California · Nonprofit
GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION
GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,750 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($7,750). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $390k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $9k
- Net assets
- $715k
What Golden State Bonsai Federation does
Mission
Gsbf was formed to raise public awareness and educate the public about the art of bonsai.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Bonsai garden program: operate and fund 3 bonsai garden: (1) bonsai garden at lake merritt, oakland, ca (2) huntington garden, san marino, ca (3) clark bonsai collection, fresno, ca. All gardens offer visitors the opportunity to observe the best bonsai specimens on the west coast. All gardens maintain regular hours to the public and are staffed by volunteer docents available to educate and answer inquires. Gsbf contributes most of the profits from huntington collection to the huntington endowment fund to help fund the garden support. The lake merritt collection is located on property owned by the city of oakland and is supported by more than 90 volunteers. Similarly, clark bonsai collection is located on property owned by the city of fresno and is supported by more than 50 volunteers. To support and maintain the three gsbf gardens, bazaar weekends are held annually. Funds are given back to clubs to help with demonstrations, speakers, projects & education.
$230,402 spent82% of program spendingVolunteer programs: gsbf supports the 3 bonsai gardens by providing property and liability insurance for the gardens. Gsbf offers the member bonsai clubs and groups to obtain discounted liability insurance for club activities if desired. In addition, gsbf sponsors quarterly educational zoom presentations called golden zoom, to provide additional education to members of gsbf clubs.
$51,734 spent18% of program spendingVolunteer programs: gsbf hosts an bi-annual convention bonsai rendezvous for approximately 425 bonsai enthusiasts from across the country. Demonstrations and educational seminars by american bonsai masters and professionals are featured. The conventions include training and education in techniques and related materials. Bonsai basics are taught to new enthusiasts.
$285 spent0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $282,421.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $442k to $665k (+50%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 89% 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 GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION’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
GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 89% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
89% 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 GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION.
“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
89% of GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside California, across 1 state.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8k 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.
Organizations like GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION
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
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION: 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 GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION?
- GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,750 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($7,750). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 89% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $8,750 in grants to GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION.
- Who is the largest funder of GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $7,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GOLDEN STATE BONSAI FEDERATION 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 2 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