· Private foundation
Acorn Foundation Inc
Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k4 grants · $20k
- $10k–50k5 grants · $55k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| UNIVERSITY OF DENVER | $15,000 |
| NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL | $10,000 |
| RARITAN HEADWATERS ASSOCIATION | $10,000 |
| CAMP PASQUANEY | $10,000 |
| FOUNTAIN VALLEY SCHOOL | $10,000 |
| INNOCENCE PROJECT | $5,000 |
| 1000 FRIENDS OF FLORIDA | $5,000 |
| CRESTED BUTTE LAND TRUST | $5,000 |
| CLARENCE DILLON PUBLIC LIBRARY | $5,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $30k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
11 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- RHRARITAN HEADWATERS ASSOCIATION6× · 2020–2025 · $70k · revenue +131%
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC6× · 2020–2025 · $60k · revenue +26%- FVFOUNTAIN VALLEY SCHOOL OF COLORADO6× · 2020–2025 · $60k · revenue +93%
Funded once
- UOUNIVERSITY OF DENVERone grant, 2025 · $15k
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.
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.
Perc is dedicated to advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.
The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.
Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)
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.
Mission is to seek protection of land and water resources through restoration and conservation; and conducting education and outreach on the ecological and economic importance of natural lands. we protect land from development and protect…
Unite all americans to ensure wildlife thrives in a rapidly changing world.
We bring science, policy, and proven solutions directly to communities working to restore the integrity and natural connectivity of the landscapes in which they live. (see schedule o)
Darksky international restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation.
The organization pursues higher standards of news coverage of natural resources and the environment -- standards of accuracy, fairness, balance, depth and context.
Wwt's mission is to protect and restore water in rivers and streams across washington state. washington water trust restores and protects water in rivers and streams and promotes sustainable freshwater management in washington, and, more…
Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.
The international snow leopard trust aims to ethically conserve snow leopards and their high mountain ecosystems through partnerships with indigenous peoples and local communities, and through research to improve the understanding of snow…
How this is measured
10 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. 10 of the 12 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 RARITAN HEADWATERS ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
- Who funds FOUNTAIN VALLEY SCHOOL OF COLORADO ↗
- Who funds CAMP PASQUANEY ↗
- Who funds CRESTED BUTTE LAND TRUST ↗
- Who funds 1000 FRIENDS OF FLORIDA INC ↗
- Who funds THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC ↗
- Who funds INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHERS ↗
- Who funds NEW JERSEY CONSERVATION FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DENVER ↗
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.
Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Acorn Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Acorn Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
- Raritan Headwaters Association: 94% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Acorn’s filings →