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Bushong Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Bushong Family 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.

$390k
Granted FY2025still arriving
31
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$44k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Animals$791kYouth Development$352kHuman Services$327kEducation$209kRecreation & Sports$185kCivil Rights$150kCrime & Legal$115kFood & Nutrition$110kOther$0
02FY2025 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $28k
  • $10k–50k23 grants · $362k
$10,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC$44,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO DENVER INC$25,000
FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES$25,000
THRIVE CENTER$25,000
COLORADO HORSE RESCUE NETWORK$25,000
COLORADO YOUTH FOR A CHANGE$25,000
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE INCORPORATED$15,000
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE$13,300
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER$13,300
ROCKY MOUNTAIN IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY NETWORK$13,300
FAIRVIEW HIGH SCHOOL PARENTS ORGANIZATION INC$13,050
CENTENNIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO R-1$13,050
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION$12,000
REZDAWG RESCUE INC$10,000
FRIENDS OF THE SOUND HORSES INC$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 (FY18–25, $248k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THRIVE CENTER: $25k → 8%PARENT EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR KIDS INC: $20k → 9%ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS INC: $6k → 6%THRIVE CENTER: $20k → 8%PARENT EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR KIDS INC: $18k → 9%ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS INC: $5k → 6%THRIVE CENTER: $18k → 8%PARENT EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR KIDS INC: $18k → 9%ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS INC: $5k → 6%THRIVE CENTER: $18k → 8%PARENT EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR KIDS INC: $15k → 9%ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS INC: $5k → 6%THRIVE CENTER: $15k → 8%PARENT EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR KIDS INC: $10k → 9%THRIVE CENTER: $10k → 8%PARENT EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR KIDS INC: $10k → 9%THRIVE CENTER: $10k → 8%PARENT EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE FOR KIDS INC: $10k → 9%THRIVE CENTER: $10k → 8%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
MA
CA
CO
MO
MD
AZ
DC
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 32 repeat orgs$304k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against -18% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
8

Total granted

$2.2M
$210k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
-18%

Still filing today

78%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $94k 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
AnimalsEducationInternationalHuman ServicesRecreation & 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

  • BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO DENVER INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $176k · revenue +47%
  • CY
    COLORADO YOUTH FOR A CHANGE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $176k · revenue +132%
  • CH
    COLORADO HORSE RESCUE NETWORK
    7× · 2019–2025 · $175k · revenue +546%

Funded once

  • 5F
    5430 FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • CF
    CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +66%
  • SC
    SECOND CHANCE ANIMAL RESCUE INC
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue +12%
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
Dogs Unbroken

Dog Rescue Dogs Unbroken supports Colorado dogs at higher risk for euthanasia evaluating their behavioral stability and applying training methods appropriate for their needs. The goal of helping each dog learn to make good choices in…

Animals
2
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
3
Environmental and Animal Defense

At Environmental and Animal Defense, our mission is to provide Colorado with access to affordable legal services for environmental and animal issues, in addition to protecting wildlife and their habitats through enforcement of the law. No…

Crime & Legal
4
Front Range German Shepherd Rescue Inc

Rescues dogs, rehomes German shepherds, and provides medical and shelter care.

Animals
5
Colorado Puppy Rescue of Colorado

Animal Rescue and Adoption

Animals
6
Noco Humane

Our mission is to further the compassionate safe and responsible relationship between animals and people.

Animals
7
Colorado Open Lands

Colorado open lands' mission is to preserve the significant open lands and natural heritage of colorado through private and public partnerships, innovative land conservation, and strategic leadership.

Environment
8
Colorado Nature League

To protect, conserve, and restore colorado's native wildlife and habitats. we champion science-based, innovative, collaborative solutions for managing colorado's iconic wildlife and biodiversity, protecting them from threats like habitat…

Environment
9
Paws On the Ground Colorado

dog rescue and adoption

Animals
10
Rocky Mountain Wild

Rocky mountain wild works to protect, connect, and restore wildlife and wild lands in the southern rocky mountain region. we work to secure the biodiversity of the mountains, plains, and desert ecosystems of colorado, wyoming, utah, and…

Environment
11
Good Dog Rescue

To save dogs from high kill shelters and place them into loving foster homes. Prior to adoption our dogs will be vetted, spayed or neutered and nurtured to join a supportive and loving home environment.

Animals
12
Colorado Water Trust

To restore water to colorado's rivers.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Big Dog Ranch Rescue Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee 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

46 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. 46 of the 54 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/46
Grantees still filing
27/46
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FRIENDS OF SOUND HORSES INC: $185,000 · AnimalsFRIENDS OF SOUND HORSES INCCOLORADO HORSE RESCUE NETWORK: $175,000 · AnimalsCOLORADO HORSE RESCUE NETWORKDrifters Hearts of Hope Inc: $120,000 · AnimalsDrifters Hearts of Hope IncCOLORADO PET PANTRY: $84,000 · AnimalsCOLORADO PET PANTRYPEACE LOVE & PAWS INC: $70,000 · AnimalsPEACE LOVE & PAWS INCCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $25,000 · Animals+7 more: $76,500 · Animals+7 moreBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO DENVER INC: $176,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO DENVER INC5430 FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Other5430 FOUNDATIONHORSE CARE PROGRAM: $80,000 · OtherHORSE CARE PROGRAMUNIVERSITY OF DENVER - OFFICE OF GIFT PROCESSING: $75,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF DENVER - OFFICE OF GIFT PROC…LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF COLORADO: $55,000 · OtherLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF COLORADONew Genesis Inc: $50,000 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES AND COMMUNITY SERVICES OF THE: $40,000 · OtherENERGY OUTREACH COLORADO: $60,000 · OtherENERGY OUTREACH COLORADOInternational Rescue Committee INC: $35,800 · OtherRose Community Foundation: $55,000 · OtherRose Community Foundation+19 more: $222,050 · Other+19 moreThrive Center: $126,000 · Human ServicesThrive Cen…PEAK PARENT CENTER INC: $101,000 · Human ServicesPEAK PAREN…ASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS INC: $20,500 · Human ServicesASSOCIATIO…AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $119,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN …ROCKY MOUNTAIN IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY NETWORK: $99,800 · Civil RightsROCKY MOU…COLORADO YOUTH FOR A CHANGE: $176,000 · Youth DevelopmentUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $40,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $27,800 · EducationUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $20,500 · EducationFairview High School Parents Organi: $17,550 · EducationMANHATTAN MIDDLE SCHOOL PTO: $10,000 · EducationFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $110,000 · Food & Nutrition
Animals$735,500Other$948,850Human Services$247,500Civil Rights$218,800Youth Development$176,000Education$116,350Food & Nutrition$110,000

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 budgetFRIENDS OF SOUND HORSES INC: $185,000 over 7y, 99% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF METRO DENVER INC: $176,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCOLORADO YOUTH FOR A CHANGE: $176,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetCOLORADO HORSE RESCUE NETWORK: $175,000 over 7y, 17% of budgetThrive Center: $126,000 over 8y, 20% of budgetDrifters Hearts of Hope Inc: $120,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $119,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $110,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPEAK PARENT CENTER INC: $101,000 over 7y, 1.4% of budget5430 FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY NETWORK: $99,800 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetCOLORADO PET PANTRY: $84,000 over 5y, 6.8% of budgetHORSE CARE PROGRAM: $80,000 over 2y, 92% of budgetPEACE LOVE & PAWS INC: $70,000 over 5y, 75% of budgetENERGY OUTREACH COLORADO: $60,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF COLORADO: $55,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRose Community Foundation: $55,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNew Genesis Inc: $50,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $40,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $35,800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $27,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $27,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $20,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetASSOCIATION ON AMERICAN INDIAN AFFAIRS INC: $20,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetSECOND CHANCE ANIMAL RESCUE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 9.6% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF PUERTO RICO INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetNATIONAL FOREST FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFairview High School Parents Organi: $17,550 over 2y, 14% of budgetRAZOM INC: $17,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSCHOOL DISTRICT 12 EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $14,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetRIGHT TO READ OF WELD COUNTY INC JOHN HAEFELI PRESIDENT: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMANHATTAN MIDDLE SCHOOL PTO: $10,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetONE TREE PLANTED INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS COLORADO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDALLAS STREET DOG ADVOCATES: $1,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $1,000 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.

Colorado Gives Founda…The Denver FoundationEl Pomar FoundationGary PhilanthropyRose Community Founda…Mile High United Way …The Pfizer Foundation…Greater Good CharitiesLibertygives Foundati…Banfield FoundationXcel Energy FoundationWestern Union Foundat…
Colorado Gives FoundationCO29.6× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · The Denver Foundation · El Pomar Foundation · Gary Philanthropy · Rose Community Foundation · Mile High United Way Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Greater Good Charities · Libertygives Foundation · Banfield Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Western Union 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 Bushong Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bushong Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Big Dog Ranch Rescue Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
7report 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.

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 54 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 Bushong Family’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