San Diego philanthropy runs on repeat relationships.
86% of all grant dollars flow through the same funder-nonprofit pairs, with one-time grants accounting for just 14%.
Across the last 5 years on file, the ecosystem recorded:
65,044 grants
7,639 funders
27,258 nonprofits
$10,000 median grant size
At first glance, philanthropy looks broad and constantly shifting.
But when you aggregate the data, most dollars go to organizations with existing funder relationships.
And if relationships drive funding, then visibility into the ecosystem is leverage.
For foundations, it means seeing:
– Which other funders support your grantees
– Where collaboration is already happening (or could be)
– How your portfolio connects to foundations you already trust
For nonprofits, this means seeing:
– Which foundations consistently fund organizations like yours
– Who sits on those foundations’ boards
– The exact network where warm introductions matter most
The data has always existed. Impala curated it, connected it, and made it navigable.
Last week, we launched the Catalyst Data Hub in partnership with Katie Janowiak, Melissa Leon, and the team at Catalyst of San Diego & Imperial Counties. You can now see San Diego's entire philanthropic ecosystem in one place. No data collection. No spreadsheets. Just the full network.
Explore it here: https://impala.digital/catalyst-san-diego-hub