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Akian Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Akian 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.

$303k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$160k
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$800kReligion$665kInternational$140kMembership Benefit$130kHuman Services$123kYouth Development$100kScience & Tech$80kEnvironment$45kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $70k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $220k
$25,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WESTERN DIOCESE ARMENIAN CHURCH$160,000
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA$60,000
VEM USA$25,000
REARMENIA INC$25,000
ORRAN BENEVOLENT NGO$20,000
POMEGRANATE FOUNDATION$5,000
OUR LADY OF ARMENIA CHURCH$5,000
ARMENIAN INTERNATIONAL WOMAN'S ASSOCIATION$2,500
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, $120k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ORRAN: $30k → 14%ORRAN BENEVOLENT NGO: $25k → 14%ORRAN BENEVOLENT NGO: $25k → 14%ORRAN BENEVOLENT NGO: $20k → 14%ORRAN: $20k → 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.
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.8M · 9 repeat orgs$338k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
10

Total granted

$1.8M
$300k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
0%

Still filing today

56%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $38k 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
PhilanthropyEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesPublic BenefitScience & TechOther
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

  • AU
    AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA CORPORATION
    5× · 2021–2025 · $695k · revenue +18%
  • VU
    VEM USA
    4× · 2021–2025 · $125k · revenue +260%
  • O
    ORRAN
    5× · 2021–2025 · $120k · revenue +186%

Funded once

  • WD
    WESTERN DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH
    one grant, 2022 · $150k
  • TF
    TUMO FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue 0%
  • OA
    ONE ARMENIA INC
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -84%
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
Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art Inc

To promote armenian contemporary experimental art

Arts & Culture
2
Global Arm Foundation

Education about armenia & caucasu region

Philanthropy
3
Armenian Sports Hall of Fame
—
4
Armenian Film Society

Armenian film society celebrates armenian culture through year-round programming of film screenings, discussions, workshop, and lectures. it shines a spotlight on armenian films and filmmakers, as week as films that deal with armenian…

Arts & Culture
5
Armenian Professional Society Scholarship Fund

Further education

Arts & Culture
6
Armenian Wounded Heroes Fund Inc
International
7
Asia Minor and Pontos Hellenic Research Center Inc

To Promote education and cultural awareness of historical events

Arts & Culture
8
Research On Armenian Architecture Usa

Research, study and document ancient Armenian architecture.

Arts & Culture
9
The H Hovnanian Family Foundation Inc
Philanthropy
10
The Voice of the Armenian Church Inc
—
11
Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society Inc

The basic premise of the organization is to nurture, safeguard and promote the armenian language, cultural values, traditions and education throughout the armenian diaspora and armenia

Arts & Culture
12
Future of Armenia

The mission of Future of Armenia is to improve the quality of life of the people in Armenia, especially its servicemen and their families. A humanitarian organization, Future of Armenia channels donor funds to support those impacted by the…

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Armenia Fund Inc; the most unlike its peers is Tumo 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

14 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. 14 of the 23 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
7/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WESTERN DIOCESE ARMENIAN CHURCH: $481,000 · OtherWESTERN DIOCESE ARMENIAN CHURCHWESTERN DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCH: $150,000 · OtherWESTERN DIOCESE OF THE ARMENIAN CHURCHARMENIAN GENERAL BENEVOLENT UNION: $129,500 · OtherARMENIAN GENERAL BENEVOLENT UNIONANCA: $45,000 · Other+8 more: $45,500 · Other+8 moreAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA CORPORATION: $695,000 · EducationAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA CORPORATIONADELPHI UNIVERSITY: $105,000 · EducationADELPHI UNIVERSITYTUMO FOUNDATION: $100,000 · PhilanthropyONE ARMENIA INC: $25,000 · PhilanthropyARMENIA FUND INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyPOMEGRANATE FOUNDATION: $5,000 · PhilanthropyVEM USA: $125,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $2,500 · Arts & CultureORRAN: $120,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDS OF FAST: $80,000 · Science & TechRE ARMENIA INC: $25,000 · Community Improvement
Other$851,000Education$800,000Philanthropy$140,000Arts & Culture$127,500Human Services$120,000Science & Tech$80,000Community Improvement$25,000

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 budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA CORPORATION: $695,000 over 5y, 4.6% of budgetVEM USA: $125,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetORRAN: $120,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetADELPHI UNIVERSITY: $105,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTUMO FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF FAST: $80,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetONE ARMENIA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetARMENIA FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ARMENIAN SOLDIER & FAMILY: $2,500 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetLARK MUSICAL SOCIETY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

  • Who funds AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds VEM USA ↗
  • Who funds ORRAN ↗
  • Who funds ADELPHI UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds TUMO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF FAST ↗
  • Who funds RE ARMENIA INC ↗
  • Who funds ONE ARMENIA INC ↗
  • Who funds ARMENIA FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds POMEGRANATE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ARMENIAN SOLDIER & FAMILY ↗
  • Who funds LARK MUSICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds ARMENIAN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S ASSOCIATI ↗
  • Who funds ARPA Institute Inc ↗

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.

Mina & Hacob Shirvani…Afeyan Family Foundat…The Vahik & Alice Pet…Jhm Charitable Founda…Ucla FoundationArmenia Empyrean Foun…The Stephen Philibosi…California Community …National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…
Mina & Hacob Shirvanian Family Foundation IncCA17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mina & Hacob Shirvanian Family Foundation Inc · Afeyan Family Foundation · The Vahik & Alice Petrossian Foundation · Jhm Charitable Foundation · Ucla Foundation · Armenia Empyrean Foundation · The Stephen Philibosian Foundation · California Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get 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
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 23 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 Akian’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