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Commonwealth Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Commonwealth Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$553k
Granted FY2025still arriving
17
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$75k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$731kEducation$689kAnimals$330kCommunity Improvement$150kHealth$140kHousing & Shelter$100kCrime & Legal$95kPublic Safety & Disaster$75kOther$0
02FY2025 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $170k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $375k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA$75,000
THE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST$75,000
OKLAHOMA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION AUTHORITY$75,000
GREEN COUNTRY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$50,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS$50,000
GEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON AVIAN RESEARCH CENTER$50,000
TULSA OPERA INC$25,000
TULSA LAWYERS FOR CHILDREN INC$25,000
TULSA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC$20,000
VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA OKLAHOMA$20,000
TULSA BALLET$20,000
MUSEUM OF TULSA HISTORY$20,000
OKLAHOMA POLICY INSTITUTE$10,000
THE PENCIL BOX$10,000
HOSPICE OF GREEN COUNTRY$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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%THE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST: $75k → 14%FOUNDATION FOR TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $250k → 15%OKLAHOMA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION AUTHORITY: $75k → 16%PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS: $50k → 5%BAKER UNIVERSITY: $25k → 15%THE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST: $50k → 14%TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM: $28k → 15%PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS: $50k → 5%BAKER UNIVERSITY: $25k → 15%THE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST: $50k → 14%MUSEUM OF TULSA HISTORY: $20k → 15%PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS: $10k → 5%THE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST: $50k → 14%TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM: $20k → 15%PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS: $10k → 5%TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM: $20k → 15%TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM: $16k → 15%TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM: $10k → 15%TULSA BALLET: $20k → 15%TULSA BALLET: $20k → 15%TULSA BALLET: $20k → 15%TULSA ZOO MANAGEMENT INC: $75k → 15%THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA: $75k → 15%THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA: $70k → 15%AHHA TULSA: $60k → 15%THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA: $60k → 15%TULSA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $20k → 15%THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA: $40k → 15%TULSA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $20k → 15%CIRCLE CINEMA FOUNDATION INC: $30k → 15%TULSA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $20k → 15%THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA: $30k → 15%THE FRONTIER: $10k → 15%THE PENCIL BOX: $10k → 15%TULSA OPERA INC: $25k → 15%TULSA OPERA: $25k → 15%TULSA FOUNDATION FOR ARCHITECTURE: $20k → 15%TULSA FOUNDATION FOR ARCHITECTURE: $20k → 15%TULSA OPERA: $20k → 15%GREEN COUNTRY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $50k → 15%TULSA OPERA: $10k → 15%GREEN COUNTRY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $50k → 15%TULSA OPERA: $10k → 15%VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA OKLAHOMA: $20k → 15%VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA OKLAHOMA: $20k → 15%VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA OKLAHOMA: $20k → 15%SAN MIGUEL MIDDLE SCHOOL: $50k → 15%OKLAHOMA POLICY INSTITUTE: $15k → 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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 22 repeat orgs$598k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +11% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
8

Total granted

$1.9M
$495k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
0%

Still filing today

77%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 81% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $103k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationAnimalsHealthCivil RightsCommunity 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

  • The University of Tulsa
    6× · 2020–2025 · $280k · revenue +16%
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS
    4× · 2020–2025 · $120k · revenue +119%
  • TULSA OPERA INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $95k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • The Foundation for Tulsa Schools
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue -70%
  • TZ
    TULSA ZOO MANAGEMENT INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $75k · revenue +53%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $60k
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
Tulsa Legacy Charter School

To prepare students for college through a rigorous arts infused program.

Education
2
Tulsa Children's Museum Inc

To inspire children, connect families, and build community through exploration, exhibits, programming, and play.

Arts & Culture
3
Tulsa Regional Chamber (Fka Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce)

The tulsa regional chamber transforms the tulsa region by attracting and retaining employers, talent and tourism for long-term prosperity.

—
4
Tulsa Honor Academy Inc

The operation of a public charter school in the tulsa area with the mission to equip all scholars with the academic skills, content knowledge, and ethical character required for college graduation and life success.

Education
5
Tulsa Advocates for the Protection of Children

To improve the lives of children and youth in oklahoma's child welfare system by providing resources and building community.

Crime & Legal
6
Tulsa Spca

The Tulsa SPCA's mission is to improve the lives of dogs and cats, and their human companions.

Animals
7
Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust

Tulsa performing arts center trust provides opportunities to experience diversity through the arts.

—
8
Tulsa Area United Way

The tulsa area united way unites people and resources to improve lives and strengthen our communities.

—
9
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs Inc

To promote the flourishing of the people of oklahoma by advancing principles and policies that support free enterprise, limited government, personal responsibility, and individual initiative.

Public Safety & Disaster
10
Oklahoma Educational Memorial Trust Fdn

Providing, maintaining and issuing scholarships to eligible nominees or applicants for admission to college or for contributions to regularly maintained scholarship funds of other federal tax exempt colleges and universities with an…

Education
11
Tulsa School of Arts and Sciences

The mission of tsas middle and high school is to provide students a multi-strand liberal arts education in a safe, supportive, individualized and challenging school environment through a college preparatory curriculum.

Education
12
Goodwill Industries of Tulsa Inc

Goodwill empowers people to reach their full potential through work opportunities, training, and support services.

Employment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The University of Tulsa; the most unlike its peers is Phoenix Rising Alternative School Fdn. 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

23 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. 23 of the 34 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/23
Grantees still filing
14/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ROUTE 66 ALLIANCE INC: $150,000 · OtherROUTE 66 ALLIANCE INCGREEN COUNTRY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: $100,000 · OtherGREEN COUNTRY HABITAT FOR HUMANI…TULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM: $93,500 · OtherTULSA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUS…VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA OKLAHOMA: $75,000 · OtherVOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA OKLAHOMAOKLAHOMA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION AUTHORITY: $75,000 · OtherOKLAHOMA EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION …Individual grant recipient: $60,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSAN MIGUEL MIDDLE SCHOOL: $50,000 · OtherSAN MIGUEL MIDDLE SCHOOL+8 more: $104,000 · Other+8 moreThe University of Tulsa: $280,000 · EducationThe University of TulsaThe Foundation for Tulsa Schools: $250,000 · EducationThe Foundation for Tulsa Sch…BAKER UNIVERSITY: $50,000 · EducationBAKER UNIVERSITYThe Pencil Box Inc: $24,000 · Education+1 more: $15,000 · EducationTHE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST: $225,000 · Arts & CultureTHE GILCREASE MUSEUM M…TULSA OPERA INC: $95,000 · Arts & CultureTULSA OPERA INCTULSA BALLET THEATRE INC: $70,000 · Arts & CultureTULSA BALLET THEATRE I…Tulsa Symphony Orchestra Inc: $70,000 · Arts & CultureTulsa Symphony Orchest…CIRCLE CINEMA FOUNDATION: $30,000 · Arts & CultureCIRCLE CINEMA FOUNDATI…+1 more: $7,500 · Arts & CultureGEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON AVIAN RESEARCH CENTER INC: $225,000 · AnimalsGEORGE MIKSCH S…TULSA ZOO MANAGEMENT INC: $75,000 · AnimalsTULSA ZOO MANAG…OKLAHOMA WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $30,000 · AnimalsOKLAHOMA WILDLI…PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS: $120,000 · HealthHONOR BUNKER INC: $30,000 · HealthTulsa Lawyers for Children Inc: $95,000 · Civil RightsOKLAHOMA POLICY INC: $45,000 · Civil RightsTulsa Foundation for Architecture: $45,000 · Public Benefit
Other$707,500Education$619,000Arts & Culture$497,500Animals$330,000Health$150,000Civil Rights$140,000Public Benefit$45,000

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 budgetThe University of Tulsa: $280,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Foundation for Tulsa Schools: $250,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetGEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON AVIAN RESEARCH CENTER INC: $225,000 over 6y, 6.5% of budgetTHE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST: $225,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS: $120,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTULSA OPERA INC: $95,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetTulsa Lawyers for Children Inc: $95,000 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetTULSA ZOO MANAGEMENT INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTULSA BALLET THEATRE INC: $70,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTulsa Symphony Orchestra Inc: $70,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBAKER UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOKLAHOMA POLICY INC: $45,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetTulsa Foundation for Architecture: $45,000 over 3y, 5.1% of budgetOKLAHOMA WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetHONOR BUNKER INC: $30,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetCIRCLE CINEMA FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetThe Pencil Box Inc: $24,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetHOSPICE OF GREEN COUNTRY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPhoenix Rising Alternative School Fdn: $20,000 over 2y, 39% of budgetSTREET SCHOOL INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTULSA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION RESOURCES: $4,000 over 3y, 0.7% 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 The University of Tulsa ↗
  • Who funds The Foundation for Tulsa Schools ↗
  • Who funds GEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON AVIAN RESEARCH CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE GILCREASE MUSEUM MANAGEMENT TRUST ↗
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD GREAT PLAINS ↗
  • Who funds TULSA OPERA INC ↗
  • Who funds Tulsa Lawyers for Children Inc ↗
  • Who funds TULSA ZOO MANAGEMENT INC ↗
  • Who funds TULSA BALLET THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds Tulsa Symphony Orchestra Inc ↗
  • Who funds BAKER UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds OKLAHOMA POLICY INC ↗
  • Who funds Tulsa Foundation for Architecture ↗
  • Who funds OKLAHOMA WILDLIFE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HONOR BUNKER INC ↗
  • Who funds CIRCLE CINEMA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds The Pencil Box Inc ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE OF GREEN COUNTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds Phoenix Rising Alternative School Fdn ↗
  • Who funds STREET SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds TULSA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRONTIER MEDIA GROUP ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY ACTION RESOURCES ↗

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.

The Anne and Henry Za…Tulsa Community Found…The Gelvin FoundationThe Sharna and Irvin …The Hardesty Family F…George Kaiser Family …Flint Family Foundati…Mervin Bovaird Founda…Ralph and Frances McG…Charles and Lynn Schu…Stuart Family Foundat…Grace & Franklin Bern…
The Anne and Henry Zarrow FoundationOK38.4× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation · Tulsa Community Foundation · The Gelvin Foundation · The Sharna and Irvin Frank Foundation · The Hardesty Family Foundation Inc · George Kaiser Family Foundation · Flint Family Foundation · Mervin Bovaird Foundation · Ralph and Frances McGill Foundation the Trust Company of Oklahoma · Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation · Stuart Family Foundation · Grace & Franklin Bernsen 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 Commonwealth Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Commonwealth Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 110%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center Inc: 68% of income from government
  • Tulsa Community Foundation: 11% of income from government
  • The University of Tulsa: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
11get no government money at all
8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 34 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Commonwealth’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