Social Good Labs makes one very large institutional/ intermediary grant and a series of modest awards to science, ocean conservation, and community biotechnology organizations. While its single biggest payment (to The Capacity Shop) skews its NTEE profile toward a religious/intermediary code, the rest of its portfolio shows a clear interest in marine science, open science/data infrastructure, and community bio/biotech education. Grants are geographically dispersed with a modest Hawaii connection and a preference for mission-driven research institutions and grassroots labs.
Highly concentrated: one very large intermediary grant dominates total giving, while the remainder are modest, one-off grants across many small to mid-sized science, conservation, and community-lab recipients rather than multi-year funding to the same handful of organizations.
Social Good Labs Incorporated’s largest recent grant was a $468,063 payment to The Capacity Shop, and that single award sits alongside a set of smaller grants that point to a very different pattern of support: marine science, ocean conservation, community biology, open science infrastructure, and university research. In 2025, the foundation backed both large intermediary work and direct program support for mission-driven organizations, including Genespace NYC and Cellsius Community Biology Laboratory. Its grant list also includes organizations tied to ocean research and conservation, such as Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Reef Check Foundation, and the Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans. Another thread runs through research and data-oriented groups, from Open Earth Foundation and Open Source Collective to Cornell University and the University of Michigan. The overall picture is of a funder using a mix of one major institutional grant and a broader series of modest awards to support scientific, educational, and environmental work.
Marine and ocean-focused organizations appear repeatedly in the recent grants. Social Good Labs Incorporated gave $10,000 to Haiti Ocean Project, $10,000 to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, $10,000 to Reef Check Foundation, and $6,000 to Walter Munk Foundation for the Oceans. The foundation also supported environmental research through The Biodiversity Group with a $6,000 grant. A second cluster centers on community biology and biotech education. It gave $20,000 to Genespace NYC, $10,000 to Cellsius Community Biology Laboratory, and $9,000 to Biotech Without Borders. The portfolio also includes open science and technology-oriented support: Open Earth Foundation received $8,000, and Open Source Collective received $7,000. University-based recipients include Columbia University, Regents of the University of California, Cornell University, and the University of Michigan, each receiving $10,000 or $6,000.
The grant-size profile is highly skewed: one grant of $468,063 is followed by a much lower second tier, with several awards in the $5,500 to $20,000 range. The 2025 list shows repeated support across a shared set of themes, but the named grantees themselves appear as one-year entries in the recent-grants table rather than a visible multi-year sequence. Social Good Labs Incorporated is a public charity and a pure DAF provider, so its giving reflects donor-advised fund activity rather than an operating foundation model. The grants shown are all described as support to further exempt purpose.
$639K
$1.4M
$1.5M
$1.4M
About 10% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Sign up for a free Kindora account to access AI-generated insights into this funder's giving patterns, decision-makers, and fit signals.
Get Started FreeFree Kindora accounts unlock side-by-side comparisons with foundations that share this funder's focus areas and giving profile.
Get Started FreeSign up free to see how well your nonprofit fits this funder, get an AI-generated pitch, and unlock similar foundations.
Notable grantees: THE CAPACITY SHOP, REEF CHECK FOUNDATION, WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION, GENESPACE NYC, CELLSIUS COMMUNITY BIOLOGY LABORATORY
All of the recent grants in the provided sample went to U.S. recipients. The strongest city clusters are San Francisco, New York, and California research hubs such as La Jolla, Marina del Rey, and Westlake Village. Additional grants went to locations including Ithaca, Ann Arbor, Seattle, Tucson, and West Palm Beach. The foundation’s HQ is in Kapaa, Hawaii, but no recent grant in the sample went to a Hawaii recipient city outside the university and school awards tied to Honolulu and Makena.
The recent grants show support for marine science and ocean conservation, community biology and biotech education, open science and environmental data projects, and university research. Examples in the list include ocean-focused institutions, community labs, and universities, with awards ranging from $5,500 to $20,000 for many recipients.
The distribution is uneven because of one very large grant. After the $468,063 award, many grants fall between $5,500 and $20,000, including several $10,000 awards and smaller amounts such as $6,000, $7,000, $8,000, and $9,000.
From the 2025 recent-grants list provided, the recipients appear as single entries rather than repeated multi-year awards. The pattern suggests a broad set of one-year grants in that file, alongside one large institutional payment.
The sample is entirely U.S.-based: 20 grants and 100.0% of the recipient country distribution are in the United States. Recipient cities include San Francisco, Brooklyn, West Palm Beach, Woods Hole, New York, Oakland, Honolulu, Ann Arbor, Seattle, and Long Island City.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THE CAPACITY SHOP | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $468,063 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| GENESPACE NYC | BROOKLYN, NY | $20,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| CIRCULAR AGRICULTURE SOLUTIONS | HARPERS FERRY, WV | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| CELLSIUS COMMUNITY BIOLOGY LABORATORY | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION | WOODS HOLE, MA | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA | OAKLAND, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION | HONOLULU, HI | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| REEF CHECK FOUNDATION | WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN | ANN ARBOR, MI | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY | NEW YORK, NY | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| HAITI OCEAN PROJECT | WEST PALM BEACH, FL | $10,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| BIOTECH WITHOUT BORDERS | LONG ISLAND CITY, NY | $9,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| OPEN EARTH FOUNDATION | MARINA DEL REY, CA | $8,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| MONTESSORI SCHOOL OF MAUI | MAKENA, HI | $7,500 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| OPEN SOURCE COLLECTIVE | WALNUT, CA | $7,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| THE BIODIVERSITY GROUP | TUCSON, AZ | $6,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS | LA JOLLA, CA | $6,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| CORNELL UNIVERSITY | ITHACA, NY | $6,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| SOUNDBIO LAB | SEATTLE, WA | $6,000 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
| FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS | WASHINGTON, DC | $5,500 | 2025 | TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE. |
CIRCULAR AGRICULTURE SOLUTIONS
$10,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
CELLSIUS COMMUNITY BIOLOGY LABORATORY
$10,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
REEF CHECK FOUNDATION
$10,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
$10,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
HAITI OCEAN PROJECT
$10,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
BIOTECH WITHOUT BORDERS
$9,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
OPEN SOURCE COLLECTIVE
$7,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
THE BIODIVERSITY GROUP
$6,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
WALTER MUNK FOUNDATION FOR THE OCEANS
$6,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.
SOUNDBIO LAB
$6,000TO FURTHER THEIR EXEMPT PURPOSE.