California · Nonprofit
California Prison Focus
California Prison Focus (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,800 to it, the largest being PROTEUS FUND INC ($20,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2020
- $71k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $56k
- Net assets
- $19k
What California Prison Focus does
Mission
Investigate and expose human rights abuse in California prisons.
As stated on its FY2020 Form 990-EZ.
Program
Publication of CPF prison reports and Prison Focus newsletter, and launching of new biannual publication. Hosting of weekly Prison Focus Radio program. Implementation of We Stand 2 Vote, Liberate the Caged Voices and other organizational campaigns via community engagement, education and direct actions.
The first program described on its most recent Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 6 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $56k → $16.
3 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of California Prison Focus’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
California Prison Focus leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 81%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
64% 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 California Prison Focus.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 36% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
Where its funders are
California Prison Focus draws 83% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 3 states in all.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $26k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.
Against its field
California Prison Focus runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 643 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 643 civil rights nonprofits under $100k, FY2020
Organizations like California Prison Focus
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
80%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for California Prison Focus: 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.
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 California Prison Focus?
- California Prison Focus (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,800 to it, the largest being PROTEUS FUND INC ($20,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does California Prison Focus have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $55,800 in grants to California Prison Focus, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of California Prison Focus?
- PROTEUS FUND INC is the largest funder on record, with $20,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like California Prison Focus 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.
Play a game about who funds California Prison Focus →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2020 (financials across 2020–2020), and the filings of 6 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing