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Columbus Downtown Development Corporation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Columbus Downtown Development Corporation

Planning, development, and management of projects for the revitalization of downtown columbus.

$632k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$150k
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 2024.

Arts & Culture$8.3MPublic Benefit$954kCommunity Improvement$673kRecreation & Sports$78kEducation$75kPhilanthropy$40kFood & Nutrition$14kEnvironment$14k
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 7 grants below total $532,500, the rows itemized in this filing. The $632,353 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $99,853 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 · FY2024

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $83k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $450k
$50,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$151M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION$150,000
GREATER COLUMBUS CONV & VISITORS BUREAU DBA EXPERIENCE COLUMBUS$150,000
CITY OF COLUMBUS$100,000
COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY PARTNERS$50,000
CAPITOL SOUTH COMMUNITY URBAN REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION$40,000
GREATER COLUMBUS SPORTS COMMISSION -GREATER COLUMBUS CONV & VISITORS BUREAU$32,500
COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN CLUB$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATION: $2.2M → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATION: $1.8M → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATION: $1.3M → 15%FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS: $760k → 15%SCIOTO PENINSULA NEW COMMUNITY AUTHORITY: $583k → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATION: $515k → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATION: $500k → 15%FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS: $380k → 15%FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS: $380k → 15%CITY OF COLUMBUS: $262k → 15%CITY OF COLUMBUS: $167k → 15%GREATER COLUMBUS CONV & VISITORS BUREAU DBA EXPERIENCE COLUMBUS: $150k → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $150k → 15%CITY OF COLUMBUS: $136k → 15%CITY OF COLUMBUS: $115k → 15%CITY OF COLUMBUS: $100k → 15%CITY OF COLUMBUS: $100k → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%MID-OHIO REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION: $50k → 15%COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY PARTNERS: $50k → 15%CITY OF COLUMBUS: $48k → 15%CAPITOL SOUTH COMMUNITY URBAN REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $40k → 15%GREATER COLUMBUS SPORTS COMMISSION -GREATER COLUMBUS CONV & VISITORS BUREAU: $33k → 15%AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER FOUNDATION: $20k → 15%CAPITOL SOUTH COMMUNITY URBAN REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $20k → 15%SID PUBLIC SERVICES - CAPITAL CROSSROADS: $14k → 15%COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN CLUB: $10k → 15%LEXI'S ON THIRD RESTAURANT: $9k → 15%GREATER COLUMBUS SPORTS COMMISSION -GREATER COLUMBUS CONV & VISITORS BUREAU: $8k → 15%GREATER COLUMBUS SPORTS COMMISSION -GREATER COLUMBUS CONV & VISITORS BUREAU: $8k → 15%CINCO TACOS: $5k → 15%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $25k → 15%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $25k → 15%CENTRAL OHIO GREENWAYS FUND: $20k → 15%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.
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.
$9.4M · 7 repeat orgs$741k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +16% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
6

Total granted

$9.4M
$681k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+16%
+12%

Still filing today

71%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k 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
Arts & CultureEducationRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyCommunity 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

  • FC
    FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS
    3× · 2017–2019 · $1.5M · revenue +16%
  • NV
    NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $350k · revenue +43%
  • GC
    GREATER COLUMBUS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU INC
    3× · 2020–2024 · $198k · revenue +100%

Funded once

  • SP
    SCIOTO PENINSULA NEW COMMUNITY AUTHORITY
    one grant, 2020 · $583k
  • MO
    MID OHIO REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION
    one grant, 2019 · $50k
  • AE
    American Electric Power Foundation
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue -82%
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
The Columbus Partnership

Economic development: investigation and study of various areas of need for the development of plans and programs to be undertaken and the creation of strategies and programming to begin executing the same.

Community Improvement
2
Columbus Compact Corporation

Columbus compact is a catalyst for positive development of central city columbus' neighborhoods and business districts.

Community Improvement
3
Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce

Advancing a thriving central ohio commmunity by serving as a catalyst for all businesses to grow and flourish. our mission pillars are connections, government relations, strategic business solutions and talent/workforce.

—
4
Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce

Various programs promoting business and economic well being of the community.

—
5
Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment

Revitalization of the area immediately adjacent to the ohio state university's main campus in columbus, ohio.

Community Improvement
6
Columbus Music Commission

To nurture a community where people can prosper in the business of music while contributing to columbus' overall cultural and economic growth.

Community Improvement
7
Columbus Downtown Development Corporation

Planning, development, and management of projects for the revitalization of downtown columbus. please see part i, line 1 and schedule o for continuation of the significant activities statement.

Community Improvement
8
Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc

The cincinnati usa convention & visitors bureau is an aggressive sales, marketing, and service organization. our primary responsibility is to positively impact the region's area economy through convention, tradeshow and visitor…

—
9
One Columbus

One columbus is a regional private-public sector partnership that will leverage central ohio's research and academic institutions, diverse industries to position the state capital to become the fastest growing economy in the country and…

Community Improvement
10
Columbus Cares for Cats
—
11
Columbus State University Foundation Inc

The Columbus State University Foundation supports educational excellence and the expansion of educational opportunities at Columbus State University. The Foundation attracts, receives, invests, manages, and expends gifts and other…

Education
12
Columbus Association of Realtors

The columbus association of realtors is a local level, not-for-profit trade association. founded in 1908, columbus association of realtors is comprised of more than 9,100 real estate professionals engaged in residential sales and leasing,…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Veterans Memorial and Museum Operating Corporation; the most unlike its peers is American Electric Power Foundation. 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

10 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. 10 of the 16 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
5/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATION: $6,291,779 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATIONFRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS: $1,519,294 · Arts & CultureFRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUSNATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $350,000 · Arts & CultureCOLUMBUS PUBLIC HEALTH: $928,580 · OtherCOLUMBUS PUBLIC HEALT…SCIOTO PENINSULA NEW COMMUNITY AUTHORITY: $582,988 · OtherSCIOTO PENINSULA NEW …GREATER COLUMBUS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU INC: $197,500 · OtherGREATER COLUMBUS CONV…+5 more: $174,080 · Other+5 moreColumbus State Community Partners: $50,000 · EducationAmerican Electric Power Foundation: $20,000 · PhilanthropyCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropySID PUBLIC SERVICES ASSOCIATION: $13,600 · Community ImprovementCOLUMBUS METROPOLITAN CLUB: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports
Arts & Culture$8,161,073Other$1,883,148Education$50,000Philanthropy$40,000Community Improvement$13,600Recreation & Sports$10,000

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 budgetNATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM OPERATING CORPORATION: $6,291,779 over 4y, 26% of budgetFRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS: $1,519,294 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetNATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 5y, 8.8% of budgetGREATER COLUMBUS CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU INC: $197,500 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetCAPITOL SOUTH COMMUNITY URBAN REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $60,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetColumbus State Community Partners: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetAmerican Electric Power Foundation: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSID PUBLIC SERVICES ASSOCIATION: $13,600 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCOLUMBUS METROPOLITAN CLUB: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% 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.

Columbus FoundationL Brands Foundation
Columbus FoundationOH14.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Columbus Foundation · L Brands 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 Columbus Downtown Development Corporation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Columbus Downtown Development Corporation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 16 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Columbus Downtown Development’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