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Arthur L Bud Johnson in Memory of Elaine V Johnson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Arthur L Bud Johnson in Memory of Elaine V Johnson Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
31
Grants FY2025still arriving
19
States reached
$351k
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, FY2019 to 2024.

Animals$3.5MEnvironment$3.0MHealth$327kHuman Services$235kEducation$185kScience & Tech$65kArts & Culture$15kPhilanthropy$750
02FY2025 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $9k
  • $10k–50k22 grants · $512k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $616k
  • $250k+1 grant · $351k
$25,097
Median grant
19
States reached
$10M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ARIZONA CENTER FOR NATURE$350,714
GUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND$150,000
ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS & AQUARIUMS$140,000
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI$115,550
VOICE OF ASIAN ELEPHANTS SOCIETY$60,000
TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE$50,000
GRAND CANYON CONSERVANCY$50,000
ATLANTA-FULTON COUNTY ZOO$50,000
SEMPERVIRENS FUND$49,828
SUNFLOWER STAR LABORATORY$40,000
THE SEEING EYE INC$34,200
NATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION$30,240
BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL$30,000
BIG LIFE FOUNDATION USA$29,555
CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND$25,969
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 (FY19–25, $989k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 75% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $35k → 8%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND: $51k → 9%FREEDOM GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $48k → 16%SOUTHEASTERN GUIDE DOGS: $118k → 10%KSDS ASSISTANCE DOGS INC: $100k → 10%OCCUPAWS GUIDE DOG ASSOCIATION: $13k → 10%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS INC: $50k → 8%INTERNATIONAL HEARING DOG INC: $35k → 10%SUMMIT ASSISTANCE DOGS: $60k → 11%THE SEEING EYE INC: $100k → 4%GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $30k → 8%CANINE COMPANIONS: $50k → 11%FREEDOM GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $40k → 16%OCCUPAWS GUIDE DOG ASSOCIATION: $12k → 10%INTERNATIONAL HEARING DOG INC: $15k → 10%SUMMIT ASSISTANCE DOGS: $50k → 11%THE SEEING EYE INC: $34k → 4%FREEDOM GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $20k → 16%THE OCCUPAWS GUIDE DOG ASSOCIATION: $8k → 10%INTERNATIONAL HEARING DOG INC: $10k → 10%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND: $41k → 9%INTERNATIONAL HEARING DOG INC: $10k → 10%OCCUPAWS GUIDE DOG ASSOCIATION: $5k → 10%INTERNATIONAL HEARING DOG INC: $10k → 10%INTERNATIONAL GUIDING EYES INC: $10k → 14%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND: $35k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
WA
ID
MT
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
IN
OH
NJ
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
KS
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
GA
TX
FL
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.
$6.8M · 59 repeat orgs$2.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against +32% for those funded once.

59 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2025, 40 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

59
48

Total granted

$6.8M
$1.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+32%

Still filing today

86%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $516k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsEnvironmentHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsArts & CultureOther
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

  • SF
    SEMPERVIRENS FUND
    6× · 2020–2025 · $335k · revenue +61%
  • NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION
    3× · 2020–2023 · $239k · revenue +108%
  • TS
    THE SEEING EYE INC
    3× · 2022–2025 · $234k · revenue +53%

Funded once

  • SG
    Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc
    one grant, 2019 · $118k · revenue +24%
  • KA
    KSDS ASSISTANCE DOGS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +38%
  • AA
    AMERICAN ASSN OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS
    one grant, 2024 · $100k
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
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
2
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
3
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
4
Center for Natural Lands Management

The mission of the center for natural lands management is (a) to conserve native species, their habitat and functioning ecosystems in perpetuity, (b) to own and/or manage lands in an ecologically beneficial manner consistent with local,…

Environment
5
Cascadia Wildlands

Cascadia wildlands defends and restores cacasia's wild ecosystems in the forests,in the courts, and in the streets. we envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and…

Environment
6
Wildlife Conservation Society

The wildlife conservation society (wcs) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.

Animals
7
Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife is a national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities.

Animals
8
Conservation International Foundation

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

Environment
9
The Wildlife Society

The wildlife society's mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.

Animals
10
Lincoln Park Zoological Society

Lincoln park zoo is dedicated to connecting people with nature by providing a free, family-oriented wildlife experience in the heart of chicago and by advancing the highest quality of animal care, horticulture, education, science and…

Animals
11
The Florida Aquarium Inc

The florida aquarium's mission focuses on our shared purpose of a commitment to save marine wildlife, with a vision to be florida's leading conservation-based aquarium. (continued on schedule o)

Animals
12
San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory

The San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory is dedicated to promote sustainability in the Bay Area and beyond by engaging communities in avian science, habitat restoration, and education.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wildlife Conservation Network Inc; the most unlike its peers is Monarch Research Project. 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

98 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. 98 of the 119 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)
29
Early backer (in before they grew)
98/98
Grantees still filing
77/98
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ASSOCIATION OF ZOOS AND A: $800,000 · OtherASSOCIATION OF ZOOS AND AARIZONA CENTER FOR NATURE: $733,570 · OtherARIZONA CENTER FOR NATUREGORILLA REHABILITATION AND CONS EDU: $321,118 · OtherGORILLA REHABILITATION AND CONS EDUGUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INC: $150,000 · OtherTHE PEREGRINE FUND INC: $148,000 · Other+33 more: $1,013,107 · Other+33 moreNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION: $239,178 · AnimalsNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATIONZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI: $225,550 · AnimalsZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CINCINNATIVOICE FOR ASIAN ELEPHANTS SOCIETY: $217,500 · AnimalsVOICE FOR ASIAN ELEPHANTS SOCIET…SANTA BARBARA ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $194,000 · AnimalsSANTA BARBARA ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDAT…WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $182,982 · AnimalsWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK IN…ATLANTA FULTON COUNTY ZOO INC: $165,000 · AnimalsATLANTA FULTON COUNTY ZOO INCAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INC: $140,000 · AnimalsAMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGIC…THE NORTH CAROLINA AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $140,000 · AnimalsTHE NORTH CAROLINA AQUARIUM SOCI…BIG LIFE FOUNDATION USA: $132,885 · AnimalsChicago Zoological Society: $88,995 · Animals+26 more: $780,305 · Animals+26 moreSEMPERVIRENS FUND: $334,828 · EnvironmentSEMPERVIRENS FUNDNATURAL LAND INSTITUTE: $150,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL LAND INSTITU…DESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $148,312 · EnvironmentDESERT BOTANICAL GAR…NAPA COUNTY LAND TRUST: $96,000 · EnvironmentNAPA COUNTY LAND TRU…INDIANA FOREST ALLIANCE INC: $90,000 · EnvironmentINDIANA FOREST ALLIA…LANDMARK CONSERVANCY INC: $87,000 · EnvironmentLANDMARK CONSERVANCY…Westchester Land Trust Inc: $80,000 · EnvironmentPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $65,000 · EnvironmentWHALE AND DOLPHIN CONSERVATIONINC: $55,869 · Environment+16 more: $473,385 · Environment+16 moreTHE SEEING EYE INC: $234,200 · Human ServicesTHE SEEING EYE…GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $126,825 · Human ServicesGUIDING EYES F…Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc: $117,500 · Human ServicesSoutheastern G…SUMMIT ASSISTANCE DOGS: $110,000 · Human ServicesSUMMIT ASSISTA…Freedom Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc: $108,000 · Human ServicesFreedom Guide …KSDS ASSISTANCE DOGS INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesKSDS ASSISTANC…PARAGON SERVICE DOGS: $80,000 · Human ServicesPARAGON SERVIC…GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $65,000 · Human ServicesGUIDE DOGS FOR…CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesFREEDOM SERVICE DOGS INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesOCCUPAWS GUIDE DOG ASSOCIATION: $37,500 · Human Services+1 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesYOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $167,300 · Recreation & SportsNATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION: $35,240 · Recreation & SportsARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $95,585 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $79,401 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Education+1 more: $204 · EducationOIKONOS - ECOSYSTEM KNOWLEDGE: $25,000 · Science & TechOceans Initiative: $25,000 · Science & Tech
Other$3,165,795Animals$2,506,395Environment$1,580,394Human Services$1,089,025Recreation & Sports$202,540Education$185,190Science & Tech$50,000

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 budgetSEMPERVIRENS FUND: $334,828 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetNEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM CORPORATION: $239,178 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE SEEING EYE INC: $234,200 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CINCINNATI: $225,550 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetVOICE FOR ASIAN ELEPHANTS SOCIETY: $217,500 over 6y, 24% of budgetSANTA BARBARA ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $194,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $182,982 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetYOSEMITE FOUNDATION: $167,300 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetATLANTA FULTON COUNTY ZOO INC: $165,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGUIDE DOG FOUNDATION FOR THE BLIND INC: $150,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetNATURAL LAND INSTITUTE: $150,000 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetDESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $148,312 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PEREGRINE FUND INC: $148,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NORTH CAROLINA AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $140,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetBIG LIFE FOUNDATION USA: $132,885 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetGUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $126,825 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSoutheastern Guide Dogs Inc: $117,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSUMMIT ASSISTANCE DOGS: $110,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetFreedom Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc: $108,000 over 3y, 7.9% of budgetKSDS ASSISTANCE DOGS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetNAPA COUNTY LAND TRUST: $96,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $95,585 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINDIANA FOREST ALLIANCE INC: $90,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetChicago Zoological Society: $88,995 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLANDMARK CONSERVANCY INC: $87,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $84,935 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetWestchester Land Trust Inc: $80,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetPARAGON SERVICE DOGS: $80,000 over 5y, 5.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $79,401 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF TRACY AVIARY: $69,900 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetPENINSULA OPEN SPACE TRUST: $65,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetGUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $65,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF BONOBOS: $60,391 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetMONARCH RESEARCH PROJECT: $58,500 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetSEACOLOGY: $56,200 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetWHALE AND DOLPHIN CONSERVATIONINC: $55,869 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $55,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWORLD BIRD SANCTUARY: $51,504 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetTHE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $51,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWOODS LAND TRUST INC: $50,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetCENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBig Sur Land Trust: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGRAND CANYON CONSERVANCY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFREEDOM SERVICE DOGS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $46,880 over 3y, 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.

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.

American Association …The Nature ConservancyPatagoniaorgClif Family FoundationMax & Victoria Dreyfu…National Fish and Wil…M J Murdock Charitabl…Anderson-Rogers Found…Cross Charitable Foun…Land Trust Alliance I…Thornton S Jr and Kat…Resources Legacy Fund
American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums IncMD23.9× affinity9 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums Inc · The Nature Conservancy · Patagoniaorg · Clif Family Foundation · Max & Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Inc · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · Anderson-Rogers Foundation Inc · Cross Charitable Foundation Attn John R Clark · Land Trust Alliance Inc · Thornton S Jr and Katrina D Glide Foundation · Resources Legacy Fund

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 Arthur L Bud Johnson in Memory of Elaine V Johnson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Arthur L Bud Johnson in Memory of Elaine V Johnson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Center for Coastal Studies Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Delaware Zoological Society Inc: 16% of income from government
  • New England Aquarium Corporation: 12% of income from government
  • Mote Marine Laboratory Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Whale and Dolphin Conservationinc: 3% of income from government
  • Clearwater Marine Aquarium Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Bok Tower Gardens Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Southeastern Guide Dogs Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
25report 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 Arthur L Bud Johnson in Memory of Elaine V Johnson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Arthur L Bud Johnson in Memory of Elaine V Johnson 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 119 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 Arthur L Bud Johnson in Memory of Elaine V Johnson’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