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Brown Dog Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Brown Dog 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.

$21k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$13kHuman Services$9kFood & Nutrition$9kAnimals$8kHousing & Shelter$6kPhilanthropy$5kEducation$3kPublic Safety & Disaster$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$18k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAINE NEEDS$5,000
ANIMAL REFUGE LEAGUE OF GREAT PORTLAND$4,000
PREBLE STREET$3,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF MAINE$2,000
SISKIN HOSPITAL FOR PHYSICAL REHABILITATION$2,000
GOOD SHEPARD FOOD BANK$2,000
SISKIN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE$2,000
JEWISH COMMUNITY ALLIANCE OF SOUTHERN MAINE$1,000
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 (FY22–25, $12k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 17% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%MAINE NEEDS: $5k → 7%ORCAS COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER: $2k → 10%PREBLE STREET: $3k → 7%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF MAINE: $2k → 7%ORCAS COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER: $500 → 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.

53%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$27k · 11 repeat orgs$24k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +17% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
9

Total granted

$27k
$8k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+17%
+9%

Still filing today

100%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 24% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $16k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationAnimalsHealthHousing & ShelterScience & 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

  • SH
    SISKIN HOSPITAL FOR PHYSICAL REHABILITATION INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $6k · revenue +17%
  • OI
    ORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK
    2× · 2022–2023 · $3k · revenue +52%
  • OA
    ORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY
    2× · 2022–2023 · $2k · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC
    one grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue 0%
  • RV
    RAINIER VALLEY FOOD BANKgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $1k · revenue +29%
  • QA
    QUEEN ANNE HELPLINE
    one grant, 2020 · $1k · revenue +9%
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
Port Angeles Food Bank

Nourishing our community. the port angeles food bank is the main food bank in clallam county, providing food to 13 other area pantries and meal programs as well as providing food to over 5,000 individuals per month.

Food & Nutrition
2
Orcas Daycare Association

To provide infant, toddler, and preschool childcare services for the rural Orcas Island community. 75 children age 1 month to 12 years are enrolled in 4 classrooms:Infants, toddler, preschool,and school age.

Human Services
3
Olympic Peninsula Community Clinic

Improving the quality of life for the people in the Olympic Peninsula Community by providing increased access to health and wellness services for the underserved

Health
4
Paws of Grays Harbor

PAWS cares for lost, abandoned and abused animals and finds them new homes with responsible owners. PAWS also provides low cost spay and neuter services, a pet food pantry, and community education. During 2024 PAWS adopted out 577 pets.…

Animals
5
Orting Food Bank Inc

To collect and distribute food to those in need.

Food & Nutrition
6
Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association

Orla serves as the leading industry advocate, striving to protect, improve and promote oregon hospitality.

—
7
Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center

The Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center serves as a hub of collaboration that strengthens the immigrant community through language acquisition, economic integration and civic engagement.

Human Services
8
Peninsula Community Health Services of Alaska

Strengthening the community by providing accessible and affordable health care.

Health
9
Portland Public Library

Portland Public Library is a welcoming cultural center that brings people together and connects them with trusted resources, ideas, experiences, and information. We build a stronger community by inspiring learning, creativity, and…

Education
10
Orcas Island Historical Society

To educate, inspire, connect, and involve our community and visitors as stewards of island history.

—
11
Ocean Shores Food Bank

Our mission is that no one in the community goes hungry.

Food & Nutrition
12
Alaska Farmers Market Association

to promote, support and advocate for Alaska agriculture

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Orcas Island Food Bank; the most unlike its peers is Center for Whale Research. 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

24 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. 24 of the 26 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)
24/24
Grantees still filing
14/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Maine Needs Inc: $5,000 · Human ServicesMaine Needs IncPREBLE STREET: $3,000 · Human ServicesPREBLE STREETORCAS COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER: $2,000 · Human ServicesORCAS COMMUNITY RESOURCE …Catholic Charities Maine: $2,000 · Human ServicesCatholic Charities MaineORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK: $3,000 · OtherORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANKNORTHWEST HARVEST EMM: $1,500 · OtherNORTHWEST HARVEST EMMRAINIER VALLEY FOOD BANK: $1,000 · OtherRAINIER VALLEY FOOD BANKQUEEN ANNE HELPLINE: $1,000 · OtherQUEEN ANNE HELPLINEBALLARD FOOD BANK: $1,000 · OtherBALLARD FOOD BANKTHE ORCAS ISLAND EDUCATION FOUNDATI ON: $500 · OtherORCAS AVIATION ASSOCIATION: $500 · OtherOPAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $2,000 · OtherOPAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUSTWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,000 · OtherWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INCCENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH: $1,000 · OtherCENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH+1 more: $100 · OtherMOSE & GARRISON SISKIN MEMORIAL FDN INC D/B/A SISKIN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE: $6,000 · EducationMOSE & GARRISON …THE MCCALLIE SCHOOL: $1,000 · EducationTHE MCCALLIE SCH…Orcas Island Childrens House: $1,000 · EducationOrcas Island Chi…ANIMAL REFUGE LEAGUE OF GREATER PORTLAND: $4,000 · AnimalsANIMAL REFUGE …ORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY: $2,000 · AnimalsORCAS ANIMAL P…OLD DOG HAVEN: $1,000 · AnimalsOLD DOG HAVENSISKIN HOSPITAL FOR PHYSICAL REHABILITATION INC: $5,500 · HealthSISKIN HOSPIT…PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $1,000 · HealthPLANNED PAREN…ORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,500 · PhilanthropyORCAS ISL…Jewish Community Alliance Southern Maine: $2,000 · PhilanthropyJewish Co…Good Shepherd Food Bank: $2,000 · Food & Nutrition
Human Services$12,000Other$13,600Education$8,000Animals$7,000Health$6,500Philanthropy$4,500Food & Nutrition$2,000

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 budgetMOSE & GARRISON SISKIN MEMORIAL FDN INC D/B/A SISKIN CHILDREN'S INSTITUTE: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSISKIN HOSPITAL FOR PHYSICAL REHABILITATION INC: $5,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetORCAS ISLAND FOOD BANK: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPREBLE STREET: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORCAS ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGood Shepherd Food Bank: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetORCAS ANIMAL PROTECTION SOCIETY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetOPAL COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJewish Community Alliance Southern Maine: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetORCAS COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCatholic Charities Maine: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWEST HARVEST EMM: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRAINIER VALLEY FOOD BANK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetQUEEN ANNE HELPLINE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBALLARD FOOD BANK: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MCCALLIE SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR WHALE RESEARCH: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOrcas Island Childrens House: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOLD DOG HAVEN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ORCAS ISLAND EDUCATION FOUNDATI ON: $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.

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 GreerSolien FundSeattle FoundationOrcas Island Communit…Donald Family Foundat…Daniel and Margaret C…Elmina B Sewall Found…The Blackbaud Giving …Maine Community Found…Texas Instruments Fou…Vanguard Charitable E…The Pfizer Foundation…Donor Advised Charita…
The GreerSolien FundDE20× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The GreerSolien Fund · Seattle Foundation · Orcas Island Community Foundation · Donald Family Foundation · Daniel and Margaret Carper Foundation · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Maine Community Foundation Inc · Texas Instruments Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Pfizer 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 Brown Dog Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Brown Dog Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 26 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 Brown Dog’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