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Acorn Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Acorn 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.

$95k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$30k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Environment$330kCivil Rights$150kPhilanthropy$75kCommunity Improvement$30kEducation$25kPublic Benefit$20kArts & Culture$10k
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$30,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SOCIAL & ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS INC$30,000
NORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE$30,000
AMIGOS BRAVOS$20,000
SAVE RGV$15,000
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.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–17, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%COLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $10k → 12%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
MI
MA
OH
RI
CA
CO
WV
VA
AZ
NM
NC
HI
LA
GA
TX
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 10% of Acorn Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Acorn Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 3.1% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

58%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$330k · 10 repeat orgs$235k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
14

Total granted

$330k
$140k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+41%

Still filing today

70%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $95k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentCommunity ImprovementInternationalHuman ServicesAnimalsCivil RightsOther
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

  • PA
    Pesticide Action Network North America
    6× · 2018–2024 · $90k · revenue +14%
  • NM
    NATIVE MOVEMENT
    5× · 2017–2024 · $70k · revenue ×12
  • LC
    LOWLANDER CENTER
    3× · 2017–2024 · $30k · revenue +181%

Funded once

  • BM
    BLACK MESA WATER COALITION
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • CP
    COLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue -5%
  • Earth Island Institute Incgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +76%
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
California Environmental Justice Alliance

Our mission is to fight against fossil fuel executives and industries that have turned our communities into dumping grounds for toxic waste, poisoning our air, water, lan, and bodies. We organize to oppose giant oil refineries, dirty…

Environment
2
Amazon Watch Inc

To protect the rainforest and advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with Indigenous communities in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability, and the preservation of the Amazon Basin's…

Environment
3
Nature for Justice

To empower frontline communities to lead nature-based solutions that advance climate justice, ecosystem restoration, and resilient livelihoods through connecting locally-led initiatives to funding, markets, and technical support.

Environment
4
Earthworks

The Corporation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. Earthworks is dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the impacts of irresponsible mineral and energy development while seeking…

Public Benefit
5
Taproot Earth

Taproot Earth works with communities to support strategies around the use of water, energy and land.

Environment
6
Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice

Greenaction mobilizes community power to win victories that change govenment and corporate policies and practices to protect health and promote environmental, economic and social justice.

Environment
7
Educator Collective for Envionmental Justice Inc

Environmental Justice & Equality

Education
8
Nw Energy Coalition

The NW Energy Coalition is an alliance of over 100 environmental, civic, and human service organizations, utilities, and businesses in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia, plus many individual members. The NW Energy…

—
9
Center for Contemporary Documentation Inc
Philanthropy
10
Central Valley Partnership

The Central Valley Partnership (CVP) conducts and collaborates in training initiatives, including community organizer training, education on labor history and issues, messaging workshops, etc., aimed at fostering the establishment of new…

Civil Rights
11
Boulder Watershed Collective

The Boulder Watershed Collective is a 501c3 non-profit stakeholder-driven organization established to address forested watershed health,resiliency and stewardship. We have three program areas: ClimateAdaptation and Resilience Watershed…

Environment
12
Great Basin Resource Watch

Natural resource protection: Protected communities and the environment from the negative impacts of mineral development; provided support to communities impacted by mining

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc; the most unlike its peers is Lowlander Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

20 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. 20 of the 29 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
14/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATIONNATIVE MOVEMENT: $70,000 · Community ImprovementNATIVE MOVEMENTLOWLANDER CENTER: $30,000 · Community ImprovementLOWLANDER CENTERUNION DE VECINOS DE PICO ALISO: $20,000 · Community ImprovementUNION DE VECINOS DE PICO ALISOFuture Economy Collective: $10,000 · Community ImprovementPesticide Action Network North America: $90,000 · EnvironmentPesticide Action Network North Am…NORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE NETWORK: $30,000 · EnvironmentNORTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL JUST…SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE) INC: $30,000 · EnvironmentSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRE…EAST MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COUNCIL INC: $20,000 · EnvironmentEAST MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIO…Earth Island Institute Inc: $10,000 · EnvironmentSOGOREA TE LAND TRUST: $10,000 · EnvironmentUNITED PARENTS AGAINST LEAD: $20,000 · OtherUNITED PARENTS AGAINST LEADAmigos Bravos Inc: $20,000 · OtherAmigos Bravos IncSOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS: $20,000 · OtherSOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEU…PUERTO RICO COMM FOUNDATION: $20,000 · OtherPUERTO RICO COMM FOUNDATIONRESIST INC: $20,000 · OtherRESIST INCSAVE RGV: $15,000 · OtherSAVE RGVBLACK MESA WATER COALITION: $10,000 · OtherBLACK MESA WATER COALITIONPROJECT SOUTH INC: $10,000 · OtherPROJECT SOUTH INCOIL GAS ACTION NETWORK: $10,000 · OtherOIL GAS ACTION NETWORKNEW VIRGINIA MAJORITY EDUCATION FUN: $10,000 · OtherNEW VIRGINIA MAJORITY EDUCATION …OHIO RIVER VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION: $10,000 · OtherOHIO RIVER VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL …ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE LEAGUE OF RI: $10,000 · OtherENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE LEAGUE OF …BUCKEYE ENVIRONMENTAL FUND: $10,000 · OtherBUCKEYE ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $20,000 · AnimalsCOLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $10,000 · Human ServicesNEW VIRGINIA MAJORITY: $10,000 · Civil RightsAlliance for Global Justice Corp: $10,000 · InternationalKOIHONUA: $10,000 · Arts & Culture
Community Improvement$205,000Environment$190,000Other$185,000Animals$20,000Human Services$10,000Civil Rights$10,000International$10,000Arts & Culture$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPesticide Action Network North America: $90,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCOMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNATIVE MOVEMENT: $70,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetLOWLANDER CENTER: $30,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetEAST MICHIGAN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION COUNCIL INC: $20,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmigos Bravos Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetUNION DE VECINOS DE PICO ALISO: $20,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetRESIST INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT SOUTH INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNEW VIRGINIA MAJORITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAlliance for Global Justice Corp: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSOGOREA TE LAND TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOHIO RIVER VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetFuture Economy Collective: $10,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetKOIHONUA: $10,000 over 1y, 3.0% 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.

Common Counsel Founda…Tides FoundationWindward FundAmalgamated Charitabl…Rockefeller Philanthr…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Common Counsel FoundationCA17.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Common Counsel Foundation · Tides Foundation · Windward Fund · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Acorn Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Acorn Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Resist Inc: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Acorn Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Acorn 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 29 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 Acorn’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