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Ames Construction Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ames Construction Charitable Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$895k
Granted FY2024still arriving
6
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$310k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$2.5MPublic Safety & Disaster$1.1MHuman Services$690kArts & Culture$115kAnimals$105kEducation$58kYouth Development$30kCommunity Improvement$25k
02FY2024 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $255k
  • $250k+2 grants · $610k
$155,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$7.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION$310,000
MAYO CLINIC$300,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$155,000
LELS BENEVOLENT FUND$100,000
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL COLORADO FOUNDATION$25,000
BURNSVILLE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$5,000
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 (FY24–24, $100k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, 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%LELS BENEVOLENT FUND: $100k → 11%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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 7 repeat orgs$587k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +42% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
11

Total granted

$2.0M
$482k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+42%
+4%

Still filing today

71%
82%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $105k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthAnimalsEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesEnvironmentOther
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

  • IF
    INTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION
    4× · 2021–2024 · $690k · revenue +56%
  • CH
    Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation
    5× · 2019–2024 · $125k · revenue +42%
  • CH
    Children's Hospital Colorado
    2× · 2017–2018 · $50k · revenue +86%

Funded once

  • AF
    ANGEL FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $125k · revenue +28%
  • FF
    Fairview Foundation
    one grant, 2017 · $125k · revenue -82%
  • AH
    ARABIAN HORSE PROMOTIONAL FUND INC
    one grant, 2022 · $63k · revenue -76%
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
Arabian Horse Association

To aid and encourage the breeding, exhibiting, use and perpetuation of the arabian horse as well as the half-arabian and anglo-arabian horses.

—
2
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
3
American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation

The mission of the akc canine health foundation, inc. is to fund, advance, and communicate canine health research and science through knowledge and discovery.

Animals
4
Children's Health Care

We champion the health needs of children and families. we are committed to improving children's health by providing the highest-quality, family centered care, advanced through research and education.

Health
5
America's Health Insurance Plans Inc

Ahip is the national trade association representing the health insurance industry. ahip's members provide health care coverage, services and solutions to more than 200 million americans. we are committed to market-based solutions and…

Membership Benefit
6
Minnesota Hospital Association

Advance the health of individuals and communities through leadership, advocacy and collaboration on behalf of minnesota hospitals and health systems. vision: minnesotans are healthy and have access to the right care at the right time in…

Community Improvement
7
National Reining Horse Association

The corporation is formed to promte and encourage public interest in agricultural and ranching through reining horse shows and programs; to develop standards and performance and judging of reinging horses; to encourage the development and…

Food & Nutrition
8
Animal Cancer Foundation

Animal cancer foundation is dedicated to finding new treatments and eventual cures for cancer by funding research in and increasing public awareness of comparative oncology, the study of naturally occurring, similar cancers in people and…

Health
9
Mayo Clinic Group Return

To inspire hope and contribute to health and well-being by providing the best care to every patient through integrated clinical practice, education, and research.

Health
10
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
11
Children's Physicians

Children's physicians delivers the highest quality pediatric primary care while supporting education and research.

Health
12
Northern Michigan Hematology and Oncology

Provide professional services for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and infectious disease and related conditions.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Angel Foundation; the most unlike its peers is A Chance to Grow. 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

18 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. 18 of the 21 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/18
Grantees still filing
11/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MAYO CLINIC: $2,029,500 · HealthMAYO CLINICINTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION: $690,000 · HealthINTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATIONChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $125,000 · HealthANGEL FOUNDATION: $125,000 · HealthFairview Foundation: $125,000 · Health+2 more: $92,500 · HealthAMERICAN RED CROSS: $955,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSSMINNESOTA STATE FAIR: $110,000 · OtherMINNESOTA STATE FAIR+6 more: $113,100 · Other+6 moreLELS POLICE BENEVOLENT FUND INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesARABIAN HORSE PROMOTIONAL FUND INC: $62,900 · AnimalsARABIAN HUNTER PLEASURE ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · AnimalsARABIAN ENGLISH PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $25,000 · Community ImprovementUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $25,000 · EducationARABIAN WESTERN PLEASURE ASSOCIATION: $25,000 · Recreation & Sports
Health$3,187,000Other$1,178,100Human Services$100,000Animals$72,900Community Improvement$25,000Education$25,000Recreation & Sports$25,000

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 budgetMAYO CLINIC: $2,029,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetINTERMOUNTAIN FOUNDATION: $690,000 over 4y, 6.9% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $125,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetANGEL FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetFairview Foundation: $125,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetLELS POLICE BENEVOLENT FUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetARABIAN HORSE PROMOTIONAL FUND INC: $62,900 over 1y, 13% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $42,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF METROPOLITAN PHOENIX INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetARABIAN ENGLISH PERFORMANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 40% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARABIAN WESTERN PLEASURE ASSOCIATION: $25,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetA CHANCE TO GROW: $24,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S CANCER RESEARCH FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetARABIAN HUNTER PLEASURE ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetARABIAN HORSE ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA: $6,600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBURNSVILLE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 17% 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.

Richard J and Georgia…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Richard J and Georgiann L Ames Family FoundationMN13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Richard J and Georgiann L Ames Family Foundation · 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 Ames Construction Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ames Construction Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%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
    1get 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Ames Construction Charitable Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Ames Construction Charitable 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 21 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ames Construction’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