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Growing Tree Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Growing Tree 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.

$2.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$600k
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, FY2023 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$1.4MPhilanthropy$714kEnvironment$697kFood & Nutrition$200kHuman Services$100kCivil Rights$80kHealth$40kAnimals$11kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $50k–250k4 grants · $550k
  • $250k+4 grants · $1.4M
$252,138
Median grant
6
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FILAMENT THEATRE OF CHICAGO$600,000
INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR ARTS$343,562
SCHWAB CHARITABLE$252,138
SCHWAB CHARITABLE$252,138
VIVA FARMS$200,000
SCHWAB CHARITABLE$150,000
YWCA OF GREATER CINCINNATI$100,000
COPE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER$100,000
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 (FY25–25, $100k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%YWCA OF GREATER CINCINNATI: $100k → 16%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
IL
MI
NY
MA
IN
OH
CA
AL
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 4 repeat orgs$521k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
11

Total granted

$2.0M
$221k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-48%
0%

Still filing today

75%
82%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $300k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
EnvironmentArts & CultureHealthCrime & LegalPhilanthropyInternationalOther
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

  • IC
    INTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS
    2× · 2024–2025 · $683k · revenue -48%
  • FT
    FILAMENT THEATRE OF CHICAGO
    2× · 2024–2025 · $670k
  • CN
    CINCINNATI NATURE CENTER
    2× · 2023–2024 · $527k · revenue -71%

Funded once

  • AC
    AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
    one grant, 2024 · $40k
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC
    one grant, 2024 · $40k · revenue +5%
  • SP
    SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC
    one grant, 2024 · $40k · revenue +16%
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 Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
2
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
3
Fsc I&P

Fsc i&p promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. this mission aligns with the forest stewardship council (fsc), its network of offices, and other organizations.…

Philanthropy
4
Great Peninsula Conservancy

Preserve in perpetuity the natural habitats, rural landscapes, and open spaces of the great peninsula of washington's puget sound.

Environment
5
Amazon Conservation Association

Amazon conservation unites science, people, and innovation to protect the amazon - the greatest wild forest on earth. as guardians of the most iconic forest on the planet, we bring together the power of the latest science and technology…

Environment
6
Cascade Climate Inc

To accelerate progress in interventions that harness Earths natural systems to stabilize the climate.

Environment
7
Cowiche Canyon Conservancy

Protecting our shrub-steppe and connecting people to this vanishing landscape.

—
8
California Coastkeeper dba California Coastkeeper Alliance

California Coastkeeper Alliance unites Waterkeeper programs statewide to fight for swimmable, fishable, and drinkable waters for all Californians.

Environment
9
Rogue Climate

Rogue Climate's mission is to empower Southern Oregon communities most impacted by climate change including low-income, rural, youth, seniors & communities of color, to win climate justice by organizing for clean energy, sustainable jobs &…

Education
10
Earthcorps

To cultivate leaders and community partnerships to advance environmental justice.

International
11
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

The national caucus of environmental legislators empowers a nonpartisan network of legislative champions to protect, conserve, and improve the natural and human environment.

Education
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 Skagit Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is United Way of Skagit County. 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

16 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. 16 of the 19 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/16
Grantees still filing
7/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FILAMENT THEATRE OF CHICAGO: $670,000 · OtherFILAMENT THEATRE OF CHICAGOCOPE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER: $120,000 · OtherCOPE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTERAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION: $40,000 · OtherSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $40,000 · Other+6 more: $56,000 · Other+6 moreDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $654,276 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE …THE SKAGIT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $30,000 · PhilanthropyUnited Way of Skagit County: $30,000 · PhilanthropyINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $683,415 · Arts & CultureINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR T…CINCINNATI NATURE CENTER: $526,800 · EnvironmentCINCINNATI NATURE C…+1 more: $15,000 · EnvironmentVIVA FARMS: $200,000 · Food & NutritionYWCA of Greater Cincinnati: $100,000 · Human ServicesPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $40,000 · Health
Other$926,000Philanthropy$714,276Arts & Culture$683,415Environment$541,800Food & Nutrition$200,000Human Services$100,000Health$40,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetINTERLOCHEN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $683,415 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $654,276 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCINCINNATI NATURE CENTER: $526,800 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetCOPE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER: $120,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SKAGIT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetUnited Way of Skagit County: $30,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetPADILLA BAY FOUNDATION: $24,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSKAGITONIANS TO PRESERVE FARMLAND: $6,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetEARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetORCA CONSERVANCY: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% 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.

Growing Tree Foundati…The Skagit Community …Vanguard Charitable E…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Growing Tree Foundation IncWA22.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Growing Tree Foundation Inc · The Skagit Community Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Growing Tree Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Growing Tree Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    6report 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 Growing Tree Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Growing Tree 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 19 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 Growing Tree’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