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Cowin Special Account at a glance

· Private foundation

Cowin Special Account

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$66k
Granted FY2025still arriving
14
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$40k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$244kEducation$57kCivil Rights$28kEnvironment$21kArts & Culture$8kHousing & Shelter$5kCommunity Improvement$2kYouth Development$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k12 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
$1,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MITCHELLS PLACE$40,000
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH$10,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY IN AL$5,000
TUM TUM TREE FOUNDATION$5,000
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$1,500
REED FOUNDATION$1,000
WISE4AL$1,000
UNLESS U$1,000
Individual grant recipient$500
BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART$400
MAGIC MOMENTS$300
JIMMY HALE MISSION$250
BIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S THEATRE$250
ALABAMA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$250
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $9k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%KINGS HOME: $100 → 7%UNLESS U: $3k → 16%UNLESS U: $1k → 16%UNLESS U: $500 → 16%FIRST LIGHT: $3k → 16%FIRST LIGHT: $2k → 16%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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$332k · 17 repeat orgs$36k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
16

Total granted

$332k
$33k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+25%

Still filing today

76%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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
HealthEducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • MP
    MITCHELL'S PLACE INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $200k · revenue +48%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH
    3× · 2023–2025 · $30k · revenue +40%
  • TA
    THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND
    4× · 2021–2024 · $20k · revenue +25%

Funded once

  • NC
    NATURE CONSERVANCY OF AL
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
  • UD
    UAB- DIABETES RESEARCH FUND
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • AH
    American Heart Association Incgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +25%
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 Arc of Tuscaloosa

The mission of the Arc of Tuscaloosa County is to provide activities to persons residing in Tuscaloosa County who have developmental or intellectual disabilities, which enable the individual to maintain previously acquired skills/behaviors…

Human Services
2
Two Roads Autism Center Inc

To support individuals with autism and their caregivers through scientifically and socially validated practices based on the principles of applied behavior analysis. our goal is to create a community of comprehensive resources that…

Health
3
Alabama Partnership for Children

To work in partnership with families and organizations to ensure that all alabama children (birth to five) get everything they need to develop to their fullest potential.

Education
4
The Children's Hospital of Alabama

The mission of Children's of Alabama is to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education. Children's will be an advocate for all children and work…

Health
5
Voices for Alabama's Children

Our mission is to speak for the well-being of Alabama's children through research, public awareness, and advocacy.

Arts & Culture
6
The Arc of Central Alabama Inc

Serving people with intellectual and/or other developmental disabilities and their families.

—
7
Autism Support of Alabama Inc

To improve services for persons with autism spectrum disorders and their families through education and advocacy.

Health
8
Glenwood Inc

To maintain and operate a combined treatment and educational institution for the purpose of treating, educating and housing children, adolescents and adults who are emotionally disturbed, mentally ill and those diagnosed with autism in…

—
9
Autism Services Inc

To provide cost-effective residential, social, intellectual, physical and vocational services to individuals with autism in group homes and in home support.

—
10
Nami Alabama Inc

Encourage and enhance advocacy and family support services on behalf of individuals suffering from mental illness.

Health
11
Cares Center Inc

To improve the lives of children and families by providing a continuum of compassionate, measurable, and effective behavioral health, education, and social services.

Education
12
Wings Across Alabama

To educate, empower, and improve services for mental health consumers in the state of alabama.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs; the most unlike its peers is Feeding America. 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

22 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. 22 of the 38 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
18/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MITCHELL'S PLACE INC: $200,000 · HealthMITCHELL'S PLACE INCTUM TUM TREE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · HealthTUM TUM TREE FOUNDATION+7 more: $14,300 · Health+7 moreACLU OF ALABAMA: $27,500 · OtherACLU OF ALABAMANATURE CONSERVANCY IN AL: $10,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCY I…NATURE CONSERVANCY OF AL: $10,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCY O…UAB- DIABETES RESEARCH FUND: $5,000 · OtherUAB- DIABETES RESEAR…UAB O'NEAL CANCER CTR: $5,000 · OtherUAB O'NEAL CANCER CT…+13 more: $9,150 · Other+13 moreUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $30,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF TH…THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $20,000 · EducationTHE ADMINISTRATO…PRESCHOOL PARTNERS: $4,500 · EducationPRESCHOOL PARTNE…FIRST LIGHT INC: $4,500 · Human ServicesUNLESS U INC: $4,000 · Human Services+1 more: $100 · Human ServicesSTUDIO BY THE TRACKS INC: $6,500 · Arts & CultureBIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S THEATRE INC: $250 · Arts & CultureSPACE ONE ELEVEN INC: $250 · Arts & CulturePARKINSON ASSOCIATION OF ALABAMA INC: $750 · PhilanthropyTHE GREATER BIRMINGHAM HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $200 · Animals
Health$229,300Other$66,650Education$54,500Human Services$8,600Arts & Culture$7,000Philanthropy$750Animals$200

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 budgetMITCHELL'S PLACE INC: $200,000 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTUM TUM TREE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSTUDIO BY THE TRACKS INC: $6,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST LIGHT INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPRESCHOOL PARTNERS: $4,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetUNLESS U INC: $4,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE RED BARN: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetREED FOUNDATION FOR AUTISM INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMAGIC MOMENTS: $1,300 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BELL CENTER FOR EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAMS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMILE-A-MILE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPARKINSON ASSOCIATION OF ALABAMA INC: $750 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S THEATRE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPACE ONE ELEVEN INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GREATER BIRMINGHAM HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBridgeways Inc: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKings Home Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

The Community Foundat…The Daniel Foundation…Alabama Power Foundat…Susan Mott Webb Chari…Hill Crest Foundation…Protective Life Found…The Joseph S Bruno Ch…Robert R Meyer Founda…The Hackney FoundationDebardeleben Foundati…Altecstyslinger Found…Junior League of Birm…
The Community Foundation of Greater BirminghamAL35.8× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · Hill Crest Foundation Inc · Protective Life Foundation · The Joseph S Bruno Charitable Foundation · Robert R Meyer Foundation · The Hackney Foundation · Debardeleben Foundation Inc · Altecstyslinger Foundation · Junior League of Birmingham Inc

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 Cowin Special Account funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cowin Special Account. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    9report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 38 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 Cowin Special Account’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