California · Nonprofit
CONNECT FOUNDATION
CONNECT FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,569,976 to it, the largest being THE CONRAD PREBYS FOUNDATION ($750,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.1M
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $1.6M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Connect Foundation does
Mission
Connect is an innovation instigator established to cultivate san diego's life science and tech communities. A trusted partner for more than 30 years, we propel our region's entrepreneurs as they create and scale their companies from first-time founders to seasoned executives. We operate across diverse industry verticals with a mindset driven by inclusive social good making a positive impact across the entirety of the mega-region. In elevating entrepreneurial mastery such as providing access to institutional capital, strategic advising, and partnering opportunities we bring together our region's culture and spirit to ignite our innovation economy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Innovation day (five.ten.thirty) was the largest gathering of the innovation community in sandiego history. Connect gathered 200 vcs, angel investors, ceos, ctos, dei leaders,national security leaders, and 160+ tech and life science companies, driving innovation acrosssan diego to continue collective momentum forward to scaling up a more robust and moreinclusive economy across the megaregion. Over 3,000 people attended this inaugural event. Thegoals of 5.10.30 are to celebrate community advancement, to generate interest outside of sandiego and attract more talent to san diego;
$867,507 spent$545,440 earned by the program33% of program spendingLife science luminary dinner, an annual dinner of key players in the san diego life science community, traditionally hosted at the home of a successful life science entrepreneur that made great strides in the life science community in the past year. The dinner brings in only the top innovators to build relationships, network, and celebrate the san diego life science community
$258,601 spent$12,133 earned by the program10% of program spendingCool companiescool companies private event, an annual program where connect selects the top centure capital-ready technology and life science companies to be named a "cool company". All the companies' ceos meet investors in a private invite-only event with the intention of securing funding for their company;cool companies public event, an annual gathering for the san diego community to meet and learn about each cool company, as well as network, make relationships, and celebrate the new cool companies;vc road trip, during day 2 of the cool companies private event, venture capitalists from all around the country embark on an outing, typically sailing, and are given a tour of san diego. The purpose of the day learn about san diego and to grow relationships between out-of-town venture capitalists and the san diego innovation community.
$207,336 spent$60,000 earned by the program8% of program spendingSpringboard, a business creation and development program in which business advisors providementorship to new technology companies who then present to a panel of industry veterans,investors and service providers;frameworks workshops, half-day, professional development programs structured to provide anoverview of business basics through 'fundamentals': a vocabulary, foundation and 'framework' inwhich business leadership can be built around, and 'advanced workshops': a focused anddetailed look at specialized and industry specific topics customized to fit the needs of a start-upcompany;connect innovation report, a regional quarterly index which tracks the health of the sandiego innovation economy by comparing data year to year and quarter to quarter, providing acomparison across tech industry clusters to selected regions and monitoring availability of varioustypes of capital. The data helps policymakers and trade organizations plan and advocateeffectively for innovation economy including availability of visas and workforce training for talent inhigh growth clusters, building an attractive environment for capital investment, allocation of grantfunding, reform of the patent system and…
$1,333,206 spent$275,828 earned by the program50% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,666,650.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $2.9M to $2.2M (−22%).
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.
70% of CONNECT FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Mike Krenn
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $162k → $10k.
1 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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: $549k from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest San Diego Venture Group). These are real filings, and they are not money CONNECT FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of CONNECT FOUNDATION’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
CONNECT FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 45% · 2019 74% · 2020 100% · 2021 93% · 2022 88% · 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.
How long its funders stay
0% of CONNECT FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% give in more than one year at all.
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
76% of CONNECT FOUNDATION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $40k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
CONNECT FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding CONNECT FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.6M on record.
- Department of Defense$1.6M
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 CONNECT FOUNDATION
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.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
60%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CONNECT FOUNDATION: 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 CONNECT FOUNDATION?
- CONNECT FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,569,976 to it, the largest being THE CONRAD PREBYS FOUNDATION ($750,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CONNECT FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $1,569,976 in grants to CONNECT FOUNDATION, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CONNECT FOUNDATION?
- THE CONRAD PREBYS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CONNECT FOUNDATION 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 Connect →
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 11 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