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First Ascent Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

First Ascent Charitable 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.

$265k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$85k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Philanthropy$487kEnvironment$375kEducation$304kPublic Safety & Disaster$175kRecreation & Sports$165kYouth Development$90kHealth$50k
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k6 grants · $180k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $85k
$30,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$4.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST$84,514
SHEJUMPS$30,000
FRIENDS OF THE COLORADO AVALANCHE INFORMATION CENTER$30,000
ROARING FORK OUTDOOR VOLUNTEERS$30,000
WILDERNESS WORKSHOP$30,000
THE BUDDY PROGRAM$30,000
PROTECT OUR WINTERS$30,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 54% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 7%NATIONAL PHILANTROPIC TRUST: $168k → 7%SHEJUMPS: $30k → 8%ROARING FORK OUTDOOR VOLUNTEERS: $30k → 6%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR AVALANCHE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INC: $30k → 7%ASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50k → 7%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $30k → 12%COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $30k → 12%NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $131k → 7%SHEJUMPS: $30k → 8%THE BUDDY PROGRAM: $30k → 6%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR AVALANCHE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INC: $30k → 7%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $30k → 12%COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $25k → 12%NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $85k → 7%SHEJUMPS: $30k → 8%THE BUDDY PROGRAM: $30k → 6%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $30k → 12%COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $25k → 12%NATIONAL PHILANTROPIC TRUST: $30k → 7%THE BUDDY PROGRAM: $30k → 6%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $30k → 12%COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $20k → 12%NATIONAL PHILANTROPIC TRUST: $18k → 7%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $30k → 12%WILDERNESS WORKSHOP: $30k → 12%NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $6k → 7%BOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH: $50k → 12%COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $30k → 12%AMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES ASSOCIATION: $30k → 12%COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $30k → 12%AMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES ASSOCIATION: $25k → 12%AMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES ASSOCIATION: $20k → 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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 46% of First Ascent Charitable Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 68% of the giving stays in CO; by stated purpose, 58%.

First Ascent Charitable Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 3.6% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 8 repeat orgs$110k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
1

Total granted

$1.0M
$50k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+31%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentEducationPublic Safety & DisasterHealthOther
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

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF COLORADO AVALANCHE INFORMATION CENTER
    6× · 2020–2025 · $175k · revenue +66%
  • TA
    THE ACCESS FUND
    6× · 2018–2024 · $165k · revenue +5%
  • PO
    PROTECT OUR WINTERS
    5× · 2021–2025 · $150k · revenue +44%

Funded once

  • BC
    BOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTHgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +31%
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
Wyoming Outdoor Council

The wyoming outdoor council's mission is to protect wyoming's environment and quality of life now and for future generations.

Environment
2
Wild Rockies Field Institute Inc

To broaden the nature of a liberal arts education; teach critical thinking about social & environmental issues; foster understanding of & respect for natural & human communities; & cultivate a sense of place that encourages personal,…

Education
3
Rocky Mountain Wild

Rocky mountain wild works to protect, connect, and restore wildlife and wild lands in the southern rocky mountain region. we work to secure the biodiversity of the mountains, plains, and desert ecosystems of colorado, wyoming, utah, and…

Environment
4
Aspen Valley Land Trust

Protecting the open land and special places of the roaring fork and middle colorado river valleys for wildlife, agriculture, and community forever.

Environment
5
Protect Our Winters Action Fund

Works to make action on climate change a top policy priority for the outdoor sports community.

—
6
Sierra Watch

Sierra watch secures conservation outcomes to protect the natural resources, mountain communities, and timeless values of the tahoe sierra.

Environment
7
Alpine Watershed Group

Watershed collaboration and stewardship

Environment
8
Rocky Mountain Field Institute Inc

Rocky Mountain Field Institute conserves and protects public lands in Southern Colorado through volunteer-based trail and restoration projects, environmental education, and restoration research.

—
9
Colorado Museum of Natural History

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

Arts & Culture
10
Cb Avalanche Center Inc

The mission of the cbac is to inform the public about the dangers of human triggered and natural avalanches in crested butte and the surrounding backcountry.

Public Safety & Disaster
11
Choose Outdoors Inc

To promote outdoor recreation and active lifestyles through support for public lands and waters; recreation infrastructure; and programs connecting americans to the outdoors.

—
12
Boulder Climbing Community

Stewardship of climbing access areas and climbing access trails.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Protect Our Winters; the most unlike its peers is The Access Fund. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

13 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.

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)
13/13
Grantees still filing
12/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $436,558 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · PhilanthropyASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONTHE ACCESS FUND: $165,000 · OtherTHE ACCESS FUNDTHE BUDDY PROGRAM INC: $90,000 · OtherTHE BUDDY PROGRAM INCAMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES ASSOCIATION INC: $75,000 · OtherAMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES A…WILDERNESS WORKSHOP: $30,000 · OtherWILDERNESS WORKSHOPRoaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers: $30,000 · OtherRoaring Fork Outdoor Volun…COLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $160,000 · EnvironmentCOLORADO OUTWARD BOUN…PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $150,000 · EnvironmentPROTECT OUR WINTERSAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR AVALANCHE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INC: $143,500 · EducationAMERICAN INSTITU…SheJumps: $90,000 · EducationSheJumpsFRIENDS OF COLORADO AVALANCHE INFORMATION CENTER: $175,000 · Public Safety & DisasterFRIENDS OF C…BOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH: $50,000 · Health
Philanthropy$486,558Other$390,000Environment$310,000Education$233,500Public Safety & Disaster$175,000Health$50,000

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 budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $436,558 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF COLORADO AVALANCHE INFORMATION CENTER: $175,000 over 6y, 3.8% of budgetTHE ACCESS FUND: $165,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetCOLORADO OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $160,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetPROTECT OUR WINTERS: $150,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR AVALANCHE RESEARCH AND EDUCATION INC: $143,500 over 4y, 3.8% of budgetTHE BUDDY PROGRAM INC: $90,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetSheJumps: $90,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetAMERICAN MOUNTAIN GUIDES ASSOCIATION INC: $75,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH: $50,000 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.

Colorado Gives Founda…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Colorado Gives FoundationCO15× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation 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 First Ascent Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from First Ascent Charitable 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to First Ascent Charitable Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to First Ascent Charitable 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 13 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 First Ascent’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