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First Peoples Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

First Peoples Fund

To honor and support the collective spirit of first peoples artists and culture bearers.

$1.5M
Granted FY2023
18
Grants FY2023
7
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

88% of First Peoples Fund’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Indian Land Tenure Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 5 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year First Peoples Fund named its own grantees at scale: 18 organizations, $730k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

11
’17
11
’18
13
’19
20
’20
12
’21
25
’22
18
’23
5
’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, FY2017 to 2024.

Human Services$1.9MArts & Culture$1.1MCommunity Improvement$753kEnvironment$165kYouth Development$164kHousing & Shelter$100kEducation$85kCivil Rights$50kOther$0
02FY2023 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 18 grants below total $730,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,503,516 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $773,516 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 · FY2023

  • $10k–50k7 grants · $130k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $600k
$50,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LAKOTA FUNDS$100,000
NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY DEV$50,000
AMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY HOUSING$50,000
MNI SOTA FUND$50,000
LIGHTNING BOY FOUNDATION INC$50,000
AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN$50,000
WARM SPRINGS COMMUNITY ACTION TEAM$50,000
4-DIRECTIONS DEVELOPMENT INC$50,000
KE KUKUI FOUNDATION$50,000
RED EAGLE SOARING$50,000
INDIGENOUS ROOTS$50,000
FOUR BANDS COMMUNITY FUND$25,000
DAKOTA WICOHAN$25,000
OYATE TECA PROJECT$20,000
AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH RUNNING$20,000
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 (FY17–24, $2.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE HOPI FOUNDATION: $20k → 26%DAKOTA WICOHAN: $25k → 11%NORTHWEST NATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND: $30k → 17%RUNNING STRONG FOR AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH: $1k → 6%AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH RUNNING: $20k → 9%THE HOPI FOUNDATION: $3k → 26%DAKTOA WICOHAN: $25k → 11%NORTHWEST NATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND: $25k → 17%NORTHWEST NATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND: $20k → 17%DAKOTA WICOHAN: $20k → 11%NORTHWEST NATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND: $20k → 17%INDIAN LAND TENURE FOUNDATION: $1.8M → 14%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

AK
WA
MT
ND
MN
WI
MI
NY
OR
WY
SD
CA
CO
VA
AZ
NM
HI
OK
MS
GA
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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 27 repeat orgs$757k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +122% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2023, 16 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, 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

27
22

Total granted

$1.9M
$367k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+122%
+25%

Still filing today

89%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 40% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $150k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • TL
    THE LAKOTA FUND INCORPORATED
    4× · 2017–2023 · $150k · revenue +605%
  • FB
    FOUR BANDS COMMUNITY FUND INC
    5× · 2018–2023 · $115k · revenue +418%
  • KI
    KAWERAK INC
    5× · 2017–2022 · $115k · revenue +220%

Funded once

  • NEW MEXICO COMMUNITY CAPITALgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue +603%
  • TT
    THE TANK LTDgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue +115%
  • TE
    THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +28%
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 Cultural ConservancySacred Land Foundation

We are a Native-led Indigenous rights organization. We are dedicated to our mission of protecting & revitalizing Indigenous cultures, empowering them in the direct application of their traditional knowledge & practices on their ancestral…

Arts & Culture
2
Institute of American Indian Arts & Alaska Native

To provide education and instruction in the scholarly study and preservation of indian art to empower creativity and leadership in native arts and cultures through higher education, life-long learning and outreach.

Education
3
Indigenous Women Rising Indigeous Women Rising
—
4
Indigenous Performance Productions

Indigenous Performance Productions was created with the mission to produce, promote, present, manage and advance education around Indigenous performing arts and artists. Indigenous Performance Productions was founded on the vision to…

Arts & Culture
5
Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Inc

Native arts and cultures foundation advances equity and cultural knowledge, focusing on the power of arts and collaboration to strengthen native communities and promote positive social change with american indian, native hawaiian, and…

Arts & Culture
6
Na'ah Illahee Fund

Naah Illahee Fund is an Indigenous-led organization rooted in the Northwest region of Turtle Island. Our mission is to catalyze the ongoing regeneration of Indigenous communities through participatory grantmaking, capacity building, and…

International
7
Native American Agriculture Fund
Food & Nutrition
8
Gichigamiin Indigenous Nations Museum Inc

To promote and share a deeper understanding and respect of native american peoples through the collection, preservation, and interpretation of their traditional and contemporary art and material culture.

Arts & Culture
9
Center for Native Futures

Fosters Native artists of all backgrounds.

Arts & Culture
10
Native American Fiber Program
Environment
11
Northern California Indian Development Council Inc

Research, develop, and administer social and economic development programs to meet the needs of indian and native american communities and individuals residing in the state of california. also for the conservation and preservation of…

—
12
Crows Shadow Institute Inc

Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts provides educational, social and economic opportunitities to Native Americans through artistic development.

Unclassified
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Mexico Community Capital; the most unlike its peers is The Tank Ltd. 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

53 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. 53 of the 60 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
52/53
Grantees still filing
31/53
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

INDIAN LAND TENURE FOUNDATION: $1,750,000 · Human ServicesINDIAN LAND TENURE FOUNDATIONNORTHWEST NATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND: $95,000 · Human ServicesDAKOTA WICOHAN: $70,000 · Human Services+4 more: $61,200 · Human ServicesTHE LAKOTA FUND INCORPORATED: $150,000 · Community ImprovementTHE LAKOTA FUND IN…FOUR BANDS COMMUNITY FUND INC: $115,000 · Community ImprovementFOUR BANDS COMMUNI…WARM SPRINGS COMMUNITY ACTION TEAM: $100,000 · Community ImprovementWARM SPRINGS COMMU…MNI SOTA FUND: $75,000 · Community ImprovementMNI SOTA FUNDMINNESOTA INDIGENOUS BUSINESS ALLIANCE: $70,000 · Community ImprovementMINNESOTA INDIGENO…NACDC Financial Services Inc: $68,000 · Community ImprovementNACDC Financial Se…CHI ISHOBAK INC: $50,000 · Community ImprovementCHI ISHOBAK INCZUNI PUEBLO MAINSTREET: $45,000 · Community ImprovementZUNI PUEBLO MAINST…NEW MEXICO COMMUNITY CAPITAL: $25,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $10,000 · Community ImprovementKAWERAK INC: $115,000 · OtherKAWERAK INCINDIGENOUS PEOPLES TASK FORCE: $106,000 · OtherINDIGENOUS PEOPLES …4 Directions Development: $90,000 · Other4 Directions Develo…CITIZEN POTAWATOMI NATION: $80,000 · OtherCITIZEN POTAWATOMI …SITTING BULL COLLEGE: $65,000 · OtherSITTING BULL COLLEG…WHITE EARTH BAND OF CHIPPEWA INDIANS: $65,000 · OtherWHITE EARTH BAND OF…TWO WORLDS: $50,000 · OtherTWO WORLDSNEO Philanthropy Inc: $40,000 · OtherOYATE TECA PROJECT INC: $27,500 · Other+9 more: $134,978 · Other+9 morePAI FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Arts & CulturePAI FOUNDATIONRed Eagle Soaring: $75,000 · Arts & CultureRed Eagle Soari…Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center: $65,000 · Arts & CultureJilkaat Kwaan H…Native American Community Development Institute: $50,000 · Arts & CultureNative American…AUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST: $50,000 · Arts & CultureAUTRY MUSEUM OF…Indigenous Roots: $50,000 · Arts & CultureIndigenous Root…INDIGENOUSWAYS INCORPORATED: $35,000 · Arts & CultureINDIGENOUSWAYS …THE TANK LTD: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY: $25,000 · Arts & CultureNEW NATIVE THEATRE: $25,000 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $25,000 · Arts & Culture+8 more: $120,000 · Arts & Culture+8 moreLIGHTNING BOY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentCHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC: $36,000 · Youth DevelopmentNISTO INCORPORATED: $36,000 · Youth DevelopmentWISCONSIN NATIVE LOAN FUND INC: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterAMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY HOUSING ORGANIZATION: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterKE KUKUI FOUNDATION: $85,000 · Recreation & Sports
Human Services$1,976,200Community Improvement$708,000Other$773,478Arts & Culture$620,000Youth Development$172,000Housing & Shelter$100,000Recreation & Sports$85,000

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 budgetINDIAN LAND TENURE FOUNDATION: $1,750,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetTHE LAKOTA FUND INCORPORATED: $150,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetFOUR BANDS COMMUNITY FUND INC: $115,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetKAWERAK INC: $115,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetINDIGENOUS PEOPLES TASK FORCE: $106,000 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetWARM SPRINGS COMMUNITY ACTION TEAM: $100,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetLIGHTNING BOY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetNORTHWEST NATIVE DEVELOPMENT FUND: $95,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetKE KUKUI FOUNDATION: $85,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetPAI FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetMNI SOTA FUND: $75,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetRed Eagle Soaring: $75,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetMINNESOTA INDIGENOUS BUSINESS ALLIANCE: $70,000 over 2y, 56% of budgetDAKOTA WICOHAN: $70,000 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetNACDC Financial Services Inc: $68,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetJilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center: $65,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetSITTING BULL COLLEGE: $65,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNative American Community Development Institute: $50,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetAUTRY MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN WEST: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetIndigenous Roots: $50,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetCHI ISHOBAK INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWISCONSIN NATIVE LOAN FUND INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN COMMUNITY HOUSING ORGANIZATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHEYENNE RIVER YOUTH PROJECT INC: $36,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetNISTO INCORPORATED: $36,000 over 4y, 3.6% of budgetINDIGENOUSWAYS INCORPORATED: $35,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetOYATE TECA PROJECT INC: $27,500 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetNEW MEXICO COMMUNITY CAPITAL: $25,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetTHE TANK LTD: $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetTHE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCORNERSTONE THEATER COMPANY: $25,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetNEW NATIVE THEATRE: $25,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HOPI FOUNDATION LOMASUMI'NANGWTUKWSIWMANI: $22,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH RUNNING STRONG INC: $21,200 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCOUNCIL FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT: $20,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetBlue Bird LifeWays: $20,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetAN OPERA THEATRE: $20,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetJUNEAU ARTS & HUMANITIES COUNCIL: $20,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetNORTHWEST NATIVE AMERICAN BASKETWEAVERS ASSN: $20,000 over 1y, 63% of budgetMOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHWEST ORGANIZING PROJECT: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetREDBUD RESOURCE GROUP: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetNICOLAYSEN ART MUSEUM: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCLINTON COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN CORP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAlternate RootsInc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO ARTS AND CULTURE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

First Nations Develop…Ndn Collective IncNorthwest Area Founda…Common Counsel Founda…Oweesta CorporationSaint Paul & Minnesot…The McKnight Foundati…Native American Agric…The Andrew W Mellon F…Headwaters Foundation…Novo FoundationAmalgamated Charitabl…
First Nations Development InstituteCO49.4× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: First Nations Development Institute · Ndn Collective Inc · Northwest Area Foundation · Common Counsel Foundation · Oweesta Corporation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The McKnight Foundation · Native American Agriculture Fund · The Andrew W Mellon Foundation · Headwaters Foundation for Justice · Novo Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation 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 First Peoples Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from First Peoples Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 28%
  • Warm Springs Community Action Team: 28% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 Peoples Fund?

Find your warmest path to First Peoples 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 60 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on First Peoples’ 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