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Firman Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Firman Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$502k
Granted FY2024still arriving
53
Grants FY2024still arriving
12
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$778kEducation$634kEnvironment$315kArts & Culture$291kHuman Services$116kPublic Safety & Disaster$115kRecreation & Sports$50kAnimals$38kOther$0
02FY2024 · 53 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k30 grants · $122k
  • $10k–50k23 grants · $380k
$5,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$8.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$40,000
TALL TIMBERS RESEARCH$35,000
MACLAY SCHOOL$35,000
DENVER MUSEUM OF SCIENCE$33,333
MISS HALL'S SCHOOL$20,000
BOCA GRANDE DISASTER FUND$20,000
COLORADO ACADEMY$20,000
FRIENDS OF THE BOCA GRANDE COMMUNITY CENTER$17,000
THERE WITH CARE$15,000
EATING DISORDER FOUNDATION$15,000
ST JUDE'S HOSPITAL$10,000
JOHANN FUST LIBRARY$10,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$10,000
TALLAHASSEE MUSEUM OF HISTORY$10,000
MOFFITT CANCER CENTER$10,000
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 (FY20–24, $139k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 52% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FNDN: $10k → 7%SECOND CHANCE CENTER: $3k → 8%ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FNDN: $10k → 7%SECOND CHANCE CENTER: $3k → 8%ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FNDN: $10k → 7%SECOND CHANCE CENTER: $3k → 8%ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FNDN: $10k → 7%SECOND CHANCE CENTER: $3k → 8%THERE WITH CARE: $15k → 12%ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FNDN: $10k → 7%SECOND CHANCE CENTER: $3k → 8%THERE WITH CARE: $15k → 12%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS: $1k → 8%THERE WITH CARE: $13k → 12%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS: $1k → 8%THERE WITH CARE: $13k → 12%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS: $1k → 8%THERE WITH CARE: $13k → 12%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS: $1k → 8%FLORENCE CRITTENTON SERVICES: $3k → 12%FLORENCE CRITTENTON SERVICES: $3k → 12%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
MA
IA
OH
CT
CO
VA
TN
NC
OK
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 53 repeat orgs$90k to everyone else

53 repeat relationships: 42 still active in FY2024, 11 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
4

Total granted

$2.4M
$36k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
+329%

Still filing today

66%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $54k 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
EducationHealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureEnvironmentScience & TechOther
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

  • CH
    Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation
    5× · 2020–2024 · $235k · revenue +26%
  • TT
    TALL TIMBERS RESEARCH INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $175k · revenue +68%
  • AB
    ALFRED B MACLAY JR DAY SCHOOL
    5× · 2020–2024 · $163k · revenue +82%

Funded once

  • DD
    DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $13k · revenue +329%
  • NR
    NEW RIVER FUND
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • UM
    UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
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
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
2
Fountain Valley School of Colorado

Fountain valley school of colorado provides a transformative curriculum in a supportive environment where students are challenged to think critically, become leaders, and live by our core values: courage, compassion, curiosity,…

Education
3
Breck School

We create confident learners who lead lives of intellectual curiosity, self-knowledge, and social responsibility.

Education
4
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
5
Aspen Prep Academy

We edify and inspire students and educators to grow, learn and lead.

Education
6
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
7
University Cooperative School

We take a joyful, community-oriented approach to raising engaged citizens, deep learners, and brave adventurers with the skills, creativity, and heart needed to better the world.

—
8
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
9
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
10
Explorer West an Independent Middle School

We empower young people to explore and grow their unique intellectual, ethical, and creative capabilities, and to treasure diversity and growth in others.

Education
11
Hockaday School

Believing in the limitless potential of girls, hockaday school develops resilient, confident women who are educated and inspired to lead lives of purpose and impact.

Education
12
Creekside Charter Management

To cultivate student success through mindful perseverance, critical thinking, resourcefulness and advanced knowledge that will prepare students for high levels of success in school, work, and life, while honoring the individuality and…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Childrens Museum of Denver Inc; the most unlike its peers is Roaring Fork Early Language and Literacy 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

43 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. 43 of the 67 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/43
Grantees still filing
34/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALFRED B MACLAY JR DAY SCHOOL: $163,000 · OtherALFRED B MACLAY JR DAY SCHOOLTALLAHASSEE MUSEUM OF HISTORY: $85,000 · OtherTALLAHASSEE MUSEUM OF HISTORYMOFFITT CANCER CENTER: $80,000 · OtherMOFFITT CANCER CENTERDENVER MUSEUM OF SCIENCE: $66,666 · OtherDENVER MUSEUM OF SCIENCECLEVELAND CLINIC: $50,000 · OtherAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $50,000 · OtherDENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE: $45,000 · Other+30 more: $455,500 · Other+30 moreChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $235,000 · HealthChildren's Hospital Co…The Eating Disorder Foundation: $100,000 · HealthThe Eating Disorder Fo…THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $50,000 · HealthTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUN…ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $50,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RES…BOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC INC: $35,000 · HealthBOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLI…+3 more: $28,000 · Health+3 moreCOLORADO ACADEMY: $112,500 · EducationCOLORADO ACADEMYMISS HALL'S SCHOOL INC: $100,000 · EducationMISS HALL'S SCHOOL …KIPP Colorado Schools: $65,000 · EducationKIPP Colorado Schoo…HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL: $25,000 · EducationHATHAWAY BROWN SCHO…TRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC: $25,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF WESTMIN…ETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC: $25,000 · EducationETHEL WALKER SCHOOL…HAWKEN SCHOOL: $25,000 · EducationHAWKEN SCHOOLTHE ISLAND SCHOOL INC: $17,500 · EducationThe Boca Grande Preschool Inc: $15,000 · Education+3 more: $16,000 · EducationAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $85,000 · Human ServicesAmerican N…THERE WITH CARE: $67,500 · Human ServicesTHERE WITH…ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Human ServicesROCKY MOUN…Second Chance Center Inc: $12,500 · Human ServicesSecond Cha…+2 more: $9,000 · Human ServicesTALL TIMBERS RESEARCH INC: $175,000 · Science & TechCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $135,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureVOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR COLORADO: $40,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$995,166Health$498,000Education$426,000Human Services$224,000Science & Tech$175,000Arts & Culture$137,000Recreation & Sports$40,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $235,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTALL TIMBERS RESEARCH INC: $175,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetALFRED B MACLAY JR DAY SCHOOL: $163,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $135,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCOLORADO ACADEMY: $112,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Eating Disorder Foundation: $100,000 over 5y, 6.9% of budgetMISS HALL'S SCHOOL INC: $100,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $85,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHERE WITH CARE: $67,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetKIPP Colorado Schools: $65,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetVOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR COLORADO: $40,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetBOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC INC: $35,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetVAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCamp Jacob Inc: $25,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetHAWKEN SCHOOL: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLEE'S PLACE: $20,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetTHE ISLAND SCHOOL INC: $17,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetASPEN YOUTH CENTER: $15,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetASPEN EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $12,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSecond Chance Center Inc: $12,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHEADQUARTERS: $12,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGASPARILLA ISL CONSER & IMPROVE ASSN: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetKIDZ1STFUND INC: $10,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetYOUTHROOTS: $7,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetPROTECT OUR WINTERS: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetASPEN HOPE CENTER: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROARING FORK EARLY LANGUAGE AND LITERACY ALLIANCE: $5,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetFLORENCE CRITTENTON SERVICES OF COLORADO: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM SERVICE DOGS INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF LAKESIDE LAB INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetASPEN HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $2,800 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOkoboji Protective Association: $2,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF DENVER INC: $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 Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation ↗
  • Who funds TALL TIMBERS RESEARCH INC ↗
  • Who funds ALFRED B MACLAY JR DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds The Eating Disorder Foundation ↗
  • Who funds MISS HALL'S SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds American National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches ↗
  • Who funds THERE WITH CARE ↗
  • Who funds KIPP Colorado Schools ↗
  • Who funds THE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds ROCKY MOUNTAIN CHILDREN'S HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds VOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR COLORADO ↗
  • Who funds BOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC INC ↗
  • Who funds HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF WESTMINSTER SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds VAIL VALLEY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ETHEL WALKER SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds Camp Jacob Inc ↗
  • Who funds HAWKEN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds LEE'S PLACE ↗
  • Who funds THE ISLAND SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds The Boca Grande Preschool Inc ↗

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.

Colorado Gives Founda…The Denver FoundationRose Community Founda…The Colorado Health F…Linda & Barry Allen F…H L Thompson Jr Famil…Arches FoundationThe William Stamps Fa…Aspen Community Found…Mile High United Way …El Pomar FoundationThe George and Carol …
Colorado Gives FoundationCO27.9× affinity13 shared granteesties to 9 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · Linda & Barry Allen Foundation · H L Thompson Jr Family Foundation · Arches Foundation · The William Stamps Farish Fund · Aspen Community Foundation · Mile High United Way Inc · El Pomar Foundation · The George and Carol Milne 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 Firman Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Firman Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Tall Timbers Research Inc: 10% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
13report 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 Firman Fund?

Find your warmest path to Firman Fund 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 67 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 Firman’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