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Aja Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Aja Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$224k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

International$2.2MEducation$1.8MHealth$701kEnvironment$382kPhilanthropy$222kArts & Culture$193kPublic Benefit$120kYouth Development$87kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $21k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $205k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.2M
$25,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$21M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ENGERA$224,000
MAKOLEKOLE$192,500
Individual grant recipient$125,000
STEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION INC$100,000
FULFILLMENT FUND LAS VEGAS$100,000
HOPKINS GRAMMAR SCHOOL PATHFINDER PROGRAM$100,000
ASEEL FOUNDATION$75,000
MR HOLLAND'S OPUS FOUNDATION$60,000
THREE ANGELS CHILDREN'S RELIEF INC$54,000
BRINGING HOPE TO THE FAMILY USA$53,000
INTERNATIONAL ESPERANZA PROJECT$52,100
PARTNERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE$50,000
MAYA HEALTH ALLIANCE$50,000
THE SPARKLE FOUNDATION USA INC$30,000
ELM CITY INTERNATIONALS EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS THROUGH SOCCER INC$25,000
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, $1.3M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%MIRACLE LEAGUE OF SAN DIEGO: $10k → 11%SHARE YOUR MANA: $5k → 9%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $25k → 17%MAYA HEALTH ALLIANCE: $50k → 9%ENGERA: $224k → 13%ENGERA: $181k → 13%A CHANCE IN LIFE: $75k → 17%ENGERA INC: $105k → 13%THREE ANGELS CHILDREN'S RELIEF INC: $71k → 14%THREE ANGELS CHILDREN'S RELIEF: $64k → 14%ENGERA INC: $105k → 13%THREE ANGELS CHILDREN'S RELIEF INC: $54k → 14%THREE ANGEL'S CHILDREN'S RELIEF: $52k → 14%FULFILLMENT FUND LA: $75k → 14%FULFILLMENT FUND LA: $110k → 14%FULFILLMENT FUND: $100k → 14%FULFILLMENT FUND LA: $40k → 14%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

ME
VT
WA
ID
IL
NY
MA
NV
CT
CA
CO
VA
DE
AZ
HI
AL
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 20% of Aja Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 32% of the giving stays in NV; by stated purpose, 15%.

Aja Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 16% 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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.9M · 24 repeat orgs$902k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +14% since the first grant, against -6% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
28

Total granted

$4.9M
$552k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
-6%

Still filing today

75%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $350k 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
EducationHuman ServicesHealthInternationalArts & CulturePhilanthropyOther
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

  • UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
    2× · 2021–2022 · $638k · revenue +64%
  • EI
    ENGERA INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $615k · revenue +125% · 100% of their budget
  • FF
    FULFILLMENT FUND
    4× · 2021–2024 · $325k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO FOUNDATION ON BEHALF OF DEAN'S FUTURE SCHOLARS
    one grant, 2021 · $80k
  • UO
    University of Nevada Reno Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $75k · revenue -33%
  • AC
    A CHANCE IN LIFEINC
    one grant, 2021 · $75k · revenue -8%
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
Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation

Partners In Health (PIH) is a non-profit, global health organization that fights social injustice by bringing the benefits of modern medical science first and foremost to the most vulnerable communities worldwide. In Haiti, Malawi, Rwanda,…

Health
2
The Malala Fund

We work to ensure all girls can access and complete 12 years of education. by completing 12 years of quality schooling, girls will have the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to reach their full potential, make their own life…

Education
3
Pathfinder International

Pathfinder expands access to sexual and reproductive health services, opening the door to opportunities for women and all individuals to thrive-economically, educationally, and civically. driven by our country-led leadership and local…

International
4
University of Hawaii Foundation

To unite donors' passions with the university of hawai'i's (uh) aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing investments to benefit uh, the people of hawai'i and our future generations.

Education
5
Management Sciences for Health Inc

(msh) saves lives and improves the health of the world's poorest (see schedule o) and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.

International
6
Impact Water Foundation

To make safe drinking water available to as many students as possible through scalable and lasting solutions, ensuring every student can learn and thrive with safe water. see schedule o.

Human Services
7
Project Hope - the People-to-People Health Foundation Inc

To conduct and support programs and activities aimed at solving some of the world's greatest public health challenges, with a specific focus on enabling health workers to have the greatest possible impact on the health of the people they…

International
8
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
9
The Virtue Foundation

Virtue foundation's mission is to increase awareness, inspire action, and render assistance through initiatives on healthcare, education, and women and justice programs, as well as innovative work in research and analytics.

Public Benefit
10
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation

The elizabeth glaser pediatric aids foundation (egpaf) is a proven leader in the fight against pediatric hiv/aids and has reached over 33 million pregnant women with services to prevent transmission of hiv to their babies. to date, egpaf…

Health
11
Oceana Inc

To advocate for policy changes by governments and corporations in order to preserve ocean life and return the oceans to their former abundance.

Environment
12
She-Can Global Inc

The world is grappling with complex problems, including climate change, war, poverty, and ongoing human rights violations. These issues disproportionately impact women, particularly in developing countries. In nations recovering from…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is A Chance in Lifeinc; the most unlike its peers is Mana Mentor Inc. 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

57 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. 57 of the 72 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
56/57
Grantees still filing
27/57
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ENGERA INC: $615,000 · Human ServicesENGERA INCFULFILLMENT FUND: $325,000 · Human ServicesFULFILLMENT FUNDTHREE ANGELS CHILDREN'S RELIEF INC: $241,000 · Human ServicesTHREE ANGELS CHILDREN'S R…A CHANCE IN LIFEINC: $75,000 · Human ServicesA CHANCE IN LIFEINCWuqu Kawoq SA: $50,000 · Human Services+3 more: $40,000 · Human ServicesMAKOLEKOLE: $366,500 · OtherMAKOLEKOLEIndividual grant recipient: $275,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHOPKINS GRAMMAR SCHOOL PATHFINDER PROGRAM: $200,000 · OtherHOPKINS GRAMMAR SCHOOL PATHF…INTEGRITY FIRST FOR AMERICA INC: $120,000 · OtherINTEGRITY FIRST FOR AMERICA …UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO FOUNDATION ON BEHALF OF DEAN'S FUTURE SCHOLARS: $80,000 · OtherAseel Foundation: $75,000 · Other+27 more: $390,000 · Other+27 morePROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $600,000 · PhilanthropyPROSTATE CANCER FO…PHILANTHROPIC VENTURES FOUNDATION: $142,000 · PhilanthropyPHILANTHROPIC VENT…PARTNERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE: $135,000 · PhilanthropyPARTNERSHIP FOR TH…HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $51,000 · PhilanthropyCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $40,000 · Philanthropy+3 more: $39,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $637,521 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND…MAKOLEKOLE USA INC: $221,500 · InternationalMAKOLEKOLE USA INCInternational Esperanza Project: $52,100 · InternationalMercy Ships International: $50,000 · International+2 more: $40,000 · InternationalHOPKINS SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $350,000 · EducationHOPKINS SCHOOL INC…STEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION INC: $195,000 · EducationSTEPPINGSTONE FOUN…FULFILLMENT FUND LAS VEGAS: $180,000 · EducationFULFILLMENT FUND L…THE MR HOLLAND'S OPUS FOUNDATION: $120,000 · EducationTHE MR HOLLAND'S O…University of Nevada Reno Foundation: $75,000 · EducationUniversity of Neva…+4 more: $65,000 · Education+4 moreBRINGING HOPE TO THE FAMILY USA: $103,000 · Public Safety & DisasterBREAST CANCER PREVENTION PARTNERS: $37,500 · HealthTHE SOFT POWER HEALTH TRUST: $10,000 · HealthTHE POLG FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · HealthIMUA FAMILY SERVICES: $5,500 · HealthAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $5,000 · HealthVENICE FAMILY CLINIC: $5,000 · Health+1 more: $2,500 · Health
Human Services$1,346,000Other$1,506,500Philanthropy$1,007,000International$1,001,121Education$985,000Public Safety & Disaster$103,000Health$75,500

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 budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $637,521 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetENGERA INC: $615,000 over 4y, 100% of budgetPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $600,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetHOPKINS SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $350,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetFULFILLMENT FUND: $325,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetTHREE ANGELS CHILDREN'S RELIEF INC: $241,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetMAKOLEKOLE USA INC: $221,500 over 2y, 78% of budgetSTEPPINGSTONE FOUNDATION INC: $195,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetFULFILLMENT FUND LAS VEGAS: $180,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetPHILANTHROPIC VENTURES FOUNDATION: $142,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR THE FUTURE: $135,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetINTEGRITY FIRST FOR AMERICA INC: $120,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetTHE MR HOLLAND'S OPUS FOUNDATION: $120,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetBRINGING HOPE TO THE FAMILY USA: $103,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetUniversity of Nevada Reno Foundation: $75,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetA CHANCE IN LIFEINC: $75,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetAseel Foundation: $75,000 over 1y, 54% of budgetInternational Esperanza Project: $52,100 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $51,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWuqu Kawoq SA: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetMercy Ships International: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHARITIES AID FOUNDATION AMERICA: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHOLOCAUST MUSEUM LA: $37,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBREAST CANCER PREVENTION PARTNERS: $37,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTRIDENT SWIM FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetLEADERS IN TRAINING: $25,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetJewish Community Alliance Southern Maine: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREUT USA: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE SHADE TREE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCode to Inspire Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetGIRLFORWARD: $16,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetSPLASH INTERNATIONAL: $16,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSCHOOL OF LEADERSHIP-AFGHANISTAN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMIRACLE LEAGUE OF SAN DIEGO: $10,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetTHE SOFT POWER HEALTH TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetTHE RIVIERA TENNIS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetTHE POLG FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMaui Huliau Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetIMUA FAMILY SERVICES: $5,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPACIFIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHALEAKALA WALDORF SCHOOL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVENICE FAMILY CLINIC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI ARTS & CULTURAL CENTER: $5,000 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.

Bendon Family Foundat…Silicon Valley Commun…Globalgiving Foundati…Combined Jewish Phila…Gs Donor Advised Phil…The Goldman Sachs Cha…Jewish Communal FundMorgan Stanley Global…The Chicago Community…The Pfizer Foundation…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…
Bendon Family FoundationHI13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 7 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Bendon Family Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Globalgiving Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Jewish Communal Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Chicago Community Trust · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust

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 Aja Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Aja Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Steppingstone Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
12report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Aja Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Aja 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 72 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 Aja’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