California · Nonprofit
OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC
OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC (California) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,075,284 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($852,534). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.5M
- Funders on record
- 74
- Grants received
- $5.1M
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What Operation California Inc does
Mission
It helps communities to alleviate the effects of disasters, disease and endemic poverty throughout the world by providing privately-funded relief, reconstruction and development aid. The organization works with partner agencies in many countries, including local and international ngo's, un and government health agencies and other civil society institutions. Each partner agency receives a list of available supplies and evaluates them in relation to local needs. Then the supplies are packed and shipped by air, sea and land to where the greatest need exists.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The organization was instrumental in providing emergency cash grants and disaster relief supplies including masks, ppe, gloves and hand sanitizers; cleaning and disinfecting products; hygiene supplies; blankets; and clothing, shoes and other relief items to partner organizations in the united states during ongoing covid-19 pandemic recovery and in response to major disasters including hurricanes, floods and wildfires. Operation usa also distributed emergency cash grants and shipped material aid including medical supplies, hospital equipment, hygiene supplies, relief items and shelter kits to international partners in ukraine to aid in ongoing war relief, and delivered cash grants to sri lanka to aid in long-term war recovery. All goods and grants delivered by operation usa are received by pre-vetted community-based organizations which facilitate distribution in line with the organization's mission.
$1,505,498 spentof which $778,000 as grants15% of program spendingOther program services provided support ongoing long-term recovery, resiliency building and community development in areas of the united states. Ongoing domestic programs include distribution of cleaning and sanitizing materials to partners across southern california in support of continued covid-19 recovery and the management of an emergency disaster supply cache. Both internationally and domestically, operation usa continues to support communities where the organization established programs following major disasters.
$8,495,877 spentof which $8,336,197 as grants85% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,001,375.
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 2022 to 2023, from $6.4M to $2.9M (−54%).
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: 2021 1% · 2024 3% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Richard Walden
President & CEO
Board chair
Mike Mahdesian
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 21 funders to 17 funders, grant income fell $881k → $667k.
19 of 74 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% 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 OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 74 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
OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% 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
83% 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 OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 21% · 2019 35% · 2020 26% · 2021 27% · 2022 27% · 2023 56% — broadly stable.
“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
24% of OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
66% of OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC'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 $1.7M that is directly attributable, 60% of it comes from funders outside California, across 19 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC is better cushioned than half of the 718 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 718 international nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC
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
91% 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 OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC: 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 OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC?
- OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC (California) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,075,284 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($852,534). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC have?
- IRS filings report 74 organizations giving $5,075,284 in grants to OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $852,534 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OPERATION CALIFORNIA INC 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 74 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