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California · Nonprofit

CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION

CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,979,958 to it, the largest being HAROLD J MIOSSI CHARITABLE TRUST ($2,636,926). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$6.2M
Funders on record
36
Grants received
$6.0M
Net assets
$58M
21/36 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 29%
01What it does

What Cuesta College Foundation does

Mission

The Cuesta College Foundation supports the excellence of cuesta college by engaging the community and building philanthropic resources. The funds raised and managed by the foundation strengthen college programs, provide educational opportunities, and empower students to succeed.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Funds provided to college departments for instructional materials and support of college programs.

    $1,013,205 spentof which $1,013,205 as grants
    37% of program spending
  2. Provide scholarships for cuesta college students.

    $1,336,476 spentof which $1,336,476 as grants
    49% of program spending
  3. Funds for capital expenditures that the college inccurs.

    $279,980 spentof which $279,980 as grants
    10% of program spending
  4. Deprecation related to aircraft used in maintence program

    $104,500 spent
    4% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,734,161.

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 ($4.8M) Expenses 100 ($3.6M) Net assets 100 ($36M)2018 Revenue 141 ($6.7M) Expenses 115 ($4.1M) Net assets 106 ($39M)2019 Revenue 78 ($3.7M) Expenses 97 ($3.5M) Net assets 107 ($39M)2020 Revenue 83 ($4.0M) Expenses 93 ($3.3M) Net assets 106 ($39M)2021 Revenue 101 ($4.8M) Expenses 81 ($2.9M) Net assets 133 ($48M)2022 Revenue 131 ($6.2M) Expenses 77 ($2.8M) Net assets 118 ($43M)2023 Revenue 104 ($5.0M) Expenses 95 ($3.4M) Net assets 131 ($47M)2024 Revenue 87 ($4.2M) Expenses 100 ($3.6M) Net assets 144 ($52M)2025 Revenue 129 ($6.2M) Expenses 110 ($4.0M) Net assets 160 ($58M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (129)Expenses (110)Net assets (160)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 2020 to 2021, from $40M to $50M (+23%).

$37M
$40M
$40M
$40M
$50M
$44M
$49M
$54M
$60M
'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

Government-grant reliance: 2024 5% · 2025 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

56% of CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 12,360 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$1.2M
’17
$2.6M
’18
$228k
’19
$637k
’20
$1.9M
’21
$3.5M
’22
$1.6M
’23
$576k
’24
$2.2M
’25
30
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

Shannon Hill

Executive director, non-vo

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed464648494852514744
Joined·+5+3+5+4+10+6+1+4
No longer listed·51456757
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 15 funders, grant income fell $738k → $339k.

8 of 36 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 36 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

CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 73%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

44%
largest funder
73%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 57% · 2018 95% · 2019 57% · 2020 42% · 2021 55% · 2022 33% · 2023 36% — 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

40% of CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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

76% of CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION's grant income comes from California funders.

ID
IL
WI
WY
CA
AZ
NC
DC
TX
FL

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. $369k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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

CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin36% · top quartile
Months of reserve29.7mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)3% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like CUESTA COLLEGE 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

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

74% of spending goes to programs.

Program 74%Management 21%Fundraising 6%

Governance

31
board members
84%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

59%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Part of a family of 2 related entities

  • San Luis Obispo Community College District · exempt
  • Split Interest Trusts (16) · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CUESTA COLLEGE 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.

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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 CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION?
CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,979,958 to it, the largest being HAROLD J MIOSSI CHARITABLE TRUST ($2,636,926). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 36 organizations giving $5,979,958 in grants to CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CUESTA COLLEGE FOUNDATION?
HAROLD J MIOSSI CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $2,636,926 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CUESTA COLLEGE 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.

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 36 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