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Cowles Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Cowles Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$750k
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
11
States reached
$120k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2025.

Environment$515kHealth$361kInternational$280kHuman Services$182kFood & Nutrition$126kArts & Culture$109kCommunity Improvement$102kYouth Development$47kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $387k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $353k
$30,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$784k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE SHE COLLEGE FUND$120,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AM$100,000
NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS$73,000
TEWA WOMEN UNITED$60,000
FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENTAL INSTITU$40,000
OPEN DOOR CLINIC$40,000
CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION$40,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTHERN NEW ENG$33,000
ADDISON COUNTY PARENT CHILD CENTER$32,000
FARMINGTON LAND TRUST$30,000
HILL-STEAD MUSEUM$30,000
SOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE$25,000
DREAMING OUTLOUD FOUNDATION$25,000
CO CANAL TRUST$25,000
BLACK FARMER FUND$12,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY22–25, $150k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%TEWA WOMEN UNITED: $60k → 12%TEWA WOMEN UNITED: $30k → 12%TEWA WOMEN UNITED: $30k → 12%TEWA WOMEN UNITED: $30k → 12%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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
NY
MA
OR
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
NM
DC
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 5% of Cowles Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 12% of the giving stays in NM; by stated purpose, 16%.

Cowles Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 18 repeat orgs$157k to everyone else

18 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
2

Total granted

$1.6M
$30k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+137%

Still filing today

78%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $127k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentFood & NutritionHealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesYouth 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

  • TS
    THE SAFE HOUSE EDUCATION FUND
    2× · 2022–2023 · $105k · revenue +87% · 27% of their budget
  • FN
    FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
    3× · 2023–2025 · $67k · revenue +138%
  • FL
    Farmington Land Trust
    3× · 2023–2025 · $63k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • Feeding America
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +17%
  • KP
    KENEY PARK SUSTAINABILITY PROJECTgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +137%
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
Connecticut Farmland Trust Inc

Protect Connecticuts farmland for agricultural use by purchasing and accepting donations of agricultural conservation easements

Food & Nutrition
2
Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire

NOFA-NH actively promotes organic, regenerative, ecologically sound farming, gardening, eating, and land care practices for healthy communities. NOFA-NH helps people build local, just, and sustainable food systems.

Food & Nutrition
3
Organic Farmers Association

The mission of the Organic Farmers Association is to provide a strong and unified national voice for domestic certified organic producers so that organic agriculture will become the basis of a viable United States food and agricultural…

Food & Nutrition
4
Maine Farmland Trust

Maine Farmland Trust protects farmland, supports farmers, and advances the future of farming.

Food & Nutrition
5
Us Farmers and Ranchers Alliance

MISSION: bring all of American agriculture together, with farmers and ranchers at the center, to collectively identify and tackle critical, long-term issues. We collaborate, communicate, educate, advocate and utilize science to advance the…

Community Improvement
6
Food Action

Our mission is to educate, organize and advocate for food and farming systems to become economically prosperous, ecologically sound and socially equitable.

—
7
Global Forest Generation

Global Forest Generation restores and protects forest ecosystems in partnership with grassroots leaders and local communities across vast landscapes which play a critical role in preserving water, protecting biodiversity, storing carbon,…

Environment
8
Food & Water Watch

Food & water watch conducts extensive research and public education to ensure the food and water we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. so we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of…

Food & Nutrition
9
Zero Foodprint

Zero foodprint is mobilizing the food world around agricultural climate solutions. our work aims to create a circular economy that incentivizes practices that actively draw down carbon dioxide and offer our best hope of addressing the…

Food & Nutrition
10
Franklin Land Trust Inc

The franklin land trust works to conserve farms, forests, wildlands, and other natural resources significant to the quality of the environment, economy, and rural character of western massachusetts.

Environment
11
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
12
Us Farming and Ranching Foundation

MISSION: bring all of American agriculture together, with farmers and ranchers at the center, to collectively identify and tackle critical, long-term issues. We collaborate, communicate, educate, advocate and utilize science to advance the…

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Soul Fire Farm Institute Inc; 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.
05the 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 26 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
10/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE SHE COLLEGE FUND: $175,000 · OtherTHE SHE COLLEGE FUNDTHE SAFE HOUSE EDUCATION FUND: $105,000 · OtherTHE SAFE HOUSE EDUCATION FUNDFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $67,000 · OtherFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTEUPPER PECOS WATER SHED: $64,500 · OtherUPPER PECOS WATER SHEDCO CANAL TRUST: $47,000 · OtherCO CANAL TRUSTCT FOODSHARE: $39,000 · OtherCT FOODSHAREPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTHERN NEW ENG: $33,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTHERN NEW ENGADDISON COUNTY PARENT CHILD CENTER: $32,000 · OtherADDISON COUNTY PARENT CHILD CENTER+1 more: $2,000 · OtherNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $176,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION …CONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $115,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION I…Farmington Land Trust: $63,000 · EnvironmentFarmington Land TrustLAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMITTEE INC: $38,000 · EnvironmentLAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMITTEE INC350ORG: $33,000 · Environment350ORG+2 more: $20,000 · EnvironmentPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $288,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FE…Community Health Services of Addison Cty Inc: $40,000 · HealthCommunity Health Serv…TEWA WOMEN UNITED: $150,000 · Human ServicesTEWA WOME…SOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $47,000 · Food & NutritionFeeding America: $25,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD 4 FARMERS INC: $15,000 · Food & NutritionHILL-STEAD MUSEUM: $62,000 · Arts & CultureKENEY PARK SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT: $5,000 · Arts & CultureDREAMING OUT LOUD INC: $47,000 · Youth DevelopmentBLACK FARMER FUND INC: $34,500 · Community Improvement
Other$564,500Environment$445,000Health$328,000Human Services$150,000Food & Nutrition$87,000Arts & Culture$67,000Youth Development$47,000Community Improvement$34,500

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 budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $288,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS INC: $176,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTEWA WOMEN UNITED: $150,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $115,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTHE SAFE HOUSE EDUCATION FUND: $105,000 over 2y, 27% of budgetFIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE: $67,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFarmington Land Trust: $63,000 over 3y, 6.0% of budgetHILL-STEAD MUSEUM: $62,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetDREAMING OUT LOUD INC: $47,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $47,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetLAKE CHAMPLAIN COMMITTEE INC: $38,000 over 4y, 4.5% of budgetBLACK FARMER FUND INC: $34,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budget350ORG: $33,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFeeding America: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD 4 FARMERS INC: $15,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetCONNECTICUT RIVER WATERSHED COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFARMINGTON RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetKENEY PARK SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT: $5,000 over 1y, 2.8% 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.

Hartford Foundation f…The Vermont Community…Network for GoodNational Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Hartford Foundation for Public GivingCT15.3× affinity5 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hartford Foundation for Public Giving · The Vermont Community Foundation · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Cowles Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cowles Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 70%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 40%
  • Farmington River Watershed Association Inc: 69% of income from government
  • Connecticut River Watershed Council Inc: 40% of income from government
  • Keney Park Sustainability Project: 37% of income from government
  • Hill-Stead Museum: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
7get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Cowles Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Cowles Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

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 26 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 Cowles Family’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