California · Nonprofit
MARTHA'S KITCHEN
MARTHA'S KITCHEN (California) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,352,955 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,230,169). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.7M
- Funders on record
- 69
- Grants received
- $6.4M
- Net assets
- $11M
What Martha's Kitchen does
Mission
Martha's Kitchen recycles perishable food donated by restaurants, grocery stores, food banks, and other sources for the purpose of providing hot, nourishing meals and food to needy persons. Food is provided at the organization's facilities as well as foodstuffs given to families in home settings. Finally, other organizations are supported by receiving prepared food directly from Martha's Kitchen for use in their individual facilities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Martha's Kitchen (the organization") is a nonprofit public benefit corporation whose mission is to provide hot meals and support to people in need in santa clara county, california, and surrounding areas. The organization began in the 1960s when founder louise benson gave out peanut butter sandwiches and other essentials to the people in need from her garage in the willow glen area of san jose, california. When neighbors complained about the lines of poor people in the neighborhood, she moved her ministry to her home parish in 1981. A few years later, the organization was absorbed by catholic charities until 2001 when it was incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization.the organization leases kitchen and dining room facilities at 311 willow street, san jose, california from the catholic diocese of san jose. It also leases kitchen and dining room facilities at 112 east beach street, watsonville, california from the presbytery of san jose. During the year ended june 30, 2024, 1,206,568 meals and 1,541,704 pounds of groceries were either served at the facility or distributed to other food service facilities.the organization provides meals and support to people in need in the…
$7,745,390 spentof which $5,123,252 as grants$51,498 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $7,745,390.
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 2020 to 2021, from $8.5M to $10M (+23%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 2% · 2018 2% · 2019 1% · 2020 7% · 2021 11% · 2022 14% · 2023 11% · 2024 9% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
72% of MARTHA'S KITCHEN’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
William Lee
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 29 funders, grant income rose $220k → $1.2M.
18 of 69 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 55% 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 MARTHA'S KITCHEN’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 69 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
MARTHA'S KITCHEN has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
82% 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 MARTHA'S KITCHEN.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 42% · 2018 43% · 2019 51% · 2020 30% · 2021 44% · 2022 42% · 2023 25% — 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
46% of MARTHA'S KITCHEN's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% 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
55% of MARTHA'S KITCHEN'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 $2.9M that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
MARTHA'S KITCHEN has grown faster than half of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like MARTHA'S KITCHEN
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
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 MARTHA'S KITCHEN: 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 MARTHA'S KITCHEN?
- MARTHA'S KITCHEN (California) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,352,955 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,230,169). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does MARTHA'S KITCHEN have?
- IRS filings report 69 organizations giving $6,352,955 in grants to MARTHA'S KITCHEN, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MARTHA'S KITCHEN?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,230,169 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MARTHA'S KITCHEN 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 69 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