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· Public charity

Grand Canyon University

GCU is a missional, Christ-centered university with an innovative and adaptive spirit that addresses the world's deep needs by cultivating compassionate Christian community, empowering free and virtuous action, and serving others in ways that promote human flourishing.

$386M
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20192025.

Religion$491kArts & Culture$380kHousing & Shelter$160kCommunity Improvement$67kPublic Benefit$51kEducation$35kHuman Services$27kPhilanthropy$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 4 grants below total $262,360 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $386,098,916 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $385,836,556 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $37k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $225k
$75,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.1B
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Habitat for Humanity Central AZ$150,000
Naismith Mem Basketball Hall of Fame$75,000
Barry Goldwater Inst for pub pol rsrch$25,000
FIESTA EVENTS INC$12,360
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY22–24, $521k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%19 North Community Alliance: $10k → 11%Childhelp Inc: $11k → 11%Childhelp Inc: $10k → 11%Grand Canyon University CityServe: $167k → 11%GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY CITYSERVE: $165k → 11%Grand Canyon University CityServe: $159k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

04

Where the work is directed

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

About 99% of Grand Canyon University’s grant dollars are earmarked, by their stated purpose, for a different county than the recipient’s own address — money that lands at a nonprofit in one place but is meant to do its work in another. Read by recipient address, 67% of the giving stays in AZ; read by stated purpose it is 1% — less of the work is directed home than the recipients' locations suggest.

Grand Canyon Universitylessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address

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 foundation’s own 990 grant descriptions.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.2M · 7 repeat orgs$50k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +10% since the first grant, against -14% for the ones you funded once.

7 repeat relationships — 4 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
6

Total granted

$1.2M
$50k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+10%
-14%

Still filing today

100%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’19’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesPublic BenefitPhilanthropyArts & CultureRecreation & SportsEducationOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • GC
    Grand Canyon University CityServe
    3× · 2022–2024 · $491k · revenue +53%
  • HF
    HABITAT FOR HUMANITY CENTRAL ARIZONA
    2× · 2021–2025 · $160k · revenue +4%
  • FE
    FIESTA EVENTS INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $57k · revenue +20%

Funded once

  • 1N
    19 NORTH COMMUNITY ALLIANCE INC
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • GM
    GAMMA MU FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -21%
  • MU
    Midwestern University
    one grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +11%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Arizona Latin-American Medical Association
Unclassified
2
Center for the Future of Arizona

Bringing arizonans together to create a stronger and brighter future for our state.

Community Improvement
3
Arizona Community Foundation

To lead, serve and collaborate to mobilize enduring philanthropy for a better arizona.

Philanthropy
4
Greater Phoenix Economic Council

The organization's mission is to attract and grow quality businesses and advocate for greater phoenix's competitiveness.

Community Improvement
5
Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation

Greater phoenix chamber foundation (gpcf), a 501c3 launched in 2016, leads the charitable and education initiatives of the greater phoenix chamber under the four pillars of education, workforce development, wellness, and research. the…

Philanthropy
6
American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona

To assist member firms in achieving higher professional, ethical business and economic standards, enabling member firms to provide quality consulting and engineering services for their clients and the public.

7
Education Forward Arizona

To advocate for and act on education improvements that advance the quality of life for all arizonans.

8
Prescott College Inc

Together, we create interdisciplinary, experiential, and diverse learning environments that inspire future leaders to develop a healthy, just and sustainable world. we value our inclusive community, experiential and field-based learning, a…

9
Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest

The arizona center for law in the public interest is a non-profit law firm dedicated to ensuring government accountability and protecting the legal rights of arizonans.

Civil Rights
10
Genesis Program Inc

Genesis city's mission is to effect positive change in our community by empowering disadvantaged youth to acquire the education and work skills they need to become lifelong learners and productive members of their community in this and…

Human Services
11
Arizona Healthiest State Foundation
12
Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence Inc

The arizona center for afterschool excellence is dedicated to the enhancement of child and youth development and educational achievement through quality afterschool programming.

Education

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona and the most unlike its peers is 19 North Community Alliance 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

14 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
6/14
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

Grand Canyon University CityServe — $490,819 · Human ServicesGrand Canyon University CityServeCHILDHELP INC — $20,500 · Human Services+1 more — $10,000 · Human ServicesNAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME — $380,000 · Arts & CultureNAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL O…HABITAT FOR HUMANITY CENTRAL ARIZONA — $160,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANI…ARIZONA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC — $25,300 · OtherARIZONA EDUCATIONA…BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL ARIZONA — $7,500 · OtherSTREETLIGHTUSA — $6,906 · OtherFIESTA EVENTS INC — $56,860 · Recreation & SportsBARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH — $45,000 · Public BenefitCONSCIOUS CAPITALISM ARIZONA — $5,500 · Public BenefitGAMMA MU FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 · PhilanthropyMidwestern University — $10,000 · Education
Human Services$521,319Arts & Culture$380,000Other$199,706Recreation & Sports$56,860Public Benefit$50,500Philanthropy$10,000Education$10,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetGrand Canyon University CityServe — $490,819 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetNAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME — $380,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY CENTRAL ARIZONA — $160,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetFIESTA EVENTS INC — $56,860 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetBARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH — $45,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetARIZONA EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION INC — $25,300 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetCHILDHELP INC — $20,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budget19 NORTH COMMUNITY ALLIANCE INC — $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetGAMMA MU FOUNDATION INC — $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetMidwestern University — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL ARIZONA — $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Arizona Community FoundationAZ20.8× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Arizona Community Foundation · The Foundation for Community and Health Advancement · BHHS Legacy Foundation · Thunderbirds Charities · American Express Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Grand Canyon University funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get 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 · 0–5%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 13 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph