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James K Ferguson Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

James K Ferguson Foundation Inc

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.

$78k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$162kHuman Services$45kEnvironment$22kAnimals$21kEducation$21kHousing & Shelter$12kEmployment$10kPhilanthropy$8kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k15 grants · $65k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $13k
$4,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$959k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FISHING THE GOOD FIGHT INC$13,000
HOSPICE AUSTIN$9,000
CANINE THERAPY CORPS$5,000
BETHESDA CARES$5,000
HOPEWELL CANCER SUPPORT$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT$5,000
CF FOUNDATION$4,000
A WIDER CIRCLE$4,000
SINGLE MOM PROJECT$4,000
MARYLAND THERAPEUTIC RIDING$4,000
FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY$4,000
MERIDIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTER$4,000
LUCKY DAY ANIMAL RESCUE$3,000
THE LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CE$2,500
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 (FY20–25, $93k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 81% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $6k → 10%ONE WITH THE OCEAN: $2k → 11%WIND WALKERS: $3k → 6%CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA: $2k → 9%THE SAMARITAN WOMEN DEVEL OFFI: $1k → 19%PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $5k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $9k → 10%CHILDREN'S HOME SOCIETY OF VIRGINIA: $2k → 9%BETHESDA CARES: $5k → 8%PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $4k → 10%SOUTH BAY CHILDREN'S HEALTH CENTER: $1k → 14%CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES: $8k → 14%PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $4k → 10%WALK WITH SALLY: $4k → 14%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $6k → 10%PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $4k → 10%BETHESDA CARES: $3k → 8%PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $3k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $6k → 10%BETHESDA CARES: $2k → 8%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $6k → 10%BETHESDA CARES: $1k → 8%BETHESDA CARES: $1k → 8%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $4k → 10%HOSPICE AUSTIN: $4k → 10%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
IL
NY
MA
PA
CA
CO
VA
MD
DC
OK
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.

69%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$230k · 15 repeat orgs$105k to everyone else

15 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
24

Total granted

$230k
$76k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+4%
+17%

Still filing today

73%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $29k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthInternationalAnimalsArts & CultureEducationOther
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

  • HA
    HOSPICE AUSTIN
    6× · 2020–2025 · $34k · revenue +26%
  • PN
    PROJECT NIGHT NIGHT
    6× · 2020–2025 · $26k · revenue +20%
  • MT
    MARYLAND THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $23k · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • TA
    THE ASSOCIATION FOR FRONTOTEMPORAL DEGENERATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $9k · revenue +69%
  • RU
    RISE UP
    one grant, 2022 · $8k
  • CF
    CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES
    one grant, 2021 · $8k · revenue -7%
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
Healing Strides of Virginia

To promote wellness for people with personal challenges who can benefit from equine-assisted activities and therapies in a safe and supportive environment.

—
2
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
3
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
4
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
5
Childsafe Colorado Inc

Mission: our mission is to break the cycle and heal the childhood trauma resulting from abuse and neglect with specialized treatment, education and community outreach. we believe in a comprehensive, community-based approach to the problem…

Crime & Legal
6
Aerial Recovery

Aerial recovery's mission is to save lives and stop evil. through the creation and deployment of humanitarian special operators, aerial recovery brings together selected veterans, first responders, and mission-qualified civilians who,…

—
7
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
8
Blood Cancer United Inc

Our mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

Health
9
The District of Columbia Children's Advocacy Center

Safe shores provides survivor-centered intervention, hope and healing for children and families affected by abuse, trauma and violence in the district of columbia, and works to prevent and end child abuse and neglect through promising…

Crime & Legal
10
Waves for Change Foundation Ltd

Since 2009, we have worked with Universities, children and young people to develop a community based, child-friendly mental health service. Through published, participatory research, our Surf Therapy programme has been co-designed with…

Recreation & Sports
11
Head Strong Project Inc

The head strong project (headstrong) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 that provides barrier-free, stigma-free ptsd treatment to veterans, transitioning service members, and family members connected to their care.

Health
12
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Maryland Therapeutic Riding Inc; the most unlike its peers is Tibetan Language Institute. 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

35 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. 35 of the 46 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/35
Grantees still filing
18/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PROJECT HEALING WATERS FLY FISHING INC: $24,300 · HealthPROJECT HEALING WATERS FLY FISHING INCFISHING THE GOOD FIGHT INC: $24,200 · HealthFISHING THE GOOD FIGHT INCMARYLAND THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC: $23,000 · HealthMARYLAND THERAPEUTIC RIDING INCCANINE THERAPY CORPS INC: $16,200 · HealthCANINE THERAPY CORPS INCTHE ASSOCIATION FOR FRONTOTEMPORAL DEGENERATION: $8,800 · HealthTHE ASSOCIATION FOR FRONTOTEMPORAL DEG…HOPEWELL CANCER SUPPORT: $5,000 · HealthGreen Shoe Foundation: $4,000 · HealthINOVA HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION: $4,000 · Health+2 more: $5,000 · HealthHOSPICE AUSTIN: $34,300 · Human ServicesHOSPICE AUSTINPROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $25,500 · Human ServicesPROJECT NIGHT NIGHTBETHESDA CARES INC: $11,900 · Human ServicesBETHESDA CARES INCCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES: $8,000 · Human ServicesCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURESWALK WITH SALLY: $3,700 · Human Services+6 more: $11,500 · Human Services+6 moreEAGLE COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER: $13,100 · OtherEAGLE COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTE…THE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $9,600 · OtherTHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INCRISE UP: $8,000 · OtherRISE UPIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientTHE CAMPAIGN FOR HOLY CROSS: $5,000 · OtherTHE CAMPAIGN FOR HOLY CROS…CF FOUNDATION: $4,000 · OtherSINGLE MOM PROJECT: $4,000 · OtherALL THINGS WILD REHAB INC: $3,150 · OtherLUCKY DAY ANIMAL RESCUE: $3,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF EAGLE RIVER VALLEY: $4,400 · OtherUNITED WAY OF EAGLE RIVER …FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $4,000 · OtherTIBETAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE: $2,700 · OtherKISS THE GROUND: $3,500 · Other+6 more: $9,700 · Other+6 moreA WIDER CIRCLE INC: $21,100 · EducationWILDFLOWER DONOR INC: $13,150 · EnvironmentMERIDIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTER: $4,000 · InternationalRAINFOREST TRUST: $3,500 · InternationalLAB RESCUE OF LRCP INCORPORATED: $3,700 · AnimalsGENTLE GIANTS DRAFT HORSE RESCUE SOCIETY LTD: $1,500 · Animals
Health$114,500Human Services$94,900Other$79,150Education$21,100Environment$13,150International$7,500Animals$5,200

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 budgetHOSPICE AUSTIN: $34,300 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT NIGHT NIGHT: $25,500 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetPROJECT HEALING WATERS FLY FISHING INC: $24,300 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFISHING THE GOOD FIGHT INC: $24,200 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetMARYLAND THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC: $23,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetA WIDER CIRCLE INC: $21,100 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCANINE THERAPY CORPS INC: $16,200 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetBETHESDA CARES INC: $11,900 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DC CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $9,600 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ASSOCIATION FOR FRONTOTEMPORAL DEGENERATION: $8,800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT FUTURES: $8,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHOPEWELL CANCER SUPPORT: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED WAY OF EAGLE RIVER VALLEY: $4,400 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetGreen Shoe Foundation: $4,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetFOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMERIDIAN INTERNATIONAL CENTER: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINOVA HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWALK WITH SALLY: $3,700 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetLAB RESCUE OF LRCP INCORPORATED: $3,700 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetKISS THE GROUND: $3,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRAINFOREST TRUST: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBENEVOLENT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChildren's Home Society of Virginia: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWINDWALKERS EQUINE ASSISTED LEARNING AND: $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTIBETAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE: $2,700 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetSMALL CHAMPIONS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget90 PLUS PROJECT: $1,500 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSANTA MONICA RUGBY CLUB: $1,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetOne with the Ocean formerly SMOG: $1,500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetGENTLE GIANTS DRAFT HORSE RESCUE SOCIETY LTD: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSUN RADIO FOUNDATION: $1,200 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR SURVIVOR CARE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTH BAY CHILDRENS HEALTH CENTER: $1,000 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.

Paypal Charitable Giv…Network for GoodThe Bank of America C…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Paypal Charitable Giving FundDC9.3× affinity9 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Network for Good · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · 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 James K Ferguson Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from James K Ferguson Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 46%
  • Bethesda Cares Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc: 46% of income from government
  • A Wider Circle Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 James K Ferguson Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to James K Ferguson Foundation Inc 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 46 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 James K Ferguson’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