Skip to content
Joe Lee Griffin Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Joe Lee Griffin 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.

$239k
Granted FY2025still arriving
33
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$45k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Religion$914kHealth$404kHuman Services$209kEducation$113kInternational$111kRecreation & Sports$76kYouth Development$63kArts & Culture$35kOther$0
02FY2025 · 33 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k28 grants · $104k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $135k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$2.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHURCH OF THE HIGHLANDS$45,000
VESTAVIA HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$30,000
UNITED STATES ISRAEL ASSOCIATION$25,000
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$25,000
UAB O'NEAL COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER$10,000
THE GLADNEY FUND$7,500
ONWARD$5,000
FORGOTTEN CHILDRENS MINISTRIES$5,000
NAMI$5,000
UNLESS U$5,000
EMBRACE ALABAMA KIDS$5,000
CHILDREN'S HARBOR$5,000
NASHVILLE COACHING COALITION$5,000
FOOD BANK OF EAST ALABAMA$5,000
MIRACLE ACADEMY PRIVATE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL$5,000
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 (FY17–25, $114k) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $1k → 14%BIG OAK RANCH: $5k → 13%RAINBOW OMEGA INC: $1k → 18%EMBRACE ALABAMA KIDS: $5k → 18%UNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME: $6k → 33%BIG OAK RANCH: $5k → 13%EMBRACE ALABAMA KIDS: $5k → 18%UNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME: $6k → 33%BIG OAK RANCH: $3k → 13%EMBRACE ALABAMA KIDS: $5k → 18%UNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME: $1k → 33%BIG OAK RANCH: $2k → 13%EMBRACE ALABAMA KIDS: $5k → 18%EMBRACE ALABAMA KIDS: $5k → 18%OAK MOUNTAIN MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $3k → 7%OAK MOUNTAIN MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $2k → 7%OAK MOUNTAIN MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $1k → 7%OAK MOUNTAIN MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $1k → 7%OAK MOUNTAIN MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $1k → 7%THE LOVELADY CENTER: $5k → 16%THE LOVELADY CENTER: $2k → 16%THE LOVELADY CENTER: $2k → 16%THE LOVELADY CENTER: $2k → 16%THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES: $3k → 16%THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES: $2k → 16%THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES: $2k → 16%THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES: $2k → 16%THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES: $1k → 16%THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES: $500 → 16%THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES: $500 → 16%UNLESS U: $10k → 16%UNLESS U: $5k → 16%UNLESS U: $5k → 16%UNLESS U: $5k → 16%UNLESS U: $5k → 16%BROTHER BRYAN MISSION: $500 → 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

MT
OH
PA
CA
CO
MO
VA
TN
NC
AL
GA
TX
FL
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 53 repeat orgs$82k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +46% since the first grant, against +29% for those funded once.

53 repeat relationships: 32 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
33

Total granted

$1.9M
$81k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
+29%

Still filing today

42%
42%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHealthReligionEducationYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureOther
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

  • Samford University
    8× · 2018–2025 · $41k · revenue +61%
  • FC
    FORGOTTEN CHILDREN MINISTRIES
    8× · 2018–2025 · $40k · revenue +15%
  • UM
    UNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME
    8× · 2017–2025 · $38k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • VH
    VESTAVIA HILLS CITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $20k · revenue +67%
  • AU
    AUBURN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF HUMAN SCIENCES
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
  • AG
    Alabama Game Changers
    one grant, 2024 · $5k · revenue 0%
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
African Children's Mission Inc

Reaching out to children in east africa living in destitute circumstances, both physically and with the gospel of jesus christ, to enable them to grow and develop in a secure environment.

Religion
2
Agape of Central Alabama Inc

As a ministry of jesus christ, agape's mission is that vulnerable and orphaned children find permanency in safe, nurturing families.

Human Services
3
Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County Inc

Habitat for humanity of baldwin county, inc. is an ecumenical, christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing by partnering with the community to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.

—
4
Christian Services for Children in Alabama

The mission of christian services for children in alabama is to show the love of christ by providing counseling and other related services to children and their families.

—
5
Refuge 1212 Inc

Red mountain grace is a not-for-profit organization dedicated as a place of refuge for out-of-town patients and caregivers that are receiving extended medical treatment. our foundation is in christ, our heart is for birmingham.

Health
6
Mission Mississippi

To encourage and demonstrate grace in the body of christ across racial lines, so that communities throughout mississippi can see practical evidence of the gospel message.

Civil Rights
7
Christian Healthcare Ministries Inc

To glorify god, show christian love, and experience god's presence as christians share each other's medical bills.

Religion
8
Nami Alabama Inc

Encourage and enhance advocacy and family support services on behalf of individuals suffering from mental illness.

Health
9
Reaching Avery Ministry

Provide support to families in need.

Human Services
10
Alabama Partnership for Children

To work in partnership with families and organizations to ensure that all alabama children (birth to five) get everything they need to develop to their fullest potential.

Education
11
Community Food Bank of Central Alabama

To feed people in need today and foster collaborative solutions to end hunger tomorrow.

Food & Nutrition
12
Bless the Children Ministries Inc

To be the love of christ to uganda's orphaned and vulnerable children, equipping them to become authentic godly leaders that transform generations

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Brother Bryan Mission; the most unlike its peers is Inland Empire Community 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

42 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. 42 of the 90 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
40/42
Grantees still filing
31/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VESTAVIA HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $356,000 · OtherVESTAVIA HILLS UNITED METHODIST CHURCHTRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $173,500 · OtherTRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCHAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $166,000 · OtherAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETYEAST LAKE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $146,000 · OtherEAST LAKE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHCHURCH OF THE HIGHLANDS INC: $145,000 · OtherCHURCH OF THE HIGHLANDS INCUAB O'NEAL COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER: $63,000 · OtherTHE GLADNEY FUND: $60,500 · OtherBANKS ACADENY: $60,000 · OtherUNITED STATES ISRAEL ASSOCIATION: $55,000 · Other+52 more: $391,000 · Other+52 moreUNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME: $38,000 · Human ServicesUNLESS U INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesBIG OAK RANCH INC: $14,500 · Human ServicesFREEDOM RAIN INC: $11,000 · Human ServicesTHE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES INC: $10,500 · Human ServicesOAK MOUNTAIN MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $7,500 · Human Services+3 more: $2,500 · Human ServicesCHILDREN'S HARBOR INC: $29,000 · HealthSMILE-A-MILE: $25,000 · HealthKENYARELIEFORG: $10,000 · HealthHOLCOMB MINISTRIES: $5,000 · HealthAlabama Game Changers: $5,000 · Health+3 more: $3,000 · HealthSamford University: $40,750 · EducationNASHVILLE COACHING COALITION: $27,500 · EducationAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,000 · EducationFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $28,850 · Youth DevelopmentFRIENDS OF WINNATASKA INC: $17,500 · Youth DevelopmentFORGOTTEN CHILDREN MINISTRIES: $40,000 · ReligionSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $2,000 · ReligionWill Bright Foundation Inc: $2,000 · Religion+1 more: $750 · ReligionVESTAVIA HILLS CITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $3,000 · PhilanthropyInland Empire Community Foundation: $1,000 · Philanthropy
Other$1,616,000Human Services$114,000Health$77,000Education$71,250Youth Development$46,350Religion$44,750Philanthropy$24,000

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 budgetTHE GLADNEY FUND: $60,500 over 8y, 16% of budgetSamford University: $40,750 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetFORGOTTEN CHILDREN MINISTRIES: $40,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetUNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME: $38,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUNLESS U INC: $30,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HARBOR INC: $29,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $28,850 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNASHVILLE COACHING COALITION: $27,500 over 7y, 38% of budgetSMILE-A-MILE: $25,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetVESTAVIA HILLS CITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF WINNATASKA INC: $17,500 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetFOOD BANK OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $16,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBIG OAK RANCH INC: $14,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCORNERSTONE SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA INC: $12,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM RAIN INC: $11,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES INC: $10,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetKENYARELIEFORG: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBundles of Hope Inc: $7,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetOAK MOUNTAIN MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $7,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetDOWNTOWN JIMMIE HALE MISSION: $6,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSIBYL TEMPLE FOUNDATION: $6,400 over 9y, 3.6% of budgetHOLCOMB MINISTRIES: $5,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetAlabama Game Changers: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMERS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWill Bright Foundation Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetEMPOWER MINISTRIES: $2,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetBirmingham Zoo Inc: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVESTAVIA HILLS HIGH SCHOOL PTO: $2,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetRED MOUNTAIN PARK FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUNTSVILLE HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONINC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCASTING FOR RECOVERY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInland Empire Community Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAINBOW OMEGA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKEVIN DERRYBERRY MINISTRIES INC: $750 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBROTHER BRYAN MISSION: $500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 THE GLADNEY FUND ↗
  • Who funds Samford University ↗
  • Who funds FORGOTTEN CHILDREN MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds UNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME ↗
  • Who funds UNLESS U INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S HARBOR INC ↗
  • Who funds FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES ↗
  • Who funds NASHVILLE COACHING COALITION ↗
  • Who funds SMILE-A-MILE ↗
  • Who funds VESTAVIA HILLS CITY SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF WINNATASKA INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF EAST ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds BIG OAK RANCH INC ↗
  • Who funds CORNERSTONE SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds FREEDOM RAIN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE FOUNDRY MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds KENYARELIEFORG ↗
  • Who funds Bundles of Hope Inc ↗

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.

The Daniel Foundation…Alabama Power Foundat…Hill Crest Foundation…The Community Foundat…Susan Mott Webb Chari…Dunn-French FoundationAltecstyslinger Found…Robert R Meyer Founda…Protective Life Found…Walker Area Community…The Long Lewis Founda…The Hackney Foundation
The Daniel Foundation of AlabamaAL38.9× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Hill Crest Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · Dunn-French Foundation · Altecstyslinger Foundation · Robert R Meyer Foundation · Protective Life Foundation · Walker Area Community Foundation Inc · The Long Lewis Foundation · The Hackney 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 Joe Lee Griffin Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Joe Lee Griffin Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 90 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 Joe Lee Griffin’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