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Bur Oak Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bur Oak 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.

$739k
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$175k
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Environment$1.2MEducation$675kAnimals$529kYouth Development$415kHealth$387kFood & Nutrition$235kInternational$110kRecreation & Sports$80kOther$0
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $228k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $495k
$15,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$1.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PRESIDENT & FELLOWS OF MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE$175,000
FRIENDS OF TRACY AVIARY 09-20-93$120,000
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH$100,000
SYA FOUNDATION$50,000
STUDENT DIPLOMACY CORPS INC$50,000
HORSE NATION INC$37,500
HUNTINGTON BEACH TREE SOCIETY INC$30,000
WASATCH MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE$30,000
ROOTS CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL$25,000
GREAT BASIN WATER NETWORK INC$25,000
GREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION$15,000
WISEPLACE$15,000
RECOVERY GROUP$10,000
RECOVERY GROUP$10,000
BALLET WEST$10,000
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 (FY25–25, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%WISEPLACE: $15k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
MT
NY
NV
CA
UT
AZ
NM
DC
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 26 repeat orgs$193k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +9% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

26 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
5

Total granted

$3.5M
$97k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
0%

Still filing today

81%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $97k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentAnimalsEducationHealthArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • PA
    President and Fellows of Middlebury College
    3× · 2023–2025 · $450k · revenue +12%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF TRACY AVIARY
    3× · 2022–2025 · $390k · revenue +168%
  • EARTHJUSTICE
    2× · 2021–2022 · $230k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • CB
    CAMP BULLWHEEL INC
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -79% · 52% of their budget
  • OU
    O2 UTAH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue 0%
  • UF
    UTAH FOOD BANK
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue +3%
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
Utah Public Lands Alliance
Education
2
Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah

Heal utah's mission is to protect utah's environment and its people by promoting clean air, clean energy, and comprehensive solutions to radioactive and toxic waste.

Environment
3
Wasatch Wigeons Association

Improve utah's wetlands through hands-on conservation and community engagement

Animals
4
Summit Land Conservancy

Summit land conservancy works with utah communities to conserve land and water for the benefit of the people and nature.

Environment
5
Utah Open Lands Conservation Association Inc

Utah Open Lands' mission is to preserve and protect open space, in perpetuity, in order to maintain Utah's natural heritage and quality of life for present and future generations. The purpose of Utah Open Lands is to permanently protect…

Environment
6
Idaho Conservation League Inc

Icl's mission is to create a conservation community and pragmatic, enduring solutions that protect and restore the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the land and wildlife you love.

—
7
Living Rivers

Living rivers promotes river restoration through mobilization by articulating conservation and alternative management strategies to the public. seeking to revive the natural habitat and spirit of rivers by undoing the extensive damage done…

Environment
8
Utah Geological Foundation
—
9
Utah Water Ways Inc

Utah water ways promotes water conservation through collaboration between government, non-profit groups, and private sector partners and empowers the public to be wise stewards of this critical shared resource.

Environment
10
Great Salt Lake Audubon

Great salt lake audubon, a chapter of the national audubon society, was founded in 1912 and is the oldest conservation organization in utah. this volunteer organization strives to meet its mission through volunteer opportunities, seminars,…

Environment
11
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Utah Clean Energy Alliance Inc; the most unlike its peers is Camp Bullwheel 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

36 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. 36 of the 39 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/36
Grantees still filing
20/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN UTAH: $300,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN UTAHTHE YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NORTHERN U: $300,000 · OtherTHE YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCI…UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $200,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAHCAMP BULLWHEEL INC: $50,000 · OtherFLOURISH VENTURES: $37,000 · Other+11 more: $145,500 · Other+11 moreEARTHJUSTICE: $230,338 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICEGREAT BASIN WATER NETWORK INC: $200,000 · EnvironmentGREAT BASIN WATER NETW…CONSERVE UTAH VALLEY: $111,983 · EnvironmentCONSERVE UTAH VALLEYUTAH RIVERS COUNCIL INC: $77,500 · EnvironmentUTAH RIVERS COUNCIL IN…UTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INC: $75,000 · EnvironmentUTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLI…HUNTINGTON BEACH TREE SOCIETY INC: $35,000 · Environment+2 more: $7,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF TRACY AVIARY: $390,000 · AnimalsFRIENDS OF TRACY AVI…THEODORE ROOSEVELT CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INC: $150,000 · AnimalsTHEODORE ROOSEVELT C…BONEFISH & TARPON TRUST INC: $75,000 · AnimalsBONEFISH & TARPON TR…HORSE NATION INC DBA FREE REIN FOUNDATION: $62,500 · AnimalsHORSE NATION INC DBA…+2 more: $16,500 · AnimalsPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $450,000 · EducationPresident and F…WASATCH MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE: $30,000 · EducationWASATCH MOUNTAI…ROOTS CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: $25,000 · EducationHUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION: $200,000 · HealthHUNTSMAN C…National AIDS Memorial Inc: $110,000 · HealthNational A…RECOVERY GROUP: $40,000 · HealthRECOVERY G…WASATCH COMMUNITY GARDENS: $225,000 · Community ImprovementWASATCH C…SYA FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Community ImprovementSYA FOUND…STUDENT DIPLOMACY CORPS INC: $105,000 · International
Other$1,032,500Environment$736,821Animals$694,000Education$505,000Health$350,000Community Improvement$325,000International$105,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPresident and Fellows of Middlebury College: $450,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF TRACY AVIARY: $390,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $230,338 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWASATCH COMMUNITY GARDENS: $225,000 over 3y, 5.9% of budgetHUNTSMAN CANCER FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGREAT BASIN WATER NETWORK INC: $200,000 over 5y, 17% of budgetTHEODORE ROOSEVELT CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIP INC: $150,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCONSERVE UTAH VALLEY: $111,983 over 2y, 56% of budgetNational AIDS Memorial Inc: $110,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetSTUDENT DIPLOMACY CORPS INC: $105,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetSYA FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 26% of budgetUTAH RIVERS COUNCIL INC: $77,500 over 2y, 21% of budgetBONEFISH & TARPON TRUST INC: $75,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetUTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INC: $75,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetHORSE NATION INC DBA FREE REIN FOUNDATION: $62,500 over 2y, 8.9% of budgetCAMP BULLWHEEL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 52% of budgetRECOVERY GROUP: $40,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetFLOURISH VENTURES: $37,000 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetHUNTINGTON BEACH TREE SOCIETY INC: $35,000 over 2y, 21% of budgetWASATCH MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE: $30,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetBALLET WEST: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetO2 UTAH FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetROOTS CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGLEN COVE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB AT LINCOLN HOUSE INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF OYSTER BAY INC: $11,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetUTAH FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetANDEAN TEXTILE ARTS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF NASSAU COUNTY BAILEY ARBORETUM INC: $4,500 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE NORTH SHORE LAND ALLIANCE INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPEOPLE LOVING PEOPLE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 1.0% 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 Community Foundat…Palladium FoundationLarry H Miller and Ga…PatagoniaorgOrange County Communi…SJ and Jessie E Quinn…Willard L Eccles Char…David Kelby Johnson M…Lawrence & Janet Dee …Sorenson Legacy Found…The Nature ConservancyJanet Q Lawson Founda…
The Community Foundation of UtahUT21.5× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Utah · Palladium Foundation · Larry H Miller and Gail Miller Family Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Orange County Community Foundation · SJ and Jessie E Quinney Foundation · Willard L Eccles Charitable Foundation · David Kelby Johnson Memorial Foundation · Lawrence & Janet Dee Foundation · Sorenson Legacy Foundation · The Nature Conservancy · Janet Q Lawson 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 Bur Oak Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bur Oak Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • President and Fellows of Middlebury College: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
12report 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 39 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 Bur Oak’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