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Denison University at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Denison University

Through an emphasis on active learning, DENISON UNIVERSITY engages students in the liberal arts, which fosters self-determination and the transformative power of education.

$92M
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$224k
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.

Public Safety & Disaster$1.1MArts & Culture$233kCommunity Improvement$146kPhilanthropy$131kEducation$85kYouth Development$74kHealth$44kHuman Services$22kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 11 grants below total $394,250, the rows itemized in this filing. The $91,696,389 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $91,302,139 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $103k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $279k
$12,500
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.6B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES$223,500
THE COLUMBUS PARTNERSHIP$55,000
LICKING COUNTY UNITED WAY$25,000
LICKING COUNTY TRANSIT BOARD$20,000
GRANVILLE EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT$15,000
THE WORKS$12,500
NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM$10,000
ONE COLUMBUS$10,000
PBJ CONNECTIONS INC$10,000
COLUMBUS ASSOCIATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS$8,000
GRANVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE$5,250
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 13% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION: $20k → 10%NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM: $10k → 14%DOWNTOWN INDY INC: $10k → 16%GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $224k → 10%OHIOLINA: $10k → 15%GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $216k → 10%THE COLUMBUS PARTNERSHIP: $55k → 15%GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $210k → 10%ONE COLUMBUS: $10k → 15%GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $200k → 10%ONE COLUMBUS: $10k → 15%GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $160k → 10%COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART: $10k → 15%GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $65k → 10%GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT: $42k → 10%GRANVILLE EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 10%GRANVILLE EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL D: $15k → 10%GRANVILLE EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 10%GRANVILLE EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15k → 10%GRANVILLE EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL D: $15k → 10%THE WORKS OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART AND TECHNOLOGY: $15k → 15%GRANVILLE EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT: $10k → 10%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NEWARK: $10k → 15%LICKING COUNTY COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 10%GREAT CIRCLE ALLIANCE: $10k → 15%LICKING LAND TRUST: $10k → 10%HABITAT FOR HUMANITY-MIDOHIO: $10k → 15%GRANVILLE CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $10k → 10%THE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $30k → 15%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NEWARK: $50k → 10%LICKING COUNTY UNITED WAY: $30k → 10%THE WORKS OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART AND TECHNOLOGY: $30k → 10%MIDLAND THEATRE ASSOCIATION INC: $25k → 10%LICKING COUNTY TRANSIT BOARD: $25k → 10%LICKING COUNTY UNITED WAY: $25k → 10%LICKING COUNTY UNITED WAY: $25k → 10%THE WORKS: $21k → 10%THE WORKS OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART AND TECHNOLOGY: $20k → 10%LICKING COUNTY TRANSIT BOARD: $20k → 10%FOOD PANTRY NETWORK OF LICKING COUNTY: $20k → 10%THE CENTER FOR NEW BEGINNINGS: $16k → 10%HOSPICE OF CENTRAL OHIO: $14k → 10%SALVATION ARMY: $14k → 10%BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS: $14k → 10%THE WORKS: $13k → 10%LICKING COUNTY UNITED WAY: $11k → 10%LICKING COUNTY UNITED WAY: $10k → 10%LICKING COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $14k → 10%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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 8 repeat orgs$381k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
19

Total granted

$1.5M
$296k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
+14%

Still filing today

63%
68%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $85k 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 & CultureCommunity ImprovementYouth DevelopmentFood & NutritionPhilanthropyHealthOther
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

  • TW
    THE WORKS - OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART & TECHNOLOGY
    5× · 2020–2025 · $94k · revenue +78%
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF COLUMBUS INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $75k · revenue +9%
  • CA
    COLUMBUS ASSOCIATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
    6× · 2020–2025 · $49k · revenue +107%

Funded once

  • GT
    GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT
    one grant, 2020 · $42k
  • BB
    BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF LICKING & PERRY COUNTIES INC
    one grant, 2021 · $28k · revenue +20%
  • NM
    NEWARK MIDLAND THEATRE ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue +14%
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
Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce

Advancing a thriving central ohio commmunity by serving as a catalyst for all businesses to grow and flourish. our mission pillars are connections, government relations, strategic business solutions and talent/workforce.

—
2
Columbus Zoological Park Association

Empowering people. saving wildlife.

Animals
3
Columbus Compact Corporation

Columbus compact is a catalyst for positive development of central city columbus' neighborhoods and business districts.

Community Improvement
4
Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce

Various programs promoting business and economic well being of the community.

—
5
Leadership Columbus

The mission of leadership columbus is to develop, connect and inspire leaders who serve as catalysts in building a strong and vibrant community.

Public Benefit
6
Cincinnati Usa Regional Chamber

To grow the vibrancy and economic prosperity of the cincinnati region.

—
7
Columbus Area Arts Council Inc

To enhance the quality of life in the community by stimulating community interest in art, fostering creation and inquiry throughout columbus, and leading a vibrant arts culture tied to our unique history.

Arts & Culture
8
Columbus Learning Center Management Corp D/B/a Community Education Coalition

The community education coalition (cec) is a partnership of education, business, and community stakeholders focused on aligning and integrating our community learning system, economic development, and quality of life.

Education
9
Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce

The purpose of the greater columbus chamber of commerce is to promote and develop civic, educational, commercial and industrial interests in columbus, georgia and certain surrounding areas.

—
10
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission

The mission of the greater cleveland sports commission is to measurably improve the economy of greater cleveland and enrich the community by attracting, creating, managing and enhancing significant sporting and competitive events.

Unclassified
11
Cincinnati Usa Regional Chamber Foundation

To develop and promote economic development, talent initiatives and the unique offerings in the cincinnati region.

Community Improvement
12
Columbus Early Learning Centers

Columbus early learning centers (celc) has over 130 years of history providing high quality, affordable early learning and childcare in central ohio. this rich history places celc amongst the oldest early childcare programs in the country.…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Columbus Partnership; the most unlike its peers is Great Circle Alliance. 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

24 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. 24 of the 32 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/24
Grantees still filing
15/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $1,074,500 · OtherGRANVILLE TOWNSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEESGRANVILLE EXEMPTED SCHOOLS: $85,250 · OtherGRANVILLE EXEMPTED SCHOOLS+13 more: $241,302 · Other+13 moreTHE WORKS - OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART & TECHNOLOGY: $93,700 · Arts & CultureTHE WORKS -…COLUMBUS ASSOCIATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $49,000 · Arts & CultureCOLUMBUS AS…NEWARK MIDLAND THEATRE ASSOCIATION: $25,000 · Arts & CultureNEWARK MIDL…NATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM: $10,000 · Arts & CultureCOLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART: $10,000 · Arts & CultureGREAT CIRCLE ALLIANCE: $10,000 · Arts & CultureUNITED WAY OF LICKING COUNTY INC: $101,000 · PhilanthropyCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $30,000 · PhilanthropyTHE COLUMBUS PARTNERSHIP: $55,000 · Community ImprovementONE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Community ImprovementIndianapolis Downtown Inc: $10,000 · Community ImprovementONE COLUMBUS: $10,000 · Community ImprovementGROW LICKING COUNTY: $5,200 · Community ImprovementBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF COLUMBUS INC: $75,000 · Youth DevelopmentPBJ CONNECTIONS JEDLICKA: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE FOOD PANTRY NETWORK OF LICKING COUNTY: $20,000 · Food & NutritionTHE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION: $20,000 · Health
Other$1,401,052Arts & Culture$197,700Philanthropy$131,000Community Improvement$90,200Youth Development$85,000Food & Nutrition$20,000Health$20,000

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 budgetUNITED WAY OF LICKING COUNTY INC: $101,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetTHE WORKS - OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART & TECHNOLOGY: $93,700 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF COLUMBUS INC: $75,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetCOLUMBUS ASSOCIATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $49,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF LICKING & PERRY COUNTIES INC: $28,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetNEWARK MIDLAND THEATRE ASSOCIATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHE FOOD PANTRY NETWORK OF LICKING COUNTY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetLICKING COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $14,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetGRANVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $10,700 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetONE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNATIONAL WOMEN'S HISTORY MUSEUM: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetIndianapolis Downtown Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPBJ CONNECTIONS JEDLICKA: $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetLICKING LAND TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetLICKING COUNTY COMMUNITY CENTER FOR 60 ADULTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY - MIDOHIO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREAT CIRCLE ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetGROW LICKING COUNTY: $5,200 over 1y, 1.1% 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.

Licking County Founda…Licking Memorial Heal…First Federal Foundat…The Lindorf Family Fo…Park National Corpora…The Patricia R and He…The Englefield Founda…Energy Cooperative Ro…Columbus FoundationThe Lefevre FoundationThe O'Neill FoundationAmerican Electric Pow…
Licking County Foundation IncOH34.6× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Licking County Foundation Inc · Licking Memorial Health Foundation · First Federal Foundation · The Lindorf Family Foundation · Park National Corporation Foundation · The Patricia R and Herbert J Murphy Foundation · The Englefield Foundation · Energy Cooperative Roundup Foundation Inc · Columbus Foundation · The Lefevre Foundation · The O'Neill Foundation · American Electric Power 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 Denison University funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Denison University. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 32 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 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 Denison University’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