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Ariowitsch Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ariowitsch Family 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.

$60k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

55% of Ariowitsch Family Foundation’s FY2025 grant dollars went to The Nature Conservancy, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2025 names 10 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.

Organizations named directly on the return

4
’20
5
’21
3
’22
3
’23
9
’24
10
’25

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Environment$203kInternational$51kEducation$38kPhilanthropy$13kArts & Culture$10kScience & Tech$2k
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k15 grants · $30k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $30k
$1,500
Median grant
6
States reached
$404k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$30,000
AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIV$5,000
HEADLANDS CENTER FOR ARTS$5,000
MARIN MOUNTESSORI SCHOOL$5,000
THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$3,000
UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION$2,000
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$1,500
UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS$1,500
YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON$1,500
NRDC$1,000
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY$1,000
THE LIVING DESERT$1,000
EARTH JUSTICE$1,000
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK$500
ISLAND CONSERVATION$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS: $2k → 8%DREXEL UNIVERSITY: $5k → 22%MARIN MOUNTESSORI SCHOOL: $5k → 8%SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $500 → 10%NRDC: $1k → 10%NATURE IS SACRED: $1k → 11%THE LIVING DESERT: $10k → 11%ISLAND CONSERVATION: $500 → 13%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIV: $15k → 17%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3k → 12%DREXEL UNIVERSITY: $1k → 22%MARIN MOUNTESSORI SCHOOL: $5k → 8%UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT: $1k → 11%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIV: $14k → 17%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%MARIN MOUNTESSORI SCHOOL: $2k → 8%UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: $2k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT: $1k → 11%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIV: $12k → 17%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%MARIN MOUNTESSORI SCHOOL: $1k → 8%UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT: $1k → 11%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIV: $5k → 17%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%HEADLANDS CENTER FOR ARTS: $5k → 8%UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT: $1k → 11%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE HEBREW UNIV: $5k → 17%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%HEADLANDS CENTER FOR ARTS: $1k → 8%UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $33k → 10%THE LIVING DESERT: $1k → 11%THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%HEADLANDS CENTER FOR ARTS: $1k → 8%UC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $2k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $30k → 10%HEADLANDS CENTER FOR ARTS: $1k → 8%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $30k → 10%HEADLANDS CENTER FOR ARTS: $1k → 8%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $29k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $27k → 10%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $26k → 10%ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND: $2k → 10%EARTH JUSTICE: $1k → 10%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$125k · 12 repeat orgs$4k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against -70% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
1

Total granted

$125k
$500

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
-70%

Still filing today

67%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationInternationalOther
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

  • LD
    LIVING DESERT THE
    6× · 2020–2025 · $15k · revenue +100%
  • MM
    MARIN MONTESSORI SCHOOL
    4× · 2020–2025 · $13k · revenue +34%
  • DU
    DREXEL UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2023–2024 · $6k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • SC
    SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $500 · revenue -70%
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
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
2
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
3
Natural Resources Defense Council Inc

We safeguard the earth: its people, its plants and animals, and (see schedule o) the natural systems on which all life depends. we work to restore the integrity of the elements that sustain life - air, land, and water - to defend…

Environment
4
Earth & Space Research

Increase societal understanding of the earth system through scientific research and education.

Science & Tech
5
Resource Renewal Institute

The resource renewal institute facilitates the creation, development and implementation of practical strategies to solve the entire complex environmental problem by addressing it comprehensively.

Environment
6
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
7
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
8
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
9
Third Way

To research and develop centrist policy ideas.

Civil Rights
10
Property and Environment Research Center

Perc is dedicated to advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.

Public Benefit
11
Climate Institute

The climate institute is organized for the purpose of educating the general public and policy makers as to the gravity of potential climate change, exploring the policy implications of the latest scientific findings on climate modelling…

Environment
12
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated; the most unlike its peers is Drexel University. 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 18 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)
14/14
Grantees still filing
10/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $174,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYUC BERKELEY FOUNDATION: $12,500 · OtherUC BERKELEY FOUNDATIONHEADLANDS CENTER FOR ARTS: $9,500 · Other+2 more: $5,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $50,500 · InternationalAMERICAN FRIENDS O…THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $2,000 · InternationalMARIN MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $13,000 · EducationDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $6,000 · EducationWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $6,000 · EducationLIVING DESERT THE: $15,000 · EnvironmentRainforest Action Network: $3,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $2,000 · EnvironmentYELLOWSTONE TO YUKON: $1,500 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICE: $1,000 · Environment+2 more: $1,000 · EnvironmentCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $13,000 · Philanthropy
Other$201,000International$52,500Education$25,000Environment$23,500Philanthropy$13,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $174,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC: $50,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLIVING DESERT THE: $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMARIN MONTESSORI SCHOOL: $13,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $13,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetRainforest Action Network: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% 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 THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds LIVING DESERT THE ↗
  • Who funds MARIN MONTESSORI SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds DREXEL UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Rainforest Action Network ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC ↗
  • Who funds YELLOWSTONE TO YUKON ↗
  • Who funds EARTHJUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ISLAND CONSERVATION ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Ariowitsch Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ariowitsch Family 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%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    2report 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.

    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 18 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 Ariowitsch Family’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