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· Private foundation

Zendesk Charitable Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.6M
Granted FY2022
79
Grants FY2022
10
States reached
$300k
Largest

Read this first · the figures below need context

69% of Zendesk Charitable Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to American Online Giving Foundation Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 1 organization directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2022, the last year Zendesk Charitable Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 31 organizations, $3M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

36
’17
28
’18
24
’19
32
’20
38
’21
31
’22
1
’23
1
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$4.8MCommunity Improvement$2.0MCivil Rights$1.8MInternational$1.7MHuman Services$1.1MEducation$880kPublic Safety & Disaster$854kEnvironment$760kOther$0
02FY2022 · 79 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k9 grants · $49k
  • $10k–50k53 grants · $933k
  • $50k–250k15 grants · $1.1M
  • $250k+2 grants · $600k
$20,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$5.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
World Central Kitchen Inc$300,000
International Rescue Committee Inc$300,000
Team4Tech Foundation$200,000
International Rescue Committee Inc$200,000
Young Professionals in Foreign Policy dba Globally$50,000
JOBCARE CLG$50,000
The Immigration Project dba Mobile Pathways$50,000
KINDWORK INC$50,000
Rare dba Rare Inc$50,000
NPower Inc$50,000
Individual grant recipient$50,000
INSTITUTO DA OPORTUNIDADE SOCIAL$50,000
TechSoup Global$50,000
THE ASIA FOUNDATION$50,000
GLIDE$50,000
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.

US giving: 63% of grant dollars ($12M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 37% that went abroad ($6.8M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–23, $1.6M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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%MADISON AREA FOOD PANTRY GARDENS INC: $8k → 10%NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC: $500k → 17%BREAD OF LIFE INC: $10k → 16%MADISON AREA FOOD PANTRY GARDENS INC: $8k → 10%MADISON AREA FOOD PANTRY GARDENS INC: $6k → 10%MADISON AREA FOOD PANTRY GARDENS INC: $5k → 10%MADISON AREA FOOD PANTRY GARDENS INC: $5k → 10%Change Machine: $25k → 20%GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%Friends of the World Food Program Inc: $150k → 14%Shelter Tech: $10k → 10%GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%Friends of the World Food Program Inc: $100k → 14%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $50k → 10%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $40k → 10%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $40k → 10%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $20k → 10%EPISCOPAL COMMUNITY SERVICES: $20k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $10k → 10%YWCA MADISON: $10k → 10%YWCA MADISON: $10k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $50k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $50k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $50k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $40k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $35k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $30k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $30k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $30k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $25k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $20k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $10k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $10k → 10%BAY AREA WOMEN'S & CHILDREN'S CENTER: $10k → 10%CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $10k → 10%COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
SD
PA
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
DC
AL
TX

Beyond the US: 37% of all-years giving ($6.8M)

24 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
United Kingdom$2.3M · 54 grants
Ireland$1.1M · 46 grants
Philippines$672k · 58 grants
Brazil$635k · 35 grants
Australia$626k · 51 grants
Singapore$429k · 45 grants
Belgium$250k · 2 grants
Denmark$212k · 25 grants
France$138k · 19 grants
Sweden$100k · 1 grant
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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 28% of Zendesk Charitable Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Zendesk Charitable Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 36% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 90 repeat orgs$3.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +37% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

90 repeat relationships: 41 still active in FY2022, 49 since wound down; 33 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call). Read against FY2022, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

90
55

Total granted

$12M
$2.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+27%

Still filing today

43%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureCivil RightsCommunity ImprovementInternationalOther
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

  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $1.3M · revenue +63%
  • WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $809k · revenue +167%
  • GF
    GLIDE FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2022 · $414k · revenue +51%

Funded once

  • NU
    NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC
    one grant, 2020 · $500k · revenue -65%
  • WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC
    one grant, 2021 · $500k · revenue -10%
  • FRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue +117%
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
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
2
Coop Careers Inc

Building a movement of diverse, upwardly mobile college grads overcoming underemployment through digital skills and peer connections.

Education
3
Common Future

Common future is a network of pioneering leaders across the u.s. and canada who work deeply within their communities to create alternative approaches to business, philanthropy, and investing. we envision an economy that has transitioned…

Community Improvement
4
Kqed Inc

See schedule okqed serves the people of northern california with a community-supported alternative to commercial media, providing the knowledge needed to make informed decisions; convening community dialogue; bringing the arts to everyone;…

Arts & Culture
5
Upturn Inc

Upturn advances equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology.

—
6
Unitedly

Unitedly is a nonprofit organization based in San Mateo County, California. Unitedly was established to ensure Asian families and communities have access to equitable opportunities and resources to thrive in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Human Services
7
Common Impact Inc

Common impact's mission is to strengthen the capacity of social change organizations, enabling them to better run and scale their programs. through its partnership with companies, common impact taps into the business skills and expertise…

Unclassified
8
California Forward

Ca fwd drives action to identify solutions that can be taken to scale to meet the challenges the state is facing. the organization is driven by the belief that regional solutions across the state will help ensure economic, environmental,…

Public Benefit
9
Ffwd

FFWD accelerates the growth of technology nonprofits by providing financial and human capital to help scale technology solutions for education, environmental, health, and human rights issues.

Philanthropy
10
Community Credit Lab

To support equitable access to economic opportunities for immigrants, refugees, low-income, marginalized, and underserved communities in king county and the united states.

Human Services
11
Accion International

Our mission is to create a fair and inclusive economy where underserved people have quality financial choices and opportunities to improve their economic well-being. we find and help build innovative companies with the potential to reach…

International
12
SFMade Inc

Our mission is to help manufacturers thrive, innovate, and create good jobs, for a more diverse and sustainable Bay Area.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The San Francisco Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Rocket Learning Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

96 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 96 of the 183 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)
26
Early backer (in before they grew)
94/96
Grantees still filing
64/96
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE UK ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION: $1,373,726 · OtherTHE UK ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATIONST ANTHONY FOUNDATION: $460,100 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $415,300 · Other+135 more: $7,259,954 · Other+135 moreAMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC: $2,865,482 · PhilanthropyAMERICAN ONLINE GIV…Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $150,000 · Philanthropy+6 more: $147,500 · PhilanthropyInternational Rescue Committee INC: $1,294,953 · InternationalInternational R…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $809,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL K…THE ASIA FOUNDATION: $300,000 · InternationalTHE ASIA FOUNDA…+1 more: $50,000 · InternationalNATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC: $500,000 · Human ServicesNATIONAL U…CURRY SENIOR CENTER: $260,000 · Human ServicesCURRY SENI…FRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM INC: $250,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS OF…COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $195,299 · Human ServicesCOMPASS FA…Episcopal Community Services: $170,000 · Human ServicesEpiscopal …THE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $80,000 · Human Services+12 more: $267,800 · Human Services+12 moreTEAM4TECH FOUNDATION: $381,574 · EducationMADISON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $87,000 · EducationCivic Nation: $50,000 · EducationLITERACY NETWORK INC: $40,000 · EducationREADING PARTNERS: $35,000 · Education+6 more: $63,698 · EducationWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $500,000 · EnvironmentAmerican Forests: $75,000 · Environment+1 more: $15,000 · EnvironmentGLIDE FOUNDATION: $414,266 · Religion
Other$9,509,080Philanthropy$3,162,982International$2,453,953Human Services$1,723,099Education$657,272Environment$590,000Religion$414,266

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 budgetAMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC: $2,865,482 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $1,294,953 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $809,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC: $500,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $500,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTEAM4TECH FOUNDATION: $381,574 over 2y, 12% of budgetTHE ASIA FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCURRY SENIOR CENTER: $260,000 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCOMPASS FAMILY SERVICES: $195,299 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetEpiscopal Community Services: $170,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetGOLDEN GATE PERFORMING ARTS INC: $160,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $150,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $150,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $125,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKINDWORK INC: $110,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF SAN FRANCISCO INC: $102,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - AAJC INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMADISON PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $87,000 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetTHE ARC SAN FRANCISCO: $80,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetAmerican Forests: $75,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF SOUTHERN WI: $70,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMADISON CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $66,200 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetBig Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area: $61,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetTHE RIVER FOOD PANTRY INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetIRWIN A AND ROBERT D GOODMAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $55,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY HOUSING PARTNERSHIP: $51,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetASIAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetUPSOLVE INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetNPOWER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREDWOOD CREDIT UNION COMMUNITY FUND INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNAACP EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTECHSOUP GLOBAL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG PROFESSIONALS IN FOREIGNPOLICY: $50,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetCivic Nation: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPHILANTHROPIC VENTURES FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCutting Ball Theater: $45,000 over 3y, 3.7% of budgetBACK ON MY FEET: $41,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMadison Area Food Pantry Gardens: $40,800 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetLITERACY NETWORK INC: $40,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetREADING PARTNERS: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $30,809 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMEELIO INC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetRaheem Ai DBA Community Response Works: $30,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetPROJECT HOME INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSPARK PROGRAM INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetMADISON READING PROJECT INC: $25,000 over 4y, 6.0% 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.

  • Who funds AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
  • Who funds WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC ↗
  • Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds GLIDE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TEAM4TECH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ASIA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CURRY SENIOR CENTER ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAM INC ↗
  • Who funds COMPASS FAMILY SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds Episcopal Community Services ↗
  • Who funds GOLDEN GATE PERFORMING ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds KINDWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS OF SAN FRANCISCO INC ↗
  • Who funds ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - AAJC INC ↗

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.

Madison Community FoundationWI35× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Madison Community Foundation · The Evjue Foundation Inc · Madison Gas and Electric Foundation Inc · The San Francisco Foundation · Alliant Energy Foundation Inc · Endres Manufacturing Foundation Inc · Trustage Foundation Inc · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · United Way of Dane County Inc · McNabb Foundation · Tides 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 Zendesk Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Zendesk Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
31report 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 Zendesk Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Zendesk Charitable 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 183 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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