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Zh Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Zh Family 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.

$6k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$2k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2025.

Education$3kRecreation & Sports$2kAnimals$2kArts & Culture$2kEnvironment$875Science & Tech$495
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$299
Median grant
1
States reached
$121k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MVLA Soccer Club$2,275
Helios School$1,267
Monterey Bay Aquarium$875
Happy Hollow Park Zoo$550
California Academy of Sciences$299
Discovery Cube$295
Santa Cruz Childrens Museum of Disc$290
Bowers Museum$286
CuriOdyssey$160
San Francisco Zoo and Gardens$143
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 (FY22–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 46% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 8%CuriOdyssey: $160 → 7%Stevens Creek Element School: $60 → 8%Bowers Museum: $286 → 10%California Academy of Sciences: $299 → 10%San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance: $400 → 11%Monterey Bay Aquarium: $875 → 12%Santa Cruz Childrens Museum of Disc: $290 → 13%University of Hawai'i Foundation: $500 → 9%CuriOdyssey: $36 → 7%Happy Hollow Park Zoo: $550 → 8%Discovery Cube: $295 → 10%San Francisco Zoo and Gardens: $143 → 10%Bishop Museum: $500 → 9%The Tech Interactive: $41 → 8%San Francisco Zoo: $64 → 10%Bishop Museum: $200 → 9%MVLA Soccer Club: $2k → 8%Honolulu Zoo: $500 → 9%Foothill-De Anza Foundation: $18 → 8%University of Hawaii - Waikiki Aqua: $200 → 9%Helios School: $1k → 8%Helios School: $1k → 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.

32%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3k · 3 repeat orgs$7k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +74% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
8

Total granted

$3k
$2k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+74%
+12%

Still filing today

67%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 22% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureAnimalsEducationPhilanthropyOther
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

  • HS
    Helios School
    2× · 2024–2025 · $2k
  • BM
    BISHOP MUSEUM
    2× · 2022–2024 · $700 · revenue +74%
  • C
    CURIODYSSEY
    2× · 2023–2025 · $196 · revenue -10%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $500 · revenue +59%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $500
  • ZS
    ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO
    one grant, 2022 · $400 · revenue +12%
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
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
2
Science Museum of Minnesota

The museum's mission statement is "turn on the science: inspire learning. inform policy. improve lives."

Arts & Culture
3
Cook Museum of Natural Science
Arts & Culture
4
The Coral Reef and Marine Science Foundation Inc C/O James Bildner
—
5
San Jose Children's Discovery Museum

Children's discovery museum of san jose inspires creativity, curiosity and lifelong learning.

Arts & Culture
6
San Diego Society of Natural History

Conserving nature through science and discovery.

Arts & Culture
7
Museum Foundation of Pacific Grove Inc

The Museum inspires wonder, discovery, and stewardship of our natural world. The Museum is a catalyst for conservation and a valued learning resource, facilitating active scientific and historical inquiry for all ages.

Arts & Culture
8
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Inc

We harness the power of plants for humankind and share the joy and beauty of tropical gardening with everyone. fairchild tropical botanic garden is a museum of tropical plants within a world famous, 83-acre designed landscape. it was…

Environment
9
Museum of Science

The mission of the museum of science is to inspire a lifelong love of science in everyone. through exhibits, curricula, programs, and events, both live and virtual, we aim to make science and scientific thinking accessible, engaging, and…

Arts & Culture
10
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
—
11
Pacific Science Center Foundation

Pacific science center (pacsci) ignites curiosity in every child and fuels a passion for discovery, experimentation, and critical thinking in all of us.

Arts & Culture
12
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

The mission is "to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it." the academy implements its mission through understanding the diversity of life; developing and applying science to protect the environment; and informing…

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is San Francisco Zoological Society; the most unlike its peers is University of Hawaii Foundation. 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

12 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. 12 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
6/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MVLA Soccer Club: $2,275 · OtherMVLA Soccer ClubHelios School: $2,267 · OtherHelios SchoolHappy Hollow Park Zoo: $550 · OtherHappy Hollow Park ZooIndividual grant recipient: $500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUniversity of Hawaii - Waikiki Aqua: $200 · Other+2 more: $203 · OtherBISHOP MUSEUM: $700 · Arts & CultureBISHOP MUSEUMCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $299 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF S…DISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $295 · Arts & CultureDISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTE…Santa Cruz Childrens Museum of Discovery: $290 · Arts & CultureSanta Cruz Childrens Mu…CHARLES W BOWERS MUSEUM CORPORATION: $286 · Arts & CultureCHARLES W BOWERS MUSEUM…CURIODYSSEY: $196 · Arts & CultureCURIODYSSEY+1 more: $41 · Arts & CultureMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $875 · AnimalsMONTEREY BAY AQ…ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $400 · AnimalsZOOLOGICAL SOCI…SAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $64 · AnimalsUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $500 · EducationFOOTHILL-DEANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $18 · Philanthropy
Other$5,995Arts & Culture$2,107Animals$1,339Education$500Philanthropy$18

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 budgetBISHOP MUSEUM: $700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGO: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $299 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISCOVERY SCIENCE CENTER OF ORANGE COUNTY: $295 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSanta Cruz Childrens Museum of Discovery: $290 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHARLES W BOWERS MUSEUM CORPORATION: $286 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCURIODYSSEY: $196 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $64 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TECH INTERACTIVE: $41 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOTHILL-DEANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $18 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.

American Endowment Fo…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
American Endowment FoundationOH10.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Endowment Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Zh Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Zh Family 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%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
    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 Zh Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Zh Family 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Zh Family’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