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Janet Q Lawson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Janet Q Lawson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$3.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
54
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$1.4M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$6.8MPhilanthropy$1.7MArts & Culture$1.5MHuman Services$1.4MHealth$653kEnvironment$481kAnimals$388kYouth Development$254kOther$0
02FY2024 · 54 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k21 grants · $99k
  • $10k–50k23 grants · $458k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $578k
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.8M
$10,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$59M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Utah State University$1,381,000
Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc$840,000
Entrada Cultural Center$280,000
Intermountain Foundation at Primary Children's Hospital$255,000
Ballet West$130,000
YMCA of Northern Utah$110,000
Salt Lake Tribune$100,000
Huntsman Mental Health Institute$100,000
Utah Symphony Utah Opera$75,000
University of Utah$62,500
Friends of Tracy Aviary$45,000
Nature Conservancy in Utah$42,500
Utah's Hogle Zoo$40,000
Girl Scouts of Utah$35,000
Neighborhood House$35,000
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 (FY20–24, $1.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 2% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%The Jared Prescott Charitable Trust: $10k → 6%New Horizons Crisis Center: $10k → 10%The Jared Prescott Charitable Trust: $10k → 6%The Jared Prescott Charitable Trust: $5k → 6%The Jared Prescott Charitable Trust: $5k → 6%Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute: $5k → 26%Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute: $5k → 26%Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute: $5k → 26%Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute: $5k → 26%Safe Harbor Crisis Center: $10k → 6%YMCA of Northern Utah: $110k → 8%YMCA of Northern Utah: $10k → 8%YMCA of Northern Utah: $10k → 8%YMCA of Northern Utah: $10k → 8%YMCA of Northern Utah: $10k → 8%The INN Between: $3k → 8%The INN Between: $3k → 8%Neighborhood House: $785k → 8%Neighborhood House: $285k → 8%Neighborhood House: $35k → 8%Neighborhood House: $35k → 8%Neighborhood House: $35k → 8%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
ID
MT
NY
MA
OR
WY
IN
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
AZ
DC
HI
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 58 repeat orgs$716k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

58 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

58
23

Total granted

$11M
$252k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+25%

Still filing today

66%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $464k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationEnvironmentHuman ServicesArts & CultureHealthYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • NH
    Neighborhood House Association
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +50%
  • US
    UTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA
    5× · 2020–2024 · $305k · revenue +39%
  • BW
    BALLET WEST
    5× · 2020–2024 · $300k · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • LC
    LISTENERS COMMUNITY RADIO OF UTAH INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +27%
  • OREGON FOOD BANK
    one grant, 2020 · $35k · revenue +7%
  • PH
    PROJECT HAWAII INC
    one grant, 2021 · $19k · revenue -8%
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
Utah Foundation

Utah foundation's mission is to produce objective, thorough and well- reasoned research and analysis that promotes the effective use of public resources, a thriving economy, a well-prepared workforce and a high quality of life for utahns.…

Public Benefit
2
Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah

Heal utah's mission is to protect utah's environment and its people by promoting clean air, clean energy, and comprehensive solutions to radioactive and toxic waste.

Environment
3
Utah Humanities Council

Utah Humanities collaborates with libraries, museums, historical societies, schools, colleges, and cultural and civic groups; provides capacity-building opportunities for volunteers and professionals in the cultural sector; presents…

Arts & Culture
4
Utah Water Ways Inc

Utah water ways promotes water conservation through collaboration between government, non-profit groups, and private sector partners and empowers the public to be wise stewards of this critical shared resource.

Environment
5
Utah Public Lands Alliance
Education
6
Utah Geological Foundation
—
7
Utah's Promise

Utah's promise (up) is committed to 100% of kids and families thriving. we unify leaders, partners, communities and systems to achieve that promise.

Philanthropy
8
Summit Land Conservancy

Summit land conservancy works with utah communities to conserve land and water for the benefit of the people and nature.

Environment
9
Utah Health Policy Project

To advance sustainable health care solutions for underserved utahns through better access, education, and public policy.

Health
10
Utah Film Center

Utah film center inspires and engages diverse audiences to initiate conversation and community building through curated film exhibition, educational programs, and artist support.

Arts & Culture
11
Utah Heritage Foundation

The organization's mission is to keep the past alive, not only for preservation, but to inspire and provoke a more creative present and sustainable future.

Arts & Culture
12
The Living Planet Inc

We inspire people to explore, discover and learn about earth's diverse ecosystems.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Ability Center; the most unlike its peers is Richard W Erickson Foundation. 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

60 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. 60 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/60
Grantees still filing
48/60
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY: $5,253,800 · OtherUTAH STATE UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $1,132,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAHIntermountain Foundation at Primary Children's Hospital: $364,000 · Other+51 more: $2,080,800 · Other+51 moreRenaissance Charitable Foundation Inc: $840,000 · PhilanthropyRenaissance C…NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $800,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHIL…+2 more: $27,000 · PhilanthropyNeighborhood House Association: $1,175,000 · Human ServicesNeighborhoo…Young Mens Christian Association Of Northern Utah: $150,000 · Human ServicesYoung Mens …+5 more: $75,000 · Human Services+5 moreUTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA: $305,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET WEST: $300,000 · Arts & CultureTHE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE INC: $300,000 · Arts & CultureMOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $60,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $14,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MCGILLIS SCHOOL: $120,000 · EducationBOUNTIFUL COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY: $40,000 · EducationBOSTON BOOK FESTIVAL INC: $29,000 · EducationMEADOWBROOK SCHOOL OF WESTON INCORPORATED: $25,000 · EducationNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $20,000 · EducationTHE WINSOR SCHOOL: $20,000 · EducationWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $13,750 · EducationUtah Hispanic Business Leadership Foundation: $10,000 · EducationPUNAHOU SCHOOL: $10,000 · Education+2 more: $10,000 · EducationGIRL SCOUTS OF UTAH: $232,000 · Youth DevelopmentPROJECT HAWAII INC: $18,750 · Youth DevelopmentBlack Mesa Trust inc: $90,500 · EnvironmentTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $50,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF ARCHES&CANYONLANDS PARKS BATES WILSON LEGACY FUND: $30,000 · EnvironmentGRAND STAIRCASE - ESCALANTE PARTNERS INC: $22,500 · EnvironmentSouthern Utah Wilderness Alliance: $14,500 · EnvironmentTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $10,000 · EnvironmentUTAH RIVERS COUNCIL INC: $10,000 · Environment+3 more: $9,000 · Environment
Other$8,830,600Philanthropy$1,667,000Human Services$1,400,000Arts & Culture$979,000Education$297,750Youth Development$250,750Environment$236,500

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 budgetNeighborhood House Association: $1,175,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetRenaissance Charitable Foundation Inc: $840,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $800,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA: $305,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetBALLET WEST: $300,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTHE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE INC: $300,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF UTAH: $232,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF TRACY AVIARY: $175,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetYoung Mens Christian Association Of Northern Utah: $150,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetTHE MCGILLIS SCHOOL: $120,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetBlack Mesa Trust inc: $90,500 over 5y, 14% of budgetYOUTH GARDEN PROJECT: $69,000 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetMOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $60,000 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetLISTENERS COMMUNITY RADIO OF UTAH INC: $50,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUTAH FOOD BANK: $49,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMOAB FREE HEALTH CLINIC: $40,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetBOUNTIFUL COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY: $40,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetOREGON FOOD BANK: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASATCH COMMUNITY GARDENS: $34,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE JARED PRESCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST: $30,000 over 4y, 53% of budgetFRIENDS OF ARCHES&CANYONLANDS PARKS BATES WILSON LEGACY FUND: $30,000 over 1y, 8.6% of budgetBOSTON BOOK FESTIVAL INC: $29,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH: $28,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEADOWBROOK SCHOOL OF WESTON INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGRAND STAIRCASE - ESCALANTE PARTNERS INC: $22,500 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetHOPI TUTSKWA PERMACULTURE INSTITUTE: $20,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetMOAB PUBLIC RADIO INC: $20,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetNEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WINSOR SCHOOL: $20,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT HAWAII INC: $18,750 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY EMPLOYMENT: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDavis Education Foundation: $14,800 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSouthern Utah Wilderness Alliance: $14,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $13,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ABILITY CENTER: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRichard W Erickson Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetJohn D Eccles Family Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetNEW HORIZONS CRISIS CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetRape Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN): $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPUNAHOU SCHOOL: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE HARBOR CRISIS CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUTAH RIVERS COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetSalt Lake Childrens Choir: $10,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetLEGAL AID SOCIETY OF SALT LAKE: $6,000 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds Neighborhood House Association ↗
  • Who funds Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ↗
  • Who funds UTAH SYMPHONY & OPERA ↗
  • Who funds BALLET WEST ↗
  • Who funds THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE INC ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF UTAH ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF TRACY AVIARY ↗
  • Who funds Young Mens Christian Association Of Northern Utah ↗
  • Who funds THE MCGILLIS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Black Mesa Trust inc ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH GARDEN PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds MOAB MUSIC FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds LISTENERS COMMUNITY RADIO OF UTAH INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS ↗
  • Who funds UTAH FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds MOAB FREE HEALTH CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds BOUNTIFUL COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds OREGON FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds WASATCH COMMUNITY GARDENS ↗
  • Who funds THE JARED PRESCOTT CHARITABLE TRUST ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF ARCHES&CANYONLANDS PARKS BATES WILSON LEGACY FUND ↗
  • Who funds BOSTON BOOK FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S CENTER UTAH ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Sorenson Legacy Found…George S and Dolores …Larry H Miller and Ga…The Community Foundat…Dominion Energy Chari…Lawrence & Janet Dee …SJ and Jessie E Quinn…Willard L Eccles Char…Ihc Health Services I…McCarthey Family Foun…Palladium FoundationThe Call Foundation
Sorenson Legacy FoundationUT39.4× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sorenson Legacy Foundation · George S and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation · Larry H Miller and Gail Miller Family Foundation · The Community Foundation of Utah · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Lawrence & Janet Dee Foundation · SJ and Jessie E Quinney Foundation · Willard L Eccles Charitable Foundation · Ihc Health Services Inc · McCarthey Family Foundation · Palladium Foundation · The Call 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 Janet Q Lawson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Janet Q Lawson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Oregon Food Bank: 21% of income from government
  • Planned Parenthood of the Columbia Willamette Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Boston Book Festival Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • New England Conservatory of Music: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
21report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Janet Q Lawson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Janet Q Lawson 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 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Janet Q Lawson’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