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Giles W & Elise G Mead Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Giles W & Elise G Mead 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.

$1.0M
Granted FY2023
16
Grants FY2023
5
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

100% of Giles W & Elise G Mead Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to National Philanthropic Trust, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 0 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Giles W & Elise G Mead Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $1M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

21
’17
20
’18
21
’19
10
’20
14
’21
13
’22
9
’23
0
’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.

Philanthropy$10MEnvironment$1.6MArts & Culture$979kHealth$954kHuman Services$661kEducation$648kAnimals$574kScience & Tech$381kOther$0
02FY2023 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • $10k–50k7 grants · $188k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $840k
$50,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$150,000
CHILD CRISIS ARIZONA$150,000
ARIZONA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY$130,000
DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE$100,000
NAPA VALLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION$100,000
CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF DENVER$60,000
COMMUNITY INITIATIVES$50,000
THE CLIMATE CENTER$50,000
IDEA MUSEUM$50,000
FRIENDS OF COMPTON YOUTH ACTIVITIES LEAGUE$48,288
HOME TOGETHER (FORMERLY MAPLE LEAF FOUND)$30,000
Individual grant recipient$30,000
TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND$25,000
BOWERS MUSEUM$25,000
MORGAN-WIXSON THEATRE$15,000
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 (FY17–21, $60k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 58% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND: $25k → 8%BRAILLE INSTITUTE OF AMERICA INC: $25k → 14%BRAILLE INSTITUTE OF AMERICA INC: $10k → 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

WA
MT
NY
MA
OR
IA
PA
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
NC
DC
GA
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 64% of Giles W & Elise G Mead Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Giles W & Elise G Mead Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 3.9% 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.

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.1M · 28 repeat orgs$2.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +53% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

28 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2023, 21 since wound down; 9 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

28
53

Total granted

$4.1M
$2.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+53%
+28%

Still filing today

82%
72%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $513k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
EnvironmentArts & CultureEducationAnimalsHealthPublic 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

  • FH
    FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER
    2× · 2017–2018 · $400k · revenue +27%
  • CC
    CHILD CRISIS ARIZONA
    4× · 2018–2023 · $300k · revenue +140%
  • SU
    STATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION
    2× · 2017–2020 · $300k · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • SS
    STOP SOLDIER SUICIDE INC
    one grant, 2022 · $250k · revenue -42%
  • NM
    NATIONAL MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2021 · $200k · revenue -62%
  • FH
    FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · 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 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
2
Cuenca Los Ojos

Cuenca los ojos works to preserve and restore the biodiversity of the us/mexican borderlands through land protection, habitat restoration and wildlife reintroduction.

Environment
3
Rainforest Trust

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

International
4
Cascadia Wildlands

Cascadia wildlands defends and restores cacasia's wild ecosystems in the forests,in the courts, and in the streets. we envision vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and…

Environment
5
Sustainable Conservation

Sustainable Conservation advances the collaborative stewardship of Californias land, air, and water for the benefit of nature and people. For over three decades, Sustainable Conservation has built coalitions of people with different…

Environment
6
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
7
California Ocean Science Trust

California ocean science trust (ost) is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating progress towards a healthy and productive ocean future for california. created by state legislation, ost bridges the gap between cutting-edge…

Environment
8
Colorado Open Lands

Colorado open lands' mission is to preserve the significant open lands and natural heritage of colorado through private and public partnerships, innovative land conservation, and strategic leadership.

Environment
9
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.

—
10
Santa Catalina Island Conservancy

The catalina island conservancy protects and stewards 88% of catalina island. more than 42,000 acres of wildlands, coves and coastal habitats. founded to preserve the island's natural resources, the conservancy advances a mission rooted in…

—
11
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
12
Aquarium of the Pacific Corporation

The aquarium of the pacific's mission is to instill a sense of wonder, respect, and stewardship for the pacific ocean, its inhabitants, and ecosystems.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Trust for Public Land; the most unlike its peers is The Sweetgrass Foundation Inc. 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

71 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. 71 of the 94 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
68/71
Grantees still filing
53/71
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $5,000,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTStifel Charitable Inc: $2,500,000 · PhilanthropyStifel Charitable Inc+2 more: $200,000 · PhilanthropyFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $2,500,000 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTME…INSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $95,000 · Community ImprovementFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $400,000 · OtherFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RES…ARIZONA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $334,000 · OtherARIZONA MUSEUM OF NATURAL …Individual grant recipient: $150,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM: $150,000 · OtherCHILD CRISIS ARIZONA: $300,000 · OtherCHILD CRISIS ARIZONASTOP SOLDIER SUICIDE INC: $250,000 · OtherSTOP SOLDIER SUICIDE INCWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $200,000 · OtherEARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INC: $150,000 · OtherSEVA FOUNDATION: $295,000 · OtherSEVA FOUNDATIONNATIONAL MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION: $200,000 · Other+40 more: $1,443,448 · Other+40 moreIDEA MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $180,000 · Arts & CultureTHE CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF DENVER INC: $135,000 · Arts & CultureCHARLES W BOWERS MUSEUM CORPORATION: $110,000 · Arts & CultureColorado Museum of Natural History: $100,000 · Arts & CultureHENRY E HUNTINGTON LIBRARY AND ART GALLERY: $96,250 · Arts & CultureMESA ARTS CENTER FOUNDATION: $74,500 · Arts & CultureSOUNDS ACADEMY: $60,000 · Arts & CultureMETROPOLITAN YOUTH SYMPHONY: $43,050 · Arts & CultureDENVER YOUNG ARTISTS ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $30,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $20,000 · Arts & CultureSTATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $300,000 · EducationThe Climate Center: $100,000 · EducationTHE SONORAN INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 · EducationPEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: $44,680 · EducationROLLING HILLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $41,000 · EducationAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $35,000 · EducationUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $25,000 · Education+2 more: $25,000 · EducationWESTERN RIVERS CONSERVANCY: $225,000 · EnvironmentThe Sierra Fund: $60,000 · EnvironmentBaykeeper: $40,000 · EnvironmentSONOMA LAND TRUST: $35,000 · EnvironmentREDWOOD FOREST FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · EnvironmentBig Sur Land Trust: $35,000 · EnvironmentCASCADE FOREST CONSERVANCY: $30,000 · EnvironmentBIRD ALLIANCE OF OREGON INC: $25,000 · EnvironmentCOASTAL WATERSHED COUNCIL: $25,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $25,000 · EnvironmentCalifornia Native Plant Society: $22,100 · Environment+3 more: $45,000 · EnvironmentPOINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY: $260,000 · AnimalsKLAMATH BIRD OBSERVATORY: $100,000 · AnimalsANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC: $50,000 · AnimalsCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $35,000 · AnimalsSOUTHWEST WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CENTER: $34,000 · Animals
Philanthropy$7,700,000Community Improvement$2,595,000Other$3,872,448Arts & Culture$848,800Education$620,680Environment$602,100Animals$479,000

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 budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $5,000,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $2,500,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetStifel Charitable Inc: $2,500,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $400,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD CRISIS ARIZONA: $300,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetSTATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $300,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSEVA FOUNDATION: $295,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetPOINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY: $260,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSTOP SOLDIER SUICIDE INC: $250,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWESTERN RIVERS CONSERVANCY: $225,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetNATIONAL MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION: $200,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetWOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION: $200,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetIDEA MUSEUM FOUNDATION: $180,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetEARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INC: $150,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $150,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS MUSEUM OF DENVER INC: $135,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCHARLES W BOWERS MUSEUM CORPORATION: $110,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetFISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKLAMATH BIRD OBSERVATORY: $100,000 over 1y, 8.4% of budgetNAPA VALLEY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetThe Climate Center: $100,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetColorado Museum of Natural History: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetOLE HEALTH: $100,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHENRY E HUNTINGTON LIBRARY AND ART GALLERY: $96,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $95,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetVOICES FOR CASA CHILDREN INC: $85,245 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetMESA ARTS CENTER FOUNDATION: $74,500 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetGUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND INC: $61,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSOUNDS ACADEMY: $60,000 over 2y, 9.2% of budgetThe Sierra Fund: $60,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetTHE INTREPID FALLEN HEROES FUND: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCOMPASS HOUSING ALLIANCE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE SONORAN INSTITUTE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: $44,680 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMETROPOLITAN YOUTH SYMPHONY: $43,050 over 1y, 23% of budgetROLLING HILLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL: $41,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBaykeeper: $40,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSONOMA LAND TRUST: $35,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetREDWOOD FOREST FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBRAILLE INSTITUTE OF AMERICA INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBig Sur Land Trust: $35,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHWEST WILDLIFE CONSERVATION CENTER: $34,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCentral Sierra Environmental Resource Center Inc: $32,000 over 2y, 7.1% of budgetDENVER YOUNG ARTISTS ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $30,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetCASCADE FOREST CONSERVANCY: $30,000 over 1y, 5.0% 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.

PatagoniaorgThe Rose Foundation f…Arizona Community Fou…Clif Family FoundationSchwemm Family Founda…Sempra FoundationResources Legacy FundCalifornia Community …The Nature ConservancyThe Joseph and Vera L…Thunderbirds CharitiesStern Sidney Memorial…
PatagoniaorgCA23.1× affinity10 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Patagoniaorg · The Rose Foundation for Communities the Environment · Arizona Community Foundation · Clif Family Foundation · Schwemm Family Foundation · Sempra Foundation · Resources Legacy Fund · California Community Foundation · The Nature Conservancy · The Joseph and Vera Long Foundation · Thunderbirds Charities · Stern Sidney Memorial Tuw

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 Giles W & Elise G Mead Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Giles W & Elise G Mead Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 63%
  • Klamath Bird Observatory: 100% of income from government
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: 63% of income from government
  • Bird Alliance of Oregon Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Western Rivers Conservancy: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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.

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 94 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Giles W & Elise G Mead’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