Skip to content
Charles Koch Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Charles Koch Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$64M
Granted FY2024still arriving
93
Grants FY2024still arriving
32
States reached
$24M
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 2024.

Education$608MPublic Benefit$26MEmployment$16MScience & Tech$15MCivil Rights$14MRecreation & Sports$11MSocial Science$11MPhilanthropy$8.1MOther$0
02FY2024 · 93 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $421k
  • $50k–250k29 grants · $3.8M
  • $250k+47 grants · $60M
$250,000
Median grant
32
States reached
$759M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$23,675,637
INSTITUTE FOR HUMANE STUDIES$6,090,000
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY$2,500,000
NORTH DAKOTA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION AND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION$2,000,000
SHRM FOUNDATION INC$1,920,000
JOBS FOR THE FUTURE$1,200,000
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$1,157,363
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY$1,138,154
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE$1,113,401
Education Design Lab$1,000,000
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN$1,000,000
North Dakota State University$1,000,000
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH$988,334
PER SCHOLAS INC$903,000
DUKE UNIVERSITY$884,159
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 (FY17–23, $5.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%YMCA of Greater Charlotte: $50k → 10%Mississippi State University Foundation: $188k → 24%Mississippi State University Foundation: $81k → 24%Mississippi State University Foundation: $45k → 24%Scala Foundation: $70k → 11%BridgeYear: $50k → 16%Scala Foundation: $69k → 11%Scala Foundation: $50k → 11%Let Grow: $1.1M → 17%Institute for American Values: $150k → 17%Let Grow: $250k → 17%Let Grow: $250k → 17%Defense Priorities Foundation: $24k → 14%Defense Priorities Foundation: $24k → 14%Merit America: $2.0M → 14%Merit America: $1.0M → 14%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

AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$642M · 557 repeat orgs$48M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

557 repeat relationships: 59 still active in FY2024, 498 since wound down; 21 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

557
1402

Total granted

$642M
$43M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+27%

Still filing today

58%
16%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5.1M went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationPublic BenefitInternationalArts & CulturePhilanthropySocial ScienceOther
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

  • GM
    GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $88M · revenue +37%
  • IF
    Institute for Humane Studies
    8× · 2017–2024 · $45M · revenue +18% · 69% of their budget
  • NY
    New York University
    8× · 2017–2024 · $19M · revenue +76%

Funded once

  • TS
    THE SEMINAR NETWORK INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $2.5M · revenue +634%
  • TA
    Texas A&M University Foundation
    one grant, 2019 · $1.5M
  • WA
    WGU Advancement
    one grant, 2020 · $1.5M · revenue -11% · 31% of their budget
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
2
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
3
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
4
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
5
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
6
Fielding Graduate University

We provide exemplary interdisciplinary programs for a community of scholar-practitioners within a distributed learning model grounded in student-driven inquiry and leading to enhanced knowledge.

—
7
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
8
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
9
Roger Williams University

At Roger Williams University, students are prepared to be thinkers and doers ready to solve challenging problems with innovative solutions. RWU offers robust offerings of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across eight…

Education
10
Capital University

Capital university transforms lives by empowering an inclusive community of learners through engaging academic, co-curricular, and professional experiences.

Education
11
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
12
Benedictine University

Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Technology Policy Institute. 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

603 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. 603 of the 2,000 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.

41
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
106
Early backer (in before they grew)
577/603
Grantees still filing
448/603
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $88,411,080 · EducationGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INCNew York University: $18,637,205 · EducationThurgood Marshall College Fund: $14,194,160 · EducationTHE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA: $14,155,121 · Education+87 more: $262,450,950 · Education+87 moreInstitute for Humane Studies: $44,942,417 · OtherInstitute for Humane StudiesGeorge Mason University: $34,578,773 · OtherGeorge Mason UniversityUTAH STATE UNIVERSITY: $18,004,766 · OtherUTAH STATE UNIVERSITY+83 more: $131,469,175 · Other+83 moreCATO INSTITUTE: $4,826,900 · Public BenefitTEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $3,888,696 · Public BenefitYOUNG AMERICANS FOR LIBERTY FOUNDATION: $1,965,157 · Public Benefit1889 INSTITUTE: $1,385,000 · Public BenefitAMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL: $1,371,433 · Public BenefitThe Rand Corporation: $1,051,000 · Public BenefitMACKINAC CENTER: $1,001,000 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $605,372 · Public BenefitFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $4,618,470 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITY: $2,908,386 · Community ImprovementSHRM FOUNDATION INC: $2,220,000 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $1,500,000 · PhilanthropyTHE SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT FOUNDATION INC: $1,426,285 · PhilanthropyGreater Horizons: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyMIKEROWEWORKS FOUNDATION: $753,673 · PhilanthropyJOBS FOR THE FUTURE INC: $2,400,000 · EmploymentPER SCHOLAS INC: $1,803,000 · EmploymentOPPORTUNITYWORK INC: $1,350,000 · EmploymentSKILLS FOR CHICAGO: $750,000 · EmploymentNew Civil Liberties Alliance: $3,046,375 · Arts & CultureTHE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION: $1,673,252 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER: $851,000 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE: $594,100 · Arts & Culture
Education$397,848,516Other$228,995,131Public Benefit$16,094,558Community Improvement$7,526,856Philanthropy$6,899,958Employment$6,303,000Arts & Culture$6,164,727

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $88,411,080 over 6y, 16% of budgetInstitute for Humane Studies: $44,942,417 over 8y, 69% of budgetNew York University: $18,637,205 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetThurgood Marshall College Fund: $14,194,160 over 5y, 30% of budgetTHE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA: $14,155,121 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $12,888,001 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $12,372,500 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $9,892,609 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $9,632,197 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac: $8,625,597 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $8,503,179 over 5y, 5.1% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $8,421,300 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $7,237,650 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $7,098,075 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FOUNDATION INC: $5,672,762 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetTexas A&M Foundation: $5,000,790 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $4,826,900 over 6y, 7.7% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $4,773,580 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetClaremont Graduate University: $4,728,877 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetCHAPMAN UNIVERSITY: $4,723,624 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetEDUCATION DESIGN LAB: $4,641,500 over 5y, 13% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $4,618,470 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNorth Dakota State University Foundation: $4,554,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $4,505,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBAYLOR UNIVERSITY: $4,430,100 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $4,370,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $4,272,877 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Tufts College: $4,118,425 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $3,945,063 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBill of Rights Institute: $3,915,406 over 4y, 30% of budgetTEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $3,888,696 over 4y, 16% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,848,963 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetIndiana University Foundation: $3,826,977 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetWICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,825,400 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetCLEMSON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,791,285 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetMIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,704,450 over 7y, 3.1% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $3,382,027 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $3,381,554 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION INC: $3,322,216 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetUS Chamber of Commerce Foundation: $3,285,000 over 3y, 5.9% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $3,257,413 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetKENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $3,250,333 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $3,240,500 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetSKILLUP COALITION: $3,105,000 over 4y, 31% of budgetNew Civil Liberties Alliance: $3,046,375 over 6y, 25% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $3,034,428 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe George Washington University: $3,006,268 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetMERIT AMERICA: $3,000,000 over 2y, 7.0% 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.

  • Who funds GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Institute for Humane Studies ↗
  • Who funds New York University ↗
  • Who funds Thurgood Marshall College Fund ↗
  • Who funds THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds William Marsh Rice University ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds President and Fellows of Harvard College ↗
  • Who funds University of Notre Dame du Lac ↗
  • Who funds UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds Southern Methodist University ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Texas A&M Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CATO INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds Claremont Graduate University ↗
  • Who funds CHAPMAN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds EDUCATION DESIGN LAB ↗
  • Who funds FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
  • Who funds North Dakota State University Foundation ↗
  • Who funds GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds BAYLOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds Trustees of Tufts College ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds Bill of Rights Institute ↗
  • Who funds TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Indiana University Foundation ↗
  • Who funds WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Charles Koch InstituteThe Seminar Network I…The Lynde and Harry B…Donors Trust IncSarah Scaife Foundati…Carnegie Corporation …Atlas Economic Resear…Bradley Impact Fund I…John William Pope Fou…Adolph Coors Foundati…The Searle Freedom Tr…Thomas W Smith Founda…
Charles Koch InstituteVA153.1× affinity80 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charles Koch Institute · The Seminar Network Inc · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Donors Trust Inc · Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated · Carnegie Corporation of New York · Atlas Economic Research Foundation · Bradley Impact Fund Inc · John William Pope Foundation · Adolph Coors Foundation · The Searle Freedom Trust · Thomas W Smith Foundation 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 Charles Koch Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Charles Koch Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Trustees of Tufts College: 13% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • The Trustees of the Stevens Institute of Technology: 12% of income from government
  • Jobs for the Future Inc: 11% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Wellesley College: 1% of income from government
  • Florida Southern College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
14report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Charles Koch Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Charles Koch 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 2000 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Charles Koch’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