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Wisteria Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Wisteria Foundation

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.

$94k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$275kHealth$76kYouth Development$74kArts & Culture$33kEmployment$25kCivil Rights$20kAnimals$13kEnvironment$10k
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $29k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $65k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute$30,000
Carnegie Mellon University$20,000
UC Berkeley$15,000
REEL2e$6,000
Palo Alto Art Center Foundation$5,000
St Jude Children's Research Hospita$5,000
The Center for Health Care Services$4,000
Boy Scouts of America$3,000
Youth Community Service Inc$3,000
Ada's Cafe$3,000
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 (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%Carnegie Mellon University: $20k → 11%Boy Scouts of America: $10k → 7%REEL2e: $6k → 8%80-20 Educational Foundation Inc: $20k → 9%UC Berkeley: $15k → 10%St Jude Children's Research Hospita: $20k → 10%Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $30k → 11%Students for Fair Admission: $20k → 7%Carnegie Mellon University: $10k → 11%Boy Scouts of America: $10k → 7%REEL2e: $6k → 8%UC Berkeley: $10k → 10%St Jude Children's Research Hospita: $8k → 10%Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $10k → 11%Nature Conservancy Inc: $5k → 7%Carnegie Mellon University: $10k → 11%Boy Scouts of America: $8k → 7%REEL2e: $6k → 8%UC Berkeley: $10k → 10%St Jude Children's Research Hospita: $8k → 10%Carnegie Mellon University: $10k → 11%Boy Scouts of America: $8k → 7%REEL2e: $5k → 8%UC Berkeley: $8k → 10%St Jude Children's Research Hospita: $8k → 10%Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society: $5k → 8%St Jude Children's Research Hospita: $5k → 10%Happy Hollow Foundation: $8k → 8%Palo Alto Art Center Foundation: $8k → 8%Ada's Cafe: $6k → 8%Ada's Cafe: $6k → 8%Girls Middle School: $5k → 8%Palo Alto Art Center Foundation: $5k → 8%Palo Alto Art Center Foundation: $5k → 8%Palo Alto Art Center Foundation: $5k → 8%Palo Alto Art Center Foundation: $5k → 8%Ada's Cafe: $5k → 8%Ada's Cafe: $5k → 8%Youth Community Service Inc: $8k → 8%Youth Community Service Inc: $8k → 8%Youth Community Service Inc: $8k → 8%Youth Community Service Inc: $8k → 8%The Center for Health Care Services: $8k → 8%The Center for Health Care Services: $5k → 8%The Center for Health Care Services: $5k → 8%The Center for Health Care Services: $5k → 8%Our City Forest: $5k → 8%The Center for Health Care Services: $4k → 8%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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$453k · 11 repeat orgs$68k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
7

Total granted

$453k
$68k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+58%

Still filing today

64%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’19’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureEnvironmentYouth DevelopmentEmploymentCivil RightsOther
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

  • CM
    Carnegie Mellon University
    4× · 2022–2025 · $50k · revenue +26%
  • Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
    2× · 2024–2025 · $40k · revenue +4%
  • YC
    YOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICES INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $35k · revenue +46%

Funded once

  • SF
    Students For Fair Admissions Incgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +152%
  • 8E
    80-20 Educational Foundation Inc
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
  • HH
    Happy Hollow Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $8k · revenue +130%
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 Girls' School

To educate and inspire girls to become innovators and leaders in stem.

—
2
President-Board of Trustees Santa Clara College

Scu is a catholic and jesuit institution that makes student learning its central focus, promotes faculty and staff learning in its various forms, and exhibits organizational learning.

Education
3
University of California Student Association

The University of California Student Association (UCSA) is a coalition of students and student governments that aims to provide a collective voice for all students through advocacy and direct action. UCSA participates in the shared…

Education
4
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
5
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.

—
6
Uc Berkeley Center for Executive Education

UC Berkeley Center for Executive Education ("CEE") is a nonprofit public benefit corporation dedicated to promoting and advancing education through its executive education programs for corporate and institutional clients seeking continuing…

Education
7
Pitzer College

Pitzer College produces engaged socially responsible citizens of the world through an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary liberal arts education emphasizing social justice, intercultural understanding and environmental sensitivity.…

Education
8
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
9
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
10
Sacramento Zoological Society

The sacramento zoo inspires appreciation, respect and a connection with wildlife and nature through education, recreation and conservation.

Animals
11
The Seattle Academy of Arts & Sciences

Seattle academy is a dynamic community that challenges students to question, imagine, and create in order to contribute to a changing world.

Education
12
The Seven Hills School

The institution provides educational instruction and activities to students ranging from preschool through 8th grade.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Youth Community Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is REEL2e. 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

14 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. 14 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
13/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Partners in Education: $94,000 · OtherPartners in EducationCarnegie Mellon University: $50,000 · OtherCarnegie Mellon UniversitySt Jude Children's Research Hospita: $49,000 · OtherSt Jude Children's Research HospitaUC Berkeley: $43,000 · OtherUC BerkeleyPACIFIC SKYLINE COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $39,000 · OtherPACIFIC SKYLINE COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICAThe Center for Health Care Services: $27,000 · OtherThe Center for Health Care Services80-20 Educational Foundation Inc: $20,000 · Other80-20 Educational Foundation Inc+1 more: $5,000 · OtherRensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $40,000 · EducationRensselaer Pol…REEL2e: $23,000 · EducationREEL2eTHE GIRLS' MIDDLE SCHOOL: $5,000 · EducationTHE GIRLS' MID…YOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentPALO ALTO ART CENTER FOUNDATION: $28,000 · Arts & CultureCITY LIGHTS THEATER CO OF SAN JOSE INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureAda's Cafe: $25,000 · EmploymentStudents For Fair Admissions Inc: $20,000 · Civil RightsSANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE: $5,000 · EnvironmentOUR CITY FOREST: $5,000 · EnvironmentHappy Hollow Foundation: $8,000 · Animals
Other$327,000Education$68,000Youth Development$35,000Arts & Culture$33,000Employment$25,000Civil Rights$20,000Environment$10,000Animals$8,000

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 budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $50,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPACIFIC SKYLINE COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $39,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTH COMMUNITY SERVICES INC: $35,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetPALO ALTO ART CENTER FOUNDATION: $28,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetAda's Cafe: $25,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetREEL2e: $23,000 over 4y, 7.0% of budgetStudents For Fair Admissions Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetHappy Hollow Foundation: $8,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSANTA CLARA VALLEY BIRD ALLIANCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCITY LIGHTS THEATER CO OF SAN JOSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE GIRLS' MIDDLE SCHOOL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOUR CITY FOREST: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Silicon Valley Commun…The David and Lucile …Valley Health Foundat…American Online Givin…Morgan Stanley Global…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Silicon Valley Community FoundationCA18.5× affinity8 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The David and Lucile Packard Foundation · Valley Health Foundation (Vhf) · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Wisteria Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Wisteria Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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.

    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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Wisteria’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