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Chef Ann Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Chef Ann Foundation

To ensure that school food professionals have the resources, funding and support they need to provide fresh, healthy, delicious, cooked from scratch meals that support the health of children and our planet.

$1.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$325k
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$1.1MFood & Nutrition$514kCommunity Improvement$325kAnimals$256kEnvironment$72kHuman Services$71kMembership Benefit$31k
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 11 grants below total $1,403,915, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,523,915 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $120,000 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $105k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $974k
  • $250k+1 grant · $325k
$137,427
Median grant
8
States reached
$9.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COMMONWEALTH KITCHEN$324,755
NEW ROOTS COMMUNITY FARM$228,499
DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITY DISTRICT$153,058
ANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT$143,010
GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE$141,249
MUSKEGON AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT$137,427
NORTHEAST WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT$108,748
IOWA VALLEY RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT$62,169
HOWARD-SUAMICO SCHOOL DISTRICT$35,000
ELLENSBURG SCHOOL DISTRICT$35,000
LEWISTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS$35,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 78% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ACTON BOXBOROUGH FOOD SERVICE: $88k → 8%COMMONWEALTH KITCHEN: $325k → 16%PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOL FOOD SERVICES: $12k → 11%NOSH: $71k → 9%SAN YSIDRO SCHOOL DISTRICT: $41k → 11%SACRAMENTO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT- NUTRITION SERVICES: $8k → 12%LODI UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT- NUTRITION SERVICES: $7k → 12%SAN BERNARDINO CITY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: $10k → 14%WILLOWS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT - FOOD SERVICE DEPARTMENT: $10k → 14%GOLETA UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT: $50k → 14%MARYSVILLE JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: $50k → 15%IOWA VALLEY RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT: $62k → 7%MUSKEGON AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $137k → 15%DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITY DISTRICT: $153k → 21%MANHATTAN-OGDEN USD 383: $35k → 20%HOWARD-SUAMICO SCHOOL DISTRICT: $35k → 10%WISCONSIN RAPIDS PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $35k → 11%FRANKLIN SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT: $35k → 4%WELD COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT 8- NUTRITION SERVICES: $27k → 9%SOUTH MADISON COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION: $35k → 15%ELLENSBURG SCHOOL DISTRICT: $35k → 11%NORTHEAST WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT: $109k → 12%NEW ROOTS COMMUNITY FARM: $228k → 20%ANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $143k → 10%WINDHAM CENTRAL SUPERVISORY UNION: $31k → 11%CAROLINE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL: $50k → 13%TRIMBLE COUNTY SCHOOL NUTRITION: $63k → 12%GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $141k → 7%LEWISTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $35k → 13%IOWA VALLEY RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT: $10k → 7%MUSKEGON AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $10k → 15%DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITY DISTRICT: $15k → 21%NORTHEAST WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT: $52k → 12%NEW ROOTS COMMUNITY FARM: $70k → 20%ANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 10%GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $115k → 7%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
WA
WI
MI
MA
IA
IN
PA
CA
CO
KY
WV
MD
KS
TN
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.

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.3M · 7 repeat orgs$1.1M to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
18

Total granted

$1.3M
$659k

Still filing today

43%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 69% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $430k 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
Community ImprovementFood & NutritionAnimalsEnvironmentOther
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

  • NR
    NEW ROOTS COMMUNITY FARM INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $298k · revenue 0%
  • GO
    GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    2× · 2024–2025 · $256k · revenue +15%
  • DP
    DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITY DISTRICT
    2× · 2024–2025 · $168k

Funded once

  • AB
    ACTON BOXBOROUGH FOOD SERVICE
    one grant, 2024 · $88k
  • N
    NOSH
    one grant, 2024 · $71k
  • TC
    TRIMBLE COUNTY SCHOOL NUTRITION
    one grant, 2024 · $63k
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
04the grantee network

4 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. 4 of the 29 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
4/4
Grantees still filing
2/4
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITY DISTRICT: $168,058 · OtherDETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITY DISTRICTNORTHEAST WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICT: $160,881 · OtherNORTHEAST WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL SERVICE DISTRICTANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $158,010 · OtherANCHORAGE SCHOOL DISTRICTMUSKEGON AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $147,427 · OtherMUSKEGON AREA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL DISTRICTACTON BOXBOROUGH FOOD SERVICE: $88,000 · OtherACTON BOXBOROUGH FOOD SERVICENOSH: $71,085 · OtherTRIMBLE COUNTY SCHOOL NUTRITION: $62,750 · OtherCAROLINE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOL: $50,000 · OtherGOLETA UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT: $50,000 · OtherMarysville Joint Unified Sch: $50,000 · Other+15 more: $391,882 · Other+15 moreCOMMONWEALTH KITCHEN INC: $324,755 · Community ImprovementCOMMONWEALTH KI…NEW ROOTS COMMUNITY FARM INC: $298,499 · Food & NutritionNEW ROOTS COMM…GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $256,475 · AnimalsGULF OF MAIN…IOWA VALLEY RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT: $72,169 · Environment
Other$1,398,093Community Improvement$324,755Food & Nutrition$298,499Animals$256,475Environment$72,169

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetNEW ROOTS COMMUNITY FARM INC: $298,499 over 2y, 9.1% of budgetGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $256,475 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetIOWA VALLEY RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT: $72,169 over 2y, 3.8% 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 COMMONWEALTH KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW ROOTS COMMUNITY FARM INC ↗
  • Who funds GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds IOWA VALLEY RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT ↗

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.

Share Our StrengthFidelity Investments …
Share Our StrengthDC14.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Share Our Strength · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Chef Ann Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Chef Ann 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Commonwealth Kitchen Inc: 9% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
1report 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 Chef Ann Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Chef Ann 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 29 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 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

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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