Skip to content
Barbara Ingalls Shook Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Barbara Ingalls Shook 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.

$200k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$100k
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 2025.

Animals$636kHealth$316kArts & Culture$252kScience & Tech$188kCommunity Improvement$155kRecreation & Sports$100kYouth Development$85kCrime & Legal$55kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $6
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $100k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$35,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL$100,000
ST CLAIR COUNTY DAY PROGRAM INC$35,000
ST CLAIR CHILDRENS ADVOCACY CENTER INC$35,000
Individual grant recipient$30,000
CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM PASSTHROUGHS$6
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, $40k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 88% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%VINEYARD FAMILY SERVICES OF CENTRAL ALABAMA: $5k → 7%ST CLAIR COUNTY DAY PROGRAM INC: $35k → 13%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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 12 repeat orgs$462k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +59% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
17

Total granted

$1.4M
$392k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+59%
+25%

Still filing today

67%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $70k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
HealthAnimalsHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterRecreation & SportsEducationOther
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

  • VP
    VULCAN PARK FOUNDATION
    2× · 2018–2019 · $195k · revenue +14%
  • TN
    THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $188k · revenue +182%
  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    3× · 2018–2025 · $111k · revenue +125%

Funded once

  • RM
    RED MOUNTAIN PARK FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $100k · revenue -66%
  • U
    UAB
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • MM
    MEGAN MONTGOMERY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $55k
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
The Children's Hospital of Alabama

The mission of Children's of Alabama is to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education. Children's will be an advocate for all children and work…

Health
2
Alliance for Childhood Diseases

To advance cures and treatment of childhood cancer and other rare diseases.

Health
3
Tucson Audubon Society

Inspire people to enjoy and protect birds through recreation, education, conservation, and restoration of the environment, upon which we all depend.

Animals
4
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
5
Arkansas Children's Foundation

We champion children by making them better today and healthier tomorrow.continued on schedule o.arkansas children's will fundamentally transform healthcare delivery for the children of arkansas and beyond. arkansas children's core values…

Health
6
The American Society for Clinical Investigation Inc

The american society for clinical investigation seeks to support the scientific efforts, educational needs, and clinical aspirations of physician-scientists to improve the health of all people.

Unclassified
7
Seattle Biomedical Research Institute

We conduct fundamental infectious disease research to generate critical new knowledge about pathogens and their interactions with see schedule o for continuationhumans to enable the discovery and development of novel interventions,…

—
8
All Children's Research Institute Inc

The corporation is organized and is operated exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes. all children's research institute supports, encourages, and engages in and conducts medical research and other research in…

Health
9
American Astronomical Society

The american astronomical society (aas), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in north america. the basic objective of the aas is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of…

Science & Tech
10
Asco Association

Asco association promotes the common business interests of its members by: (1) advocating for policies that improve the quality of cancer care; (2) maintaining the highest standards of oncology medical care through programs supporting…

Community Improvement
11
Arkansas Children's Research Institute

The vision of arkansas children's research institute is to be a leader in cutting-edge research that improves the health and well-being of children and their families. in support of this vision, arkansas children's research institute aims…

—
12
Health Care Without Harm

The mission of health care without harm (hcwh) is to transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a community anchor for sustainability and a leader in the global movement for environmental health…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Aspen Valley Hospital Foundation; the most unlike its peers is American Heart Association Inc. 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

17 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. 17 of the 31 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
11/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY INC: $188,000 · OtherTHE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE LAW AND PUBL…Individual grant recipient: $155,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientRED MOUNTAIN PARK FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherRED MOUNTAIN PARK FOUNDATIONUAB: $100,000 · OtherUABMEGAN MONTGOMERY FOUNDATION: $55,000 · OtherMEGAN MONTGOMERY FOUNDATIONGIRLS INC: $50,000 · OtherGIRLS INCALZHEIMERS ASSOCIATION: $49,100 · OtherALZHEIMERS ASSOCIATIONRED MOUNTAIN THEATER: $26,500 · OtherARGO COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: $26,500 · Other+9 more: $25,510 · OtherBirmingham Zoo Inc: $621,000 · AnimalsBirmingham Zoo Inc+2 more: $15,000 · AnimalsVULCAN PARK FOUNDATION: $194,500 · Recreation & SportsVULCAN PARK…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $111,000 · HealthST JUDE CH…ASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthASPEN VALL…+3 more: $5,000 · HealthST CLAIR COUNTY DAY PROGRAM INC: $35,000 · Human ServicesVineyard Family Services of Central Alabama Inc: $5,000 · Human ServicesST CLAIR CHILDRENS ADVOCACY CENTER: $35,000 · PhilanthropyTHE STATE OF ALABAMA BALLET INC: $11,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$775,610Animals$636,000Recreation & Sports$194,500Health$166,000Human Services$40,000Philanthropy$35,000Arts & Culture$11,000

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 budgetBirmingham Zoo Inc: $621,000 over 7y, 1.1% of budgetVULCAN PARK FOUNDATION: $194,500 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $111,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRED MOUNTAIN PARK FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetASPEN VALLEY HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetST CLAIR CHILDRENS ADVOCACY CENTER: $35,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetST CLAIR COUNTY DAY PROGRAM INC: $35,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE STATE OF ALABAMA BALLET INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ASPEN ANIMAL SHELTER: $3,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetATEAM MINISTRIES: $2,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTUM TUM TREE FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR SHIPBOARD EDUCATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WELLHOUSE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $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.

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.

The Joseph S Bruno Ch…Robert R Meyer Founda…Susan Mott Webb Chari…Hill Crest Foundation…The Daniel Foundation…The Community Foundat…Alabama Power Foundat…The Hugh Kaul Foundat…Dunn-French FoundationProtective Life Found…The James Milton and …The Welch Group Found…
The Joseph S Bruno Charitable FoundationAL17.8× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Joseph S Bruno Charitable Foundation · Robert R Meyer Foundation · Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · Hill Crest Foundation Inc · The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · The Hugh Kaul Foundation · Dunn-French Foundation · Protective Life Foundation · The James Milton and Sallie R Johnson Foundation · The Welch Group 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 Barbara Ingalls Shook Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Barbara Ingalls Shook Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Barbara Ingalls Shook Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Barbara Ingalls Shook 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 31 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 Barbara Ingalls Shook’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