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A Better South Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

A Better South Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$809k
Granted FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$601k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k18 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $90k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+1 grant · $601k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AUBURN UNIVERSITY$601,000
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH$100,000
HOMEWOOD SOCCER CLUB$30,000
SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER$25,000
ALABAMA RIVERS ALLIANCE$25,000
NATURE CONSERVATORY OF ALABAMA$10,000
FRESHWATER LAND TRUST$1,500
CAHABA RIVER SOCIETY$1,500
JEFFERSON COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY$1,000
WBHM$1,000
COOSE RIVERKEEPER$1,000
SHELBY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY$1,000
ALABAMA SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE NETWORK$1,000
COLLEGE CHOICE FOUNDATION$1,000
BLACK WARRIOR RIVERKEEPER$1,000
02The need
02

Does the money reach high-need areas?

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

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY25–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%PROPUBLICA: $1k → 17%NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $1k → 14%COOSE RIVERKEEPER: $1k → 7%AUBURN UNIVERSITY: $601k → 15%ALABAMA RIVERS ALLIANCE: $25k → 16%SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: $1k → 18%UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $100k → 13%SHELBY COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $1k → 7%NATURE CONSERVATORY OF ALABAMA: $10k → 16%BLACK WARRIOR RIVERKEEPER: $1k → 16%SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $25k → 16%CAHABA RIVER SOCIETY: $2k → 16%WBHM: $1k → 16%WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA: $1k → 16%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF ALABAMA: $500 → 16%KITTY KAT HAVEN: $1k → 16%JEFFERSON COUNTY GREENWAYS FOUNDATION: $500 → 16%ALABAMA INITIATIVE FOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM: $500 → 16%COLLEGE CHOICE FOUNDATION: $1k → 16%JEFFERSON COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $1k → 16%KATDADDE: $1k → 16%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.
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.
03Its 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
Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils

Coordinate rc&d activity in alabama

Environment
2
Rivanna Conservation Alliance

Working with the community to conserve the rivanna river and its watershed through water quality monitoring, education, restoration, and stewardship.

Environment
3
Alabama Bankers Association Inc

To promote the preservation and continued development of commercial banking in alabama.

—
4
Conservation Alabama

At Conservation Alabama, we work to ensure that decisions made by our local, state, and national elected officials protect the people and places of Alabama.

Environment
5
Wild South

We inspire people to enjoy, value and protect the wild character and natural legacy of the South.

Environment
6
Alabama Association of Conservation Districts Inc

The alabama association of conservation districts (aacd) is the unified voice of alabama's 67 conservation districts. organized as a 501(c)3, aacd works in cooperation with the alabama soil & water conservation committee, federal, state,…

Environment
7
South Alabama Land Trust Inc

The South Alabama Land Trust protects land and promotes environmental education in coastal Alabama so current and future residents can enjoy clean water and the seafood, wildlife, and outdoor recreation that define our area.

Environment
8
Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives

A statewide trade association which serves as a resource through which its electric cooperative members are provided services for the continuation and advancement of the rural electrification program in Alabama.

—
9
The South Fork Conservancy Incorporated

The mission of the South Fork Conservancy is to restore and preserve habitat along the tributaries of Peachtree Creek. We give the community access to these healthy, restored greenspaces by designing, building and maintaining nature trails.

Environment
10
Mobile Baykeeper Inc

Provide citizens a means to protect the beauty, health and heritage of the Mobile Bay Watershed, Alabamas waterways and coastal communities.

Environment
11
Conservation Al Foundation Inc

To build the ability of Alabama citizens and organizations to promote conservation through government and civic action.

Education
12
American River Conservancy

To conduct land conservation, stewardship and education in the upper american river and upper cosumnes river watersheds

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Black Warrior Riverkeeper Inc; the most unlike its peers is Katdadde Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

18 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 18 of the 24 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/18
Grantees still filing
7/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AUBURN UNIVERSITY: $601,000 · OtherAUBURN UNIVERSITYSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $25,000 · Other+9 more: $17,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $100,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF …+1 more: $1,000 · EducationHOMEWOOD SOCCER CLUB INC: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsAlabama Rivers Alliance Inc: $25,000 · EnvironmentFRESHWATER LAND TRUST: $1,500 · EnvironmentNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $1,000 · EnvironmentBLACK WARRIOR RIVERKEEPER INC: $1,000 · EnvironmentCOOSA RIVERKEEPER INC: $1,000 · EnvironmentHUMANE SOCIETY OF SHELBY COUNTY: $1,000 · AnimalsKatdadde Inc: $1,000 · AnimalsCahaba River Society Inc: $1,500 · Community ImprovementPRO PUBLICA INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureALABAMA INITIATIVE FOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM INC: $500 · Arts & Culture
Other$643,000Education$101,000Recreation & Sports$30,000Environment$29,500Animals$2,000Community Improvement$1,500Arts & Culture$1,500

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMEWOOD SOCCER CLUB INC: $30,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetCahaba River Society Inc: $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLEGE CHOICE FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF SHELBY COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLACK WARRIOR RIVERKEEPER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOOSA RIVERKEEPER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKatdadde Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE ALABAMA INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALABAMA INITIATIVE FOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM INC: $500 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

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.

The Community Foundat…The Daniel Foundation…Stephens FoundationThe Hugh Kaul Foundat…Susan Mott Webb Chari…Mike and Gillian Good…Protective Life Found…Abahac IncThe Gratitude Foundat…Strain FoundationRobert R Meyer Founda…Altecstyslinger Found…
The Community Foundation of Greater BirminghamAL29.8× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Stephens Foundation · The Hugh Kaul Foundation · Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation · Protective Life Foundation · Abahac Inc · The Gratitude Foundation · Strain Foundation · Robert R Meyer Foundation · Altecstyslinger 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 A Better South Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from A Better South Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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.

    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 24 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on A Better South’s 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