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California · Nonprofit

CAL POLY CORPORATION

CAL POLY CORPORATION (California) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $40,823,194 to it, the largest being CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ($26,128,810). 44 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$131M
Funders on record
95
Grants received
$41M
Net assets
$189M
44/95 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 8%
01What it does

What Cal Poly Corporation does

Mission

To provide the university with certain services and facilities which are an integral part of the educational program of the university.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Research grants & contracts: externally sponsored projects administered by the corporation for benefit of the university.

    $44,998,853 spentof which $4,853,200 as grants$41,301,123 earned by the program
    42% of program spending
  2. Restricted and designated funds: gifts and special activity accounts that are restricted or designated for support of university programs.

    $16,271,445 spentof which $2,922,900 as grants$7,907,110 earned by the program
    15% of program spending
  3. Educational bookstore: provided books, learning materials and equipment for the university students and faculty/staff; campus dining services for university students and faculty; agriculture projects

    $40,766,818 spentof which $11,507,075 as grants$53,502,229 earned by the program
    38% of program spending
  4. Educational conferences and workshops

    $3,928,876 spent$3,680,128 earned by the program
    4% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $105,965,992.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($76M) Expenses 100 ($71M) Net assets 100 ($119M)2018 Revenue 98 ($75M) Expenses 106 ($75M) Net assets 93 ($110M)2019 Revenue 118 ($90M) Expenses 109 ($77M) Net assets 105 ($125M)2020 Revenue 95 ($72M) Expenses 104 ($73M) Net assets 102 ($122M)2021 Revenue 87 ($67M) Expenses 103 ($72M) Net assets 110 ($130M)2022 Revenue 123 ($94M) Expenses 114 ($81M) Net assets 109 ($130M)2023 Revenue 146 ($111M) Expenses 141 ($100M) Net assets 121 ($144M)2024 Revenue 164 ($125M) Expenses 152 ($108M) Net assets 140 ($166M)2025 Revenue 171 ($131M) Expenses 164 ($116M) Net assets 159 ($189M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (171)Expenses (164)Net assets (159)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $275M to $353M (+28%).

$163M
$193M
$210M
$209M
$222M
$242M
$275M
$353M
$427M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

15% of CAL POLY CORPORATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (14% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 732 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$5.6M
’17
$306k
’18
$13M
’19
−$1.2M
’20
−$6.0M
’21
$13M
’22
$11M
’23
$17M
’24
$15M
’25
4.0
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Cody Vandorn

CEO

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed192019192119202122
Joined·+6+6+7+7+3+5+6+9
No longer listed·57755458
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 18 funders to 27 funders, grant income rose $4.1M → $4.7M.

16 of 95 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

Left out of every figure on this page: $4.4M from 14 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Big West Conference). These are real filings, and they are not money CAL POLY CORPORATION raised.

From the IRS filings of CAL POLY CORPORATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 95 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

CAL POLY CORPORATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 64% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

85% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CAL POLY CORPORATION.

64%
largest funder
75%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 69% · 2019 58% · 2020 49% · 2021 59% · 2022 68% · 2023 59% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

30% of CAL POLY CORPORATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

92% of CAL POLY CORPORATION's grant income comes from California funders.

ME
WA
MT
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
IN
PA
CT
CA
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NC
DC
HI
LA
GA
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

CAL POLY CORPORATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 684 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin11% · above the median
Months of reserve4.0mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)7% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025

Government funding CAL POLY CORPORATION receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $148.8M on record — $148.7M federal, $13k state.

Federal$148.7M
grants $144.9Mcontracts $3.8M
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • National Science Foundation$46.8M
  • Department of Education$30.5M
  • Department of the Interior$17.6M
  • Department of Defense$15.9M
  • Department of Health and Human Services$14.7M
  • Department of Agriculture$9.9M
State$13k
08
09
10
11
25
By state
  • OK$9k
  • OR$4k

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like CAL POLY CORPORATION

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In California

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

91% of spending goes to programs.

Program 91%Management 9%Fundraising 0%

Governance

12
board members
25%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Part of a family of 7 related entities

  • California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo · exempt
  • California Polytechnic State University Foundation · exempt
  • Cpsu Alumni Association San Luis Obispo · exempt
  • Associated Students Inc Cpsu San Luis Obispo · exempt
  • Central Coast Performing Arts Center Commission · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CAL POLY CORPORATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds CAL POLY CORPORATION?
CAL POLY CORPORATION (California) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $40,823,194 to it, the largest being CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ($26,128,810). 44 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CAL POLY CORPORATION have?
IRS filings report 95 organizations giving $40,823,194 in grants to CAL POLY CORPORATION, 44 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CAL POLY CORPORATION?
CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $26,128,810 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CAL POLY CORPORATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 95 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing