBOR SAILING FOUNDATION: $12,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY COALITION: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetHEARTS THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER: $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIsland Academy Inc: $8,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN'S FUND OF SANTA BARBARA: $5,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEWPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetURBAN TREE FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetVAN NESS RECOVERY HOUSE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetELINGS PARK FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOAKBROOK PARK CHUMASH INDIAN CORPORATION: $2,500 over 1y, 3.7% 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.

Hutton Foundation Dba…Santa Barbara Foundat…Www FoundationThe Robert & Christin…Mosher FoundationAnn Jackson Family Fo…Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Nurture FoundationThe John C Mithun Fou…Alice Tweed Tuohy Fou…June G Outhwaite Char…Mithun Family Foundat…
Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker FoundationCA21.9× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hutton Foundation Dba Hutton Parker Foundation · Santa Barbara Foundation · Www Foundation · The Robert & Christine Emmons Foundation · Mosher Foundation · Ann Jackson Family Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Nurture Foundation · The John C Mithun Foundation · Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation · June G Outhwaite Charitable Trust JS Poucher KL Englert & CM Cooney Co-Tr · Mithun Family 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 Whimsie Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Whimsie Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%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
    1get no government money at all
    2report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Whimsie Fund?

    Find your warmest path to Whimsie Fund 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 33 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 Whimsie’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