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Kairos Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Kairos 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.

$13k
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Religion$79kPhilanthropy$10kArts & Culture$6kCivil Rights$4kCrime & Legal$3kPublic Benefit$2kEnvironment$2kEducation$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$125
Median grant
7
States reached
$154k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MOUNTAIN VISTA UNITARIAN UNIVERSALI$3,944
ARIZONA CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT$3,650
COMMON GROUND MEDITATION CENTER$1,000
INEQUALITY MEDIA$500
BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE$500
MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO$300
THE MORE THAN PROJECT$207
MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM$200
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$200
Individual grant recipient$200
SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION$200
THE LOFT$200
UNITY UNITARIAN CHURCH$150
ARIZONA SONORA DESERT MUSEUM$125
HEIFER INTERNATIONAL$125
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 (FY24–24, $75) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, 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%BRAVER ANGELS: $75 → 17%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

NH
WA
MT
MN
NY
MA
CT
CA
CO
WV
VA
AZ
AR
DC
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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$90k · 25 repeat orgs$12k to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
16

Total granted

$90k
$6k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+48%

Still filing today

56%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 49% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationCivil RightsEnvironmentCrime & LegalInternationalOther
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

  • MP
    MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA
    7× · 2017–2024 · $2k · revenue +5%
  • AS
    ALL SQUARE
    2× · 2020–2023 · $1k · revenue +37%
  • UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC
    3× · 2018–2023 · $800 · revenue +78%

Funded once

  • LH
    LIVING HOPE MINISTRIESgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $1k · revenue +48%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESSgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $1k · revenue +377%
  • AC
    ANTIOCH COMMUNITY CHURCH
    one grant, 2018 · $900
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
Science Museum of Minnesota

The museum's mission statement is "turn on the science: inspire learning. inform policy. improve lives."

Arts & Culture
2
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
3
Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy

Iatp works locally and globally at the intersection of policy and practice to ensure fair and sustainable food, farm and trade systems.

Food & Nutrition
4
Free Press

Free press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. we believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse…

Arts & Culture
5
Minnesota Women Lawyers

To advance the success of women attorneys and strive for a just society.

—
6
Washington Office On Latin America

To advance human rights and social justice in the americas.

International
7
Property and Environment Research Center

Perc is dedicated to advancing conservation through markets, incentives, property rights, and partnerships.

Public Benefit
8
National Geographic Society

To increase and diffuse geographic knowledge in the broadest sense, using the power of science, exploration, education and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of the world.

Education
9
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
10
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
11
The Adler Planetarium

The adler planetarium ('adler') is a not-for-profit cultural institution whose mission is to connect people to the universe and each other under the sky we all share. it aspires to be the world's premier center for engaging in astronomy…

Arts & Culture
12
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Venn Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The More Than Project. 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

34 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. 34 of the 61 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/34
Grantees still filing
24/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MOUNTAIN VISA UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST: $55,385 · OtherMOUNTAIN VISA UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTMOUNTAIN VISTA UNITARIAN UNIVERSALI: $8,474 · OtherMOUNTAIN VISTA UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIUNITY CHURCH UNITARIAN: $6,014 · OtherUNITY CHURCH UNITARIANCOMMON GROUND MEDITATION CENTER: $4,800 · OtherCOMMON GROUND MEDITATION CENTER+34 more: $13,143 · Other+34 moreVENN FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyVENN FOUND…+1 more: $207 · PhilanthropyARIZONA CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT: $3,650 · Civil RightsTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $2,250 · Civil RightsGIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $325 · Civil Rights+1 more: $100 · Civil RightsMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $1,500 · Arts & CultureTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $700 · Arts & CultureINEQUALITY MEDIA: $500 · Arts & CultureEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY: $400 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $300 · Arts & CultureTHE LOFT INC: $200 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $325 · Arts & CultureUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $800 · EducationMITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW: $600 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $500 · EducationAMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $200 · EducationFRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS: $1,000 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $200 · EnvironmentTOHONO CHUL PARK INC: $200 · EnvironmentLIVING HOPE MINISTRIES: $1,200 · Youth Development
Other$87,816Philanthropy$10,207Civil Rights$6,325Arts & Culture$3,925Education$2,100Environment$1,400Youth Development$1,200

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 budgetVENN FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetARIZONA CENTER FOR EMPOWERMENT: $3,650 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $2,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $1,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetALL SQUARE: $1,300 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIVING HOPE MINISTRIES: $1,200 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE BOUNDARY WATERS WILDERNESS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTWIN CITIES PUBLIC TELEVISION INC: $700 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCaringBridge: $650 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW: $600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetARIZONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $600 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSANDY HOOK PROMISE FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINEQUALITY MEDIA: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGIFFORDS LAW CENTER TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: $325 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MORE THAN PROJECT: $207 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE LOFT INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFINCA INTERNATIONAL INC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTOHONO CHUL PARK INC: $200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE FUND: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPeace Development Fund: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM: $125 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $103 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMUSICAL INSTRUMENT MUSEUM: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFirst Look Institute Inc: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBraver AngelsInc: $75 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.

Saint Paul & Minnesot…The Minneapolis Found…Mightycause Charitabl…ImpactassetsincThrivent Charitable I…Morgan Stanley Global…The Pfizer Foundation…The Blackbaud Giving …National Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…
Saint Paul & Minnesota FoundationMN18.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · The Minneapolis Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Thrivent Charitable Impact & Investing · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc

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 Kairos Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kairos Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Sandy Hook Promise Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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 61 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 Kairos’ 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