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California · Nonprofit

SommFoundation

SommFoundation (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $950,411 to it, the largest being RUDD FOUNDATION ($404,467). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$402k
Funders on record
13
Grants received
$950k
Net assets
$181k
9/13 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 88%
01What it does

What SommFoundation does

Mission

The purpose of the SommFoundation is to provide scholarships to encourage improved standards of beverage knowledge and service in hotels and restaurants. The SommFoundation will fund the educational endeavors of those individuals in the service of wine, spirits, and other alcoholic beverages who are seeking to reach the highest level of proficiency and knowledge in the profession by pursuing the educational coursework necessary to attain the status of master sommelier.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Events - the SommFoundation hosts various fundraising events throughout the year. The purpose of these events are to encourage improved standards of beverage knowledge.below is the list of fundraiser events: rudd foundation patron foundation sommgeo gulbronsen aspen art crush boulder burgundy festival

    $163,364 spent$299,835 earned by the program
    83% of program spending
  2. Scholarship grants - the purpose of the SommFoundation is to provide scholarships to encourage improved standards of beverage knowledge and service in hotels and restaurants. The SommFoundation will fund the educational endeavors of those individuals in the service of wine, spirits, and other alcoholic beverages who are seeking to reach the highest level of proficiency and knowledge in the profession by pursuing the educational coursework necessary to attain the status of master sommelier.

    $28,436 spent$105,047 earned by the program
    14% of program spending
  3. University course expense - in keeping with the purpose to improve the standards of beverage knowledge the SommFoundation conducts courses for graduating seniors at four-year universities. These courses are underwritten by the SommFoundation. Instructors consist of sommeliers who volunteer their time. Expenses incurred by the SommFoundation include text books for the students, wine for the classes, and travel, hotel, and meals for the volunteer instructors.

    $6,099 spent
    3% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $197,899.

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 ($98k) Expenses 100 ($418k) Net assets 100 ($1.4M)2018 Revenue -33 ($-32290) Expenses 127 ($530k) Net assets 60 ($855k)2019 Revenue 443 ($435k) Expenses 119 ($497k) Net assets 56 ($792k)2020 Revenue 169 ($166k) Expenses 97 ($405k) Net assets 39 ($553k)2021 Revenue 116 ($114k) Expenses 72 ($301k) Net assets 26 ($366k)2022 Revenue 398 ($390k) Expenses 98 ($410k) Net assets 24 ($346k)2023 Revenue 403 ($396k) Expenses 125 ($523k) Net assets 15 ($219k)2024 Revenue 410 ($402k) Expenses 105 ($440k) Net assets 13 ($181k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (410)Expenses (105)Net assets (13)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 2017 to 2018, from $1.4M to $857k (−39%).

$1.4M
$857k
$793k
$582k
$366k
$350k
$225k
$190k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

30% of SommFoundation’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 24,946 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 8 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$320k
’17
−$562k
’18
−$62k
’19
−$239k
’20
−$187k
’21
−$20k
’22
−$127k
’23
−$38k
’24
0.2
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.

Board chair

Thomas Price

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed101010710111110
Joined·+0+0+0+3+3+0+2
No longer listed·0030203
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $6k → $118k.

4 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 SommFoundation’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

SommFoundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.

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

50% 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 SommFoundation.

43%
largest funder
80%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 59% · 2019 61% · 2020 66% · 2021 50% · 2022 65% · 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

50% of SommFoundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y

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

51% of SommFoundation's grant income comes from California funders.

MT
CA
KS
TX

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. $76k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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

SommFoundation has grown faster than three-quarters of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−9% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve0.2mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)22% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like SommFoundation

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

45% of spending goes to programs.

Program 45%Management 50%Fundraising 5%

Governance

10
board members
130%
independent
–Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention–Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

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

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SommFoundation: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 SommFoundation?
SommFoundation (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $950,411 to it, the largest being RUDD FOUNDATION ($404,467). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SommFoundation have?
IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $950,411 in grants to SommFoundation, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SommFoundation?
RUDD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $404,467 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SommFoundation 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 13 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