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Adams Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Adams Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$45k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Education$222kInternational$219kPhilanthropy$66kArts & Culture$64kFood & Nutrition$7kMembership Benefit$5kRecreation & Sports$3kReligion$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
$6,040
Median grant
3
States reached
$675k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROTARY FOUNDATION$15,000
SAN FRANCISCO OPERA$15,000
FAIRHOPE ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION$6,040
LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM$5,000
MONTGOMERY ROTARY CHARITY FOUNDATION$2,500
MONTGOMERY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$1,000
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 (FY21–21, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MONTGOMERY AREA COUNCIL-AGING: $1k → 18%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 grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$312k · 13 repeat orgs$74k to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
15

Total granted

$312k
$62k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-3%
+17%

Still filing today

54%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k 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
PhilanthropyEducationArts & CultureHealthFood & NutritionHuman ServicesOther
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

  • TU
    TROY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2022 · $116k · revenue +44%
  • UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC
    2× · 2021–2023 · $20k · revenue +19%
  • MM
    MONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION
    2× · 2018–2021 · $5k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • OL
    OUR LADY OF SORROWS SCHOOL
    one grant, 2019 · $25k
  • CT
    CAPRI THEATRE
    one grant, 2017 · $6k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
2
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
3
Loyola Marymount University

Organization's mission loyola marymount university maintains a three-fold mission: 1)the encouragement of learning, 2) the education of the whole person, and 3)the service of faith and the promotion of justice.

Education
4
Lake Forest Academy

Lake forest academy strives to embody in its practices - and to cultivate in its students -excellence of character, scholarship, citizenship, and responsibility.

Education
5
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
6
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
7
California Lutheran University

The mission of the university is to educate leaders for a global society who are strong in character and judgment, confident in their identity and vocation, and committed to service and justice.

Education
8
Lincoln Memorial University

Lincoln memorial university is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies.

Education
9
Trustees of Union College in the Town of Schenectady in the State of New York

Union college, chartered by the state of new york in 1795, is one of the nation's oldest and most distinguished liberal arts colleges with engineering. consistently ranked among the nation's top colleges, union is a leader in educating…

Education
10
Marietta College

Marietta college (mc) provides a strong foundation for a lifetime of leadership, critical thinking, and problem solving. we achieve this mission by offering undergraduates a contemporary liberal arts education and graduate students an…

Education
11
Mcmurry University

Shaped by christian principles, mcmurry university challenges students to examine our complex world from multiple perspectives in preparation for lives of leadership, service and professional success.

Education
12
Texas Wesleyan University

Texas wesleyan university, guided by its deep methodist heritage, provides transformational learning experiences and research opportunities to a diverse group of students to develop their full potential as individuals and as members of the…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Foothill-Deanza Community Colleges Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Fairhope Rotary Club 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

17 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. 17 of the 33 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
8/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL: $199,173 · InternationalTHE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERN…ALABAMA COUNCIL ON ECON EDUCATION: $40,000 · OtherALABAMA COUNCIL ON ECON E…OUR LADY OF SORROWS SCHOOL: $25,000 · OtherOUR LADY OF SORROWS SCHOO…WESTPOINT FUND: $16,500 · OtherWESTPOINT FUNDMONTGOMERY ROTARY CHARITY FOUNDATION: $9,000 · OtherMONTGOMERY ROTARY CHARITY…CAPRI THEATRE: $6,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA: $5,000 · OtherDELTA KAPPA EPSILON: $5,000 · OtherMONTGOMERY SUNSET ROTARY CLUB: $5,000 · Other+11 more: $20,000 · Other+11 moreTROY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $115,600 · EducationTROY UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · Education+2 more: $3,000 · EducationRIVER REGION UNITED WAY: $40,000 · PhilanthropyRIVER REGION U…UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF …FOOTHILL-DEANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $11,000 · PhilanthropyFOOTHILL-DEANZ…FAIRHOPE ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION: $6,040 · PhilanthropyFAIRHOPE ROTAR…SAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $40,000 · Arts & CultureSAN FRANC…ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM: $5,000 · Arts & CultureASSOCIATI…MONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION: $4,750 · Arts & CultureMONTGOMER…LUNCHES FOR LEARNING INC: $6,600 · Food & NutritionTHIRD MILLENNIUM MINISTRIES INC: $2,000 · Religion
International$199,173Other$131,500Education$123,600Philanthropy$77,040Arts & Culture$49,750Food & Nutrition$6,600Religion$2,000

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 ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL: $199,173 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTROY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $115,600 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetSAN FRANCISCO OPERA ASSOCIATION: $40,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRIVER REGION UNITED WAY: $40,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOTHILL-DEANZA COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOUNDATION: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLUNCHES FOR LEARNING INC: $6,600 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetFAIRHOPE ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION: $6,040 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION: $4,750 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHIRD MILLENNIUM MINISTRIES INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLYMAN WARD MILITARY ACADEMY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMONTGOMERY AREA COUNCIL ON AGING: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HARBOR INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTGOMERY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 Daniel Foundation…Arthur M Britton Foun…We3 FundThe Landa FundLoeb Family Foundatio…The J K Lowder Family…Kiwanis Club of Montg…The Curtis & Edith Mu…Alfa FoundationNatl Christian Charit…Morgan Stanley Global…American Endowment Fo…
The Daniel Foundation of AlabamaAL17.5× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Arthur M Britton Foundation Inc · We3 Fund · The Landa Fund · Loeb Family Foundation Inc · The J K Lowder Family Foundation · Kiwanis Club of Montgomery Foundation Inc · The Curtis & Edith Munson Foundation · Alfa Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Endowment 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 Adams Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Adams Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get 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 · 0–20%
    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 33 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 Adams’ 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