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· Private foundation

Deer Creek Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
15
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
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 2024.

Environment$5.0MCrime & Legal$3.7MCivil Rights$1.5MPublic Benefit$1.4MInternational$280kEducation$100kCommunity Improvement$6kPhilanthropy$3k
02FY2024 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $2k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.0M
$100,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$41M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ARCH CITY DEFENDERS$1,000,000
EARTHJUSTICE$200,000
CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER$200,000
THE JOHN MUIR PROJECT OF THE EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE$180,000
TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC$155,000
CRAG LAW CENTER$115,000
BEYOND NUCLEAR$110,000
ST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION$100,000
AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE$100,000
CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM$75,000
COMMITTEE TO BRIDGE THE GAP$60,000
VERIFIED VOTING FOUNDATION$50,000
FREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP$45,000
NORTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE CENTER$30,000
Individual grant recipient$2,000
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 71% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%VERIFIED VOTING FOUNDATION: $135k → 10%THE JOHN MUIR PROJECT OF THE EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: $180k → 14%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $225k → 17%AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $200k → 14%ST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $100k → 21%CRAG LAW CENTER: $115k → 12%TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC: $155k → 23%BEYOND NUCLEAR: $110k → 8%VERIFIED VOTING FOUNDATION: $115k → 10%THE JOHN MUIR PROJECT OF THE EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: $120k → 14%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $225k → 17%AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $175k → 14%ARCH CITY DEFENDERS: $1.0M → 21%CRAG LAW CENTER: $100k → 12%TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC: $145k → 23%THE JOHN MUIR PROJECT OF THE EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: $120k → 14%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $200k → 17%AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $125k → 14%ARCH CITY DEFENDERS: $325k → 21%CRAG LAW CENTER: $100k → 12%THE JOHN MUIR PROJECT OF THE EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: $120k → 14%NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: $170k → 17%AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $100k → 14%ARCH CITY DEFENDERS: $315k → 21%CRAG LAW CENTER: $85k → 12%CIVIL RIGHTS CORPS: $150k → 14%ARCH CITY DEFENDERS: $300k → 21%CRAG LAW CENTER: $80k → 12%EARTHJUSTICE: $375k → 10%AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $100k → 14%ARCH CITY DEFENDERS: $250k → 21%EARTHJUSTICE: $350k → 10%CIVIL RIGHTS CORPS: $150k → 14%EARTHJUSTICE: $200k → 10%EARTHJUSTICE: $200k → 10%CIVIL RIGHTS CORPS: $150k → 14%EARTHJUSTICE: $175k → 10%EARTHJUSTICE: $100k → 10%CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: $225k → 14%EARTHJUSTICE: $100k → 10%CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: $225k → 14%CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: $225k → 14%CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: $200k → 14%CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: $200k → 14%PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $185k → 14%CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM: $150k → 14%CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM: $150k → 14%CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM: $100k → 14%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

NY
OR
PA
CA
MO
MD
NM
DC
LA
TX
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 6% of Deer Creek Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Deer Creek Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 6.2% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 23 repeat orgs$257k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against +7% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
3

Total granted

$12M
$157k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+7%

Still filing today

78%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentCrime & LegalCivil RightsPhilanthropyScience & TechInternationalOther
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

  • AD
    ARCHCITY DEFENDERS
    5× · 2020–2024 · $2.2M · revenue +58%
  • EARTHJUSTICE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +16%
  • CA
    CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +1%

Funded once

  • GA
    Government Accountability Project
    one grant, 2020 · $80k · revenue +15%
  • LS
    LONE STAR LEGAL AID
    one grant, 2023 · $75k · revenue +7%
  • CANDID
    one grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue -4%
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
Civil Liberties Defense Center

CIVIL LIBERTIES DEFENSE CENTER (CLDC) educates the general public about their rights and privileges under the US Constitution and provides free legal support to climate and social justice activists.

Civil Rights
2
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
3
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

The national caucus of environmental legislators empowers a nonpartisan network of legislative champions to protect, conserve, and improve the natural and human environment.

Education
4
Environmental Law and Policy Center of the Midwest

The environmental law & policy center (elpc) is the midwest's leading public interest environmental legal advocacy and ecobusiness innovation organization, and among the nation's leaders. we develop and lead successful strategic…

Environment
5
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
6
National Environmental Policy and Law Center Inc

Public interest research and litigation in the general area of environmental protection.

Environment
7
Conservation Law Foundation Inc

Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. we use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources,…

Environment
8
Federation for American Immigration Reform

The federation for american immigration reform's (fair) mission is to educate the public about the economic, sociological, environmental, demographic and other effects of mass immigration to the united states.

International
9
Legal Advocates for Safe Science and Technology Inc

Using legal advocacy to make advances in science and technology safer for people and the planet.

Science & Tech
10
Advocates for Climate Innovation
Philanthropy
11
National Association of Clean Water Agencies

Nacwa is the national voice of public clean water utilities, shaping water policy, convening a vibrant peer network, and empowering water leaders.

—
12
Third Way

To research and develop centrist policy ideas.

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Americans United for Separation of Church and State; the most unlike its peers is Committee to Bridge the Gap. 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

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 27 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
17/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EARTHJUSTICE: $1,500,000 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICENATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $820,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL IN…CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM INC: $700,000 · EnvironmentCENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM INCCRAG LAW CENTER: $480,000 · EnvironmentCRAG LAW CENTERPUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY INC: $230,000 · EnvironmentPUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL R…CASCADIA WILDLANDS: $160,000 · EnvironmentARCHCITY DEFENDERS: $2,190,000 · Crime & LegalARCHCITY DEFENDERSCONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: $1,075,000 · Crime & LegalCONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENT…PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $315,000 · Crime & LegalPUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION+1 more: $75,000 · Crime & LegalTHE JOHN MUIR PROJECT OF THE EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: $640,000 · OtherTHE JOHN MUIR PROJE…Verified Voting Foundation: $495,000 · OtherVerified Voting Fou…TULANE ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CLINIC: $370,000 · OtherTULANE ENVIRONMENTA…WILDEARTH GUARDIANS: $200,000 · OtherWILDEARTH GUARDIANSIndividual grant recipient: $175,000 · OtherIndividual grant re…FREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INC: $85,000 · Other+3 more: $66,652 · OtherAMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $825,000 · Civil RightsAMERICANS UNIT…CIVIL RIGHTS CORPS: $450,000 · Civil RightsCIVIL RIGHTS C…ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: $265,000 · Civil RightsELECTRONIC PRI…BEYOND NUCLEAR: $365,000 · Science & TechCommittee to Bridge the Gap: $280,000 · InternationalST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $2,000 · PhilanthropyGovernment Accountability Project: $80,000 · Public Benefit
Environment$3,890,000Crime & Legal$3,655,000Other$2,031,652Civil Rights$1,540,000Science & Tech$365,000International$280,000Philanthropy$102,000Public Benefit$80,000

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 budgetARCHCITY DEFENDERS: $2,190,000 over 5y, 15% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $1,500,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER: $1,075,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetAMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE: $825,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $820,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM INC: $700,000 over 5y, 29% of budgetVerified Voting Foundation: $495,000 over 5y, 12% of budgetCRAG LAW CENTER: $480,000 over 5y, 9.2% of budgetCIVIL RIGHTS CORPS: $450,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetBEYOND NUCLEAR: $365,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetPUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION: $315,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetCommittee to Bridge the Gap: $280,000 over 5y, 35% of budgetELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: $265,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetPUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY INC: $230,000 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetWILDEARTH GUARDIANS: $200,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetCASCADIA WILDLANDS: $160,000 over 4y, 3.8% of budgetST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetFREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INC: $85,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetGovernment Accountability Project: $80,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetLONE STAR LEGAL AID: $75,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNORTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE CENTER: $60,000 over 2y, 19% of budgetCANDID: $2,000 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.

  • Who funds ARCHCITY DEFENDERS ↗
  • Who funds EARTHJUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds CONSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds AMERICANS UNITED FOR SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR PROGRESSIVE REFORM INC ↗
  • Who funds Verified Voting Foundation ↗
  • Who funds CRAG LAW CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CIVIL RIGHTS CORPS ↗
  • Who funds BEYOND NUCLEAR ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Committee to Bridge the Gap ↗
  • Who funds ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC EMPLOYEES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY INC ↗
  • Who funds WILDEARTH GUARDIANS ↗
  • Who funds CASCADIA WILDLANDS ↗
  • Who funds ST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FREE AND FAIR LITIGATION GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds Government Accountability Project ↗
  • Who funds LONE STAR LEGAL AID ↗
  • Who funds NORTHWEST ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds CANDID ↗

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 Schmidt Family FoundationCA17.4× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Schmidt Family Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Tides Foundation · New Venture Fund · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Equal Justice Works · The Nathan Cummings Foundation Inc · Wellspring Philanthropic Fund Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Jewish Communal Fund · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 Deer Creek Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Deer Creek Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    5get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 Deer Creek Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Deer Creek 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 27 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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