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William Fries II Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

William Fries II 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.

$1.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$600k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Science & Tech$4.0MHealth$2.0MPhilanthropy$1.0MArts & Culture$787kFood & Nutrition$730kAnimals$250kEnvironment$250kReligion$125kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $480k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.0M
$75,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$37M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$600,000
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals$400,000
THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION$180,000
SAN FRANCISCO - MARIN FOOD BANK$100,000
CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND$75,000
ST ANTHONY FOUNDATION$75,000
SAN FRANCISCO EDUCATION FUND$50,000
San Francisco Symphony$25,000
San Francisco Opera$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF POTOMAC: $87k → 10%CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE: $1.5M → 10%The Living Desert: $250k → 11%CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $192k → 12%ST ANTHONY FOUNDATION: $50k → 9%THE POTOMAC ASSOCIATION: $25k → 10%CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $700k → 10%CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $192k → 12%ST ANTHONY FOUNDATION: $20k → 9%THE POTOMAC ASSOCIATION: $25k → 10%CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $300k → 10%CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $192k → 12%UFC Berkeley: $600k → 10%CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $75k → 10%CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $175k → 12%CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $75k → 10%CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $75k → 10%CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $75k → 10%CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $50k → 10%CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $35k → 10%ASIAN ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION OF SAN FRANCISCO: $125k → 10%ASIAN ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION OF SAN FRANCISCO: $125k → 10%ST ANTHONY FOUNDATION: $75k → 10%ST ANTHONY FOUNDATION: $50k → 10%San Francisco Symphony: $25k → 10%San Francisco Opera: $25k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO - MARIN FOOD BANK: $100k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO - MARIN FOOD BANK: $75k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO - MARIN FOOD BANK: $75k → 10%SF-MARIN FOOD BANK: $50k → 10%SF-MARIN FOOD BANK: $45k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $250k → 10%THE EXPLORATORIUM: $1.0M → 10%THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $325k → 10%THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $237k → 10%THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $180k → 10%THE EXPLORATORIUM: $175k → 10%THE EXPLORATORIUM: $175k → 10%THE EXPLORATORIUM: $150k → 10%THE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $100k → 10%KQED INC: $250k → 10%KQED INC: $100k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO EDUCATION FUND: $50k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO EDUCATION FUND: $25k → 10%SAN FRANCISCO EDUCATION FUND: $25k → 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.
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.6M · 12 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

12 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
3

Total granted

$7.6M
$587k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+4%
+57%

Still filing today

75%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 52% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $650k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHealthFood & NutritionAnimalsEducationOther
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

  • CA
    CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
    3× · 2017–2022 · $2.5M · revenue +17%
  • CP
    CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION
    4× · 2019–2022 · $750k · revenue +64%
  • CS
    CHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND
    6× · 2019–2024 · $385k · revenue +78%

Funded once

  • SF
    SAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue -11%
  • LD
    LIVING DESERT THEgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue +57%
  • TA
    The Association for the Preservation of the Potomacgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $87k · revenue +191% · 27% of their budget
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
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

See schedule osfmoma believes the art of our time is vital and shares it with passion and purpose, and that art and the creative process can open minds and help build a better world. for that reason, we assemble unparalleled collections,…

Arts & Culture
2
Sonoma Botanical Garden
—
3
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
4
San Francisco Botanical Garden Society At Strybing Arboretum

Gardens of golden gate park connects people to plants, the planet, and each other. the gardens offer educational and experiential programs for visitors and actively manages the living collections.

Environment
5
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is dedicated to the conservation of birds and their habitats through science and outreach.

Environment
6
San Francisco Challenge dba AmericaOne
Recreation & Sports
7
San Francisco Film Society

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM connects and inspires audiences, students and teachers, and filmmakers through our film…

—
8
San Francisco Public Press

The mission of the San Francisco Public Press is to enrich civic life by publishing investigative and solutions journalism that engages diverse audiences and promotes public accountability. The San Francisco Public Press…

Education
9
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
10
The San Francisco School

A private school that cultivates and celebrates the intellectual, imaginative, and humanitarian promise of each student in a community that practices mutual respect, embraces diversity, and inspires passion for learning.

—
11
San Francisco Friends School

At san francisco friends school, students learn in a community grounded in the quaker values of reflection, integrity, peaceful problem-solving and stewardship. our teachers challenge students with a dynamic curriculum that inspires…

Education
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Francisco Foundation; the most unlike its peers is San Francisco Opera Association. 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

15 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. 15 of the 19 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
9/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $2,500,000 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCESTHE EXPLORATORIUM: $1,500,000 · Arts & CultureTHE EXPLORATORIUMKQED INC: $350,000 · Arts & CultureKQED INCASIAN ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION OF SAN FRANCISCO: $250,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $137,000 · Arts & CultureUCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals: $1,200,000 · OtherUCSF Benioff Children's Hos…Individual grant recipient: $600,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $345,000 · OtherSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANKST ANTHONY FOUNDATION: $125,000 · Other+2 more: $120,000 · OtherTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $1,042,000 · PhilanthropyTHE SAN FRA…CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $750,000 · HealthCHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $385,000 · Food & NutritionSAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $250,000 · AnimalsLIVING DESERT THE: $250,000 · EnvironmentSan Francisco Education Fund: $100,000 · Education
Arts & Culture$4,737,000Other$2,390,000Philanthropy$1,042,000Health$750,000Food & Nutrition$385,000Animals$250,000Environment$250,000Education$100,000

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 budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $2,500,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetTHE EXPLORATORIUM: $1,500,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetTHE SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $1,042,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $750,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetCHRONICLE SEASON OF SHARING FUND: $385,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetKQED INC: $350,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO FOOD BANK: $345,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $250,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetLIVING DESERT THE: $250,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetASIAN ART MUSEUM FOUNDATION OF SAN FRANCISCO: $250,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSan Francisco Education Fund: $100,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetThe Association for the Preservation of the Potomac: $87,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetSt Anthony Foundation: $70,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO SYMPHONY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $25,000 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.

Lisa & Douglas Goldma…The James Irvine Foun…Gordon E and Betty I …Jewish Community Fede…Silicon Valley Commun…Gs Donor Advised Phil…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Lisa & Douglas Goldman FundCA13.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund · The James Irvine Foundation · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Jewish Community Federation of San · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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 William Fries II Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from William Fries II Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 William Fries II Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to William Fries II 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 19 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 William Fries II’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