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Adoption Is an Option at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Adoption Is an Option

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.

$96k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$34k
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Human Services$271kHousing & Shelter$50kReligion$30kYouth Development$22kHealth$20k
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $89k
$12,080
Median grant
3
States reached
$7.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION$34,000
BRAVE LOVE$32,500
NEW LIFE ADOPTION$12,080
HOUSTON TEXANS FOUNDATION$10,362
US PASTORS COUNCIL$5,000
UNPLANNED GOOD INC$2,000
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 (FY21–25, $227k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 43% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%BRAVE LOVE: $33k → 14%CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE FOR ORPHANS: $20k → 6%NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION: $34k → 9%BRAVELOVE: $30k → 14%HOUSTON PREGNANCY HELP CENTER: $20k → 16%CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE FOR ORPHANS: $20k → 6%NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION: $20k → 9%BRAVELOVE: $15k → 14%NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION: $20k → 9%NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ADOPTION: $15k → 9%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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$306k · 6 repeat orgs$88k to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
5

Total granted

$306k
$73k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+45%

Still filing today

83%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesReligionHousing & ShelterRecreation & SportsYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • NC
    National Council for Adoption
    4× · 2021–2025 · $89k · revenue +82%
  • PA
    Pregnancy Assistance Center North
    3× · 2021–2023 · $50k · revenue +31%
  • NL
    NEW LIFE ADOPTIONS
    2× · 2021–2025 · $37k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • TR
    THE RELEVATE GROUP INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue +70%
  • HP
    Houston Pregnancy Help Center Incgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +45%
  • LC
    LIFELINE CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC
    one grant, 2023 · $20k · revenue +9%
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
Covenant Care Services Inc

Covenant Care Services, Inc. is a non-profit faith-based adoption agency serving birthmothers and adoptive families in the state of Georgia. The Organization counsels women experiencing unplanned pregancy and educates them about the option…

Human Services
2
Adoption Authority Inc

Providing compassion, respect, and loving care to each individual on their unique adoption journey. We commit to honoring and nurturing expectant mothers through pregnancy, birth, and life after placement.

—
3
Choose Life of North Alabama Inc

Our mission is to offer gospel-focused, life-affirming choices, education and compassionate counsel to those facing pregnancy related decisions.

—
4
Pregnancy Care Center

The Pregnancy Care Center is a Christian organization to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to boldly endorse the sacredness of all human life, by providing comprehensive, practical services as enduring alternatives to abortion.

—
5
Adoption Choices Inc

The Organization is a full-service adoption agency whose services include adoptive placements, counseling, consultation and adoptive home assessments.

Human Services
6
Center for Excellence in Adoption Services Inc

The Center for Excellence in Adoption Services promotes the implementation of best practices to enhance the experience and outcomes of children, families, and communities impacted by adoption.

Human Services
7
Palouse Care Network Inc

We are a Christian Organization that provides confidential and compassionate care in the form of specialized medical, practical and spiritual support to those facing pregnancy, parenting, sexuality and abortion related issues.

Health
8
Christian Family Services Inc

"religion that god our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." james 1:27ff (bible) cfs therefore operates for the purpose of…

—
9
Open Door Adoption Agency Inc

The mission of Open Door Adoption Agency is to preserve and enhance human life through the placement of domestic and international children into loving Christian adoptive families. The counseling and placement services of the ministry…

—
10
Loving Arms - a Crisis Pregnancy Center

Sharing the love of christ while promoting sexual integrity and bringing life affirming services to those unprepared for pregnancy or hurt by abortion

Health
11
Pregnancy Resources of Abilene Inc

Pregnancy Resources' mission is to inspire hope and unconditionally love everyone we serve by empowering them to thrive through compassionate support and positive solutions.

Civil Rights
12
Elevate Pregnancy and Family Resource Center

The Organization is a Christian nonprofit organization that empowers and equips those experiencing unintended or crisis pregnancies, as well as youth and families, by providing education, mentoring and support.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lifeline Children's Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Us Pastor Council. 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

12 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. 12 of the 13 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/12
Grantees still filing
10/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

National Council for Adoption: $89,000 · Human ServicesNational Council for AdoptionBRAVELOVE INC: $77,500 · Human ServicesBRAVELOVE INCChristian Alliance for Orphans: $40,000 · Human ServicesChristian Alliance for OrphansHouston Pregnancy Help Center Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesHouston Pregnancy Help Center Inc+1 more: $5,000 · Human ServicesPregnancy Assistance Center North: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterPregnancy Assi…THE RELEVATE GROUP INC: $25,000 · ReligionTHE RELEVATE G…LIFELINE CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $20,000 · ReligionLIFELINE CHILD…US Pastor Council: $5,000 · ReligionUS Pastor Coun…NEW LIFE ADOPTIONS: $37,080 · OtherNEW LIFE ADOPT…UNPLANNED GOOD INC: $12,000 · OtherUNPLANNED GOOD…HOUSTON TEXANS FOUNDATION: $10,362 · Youth DevelopmentFELIX ORGANIZATION - ADOPTEES FOR CHILDREN INC: $2,500 · Recreation & Sports
Human Services$231,500Housing & Shelter$50,000Religion$50,000Other$49,080Youth Development$10,362Recreation & Sports$2,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNational Council for Adoption: $89,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetBRAVELOVE INC: $77,500 over 3y, 9.5% of budgetPregnancy Assistance Center North: $50,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetChristian Alliance for Orphans: $40,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetNEW LIFE ADOPTIONS: $37,080 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetTHE RELEVATE GROUP INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHouston Pregnancy Help Center Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLIFELINE CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBoth Hands Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFELIX ORGANIZATION - ADOPTEES FOR CHILDREN INC: $2,500 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.

Greater Houston Commu…Jkj Charitable Founda…Natl Christian Charit…Shell USA Company Fou…American Endowment Fo…Charities Aid Foundat…National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Greater Houston Community FoundationTX14.3× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Houston Community Foundation · Jkj Charitable Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Shell USA Company Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Adoption Is an Option funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Adoption Is an Option. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 Adoption Is an Option?

    Find your warmest path to Adoption Is an Option 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 13 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 Adoption Is an Option’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