Skip to content
Donald M James Family Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Donald M James 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.

$1.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
37
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$881k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$3.6MEducation$2.0MHealth$953kReligion$543kSocial Science$520kRecreation & Sports$202kArts & Culture$184kCommunity Improvement$86kOther$0
02FY2025 · 37 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k24 grants · $63k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $152k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $305k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.3M
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JGJ Gene Research$881,000
Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham$446,000
Mountain Brook Schools Foundation$105,000
Independent Presbyterian Church$100,100
Rand Corp$100,000
United Way of Central Alabama$40,000
Birmingham Museum of Art$25,300
University of Virginia$25,000
United Way of Escambia County$20,000
Birmingham Zoo$12,176
Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
Kirkwood by the River$10,000
University of Alabama$9,000
STAIR of Birmingham$5,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $24k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 86% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE EPISCOPAL OF DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM: $1k → 9%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE EPISCOPAL OF DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM: $1k → 9%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE EPISCOPAL OF DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM: $1k → 9%AMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE EPISCOPAL OF DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM: $500 → 9%M-Power Ministries: $1k → 16%Lovelady Center: $2k → 16%Lovelady Center: $2k → 16%Lovelady Center: $2k → 16%Lovelady Center: $750 → 16%Collat Jewish Family Services: $1k → 16%Collat Jewish Family Services: $1k → 16%Grace House Ministries: $2k → 16%Grace House Ministries: $2k → 16%YWCA Central Alabama: $1k → 16%First Light: $1k → 16%First Light: $1k → 16%First Light: $1k → 16%First Light: $1k → 16%YWCA Central Alabama: $1k → 16%YWCA Central Alabama: $1k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
CT
CA
KY
VA
DC
AL
GA
FL
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.3M · 49 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

49 repeat relationships: 35 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

49
14

Total granted

$7.3M
$352k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
0%

Still filing today

55%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 52% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $881k 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
Human ServicesEducationPhilanthropyHealthArts & CulturePublic BenefitOther
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

  • The Rand Corporation
    9× · 2017–2025 · $520k · revenue +34%
  • UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $275k · revenue +74%
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF WEST FLORIDA INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $195k · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • CT
    CRIMSON TIDE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $200k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $89k
  • IP
    INDEPRENDENT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
    one grant, 2018 · $27k
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
Uab Educational Foundation

To support the university of alabama at birmingham in its scientific and educational mission, including managing and disbursing funds, acquiring real property, and providing operational flexibility.

Education
2
Alabama Bankers Association Inc

To promote the preservation and continued development of commercial banking in alabama.

—
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 University Foundation

The university foundation is organized to assist and aid the board of trustees of the university of alabama in fulfilling its educational, research, and public service programs and activities.

—
5
University of Southern Mississippi Foundation

To build relationships with alumni and friends in order to secure private funds and other resources for the benefit of the university of southern mississippi (usm). the foundation receives, invests and distributes private gifts in support…

Education
6
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
7
Birmingham Corps

Birmingham corps' mission is to drive fair workforce opportunities and accelerate social change by recruiting, training, and retaining people in birmingham.

Employment
8
The Alabama Center for Law and Civic Education

The mission of ACLCE is to prepare youth to become active, engaged, and informed participants in a democratic society.

—
9
Alabama Alliance Network

The alabama alliance netowrk works to strengthen and enhance alabama's civic society through research, education, and grantmaking

Public Benefit
10
Birmingham Association of Realtors Inc

To promote the value of using a realtor and to enhance our members' opportunities to serve customers in a professional, ethical and profitable manner within an environment that fosters cooperation among the membership.

Community Improvement
11
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
12
A Best Practices Center

The alabama best practices center helps teachers and administrators develop the competence, commitment and courage to do whatever it takes to improve student learning.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Leadership Birmingham Inc; the most unlike its peers is Jgj Gene Research Inc. 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

34 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. 34 of the 65 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/34
Grantees still filing
21/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA: $1,711,400 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMAThe Community Fund of Greater Bham: $1,703,000 · OtherThe Community Fund of Greater BhamCommunity Foundation of Greater Birmingham: $1,466,000 · OtherCommunity Foundation of Greater BirminghamIndependent Presbyterian Church: $402,060 · OtherIndependent Presbyterian Church+43 more: $1,078,125 · Other+43 moreJGJ GENE RESEARCH INC: $881,000 · HealthJGJ GENE RES…The Children's Hospital of Alabama: $55,000 · HealthThe Children…+1 more: $8,000 · HealthThe Rand Corporation: $520,000 · Public Benefit+1 more: $5,000 · Public BenefitUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC: $275,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF WEST FLORIDA INC: $195,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $500 · PhilanthropySTAIR OF BIRMINGHAM: $40,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EducationAMERICAN FRIENDS OF COMBATANTS FOR PEACE INC: $8,500 · EducationTHE A EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP: $8,000 · EducationBUILDING PEACE INC: $5,000 · EducationTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 · Education+1 more: $2,000 · EducationWOODLAWN UNITED INC: $80,000 · Community ImprovementJUNIOR LEAGUE OF BIRMINGHAM INC: $6,000 · Community ImprovementBirmingham Zoo Inc: $66,676 · Animals
Other$6,360,585Health$944,000Public Benefit$525,000Philanthropy$470,500Education$87,500Community Improvement$86,000Animals$66,676

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 budgetThe Rand Corporation: $520,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC: $275,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED WAY OF WEST FLORIDA INC: $195,000 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetWOODLAWN UNITED INC: $80,000 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetBirmingham Zoo Inc: $66,676 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetThe Children's Hospital of Alabama: $55,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSTAIR OF BIRMINGHAM: $40,000 over 8y, 2.1% of budgetMCWANE SCIENCE CENTER: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPRESBYTERIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN: $12,250 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF COMBATANTS FOR PEACE INC: $8,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetLEADERSHIP ALABAMA INC: $8,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetTHE A EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP: $8,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM RAIN INC: $6,750 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR LEAGUE OF BIRMINGHAM INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetALABAMA POSSIBLE: $5,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLEADERSHIP BIRMINGHAM INC: $5,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetBUILDING PEACE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWSRE TV FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFIRST LIGHT INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGRACE HOUSE MINISTRIES INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF JERUSALEM INC: $3,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG WOMENS CHRISTIAN ASSN OF BIRMINGHAM: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCOLLAT JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF BIRMINGHAM: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRED MOUNTAIN PARK FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MOUNTAIN BROOK LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBIRMINGHAM CHILDREN'S THEATRE INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetM-POWER Ministries: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIRMINGHAM BAR FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.3% 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 JGJ GENE RESEARCH INC ↗
  • Who funds The Rand Corporation ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF WEST FLORIDA INC ↗
  • Who funds WOODLAWN UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds Birmingham Zoo Inc ↗
  • Who funds The Children's Hospital of Alabama ↗
  • Who funds STAIR OF BIRMINGHAM ↗
  • Who funds MCWANE SCIENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PRESBYTERIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FRIENDS OF COMBATANTS FOR PEACE INC ↗
  • Who funds LEADERSHIP ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds THE A EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds FREEDOM RAIN INC ↗
  • Who funds JUNIOR LEAGUE OF BIRMINGHAM INC ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA POSSIBLE ↗

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 Daniel Foundation…Mike and Gillian Good…Protective Life Found…The Hackney FoundationThe Maynard Nexsen Fo…Susan Mott Webb Chari…Hill Crest Foundation…Altecstyslinger Found…The Community Foundat…Robert R Meyer Founda…The Hugh Kaul Foundat…Dunn-French Foundation
The Daniel Foundation of AlabamaAL45.6× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation · Protective Life Foundation · The Hackney Foundation · The Maynard Nexsen Foundation · Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · Hill Crest Foundation Inc · Altecstyslinger Foundation · The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Robert R Meyer Foundation · The Hugh Kaul Foundation · Dunn-French 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 Donald M James Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Donald M James Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • United Way of West Florida Inc: 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 65 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 Donald M James 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