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Plinth

· Public charity

Colorado Succeeds

A non-partisan coalition of business leaders committed to improving the state's education system.

$90k
Granted FY2021
6
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What you fund
0184% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172021.

Education$465kInternational$15kHealth$15kYouth Development$15kOther$0
02FY2021 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$5.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MILE HIGH EARLY LEARNING$15,000
AURORA PUBLIC SCHOOLS$15,000
CLEAR CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT$15,000
THE SUCCESS FOUNDATION$15,000
COLORADO YOUTH CONGRESS$15,000
WARREN TECH-CENTRAL$15,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 84% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%LEGEND EDGE: $5k → 3%STRAWBERRY PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $6k → 6%CARBONDALE MIDDLE SCHOOL: $15k → 6%WARREN TECH-CENTRAL: $15k → 7%CLEAR CREEK SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 7%ROARING FORK SCHOOL DISTRICT: $5k → 8%GRANDVIEW HIGH SCHOOL: $5k → 8%COLORADO SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT 11: $15k → 9%THE SUCCESS FOUNDATION: $15k → 9%LONGFELLOW ELEMENTARY: $15k → 10%STEM LAUNCH: $15k → 10%LOVELAND CLASSICAL SCHOOLS: $5k → 11%MORGAN COUNTY DISTRICT RE-3: $6k → 12%ST VRAIN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT RE-IJ: $15k → 12%THE CUBE CORP: $15k → 12%PAONIA ELEMENTARY: $15k → 15%PARKVIEW MEDICAL CENTER STEP PROGRAM: $15k → 15%CANON CITY SCHOOLS: $15k → 17%MANASSA ELEMENTARY: $5k → 18%HOLLY SCHOOL DISTRICT RE: $6k → 19%LA VETA SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 19%GREEN MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL: $15k → 7%LITTLETON HIGH SCHOOL: $5k → 8%WIDEFIELD SCHOOL DISTRICT 3: $15k → 9%UNION COLONY PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $5k → 9%STEM LAUNCH: $5k → 10%POUDRE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $5k → 11%ST VRAIN VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 12%DENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECH: $6k → 12%WARREN TECH: $5k → 7%MURPHY CREEK P-8: $5k → 8%HARRISON SCHOOL DISTRICT: $16k → 9%THIRD FUTURE SCHOOLS: $15k → 10%ALTONA MIDDLE SCHOOL: $5k → 12%VALDEZ ELEMENTARY: $16k → 12%COLORADO YOUTH CONGRESS: $15k → 7%CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $15k → 8%BRISTOL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $16k → 9%AURORA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $15k → 10%THOMAS MCLAREN STATE CHARTER SCHOOL: $6k → 9%SOARING EAGLES PTO: $6k → 9%COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY: $6k → 10%DSST GREEN VALLEY RANCH HS: $16k → 12%WYATT ACADEMY: $15k → 12%BEACON NETWORK SCHOOLS: $15k → 12%MILE HIGH EARLY LEARNING: $15k → 12%KIPP SUNSHINE PEAK ACADEMY: $6k → 12%DENVER CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $15k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

9%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$51k · 3 repeat orgs$536k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +1272% since the first grant, against +75% for the ones you funded once.

3 repeat relationships — 1 still active in FY2021, 2 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
46

Total granted

$51k
$461k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+1272%
+75%

Still filing today

33%
17%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 17% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $75k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21
EducationCivil RightsOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • JD
    JT DISTRICT 28-J
    2× · 2019–2021 · $20k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    2× · 2017–2018 · $20k
  • DS
    DENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC
    2× · 2017–2018 · $11k · revenue ×14

Funded once

  • DG
    DSST GREEN VALLEY RANCH HS
    one grant, 2017 · $16k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $16k
  • BE
    BRISTOL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $16k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
New Vision Charter School

Our mission is to challenge encourage and empower students everyday to persevere on their journey to becoming lifelong learners.

Education
2
New Legacy Charter School

The mission of New Legacy Charter School is to provide parenting students with the skills needed to raise healthy children and to engage all students in personalized projects and experiences that develop college and career awareness and…

Education
3
Goal Academy

GOAL Academy is an alternative education online blended high school serving students across the state of Colorado. GOAL's mission statement is "to develop productive members of society". GOAL's vision statement is "to help all students…

Education
4
Ascend College Prep

Ascend College Prep is a public high school for 10-12th grade students in Colorado Springs and the surrounding area. Our Mission is to "Prepare and inspire students to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens through rigorous…

Education
5
Pikes Peak School of Expeditionary Learning

Provide education for students in Pre-K through 8th grade, benefitting approximately 415 students.

Education
6
The Stead School

Empower students to design and lead their own postsecondary and career pathways with the context of an exciting Science, Technology, Environmental, Agricultural and System Design thinking learning environment.

7
The Girls Athletic Leadership School of Denver

The Girls Athletic Leadership School, Denver (GALS) is the only public, all-girls charter school in the State of Colorado. GALS' mission is to empower young women to succeed academically, lead confidently, live boldly, and thrive…

Education
8
Colorado Early Colleges

Every student regardless of background or skill level will achieve mastery and will demonstrate that they can succeed in high school in college and in their chosen career. no exceptons no excuses.

Education
9
High Rockies Community School

Our mission is to provide individualized educational options where students and teachers engage in playful, exploratory learning by creating a culture of collaboration in a safe, diverse, multi-age environment. Our students are encouraged…

Education
10
Colorado Military Academy

The vision of Colorado Military Academy is to be the premier military academy in the region recognized for STEM excellence and developing strong leaders of character.

Education
11
Colorado High School Charter Inc

We are transforming the alternative education experience by igniting the potential within each of the diverse young people we serve. chsc ensures students personal and academic growth by creating tailored curricula, a supportive school…

Education
12
Soar Charter School

Soar charter school was founded in 2010 and is built on the premise that we should "expect more" from our public schools. soar students create full and meaningful lives, enrich our democracy, and contribute to a more just society.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver School of Science and Technology Inc and the most unlike its peers is The Cube. 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

13 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 13 of the 54 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/13
Grantees still filing
12/13
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

JT DISTRICT 28-J — $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient — $20,000 · Other+43 more — $454,000 · Other+43 moreTHIRD FUTURE SCHOOLS — $15,000 · EducationTHIRD FUTURE SC…Wyatt Academy — $15,000 · EducationWyatt AcademyThe Success Foundation Serving Greeley-Evans Schools Inc — $15,000 · EducationThe Success Fou…DENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC — $11,000 · EducationDENVER SCHOOL O…Thomas MacLaren School — $6,000 · EducationThomas MacLaren…COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY INC — $6,000 · EducationCOMMUNITY LEADE…THE HADANOU COLLECTIVE — $5,000 · EducationTHE HADANOU COL…Loveland Classical Schools — $5,000 · EducationLoveland Classi…Colorado Youth Congress — $15,000 · Civil Rights
Other$494,000Education$78,000Civil Rights$15,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetMILE HIGH MONTESSORI EARLY LEARNING CENT — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWyatt Academy — $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetThe Success Foundation Serving Greeley-Evans Schools Inc — $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetDENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC — $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThomas MacLaren School — $6,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE HADANOU COLLECTIVE — $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLoveland Classical Schools — $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PREPARATORY SCHOOLS — $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds THIRD FUTURE SCHOOLS
  • Who funds MILE HIGH MONTESSORI EARLY LEARNING CENT
  • Who funds Wyatt Academy
  • Who funds CHERRY CREEK SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
  • Who funds Colorado Youth Congress
  • Who funds The Success Foundation Serving Greeley-Evans Schools Inc
  • Who funds THE CUBE
  • Who funds DENVER SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC
  • Who funds Thomas MacLaren School
  • Who funds COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY INC

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Denver FoundationCO25.9× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Denver Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · Daniels Fund · Early Milestones Colorado · Colorado Gives Foundation · The Colorado Education Initiative · Mile High United Way Inc · Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation · El Pomar Foundation · Foundation for Educational Excellence · Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Colorado Succeeds funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2025
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 54 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2021, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph