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Cordingley Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Cordingley Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$41k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$167kArts & Culture$71kHealth$27kFood & Nutrition$19kYouth Development$18kEnvironment$16kHuman Services$6kRecreation & Sports$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $25k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$524k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Helena Education Foundation$15,000
Grandstreet Theatre$10,000
Univ Of MT School of Journalism$5,500
Big Brothers Big Sisters$5,000
Individual grant recipient$2,000
Univ of MT Davidson Honors College$2,000
Upper 7 Law$1,500
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 14% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Grandstreet Theatre: $13k → 9%Univ Of MT School of Journalism: $6k → 9%Monarch Volunteer Fire Department: $1k → 14%INSEPARABLE INC: $10k → 14%AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION: $3k → 6%Grandstreet Theatre: $10k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA: $3k → 9%Inseparable Inc: $10k → 14%Grandstreet Theatre: $10k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: $3k → 9%GRANDSTREET THEATRE: $7k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: $3k → 9%Helena Food Share: $6k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: $3k → 9%Big Brothers Big Sisters: $5k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA- DAVIDSON HONORS COLLEGE: $3k → 9%Helena Food Share: $5k → 9%Davidson Honors College U of MT: $2k → 9%Grandstreet Theatre: $5k → 9%Montana Public Radio: $2k → 9%Big Brothers Big Sisters: $3k → 9%Davidson Honors College U of MT: $2k → 9%BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $3k → 9%Davidson Honors College U of MT: $2k → 9%Big Brothers Big Sisters: $3k → 9%Univ of MT Davidson Honors College: $2k → 9%GRANDSTREET THEATRE: $3k → 9%Davidson Honors College U of MT: $2k → 9%YMCA: $3k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA- DAVIDSON HONORS COLLEGE: $2k → 9%Grandstreet Theatre: $3k → 9%Montana Public Radio: $2k → 9%PRICKLY PEAR LAND TRUST: $3k → 9%Montana Public Radio: $1k → 9%MT HISTORY FOUNDATION: $3k → 9%Montana Free Press: $3k → 9%Big Brothers Big Sisters: $2k → 9%Big Brothers Big Sisters: $2k → 9%Prickly Pear Land Trust: $2k → 9%YMCA: $2k → 9%Grandstreet Theatre School: $2k → 9%GRANDSTREET THEATRE: $2k → 9%Helena Food Share: $2k → 9%Prickly Pear Land Trust: $2k → 9%GRANDSTREET THEATRE: $2k → 9%Grandstreet Theatre School: $2k → 9%Grandstreet Theatre School: $2k → 9%Grandstreet Theatre School: $1k → 9%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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$308k · 18 repeat orgs$37k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +87% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
22

Total granted

$308k
$28k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+87%
+25%

Still filing today

50%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureHealthEnvironmentFood & NutritionHuman ServicesOther
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

  • HE
    HELENA EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $109k · revenue +103%
  • II
    Inseparable Inc
    2× · 2020–2021 · $20k · revenue +389%
  • HF
    HELENA FOOD SHARE INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $19k · revenue +87%

Funded once

  • SC
    Shodair Childrens Hospital
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
  • MH
    MT HISTORY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $3k
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
Scenic Montana Trails
—
2
Montanas Outdoor Legacy Foundation

To collectively serve as a catalyst for engagement and bonding of people to our wildlife and public lands in montana through a sense of place, education, access, research and stewardship.

Environment
3
The Greater Montana Foundation
Philanthropy
4
Montana Healthcare Foundation
Philanthropy
5
Montana Chamber of Commerce

To create and sustain an optimal business climate, business prosperity and a strong montana economy through advocacy, education and collaboration, working to provide an empowered and educated workforce, reduce business growth obstacles,…

—
6
The Montana Land Reliance

The mission of the montana land reliance (mlr) is to partner with landowners to provide permanent protection for private lands that are significant for agricultural production, fish and wildlife habitat, and open space.

Environment
7
Montana State Parks Foundation

The montana state parks foundation raises private support to enhance the visitors experience and build advocates for montanas state parks and recreation heritage.

Recreation & Sports
8
Montana Policy Action Inc

To promote public policy solutions that provide increased access to economic opportunities, greater individual freedoms and encourage greater participation in public matters by providing research and recommendation on public policy

Social Science
9
Humanities Montana

Humanities Montana serves communities through stories and conversation. We offer experiences that nurture imagination and ideas by speaking to Montanans diverse history, literature, and philosophy.

—
10
The Pulp

The Pulp is dedicated to publishing accurate and relevant news and information that informs and engages the people of Missoula and western Montana. Through our journalism we aim to promote discourse, foster civic engagement and create…

Arts & Culture
11
Montana Hospital Association

Montana hospital association is the principal advocate for the interests of members in their efforts to improve the health status of the communities they serve.

—
12
Montana Contractors Association Inc

Promotion and development of montana's construction industry.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The University of Montana Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association. 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

19 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. 19 of the 43 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
14/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Grandstreet Theatre: $52,100 · OtherGrandstreet TheatreBig Brothers Big Sisters: $17,500 · OtherBig Brothers Big SistersUNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: $9,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MONTANA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISMDavidson Honors College U of MT: $8,500 · OtherDavidson Honors College U of MTIndividual grant recipient: $6,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,750 · OtherGrandstreet Theatre School: $5,750 · OtherUniv Of MT School of Journalism: $5,500 · OtherYMCA: $5,350 · OtherShodair Childrens Hospital: $5,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MONTANA- DAVIDSON HONORS COLLEGE: $5,000 · Other+18 more: $22,900 · Other+18 moreHELENA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $108,500 · EducationHELENA EDUCATION FOUNDATIONTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION: $17,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION+2 more: $1,500 · EducationInseparable Inc: $20,000 · HealthGREAT FALLS CLINIC LEGACY FOUNDATION: $1,000 · HealthHELENA FOOD SHARE INC: $18,750 · Food & NutritionMONTANA CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $8,000 · EnvironmentPRICKLY PEAR LAND TRUST: $7,000 · EnvironmentMONTANA FREE PRESS: $12,000 · Arts & CultureHOLTER MUSEUM OF ART: $1,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MYRNA LOY: $1,000 · Arts & CulturePARIS GIBSON SQUARE INC: $500 · Arts & CultureAmerican Jobs for Americas Youth Montana: $1,000 · Human Services
Other$148,350Education$127,000Health$21,000Food & Nutrition$18,750Environment$15,000Arts & Culture$14,500Human Services$1,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHELENA EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $108,500 over 9y, 6.8% of budgetInseparable Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetHELENA FOOD SHARE INC: $18,750 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION: $17,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMONTANA FREE PRESS: $12,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetMONTANA CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND: $8,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetPRICKLY PEAR LAND TRUST: $7,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetAIRCRAFT OWNERS & PILOTS ASSOCIATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOLTER MUSEUM OF ART: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Jobs for Americas Youth Montana: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGREAT FALLS CLINIC LEGACY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MYRNA LOY: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUPPER SEVEN LAW: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRED ANTS PANTS FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBRIDGERCARE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARIS GIBSON SQUARE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEWIS & CLARK LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLEWIS & CLARK LITERACY COUNCIL: $500 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.

  • Who funds HELENA EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Inseparable Inc ↗
  • Who funds HELENA FOOD SHARE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MONTANA FREE PRESS ↗
  • Who funds MONTANA CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND ↗
  • Who funds PRICKLY PEAR LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds AIRCRAFT OWNERS & PILOTS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds HOLTER MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds American Jobs for Americas Youth Montana ↗
  • Who funds GREAT FALLS CLINIC LEGACY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE MYRNA LOY ↗
  • Who funds KIDS CHANCE OF MONTANA ↗
  • Who funds UPPER SEVEN LAW ↗
  • Who funds RED ANTS PANTS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BRIDGERCARE ↗
  • Who funds PARIS GIBSON SQUARE INC ↗
  • Who funds LEWIS & CLARK LIBRARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LEWIS & CLARK LITERACY COUNCIL ↗

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.

Montana Community Fou…Treacy FoundationFirst Interstate Banc…Dennis & Phyllis Wash…M J Murdock Charitabl…Annie E Casey Foundat…Speyer Family Foundat…The High Stakes Found…Town Pump Charitable …The Arthur M Blank Fa…Mainwaring Family Fou…Helena Area Community…
Montana Community Foundation IncMT27.8× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Montana Community Foundation Inc · Treacy Foundation · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · Annie E Casey Foundation Inc · Speyer Family Foundation · The High Stakes Foundation · Town Pump Charitable Foundation · The Arthur M Blank Family Foundation · Mainwaring Family Foundation · Helena Area Community 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 Cordingley Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cordingley Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 43 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 Cordingley’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