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Donors Capital Fund Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Donors Capital Fund Inc

Support charities that alleviate, through education, research and private initiatives, society's most pervasive and radical needs, including those related to social welfare, health, the environment, economics, governance, foreign relations, and arts and culture.

$928k
Granted FY2021
8
Grants FY2021
6
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

68% of Donors Capital Fund Inc’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Donors Trust Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 9 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year Donors Capital Fund Inc named its own grantees at scale: 7 organizations, $895k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

29
’20
7
’21
2
’22
3
’23
9
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

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.

Philanthropy$9.9MPublic Benefit$1.2MSocial Science$960kEducation$715kEmployment$455kCrime & Legal$440kPublic Safety & Disaster$250kInternational$250kOther$0
02FY2021 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 8 grants below total $894,900, the rows itemized in this filing. The $927,625 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $32,725 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 · FY2021

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $605k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$100,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Friends of the Ulysses S Grant Cottage$250,000
Cato Institute$205,000
Texas Children's Hospital$150,000
MikeroweWORKS Foundation$100,000
California Policy Center$100,000
St Baldrick's Foundation$50,000
Freedom Foundation$22,800
Hillsdale College$17,100
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 (FY20–21, $260k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 96% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Friends of the Ulysses S Grant Cottage: $250k → 14%Alive: $10k → 9%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

WA
MI
NY
OH
PA
CA
VA
DC
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

42%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 4 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +235% since the first grant, against +49% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2021, 1 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
27

Total granted

$2.1M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+235%
+49%

Still filing today

100%
93%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 37% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.2M 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
Civil RightsCrime & LegalSocial SciencePhilanthropyHuman ServicesPublic 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

  • CI
    CATO INSTITUTE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +93%
  • MF
    MIKEROWEWORKS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2023 · $445k · revenue +56%
  • EF
    EVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION
    2× · 2020–2021 · $43k · revenue +235%

Funded once

  • MC
    Mercatus Center Inc
    one grant, 2020 · $250k · revenue -33%
  • CR
    CAPITAL RESEARCH CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +54%
  • PL
    Pacific Legal Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +91%
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
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Competitive enterprise institute (cei) is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. we believe that consumers are best helped not by government regulation but by being…

—
2
Foreign Policy Research Institute

The foreign policy research institute (frpi) is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the united states. we educate…

International
3
The International Institute for Strategic Studies - Us

To provide accurate, objective information and analysis on international strategic issues for legislators, diplomats, foreign affairs analysts, international business leaders, economists, the military, defense commentators, journalists,…

International
4
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
5
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
6
International Republican Institute

Iri advances freedom and democracy worldwide by developing political parties, civic institutions, open elections, democratic governance and the rule of law.

Education
7
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
8
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
9
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
10
Liberty Justice Center

To advance economic and social liberties and a free enterprise society through strategic litigation, training, communication, activism and research. in addition, the center will train law students, lawyers and policy activists in the…

Crime & Legal
11
R Street Institute

The r street institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public-policy research organization ("think tank"). our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government. (continued on…

Education
12
American Law Institute

The institute's mission, as set out in its certificate of incorporation, is to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to…

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Susie Elizabeth Crowder Owens. 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

45 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. 45 of the 46 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/45
Grantees still filing
36/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Donors Trust Inc: $9,392,283 · PhilanthropyDonors Trust IncMIKEROWEWORKS FOUNDATION: $445,000 · PhilanthropyVANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM: $361,287 · Philanthropy+2 more: $150,000 · PhilanthropyCATO INSTITUTE: $1,165,000 · Public BenefitCATO INST…Leadership Institute: $100,000 · Public BenefitLeadershi…THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Public BenefitHudson Institute Inc: $250,000 · OtherHudson Insti…FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN FREEDOM: $200,000 · OtherFOUNDATION F…Young America's Foundation: $90,000 · OtherYoung Americ…AMERICAN ISRAEL EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · OtherAMERICAN ISR…Jewish Community Relations Council of New York: $100,000 · OtherJewish Commu…INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $60,000 · OtherTexas Children's Hospital: $150,000 · OtherTexas Childr…ASHLAND UNIVERSITY: $60,000 · Other+18 more: $484,900 · Other+18 moreTYNDALE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $488,223 · ReligionHILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE: $200,000 · ReligionThe Louis D Brandeis Center Inc: $200,000 · Crime & LegalPacific Legal Foundation: $100,000 · Crime & LegalWASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Crime & LegalNATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY CENTER: $40,000 · Crime & LegalFRIENDS OF THE ULYSSESS S GRANT COTTAGE: $250,000 · Human ServicesCALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER: $100,000 · Human Services+1 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesMercatus Center Inc: $250,000 · Social ScienceAtlas Economic Research Foundation: $50,000 · Social ScienceAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $30,000 · Social Science
Philanthropy$10,348,570Public Benefit$1,315,000Other$1,594,900Religion$688,223Crime & Legal$380,000Human Services$360,000Social Science$330,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDonors Trust Inc: $9,392,283 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $1,165,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetMIKEROWEWORKS FOUNDATION: $445,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetVANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM: $361,287 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHudson Institute Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMercatus Center Inc: $250,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN ISRAEL EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN FREEDOM: $200,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetThe Louis D Brandeis Center Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHILLEL THE FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH CAMPUS LIFE: $200,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA POLICY CENTER: $100,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetLeadership Institute: $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER: $100,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetJewish Community Relations Council of New York: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPacific Legal Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $90,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $60,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetASHLAND UNIVERSITY: $60,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSTATE POLICY NETWORK: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAtlas Economic Research Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInstitute for Humane Studies: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEVERGREEN FREEDOM FOUNDATION: $42,800 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCLARE BOOTHE LUCE CENTER FOR CONSERVATIVE WOMEN: $40,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetWASHINGTON LEGAL FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetNATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY CENTER: $40,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTHE CLAREMONT INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF STATESMANSHIP & POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: $40,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBill of Rights Institute: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $17,100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALIVE Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCENTRAL UNION MISSION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBREAD FOR THE CITY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN STEWARDS OF LIBERTY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetTHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Bradley Impact Fund I…Donors Trust IncThe Lynde and Harry B…Sarah Scaife Foundati…Adolph Coors Foundati…Triad Foundation IncThe Snider FoundationVanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Silicon Valley Commun…Natl Christian Charit…
Bradley Impact Fund IncWI19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Bradley Impact Fund Inc · Donors Trust Inc · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated · Adolph Coors Foundation · Triad Foundation Inc · The Snider Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn 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 Donors Capital Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Donors Capital Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 Donors Capital Fund Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Donors Capital Fund Inc 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 46 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Donors Capital’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