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444s Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

444s Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$2.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
31
Grants FY2024still arriving
10
States reached
$275k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Environment$13MCivil Rights$876kAnimals$771kPublic Benefit$44kEducation$26k
02FY2024 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k14 grants · $414k
  • $50k–250k14 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+3 grants · $775k
$50,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$46M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BIODIVERSITY FUNDERS GROUP$275,000
THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY$250,000
MAKEWAY FOUNDATION$250,000
WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE$195,000
ALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE$170,000
NATIVE MOVEMENT$135,000
Individual grant recipient$120,000
THE ALASKA CENTER EDUCATION FUND$115,000
TRUSTEES FOR ALASKA$100,000
ECOJUSTICE CANADA SOCIETY$75,000
ENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION$75,000
WEST COAST ENVIRONMENTAL LAW RESEARCH FOUNDATION$75,000
THEODORE ROOSEVELT CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP$60,000
RESOURCES LEGACY FUND$51,375
WILDEARTH GUARDIANS$50,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

US giving: 69% of grant dollars ($10M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 31% that went abroad ($4.6M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–24, $891k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE: $195k → 8%WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE: $161k → 8%WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE: $145k → 8%WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE: $130k → 8%WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE: $130k → 8%WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE: $130k → 8%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
WA
ID
MT
NY
OR
CA
UT
CO
VA
AZ
NM
DC

Beyond the US: 31% of all-years giving ($4.6M)

1 country, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
Canada$4.6M · 58 grants
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 43 repeat orgs$619k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +55% since the first grant, against -29% for those funded once.

43 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

43
4

Total granted

$14M
$213k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+55%
-29%

Still filing today

67%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $406k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentAnimalsCivil RightsHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • TW
    THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY
    6× · 2019–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +9%
  • WW
    WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $891k · revenue +35% · 26% of their budget
  • TA
    THE ALASKA CENTER EDUCATION FUND
    6× · 2019–2024 · $735k · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • BS
    BOREAL SONGBIRD INITIATIVE
    one grant, 2019 · $133k · revenue -100%
  • SF
    SALAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $30k
  • CLIMATE CONSERVATION DBA CENTER FOR LARGE LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -29%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Cascadia Wildlands

Cascadia wildlands defends and restores cacasia's wild ecosystems in the forests,in the courts, and in the streets. we envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and…

Environment
2
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
3
Alaska Wildlife Alliance

Support ecosystem-based wildlife management by increasing public awareness of wildlife issues, responding to information requests, advocating for science-based wildlife habitat management through proposal and comment submissions, and…

Environment
4
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
5
CalWild

The California Wilderness Coalition protects the natural landscapes that make California unique, providing clean air and water, a home to wildlife, and a place for recreation and spiritual renewal.

—
6
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
7
Crag Law Center

Providing legal aid to the environment by providing legal services to conservation organizations, community groups, native american tribes, and individuals working to protect and sustain the pacific northwest's natural legacy.

Environment
8
Native Ecosystems Council

Promote wildlife habitat

Environment
9
Greater Yellowstone Coalition

Greater yellowstone coalition works with all people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the greater yellowstone ecosystem, now and for future generations.

Environment
10
Idaho Conservation League Inc

Icl's mission is to create a conservation community and pragmatic, enduring solutions that protect and restore the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the land and wildlife you love.

—
11
Montana Wildlife Federation

The montana wildlife federation is a statewide conservation organization dedicated to protecting wildlife, wildlife habitat, and public access for outdoor recreation.

Animals
12
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Environment America Research and Policy Center Inc; the most unlike its peers is Oregon State University Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

35 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 35 of the 52 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/35
Grantees still filing
25/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $1,166,000 · EnvironmentTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETYTHE ALASKA CENTER EDUCATION FUND: $735,000 · EnvironmentTHE ALASKA CENTER EDUCATION FUNDEARTHJUSTICE: $730,000 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICEThe Partnership Project Inc: $592,000 · EnvironmentThe Partnership Project IncALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE: $525,000 · EnvironmentALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUETRUSTEES FOR ALASKA: $510,000 · EnvironmentTRUSTEES FOR ALASKARESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $364,075 · EnvironmentRESOURCES LEGACY FUNDNORTHERN ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER: $316,000 · EnvironmentADVOCATES FOR THE WEST INC: $310,000 · Environment+12 more: $818,000 · Environment+12 moreMAKEWAY FOUNDATION - DONOR ADVISED FUND: $810,000 · OtherMAKEWAY FOUNDATION - DONOR ADVISED FUNDMAKEWAY FOUNDATION: $765,000 · OtherMAKEWAY FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $725,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientECOJUSTICE CANADA SOCIETY: $660,000 · OtherECOJUSTICE CANADA SOCIETYWEST COAST ENVIRONMENTAL LAW RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $456,000 · OtherWEST COAST ENVIRONMENTAL LAW RESEARCH FOUND…WILDEARTH GUARDIANS: $324,000 · OtherWILDEARTH GUARDIANSWESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $322,000 · OtherWESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTERNATURE CANADA: $256,000 · OtherYUKON CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $220,000 · OtherWILDSIGHT: $213,000 · Other+12 more: $961,000 · Other+12 moreENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION: $456,000 · AnimalsNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $315,000 · AnimalsROUND RIVER CONSERVATION STUDIES: $189,000 · AnimalsTHEODORE ROOSEVELT CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INC: $110,000 · AnimalsWINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE INC: $891,000 · Human ServicesCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $300,000 · Civil RightsNATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND INC: $142,000 · Civil RightsNATIVE MOVEMENT: $434,000 · Community ImprovementCONSULTATIVE GROUP ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC Biodiversity Funders Grp: $275,000 · Science & Tech
Environment$6,066,075Other$5,712,000Animals$1,070,000Human Services$891,000Civil Rights$442,000Community Improvement$434,000Science & Tech$275,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE WILDERNESS SOCIETY: $1,166,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetWINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE INC: $891,000 over 6y, 26% of budgetTHE ALASKA CENTER EDUCATION FUND: $735,000 over 6y, 6.3% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $730,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetThe Partnership Project Inc: $592,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE: $525,000 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetTRUSTEES FOR ALASKA: $510,000 over 6y, 5.8% of budgetENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION: $456,000 over 6y, 11% of budgetNATIVE MOVEMENT: $434,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetRESOURCES LEGACY FUND: $364,075 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWILDEARTH GUARDIANS: $324,000 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetWESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $322,000 over 4y, 3.1% of budgetNORTHERN ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER: $316,000 over 6y, 11% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $315,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetADVOCATES FOR THE WEST INC: $310,000 over 6y, 3.8% of budgetCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $300,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCONSULTATIVE GROUP ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC Biodiversity Funders Grp: $275,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetENVIRONMENT AMERICA RESEARCH AND POLICY CENTER INC: $190,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetROUND RIVER CONSERVATION STUDIES: $189,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetNATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND INC: $142,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetBOREAL SONGBIRD INITIATIVE: $133,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetWILDERNESS WORKSHOP: $131,000 over 3y, 3.3% of budgetTHEODORE ROOSEVELT CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INC: $110,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $105,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPACIFIC ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES CENTER: $70,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetTHE GRAND CANYON TRUST INC: $60,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetALASKA MARINE COMMUNITY COALITION: $55,000 over 3y, 3.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $50,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetConservation Lands Foundation: $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetThe Pew Charitable Trusts: $43,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSILVIX RESOURCES: $30,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetALASKA COMMUNITY ACTION ON TOXICS: $30,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetOregon State University Foundation: $26,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLIMATE CONSERVATION DBA CENTER FOR LARGE LANDSCAPE CONSERVATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNatureServe: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds WINTER WILDLANDS ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ALASKA CENTER EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds EARTHJUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds The Partnership Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds ALASKA WILDERNESS LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES FOR ALASKA ↗
  • Who funds ENDANGERED SPECIES COALITION ↗
  • Who funds NATIVE MOVEMENT ↗
  • Who funds RESOURCES LEGACY FUND ↗
  • Who funds WILDEARTH GUARDIANS ↗
  • Who funds WESTERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER ↗
  • Who funds NORTHERN ALASKA ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION ↗
  • Who funds ADVOCATES FOR THE WEST INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS ↗
  • Who funds CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC Biodiversity Funders Grp ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENT AMERICA RESEARCH AND POLICY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds ROUND RIVER CONSERVATION STUDIES ↗
  • Who funds NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds BOREAL SONGBIRD INITIATIVE ↗
  • Who funds WILDERNESS WORKSHOP ↗
  • Who funds THEODORE ROOSEVELT CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INC ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PACIFIC ENVIRONMENT AND RESOURCES CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE GRAND CANYON TRUST INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

PatagoniaorgWilburforce FoundationResources Legacy FundThe Pew Charitable Tr…Gordon E and Betty I …The New-Land Foundati…Tortuga Charitable Fo…The Wilderness SocietyMarin Community Found…True North FoundationAlaska Conservation F…Rasmuson Foundation
PatagoniaorgCA36.5× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Patagoniaorg · Wilburforce Foundation · Resources Legacy Fund · The Pew Charitable Trusts · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · The New-Land Foundation Inc · Tortuga Charitable Foundation · The Wilderness Society · Marin Community Foundation · True North Foundation · Alaska Conservation Foundation · Rasmuson Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization 444s Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from 444s Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Oregon State University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to 444s Foundation?

Find your warmest path to 444s Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 52 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on 444s’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home