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Bruce Benson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bruce Benson 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.

$602k
Granted FY2025still arriving
19
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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 2025.

Education$1.7MPublic Benefit$892kHealth$174kHuman Services$86kYouth Development$67kFood & Nutrition$60kAnimals$50kPhilanthropy$27kOther$0
02FY2025 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $27k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $100k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $475k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ADVANCE COLORADO$200,000
COLORADO ACADEMY$100,000
THE STEAMBOAT INSTITUTE$100,000
LEADERSHIP PROGRAM OF THE ROCKIES$75,000
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO$40,000
DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION$10,000
FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES$10,000
DENVER POLICE FOUNDATION$10,000
BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA$10,000
DENVER ZOO CONSERVATION ALLIANCE$10,000
TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$10,000
INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE$5,000
COMMON SENSE INSTITUTE$5,000
STEP DENVER$5,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB$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 (FY20–25, $31k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%COMMIT FOUNDATION: $3k → 10%DENVER RESCUE MISSION: $6k → 12%DENVER RESCUE MISSION: $2k → 12%DENVER RESCUE MISSION: $2k → 12%DENVER RESCUE MISSION: $2k → 12%DENVER RESCUE MISSION: $1k → 12%DENVER POLICE FOUNDATION: $10k → 12%DENVER POLICE FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%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

MT
NY
IN
PA
CA
CO
VA
NC
OK
GA
TX
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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.0M · 25 repeat orgs$197k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
18

Total granted

$3.0M
$151k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+11%

Still filing today

72%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $46k 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
EducationPublic BenefitPhilanthropyHuman ServicesInternationalHealthOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION
    2× · 2019–2023 · $1.2M · revenue +58%
  • TS
    THE STEAMBOAT INSTITUTE
    5× · 2020–2025 · $250k · revenue +296%
  • LP
    Leadership Program of the Rockies
    5× · 2019–2025 · $245k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL WESTERN
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
  • C
    CO
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • CAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue +154%
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
Colorado Gives Foundation

We connect people, ideas, and nonprofits to make good happen. our vision is that all of jeffco is thriving.

Philanthropy
2
Colorado Legal Services

To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.

Crime & Legal
3
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

—
4
Colorado Center On Law and Policy

Colorado center on law and policy is an antipoverty organization advancing the rights of every coloradan.

Crime & Legal
5
Colorado Fiscal Institute

To provide timely, credible and accessible analyses of fiscal and economic issues facing colorado to inform public policy debates and promote economic prosperity

Community Improvement
6
Education Commission of the States

The mission of education commission of the states is to advocate for attaining educational excellence for all and to help state leaders identify, develop and implement public policy for education that addresses current and future needs of…

Education
7
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
8
Colorado Council On Economic Education

Our mission is to empower colorado students to achieve a lifetime of economic understanding and financial freedom. how will we achieve this mission? by providing economic and personal financial education to students through training…

—
9
Colorado State Fire Chiefs

The vision of the csfc is to partner with the fire service and supplier partners across the state of colorado in their efforts to protect all of colorado's life and property from fire and other disasters. it is a dynamic organization,…

Public Safety & Disaster
10
The Denver Foundation

To inspire people and mobilize resources to strengthen our community.

Philanthropy
11
Colorado State University Foundation

See schedule o colorado state university foundation assists in the promotion, development, and enhancement of facilities and educational programs and enhancements of faculty, students, and alumni of colorado state university (csu). this is…

Education
12
Philanthropy Colorado

Philanthropy colorado is a nonprofit membership association for grantmakers throughout the state. its mission is strengthen colorado communities by bringing people, information and resources together.

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver Rescue Mission; the most unlike its peers is Samaritan's Purse. 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 46 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/24
Grantees still filing
19/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $1,175,055 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATIONTHE STEAMBOAT INSTITUTE: $250,000 · EducationTHE STEAMBOAT INSTITUTECOLORADO ACADEMY: $200,000 · EducationCOLORADO ACADEMY+2 more: $37,000 · EducationADVANCE COLORADO: $600,000 · Public BenefitADVANCE COLORADOLeadership Program of the Rockies: $245,000 · Public BenefitLeadership Program of the Rock…INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE: $31,000 · Public BenefitBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $50,000 · OtherBOY SCOUTS O…UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $40,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY O…FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL WESTERN: $25,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF T…CO: $25,000 · OtherCODENVER ZOO CONSERVATION ALLIANCE: $20,000 · OtherDENVER ZOO C…CASADY SCHOOL: $15,000 · OtherDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherDENVER ZOOLO…CAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · OtherCAPE ELEUTHE…SAMARITAN'S PURSE: $15,000 · Other+20 more: $116,000 · Other+20 moreChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $163,100 · Health+1 more: $1,000 · HealthFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $60,000 · Food & NutritionDENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $30,000 · PhilanthropyGOLD CROWN FOUNDATION: $15,500 · PhilanthropyJUDI'S HOUSE INC: $6,000 · PhilanthropyDENVER POLICE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Human ServicesDENVER RESCUE MISSION: $13,000 · Human ServicesTHE COMMIT FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Human Services
Education$1,662,055Public Benefit$876,000Other$361,000Health$164,100Food & Nutrition$60,000Philanthropy$51,500Human Services$30,500

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $1,175,055 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetADVANCE COLORADO: $600,000 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetTHE STEAMBOAT INSTITUTE: $250,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetLeadership Program of the Rockies: $245,000 over 5y, 4.2% of budgetCOLORADO ACADEMY: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $163,100 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $60,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE: $31,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGOLD CROWN FOUNDATION: $15,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetDENVER POLICE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER RESCUE MISSION: $13,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON SENSE INSTITUTE: $11,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetStep Denver: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJUDI'S HOUSE INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT-ROCKY MOUNTAIN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COMMIT FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPARENTS CHALLENGE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DENVER SANTA CLAUSE SHOP INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCANCER LEAGUE OF COLORADO INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ADVANCE COLORADO ↗
  • Who funds THE STEAMBOAT INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Leadership Program of the Rockies ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES ↗
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds INDEPENDENCE INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DENVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds GOLD CROWN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DENVER POLICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds DENVER RESCUE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds COMMON SENSE INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Step Denver ↗
  • Who funds JUDI'S HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT-ROCKY MOUNTAIN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COMMIT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PARENTS CHALLENGE ↗

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.

Colorado Gives Founda…Pema Foundation IncDaniels FundEl Pomar FoundationAdolph Coors Foundati…The Denver FoundationKoelbel Family Founda…The Anschutz Foundati…The Armstrong Family …Western Union Foundat…Amg Charitable Gift F…Eze Foundation
Colorado Gives FoundationCO22.4× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · Pema Foundation Inc · Daniels Fund · El Pomar Foundation · Adolph Coors Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Koelbel Family Foundation · The Anschutz Foundation · The Armstrong Family Foundation · Western Union Foundation · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · Eze 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 Bruce Benson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bruce Benson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–20%
    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 46 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 Bruce Benson’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