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Ficks Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ficks Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$116k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$116k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2024.

Health$112kEnvironment$40kPhilanthropy$37kEducation$24kYouth Development$18kInternational$11kCommunity Improvement$10kFood & Nutrition$6kOther$0
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$116,250
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Charitable Contributions$116,250
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:

Its human-services grants (FY18–22, $18k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%Lighthouse Youth and Family Service: $5k → 16%Lighthouse Youth and Family Service: $3k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICE: $3k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICE: $3k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICE: $3k → 16%Lighthouse Youth and Family Service: $1k → 16%Lighthouse Youth and Family Service: $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

MI
NY
OH
CT
CA
KY
DC
OK
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$430k · 15 repeat orgs$60k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
18

Total granted

$430k
$60k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+1%

Still filing today

80%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentInternationalHealthEducationHuman ServicesFood & NutritionOther
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 SEVEN HILLS SCHOOL
    5× · 2018–2022 · $24k · revenue +47%
  • CN
    CINCINNATI NATURE CENTER
    5× · 2018–2022 · $21k · revenue +107%
  • LY
    LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES
    5× · 2018–2022 · $18k · revenue +51%

Funded once

  • GL
    GIVE LIVELY FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $37k · revenue -78%
  • TO
    TIP OF THE MITT WATERSHED COUNCIL
    one grant, 2021 · $3k · revenue -19%
  • TC
    The Christ Hospital Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $3k · revenue +322%
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
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
2
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
3
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
4
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
5
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
6
Climate Leadership Council Inc

To develop and promote a carbon dividends framework - based on carbon fees whose revenues are rebated to citizens through dividends - as the most cost-effective, equitable, and politically viable climate solution.

Environment
7
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
8
Climate Central Inc

Climate central, inc. (the organization") is an independent not-for-profit organization of leading scientists, technology experts and communication professionals that are dedicated to researching and reporting on climate change and its…

Science & Tech
9
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
10
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
11
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
12
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hope for Haiti Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Audubon Society 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

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 33 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/22
Grantees still filing
15/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Charitable Contributions: $219,250 · OtherCharitable ContributionsCincinnati Childrens Hospital: $105,000 · OtherCincinnati Childrens Hospital+15 more: $29,800 · Other+15 moreGIVE LIVELY FOUNDATION INC: $36,700 · PhilanthropyCINCINNATI NATURE CENTER: $21,150 · EnvironmentLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc: $6,000 · EnvironmentTIP OF THE MITT WATERSHED COUNCIL: $2,500 · EnvironmentOCEANA INC: $2,325 · EnvironmentGREEN UMBRELLA: $1,325 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $1,325 · Environment+1 more: $1,000 · EnvironmentTHE SEVEN HILLS SCHOOL: $23,500 · EducationLIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $18,000 · Human ServicesDIRECT RELIEF: $4,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $3,825 · InternationalHOPE FOR HAITI INC: $1,825 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,500 · InternationalSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,325 · InternationalJunior League of Cincinnati: $10,000 · Community Improvement
Other$354,050Philanthropy$36,700Environment$35,625Education$23,500Human Services$18,000International$12,475Community Improvement$10,000

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 budgetGIVE LIVELY FOUNDATION INC: $36,700 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SEVEN HILLS SCHOOL: $23,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCINCINNATI NATURE CENTER: $21,150 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $18,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetJunior League of Cincinnati: $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFREESTORE FOODBANK INC: $5,850 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $3,825 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC: $3,325 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTIP OF THE MITT WATERSHED COUNCIL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Christ Hospital Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOCEANA INC: $2,325 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDisabled American Veterans: $2,325 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE FOR HAITI INC: $1,825 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREEN UMBRELLA: $1,325 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCincinnati Parks Foundation: $1,325 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $1,325 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,325 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS ASSN: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $1,000 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.

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 Frances R Luther …Carol Ann and Ralph V…The Greater Cincinnat…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Frances R Luther Charitable TrustOH13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Frances R Luther Charitable Trust · Carol Ann and Ralph V Haile Jr Foundation · The Greater Cincinnati Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Ficks Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ficks Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Hope for Haiti Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Ficks Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ficks 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 33 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

Play a game based on Ficks 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