California · Nonprofit
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION (California) receives grants from 72 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,036,557 to it, the largest being BOB WOODRUFF FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($1,930,652). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $39M
- Funders on record
- 72
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Swords to Plowshares Veterans Rights Organization does
Mission
Swords to plowshares' mission is to heal the wounds of war, to restore dignity, hope and self-sufficiency to all veterans in need, and to significantly reduce homelessness and poverty among veterans.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Supportive housingswords to plowshares (swords) continues to expand our innovative and award-winning, emergency, transitional and permanent supportive housing programs that help homeless veterans gain stability and live independently in the community. We currently house nearly 500 veterans in permanent or transitional housing. Swords has three projects, one that's fully complete and the other two in various stages during the construction process. These projects will provide housing another 150 veterans in the near future.for more details on the impact of our programs please go to www.stp-sf.org/our-impact
$17,585,841 spentof which $1,210,248 as grants$9,118,878 earned by the program53% of program spendingHealth & social servicesmore than 1,500 veterans sought services and case management at swords drop-in center, which provides critical services to homeless and at-risk veterans, including: emergency shelter; mental health and substance abuse counseling; homelessness prevention; rapid re-housing and referrals to a number of community agencies and the veterans administration. We provide assistance to stabilize veterans and to meet the full range of their needs as they prepare to enter a treatment program, start a new job or exit homelessness. Case managers arranged for brief emergency housing for over 250 homeless veterans and financial assistance to 300 veteran families moving into permanent housing. We were also able to retain housing for 150 veteran families faced with eviction. Swords' representative payee services helped veterans with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues manage their money and retain housing. Currently 145 veterans participate in this program and are thus protected from eviction and other consequences of poor money management. We also worked with the san francisco veterans administration, the city and county of san francisco, the department of housing…
$11,875,152 spentof which $5,347,323 as grants36% of program spendingEmployment and training servicesswords offers comprehensive services that help veterans overcome barriers to employment, stabilize their lives and become job-ready. We helped more than 350 veterans in san francisco and the east bay with pre-employment preparation, career counseling, job training, job placement and follow-up. We secured job training for 280 veterans and placed 264 veterans in jobs. 150 of our clients were homeless at time of enrollment. Swords also helps veterans with training, tuition, work clothing, tools, transportation and other needs so they can find and maintain long-term employment.swords works with workforce investment boards, employers, community colleges and vocational training institutions to develop customized job training programs in growth industry sectors. The trainings are tailored to meet the needs of veterans, many of whom served in iraq and afghanistan. We offer specialized curriculum and small class sizes so that veterans can secure accelerated certification to move quickly into jobs. These specialized trainings enable us to efficiently serve more veterans and to have a higher job placement percentage. We forged new relationships with employers…
$1,251,925 spentof which $215,191 as grants4% of program spendingPolicy development -institute for veteran policy (ivp):swords' institute for veteran policy advocates for improved systems of care for veterans of all eras, specifically in the areas of access to benefits, housing, employment, mental health and the prevention of poverty and homelessness. The program delivers the highly acclaimed combat to community training to hundreds each year. Ivp also provides technical assistance and administers the re-granting of funds to veteran-serving agencies in california and texas which deliver employment, training, and wrap around services.legal services:each year, our attorneys provide free legal advice, assistance, and representation to more than 1,000 homeless and low-income veterans throughout the bay area. By assisting veterans attain va eligibility through the va character of discharge process and applications for records corrections and upgrades before the department of defense corrections boards, we fight to remove barriers essential to veterans' stability, including access to va homelessness prevention services, benefits, and healthcare. With the help of our robust pro bono program, we secured over $11 million in lifetime benefits awards for…
$2,451,765 spentof which $289,414 as grants7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $33,164,683.
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 $13M to $40M (+212%).
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 72% · 2018 71% · 2019 71% · 2020 69% · 2021 74% · 2022 75% · 2023 72% · 2024 73% · 2025 67%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
77% of SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (30% 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.
Board chair
Michael Thiel
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 19 funders, grant income rose $649k → $1.1M.
24 of 72 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 37% 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 SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 72 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
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
78% 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 SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 23% · 2019 28% · 2020 24% · 2021 20% · 2022 25% · 2023 29% — 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
32% of SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 51% 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
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION draws 50% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION's funding base is broadening — from 12 funders to 19 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 132 public benefit nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $145.2M on record.
- Department of Veterans Affairs$136.2M
- Department of Labor$7.4M
- Department of Health and Human Services$1.6M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION
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
88%
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 6 related entities
- Swords - 150 Otis LLC · disregarded
- Swords - Mb3e LLC · disregarded
- Swords - Maceo May Apts LLC · disregarded
- 150 Otis Associates LP · partnership
- Mb3e LP · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: 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 SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION?
- SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION (California) receives grants from 72 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,036,557 to it, the largest being BOB WOODRUFF FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($1,930,652). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION have?
- IRS filings report 72 organizations giving $12,036,557 in grants to SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION, 37 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION?
- BOB WOODRUFF FAMILY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,930,652 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SWORDS TO PLOWSHARES VETERANS RIGHTS ORGANIZATION 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 72 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