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Kao Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Kao Family 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.

$13M
Granted FY2024still arriving
25
Grants FY2024still arriving
15
States reached
$7.9M
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$18MHealth$8.6MHuman Services$2.1MScience & Tech$1.3MPublic Safety & Disaster$1.2MArts & Culture$960kPhilanthropy$810kCrime & Legal$792kOther$0
02FY2024 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $173k
  • $50k–250k15 grants · $2.0M
  • $250k+5 grants · $11M
$150,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$123M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION$7,915,765
KAO FAMILY EDUCATION FOUNDATION$1,055,000
CHILDREN'S MERCY (FOR NICK'S VOICE)$943,778
SCLERODERMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION$500,000
THORN$417,249
KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$212,490
EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY$203,318
MISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY$203,318
RECONCILIATION SERVICES$188,756
KANSAS UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT ASSOC$170,256
GIRLS EDUCATIONAL AND MENTORING SERVICES (GEMS)$150,000
REBECCA BENDER INITIATIVE$150,000
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN$150,000
UND ALUMNI ASSOCIATION & FOUNDATION$96,679
IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$93,964
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 (FY19–24, $1.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%ANNIECANNONS: $20k → 10%THE MIDNIGHT MISSION: $100k → 14%THORN: $417k → 14%THORN: $100k → 14%THORN: $100k → 14%THORN: $100k → 14%CENTER OF GRACE: $25k → 5%THORN: $50k → 14%FOSTER ADOPT CONNECT: $25k → 15%HIGH ASPIRATIONS: $25k → 15%RECONCILIATION SERVICES: $189k → 15%RECONCILIATION SERVICES: $100k → 15%RECONCILIATION SERVICES: $100k → 15%RECONCILIATION SERVICES: $100k → 15%RECONCILIATION SERVICES: $25k → 15%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

ND
IL
NY
OR
SD
IA
IN
OH
CA
NE
MO
AZ
KS
TN
DC
HI
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$33M · 30 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +52% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

30 repeat relationships: 22 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
39

Total granted

$33M
$1.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+52%
+3%

Still filing today

83%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $348k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureInternationalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • NT
    NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
    2× · 2021–2024 · $7.9M · revenue +622% · 29% of their budget
  • CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER
    4× · 2019–2023 · $5.9M · revenue +50%
  • KF
    KAO FAMILY EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    6× · 2019–2024 · $4.2M · revenue +158% · 99% of their budget

Funded once

  • WC
    WATTS CONSERVANCY OF MUSIC
    one grant, 2021 · $209k
  • TU
    THE UNDERGROUND MUSEUM INC
    one grant, 2021 · $150k · revenue -99%
  • THE MIDNIGHT MISSION
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue -3%
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
Washburn University Foundation

The Foundation was created to assist in the promotion, development and enhancement of the financial resources for Washburn University of Topeka, as well as to receive and hold in trust any assets given in benefit of the University.

Education
2
The Ku Endowment Charitable Gift Fund

To strengthen the University and communities that have touched the lives of KU alumni and friends, the mission of The KU Endowment Charitable Gift Fund is to receive and administer gifts and bequests to further the charitable objectives of…

Philanthropy
3
Kansas Wesleyan University

Kansas wesleyan university is a liberal arts college that promotes and integrates academic excellence, spiritual development, personal well-being, and social responsibility.

Education
4
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
5
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
6
University of Kansas Memorial Corporation

The memorial unions function as a concessionaire to the university of kansas for the purpose of operating various enterprises within the kansas union building, the burge union, the debruce center, residential dining halls, and other…

Education
7
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
8
Missouri Western State University Foundation Inc

The missouri western state university foundation is a not-for-profit charitable organization that functions solely to support the mission of missouri western state university, as stated in the university's mission statement. the foundation…

—
9
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
10
The Kansas University Alumni Association

We build lifelong relationships that strengthen the university of kansas and the legacy of excellence embodied by its students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends.

Education
11
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
12
Jefferson Regional Foundation

The mission of the foundation is to improve the health and well-being of the communities served by jefferson hospital through engagement, community-driven research and grantmaking. there are three grantmaking priorities focused on the…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kansas State University Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Kao Family Education 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

53 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. 53 of the 73 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/53
Grantees still filing
33/53
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $7,925,765 · EducationNATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC DEVELO…The Kansas University Endowment Association: $1,321,256 · EducationThe Kansas University Endowment Associatio…KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $870,371 · EducationKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $867,140 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION+12 more: $2,245,681 · Education+12 moreCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $5,929,540 · HealthCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTERScleroderma Research Foundation: $2,590,000 · HealthScleroderma Research Foundat…+6 more: $334,600 · HealthKAO FAMILY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $4,207,000 · InternationalKAO FAMILY EDUCATI…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,160,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITC…REBECCA BENDER INITIATIVE: $300,000 · International+1 more: $100,000 · InternationalMISSOURI UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY: $1,325,534 · OtherMISSOURI UNIVER…CHILDREN'S MERCY (FOR NICK'S VOICE): $1,256,778 · OtherCHILDREN'S MERC…United Way of Greater Kansas City Inc: $560,000 · OtherUnited Way of G…UNIVERSITY OF MO - COLUMBIA: $372,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF M…BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF KANSAS CITY: $225,000 · OtherWATTS CONSERVANCY OF MUSIC: $209,000 · Other+24 more: $745,765 · Other+24 moreTHORN: $767,249 · Human ServicesRECONCILIATION SERVICES: $513,756 · Human ServicesSAVING INNOCENCE INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesTHE MIDNIGHT MISSION: $100,000 · Human Services+4 more: $95,000 · Human ServicesKANSAS CITY SYMPHONY: $390,356 · Arts & CultureTHE UNDERGROUND MUSEUM INC: $150,000 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $100,000 · Arts & CultureKANSAS CITY BALLET ASSOCIATION: $73,175 · Arts & CultureHARRIMAN-JEWELL SERIES: $25,000 · Arts & CultureHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · PhilanthropyVALOR PARTNERS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Philanthropy
Education$13,230,213Health$8,854,140International$5,767,000Other$4,694,077Human Services$1,676,005Arts & Culture$738,531Philanthropy$150,000

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 budgetNATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $7,925,765 over 2y, 29% of budgetCEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: $5,929,540 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetKAO FAMILY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $4,207,000 over 6y, 99% of budgetScleroderma Research Foundation: $2,590,000 over 7y, 22% of budgetThe Kansas University Endowment Association: $1,321,256 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $1,160,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $870,371 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA FOUNDATION: $867,140 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHORN: $767,249 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetUnited Way of Greater Kansas City Inc: $560,000 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetRECONCILIATION SERVICES: $513,756 over 5y, 6.2% of budgetKANSAS CITY SYMPHONY: $390,356 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetOregon State University Foundation: $365,569 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetIOWA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $365,054 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $329,731 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetREBECCA BENDER INITIATIVE: $300,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC: $267,330 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOPERATION BREAKTHROUGH INC: $250,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetGIRLS EDUCATIONAL AND MENTORING SERVICES INC: $250,000 over 2y, 6.7% of budgetSDSM&T CENTER FOR ALUMNI RELATIONS & ADVANCEMENT: $220,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetEMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY INC: $203,318 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAVING INNOCENCE INC: $200,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetTHE UNDERGROUND MUSEUM INC: $150,000 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetTHE MIDNIGHT MISSION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF UNITED HATZALAH INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUND Alumni Association and Foundation: $96,679 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBLACK FARMER FUND INC: $90,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetKANSAS CITY BALLET ASSOCIATION: $73,175 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetGIVING THE BASICS INC: $53,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF NE KANSAS AND NW MISSOURI INC: $50,025 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetKIDSTLC INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetVALOR PARTNERS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetJOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetPurdue Research Foundation: $48,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOSTERADOPT CONNECT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWOMENS EMPLOYMENT NETWORK: $25,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetRonald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGREAT JOBS KC INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHIGH ASPIRATIONS INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S PLACE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR KANSAS CITY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCENTER OF GRACE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLupita Project: $25,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetFLOURISH FURNISHINGS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetAnnieCannons Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSTORMONT-VAIL FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

Greater Kansas City C…Jewish Community Foun…Oppenstein Brothers F…Hallmark Corporate Fo…The Sunderland Founda…The Sherman Family Fo…The Kansas City Royal…The H & R Block Found…United Way of Greater…Geraldine and R a Bar…R a Long Foundation 6…The Francis Family Fo…
Greater Kansas City Community FoundationMO24.3× affinity11 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Kansas City Community Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City · Oppenstein Brothers Foundation · Hallmark Corporate Foundation · The Sunderland Foundation · The Sherman Family Foundation · The Kansas City Royals Foundation · The H & R Block Foundation · United Way of Greater Kansas City Inc · Geraldine and R a Barrows Foundation 10013700 · R a Long Foundation 600 Plaza West Bldg · The Francis Family 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 Kao Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Kao Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Oregon State University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Kao Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Kao Family 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 73 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 Kao Family’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