California · Nonprofit
SHERMAN FOUNDATION
SHERMAN FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,796,357 to it, the largest being SAMUELI FOUNDATION ($505,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $8.4M
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $1.8M
- Net assets
- $27M
What Sherman Foundation does
Mission
The mission of Sherman Foundation is the operation of sherman library & gardens located in corona del mar, ca. The mission of sherman library & gardens is to provide the public an oasis of inspiration, education and appreciation of regional history, horticulture and the arts. Sherman gardens features an extensive botanical collection that spans the globe, ranging from plant life of the desert to exotic vegetation of tropical climes. Sherman library is a historical research library specializing in the history of the pacific southwest, as well as home to a collection of california impressionist art.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Sherman gardens had 97,191 visitors, an increase of 8% over the prior year. This year, the sherman gardens volunteer association worked 9,915 hours and docents worked 3,403 hours. Sherman gardens reinstituted educational tours of the botanical gardens for school children in grades 3 through 5 bused in from all parts of orange county, ca. Students from forty three elementary schools (1,620 students) took part in our field trip program. Lesson plans were developed for the day prior to the tour and for the day after the tour. Transportation costs were funded by sherman gardens through donations.sherman library partnered with a local art museum for an exhibit of sherman library & garden's art collection. Three separate art exhibits were conducted at sherman library that focused on the history of southern california. Historical researchers utilized 2,560 records and artifacts from sherman library and our photo database had over 23,040 views.
$2,984,721 spent$823,905 earned by the program93% of program spendingSherman library had 23,040 views of our historical photo database, and 2,560 records and artifacts accessed by researchers. The library had over 5,100 visitors during the year. Our staff assisted 548 serious researchers in their study of the history of the pacific southwest, which is the main focus of the library. Volunteers worked 1,209 hours, docents worked 460 hours and interns worked 400 hours at the library. Each category exceeded the prior year. Sherman library received additional pieces of early california impresionist art from a donor who previously donated 40 paintings that sherman library restored and displayed.
$226,360 spent$99,185 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,211,081.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2023 to 2024, from $23M to $28M (+21%).
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.
68% of SHERMAN FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 5 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
A Scott Lafleur
Exec dir-sl&g
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 8 funders, grant income rose $10k → $462k.
10 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 70% 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 SHERMAN FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 14 of 15 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
SHERMAN FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
70% 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 SHERMAN FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 91% · 2019 60% · 2020 37% · 2021 81% · 2022 38% · 2023 54% — 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
71% of SHERMAN FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
70% of SHERMAN FOUNDATION'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 $533k that is directly attributable, 96% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M 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.
Against its field
SHERMAN FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,186 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,186 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like SHERMAN 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
50%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Mh Sherman Company · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SHERMAN 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 SHERMAN FOUNDATION?
- SHERMAN FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,796,357 to it, the largest being SAMUELI FOUNDATION ($505,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SHERMAN FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $1,796,357 in grants to SHERMAN FOUNDATION, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SHERMAN FOUNDATION?
- SAMUELI FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $505,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SHERMAN 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 Sherman →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 15 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