· Community foundation
Columbus Foundation
Entrusted with the responsibility to improve the community's quality of life, the COLUMBUS FOUNDATION embraces the following: to assist donors and others in strengthening and improving the community for the benefit of all its residents.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k272 grants · $2.0M
- $10k–50k938 grants · $18M
- $50k–250k368 grants · $41M
- $250k+169 grants · $181M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| THE HUNTINGTON FOUNDATION | $21,846,166 |
| THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION | $11,667,513 |
| NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION | $9,737,094 |
| COLUMBUS DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION & CAPITOL SOUTH | $8,420,523 |
| I KNOW I CAN | $4,741,988 |
| LESLEY UNIVERSITY | $4,305,000 |
| KIPP COLUMBUS FOUNDATION | $4,300,000 |
| COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART | $4,234,728 |
| COLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC | $4,008,815 |
| THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN OHIO | $3,811,425 |
| UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL OHIO INC | $3,084,390 |
| ALCOHOL DRUG AND MENTAL HEALTH BOARD OF FRANKLIN COUNTY | $3,000,000 |
| THE PAST FOUNDATION | $2,872,100 |
| COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC | $2,866,284 |
| MID-OHIO FOODBANK DBA MID-OHIO FOOD COLLECTIVE | $2,652,781 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $58.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +38% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.
1582 repeat relationships: 1075 still active in FY2024, 507 since wound down; 71 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $13M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- OSOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION8× · 2017–2024 · $96M · revenue +36%
- THThe Huntington Foundation7× · 2018–2024 · $90M · revenue +156% · 100% of their budget
- IKI KNOW I CAN8× · 2017–2024 · $29M · revenue +26% · 74% of their budget
Funded once
- MUMONMOUTH UNIVERSITY INCone grant, 2023 · $6.0M · revenue +1%
- ALADIRONDACK LAND TRUST INCone grant, 2022 · $2.5M · revenue -23% · 57% of their budget
- UOUNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD IN AMERICA INCgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $1.5M · revenue +514%
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.
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.
Aligning donor passion and generosity to advance the university of toledo through fundraising, stewardship, and prudent asset management to provide scholarship opportunities for students, tier one athletic programs, education events…
The central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is transforming our regional economy, bringing together the ceos of central indiana's largest and most civically engaged employers and university presidents to advance "big picture"…
Georgetown university is one of the world's leading academic and research institutions. established in 1789, georgetown is the nation's oldest catholic and jesuit university.
Oklahoma city university prepares all learners to create, lead and serve.
Uniting communities to alleviate hunger.
To promote economic development, job creation, job retention, job training, workforce development, and the retention of current and recruitment of new business to ohio.
The common application promotes access, equity, and integrity in the college admission process.
To harness the collective expertise of ohio's ceos to advocate for policies that improve ohio's economic competitiveness.
Offer a challenging education that develops the qualities of mind, spirit and body for students.
To encourage, steward & celebrate contributions from alumni & friends to support ucf.
Global cleveland is dedicated to growing northeast ohio's economy by welcoming and connecting international people to opportunities and fostering a more inviting community for those seeking a place to call home.
The democracy collaborative was established in 2000 to advance understanding of democracy for the 21st century and to promote emerging strategies and innovations in community development that enhance democratic life. in particular, our…
How this is measured
1590 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. 1590 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
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
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 OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds The Huntington Foundation ↗
- Who funds POWERHOUSE ARTS INC ↗
- Who funds THE JOURNEY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Greater Horizons ↗
- Who funds FOOD & WATER WATCH ↗
- Who funds I KNOW I CAN ↗
- Who funds GIGI'S SHELTER FOR DOGS ↗
- Who funds COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART ↗
- Who funds COLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
- Who funds SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL OHIO INC ↗
- Who funds Earlham College Inc ↗
- Who funds MYRIAD USA INC ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE ↗
- Who funds THE NEW ALBANY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds PELOTONIA ↗
- Who funds The Huntington-Akron Foundation ↗
- Who funds Mid-Ohio Foodbank ↗
- Who funds COLUMBUS DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
- Who funds LIFECARE ALLIANCE ↗
- Who funds COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds COLUMBUS FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS ↗
- Who funds American Heart Association Inc ↗
- Who funds PAST FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds COLUMBUS ZOOLOGICAL PARK ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
- Who funds LESLEY UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds THE COLUMBUS ACADEMY ↗
- Who funds METRO EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL ↗
- Who funds COMMUNITY SHELTER BOARD ↗
- Who funds Columbus School for Girls ↗
- Who funds HEINZERLING COMMUNITY ↗
- Who funds YOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL OHIO ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Ingram-White Castle Foundation · Harry C Moores Foundation · United Way of Central Ohio Inc · L Brands Foundation · Siemer Family Foundation · Encova Foundation of Ohio · Greater Columbus Arts Council · Cardinal Health Foundation · Margaret and Robert Walter Foundation · Columbus Jewish Foundation · Community Foundations Inc · The Foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Columbus Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Columbus Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
- City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
- Lewis & Clark College: 2% of income from government
- Lesley University: 1% of income from government
- Monmouth University Inc: 0% of income from government
- Williams College: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Columbus’ filings →