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Liberty Ears Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Liberty Ears Inc

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.

$2.3M
Granted FY2023
13
Grants FY2023
7
States reached
$400k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

50% of Liberty Ears Inc’s FY2024 grant dollars went to The Denver Foundation, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 5 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Liberty Ears Inc named its own grantees at scale: 9 organizations, $2M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

2
’22
9
’23
5
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Civil Rights$1.0MPhilanthropy$1.0MSocial Science$900kEducation$509kHealth$400kScience & Tech$400kPublic Benefit$328kEmployment$100k
02FY2023 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.6M
  • $250k+2 grants · $700k
$200,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$48M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LUDWIG VON MISES FOUNDATION$400,000
FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION$300,000
AMERICAN TINNITUS ASSOCIATION$200,000
FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION$200,000
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION$200,000
AMERICAN BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE$200,000
Individual grant recipient$200,000
THE REASON FOUNDATION$124,356
RANDOLPH BOURNE INSTITUTE DBA ANTIWAR$100,000
HEARING HEALTH FOUNDATION$100,000
CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT THOUGHT$100,000
MIKE ROWE WORKS FOUNDATION$100,000
AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN GROWTH FUND INC$100,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 73% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT THOUGHT: $200k → 7%FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION: $300k → 22%RANDOLPH BOURNE INSTITUTE DBA ANTIWAR: $100k → 7%ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%ADVOCATES FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT: $104k → 12%THE REASON FOUNDATION: $124k → 14%HEARING HEALTH FOUNDATION: $100k → 17%AMERICAN BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE: $200k → 10%AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN GROWTH FUND INC: $100k → 14%REASON FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%LUDWIG VON MISES FOUNDATION: $400k → 15%FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION: $200k → 13%COLORADO JAPANESE SCHOOL: $30k → 8%DENVER FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 12%CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT THOUGHT: $100k → 7%FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION: $200k → 22%ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: $200k → 10%MIKE ROWE WORKS FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%THE SOHO FORUM: $200k → 17%AMERICAN BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE: $154k → 10%THE SOHO FORUM: $200k → 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

WA
NY
PA
CA
CO
AL
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 34% of Liberty Ears Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Liberty Ears Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

63%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 7 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2023, 1 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
2

Total granted

$2.3M
$204k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+128%

Still filing today

71%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
EducationSocial ScienceCivil RightsHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • FF
    FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $500k · revenue +11%
  • EF
    Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc
    2× · 2023–2024 · $400k · revenue +20%
  • AB
    AMERICAN BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE
    2× · 2023–2024 · $354k · revenue +5%

Funded once

  • AF
    Advocates for Self-Government Incgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $104k · revenue +128%
  • RF
    REASON FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $100k
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
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
2
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Competitive enterprise institute (cei) is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. we believe that consumers are best helped not by government regulation but by being…

—
3
Frontiers of Freedom Institute

To educate the public on constitutional issues and public policy matters. We are dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, peace through strength, limited government, free enterprise, and the values embodied in the Declaration of…

Public Benefit
4
Council On Foreign Relations Inc

The council on foreign relations (cfr) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and…

International
5
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
6
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
7
The Libertarian Institute

Disseminate information and education about pertinent economic, social and governmental topics, via print, web and other media to educate the public about the principles of LIbertarianism.

Education
8
American Institute for Economic Research

American institute for economic research (aier) educates people on the value of personal freedom, free enterprise, property rights, limited government and sound money. aier's ongoing scientific research demonstrates the importance of these…

Social Science
9
The Fund for American Studies

The fund for american studies (tfas) seeks to create a brighter, more prosperous future by preparing young people for leadership and teaching them the ideas of freedom and a free-market economy. founded in 1967, tfas organizes programs for…

—
10
Free Press Action Fund

Free press action fund fights for your rights to connect and communicate. we fight to save the free and open internet, curb runaway media consolidation, protect press freedom, and promote digital civil rights. we believe that change…

Civil Rights
11
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
12
Competition & Innovation Institute
Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Foundation for Economic Education Inc; the most unlike its peers is Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

12 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 12 of the 17 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
9/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc: $400,000 · OtherElectronic Frontier Foundation IncLUDWIG VON MISES FOUNDATION: $400,000 · OtherLUDWIG VON MISES FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $400,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientAMERICAN TINNITUS ASSOCIATION: $300,000 · OtherAMERICAN TINNITUS ASSOCIATIONAdvocates for Self-Government Inc: $104,000 · OtherAdvocates for Self-Government IncREASON FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherREASON FOUNDATIONRANDOLPH BOURNE INSTITUTE DBA ANTIWAR: $100,000 · OtherRANDOLPH BOURNE INSTITUTE DBA ANTIWARTHE DENVER FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyTHE DENVER FOUNDATIONMIKEROWEWORKS FOUNDATION: $100,000 · PhilanthropyMIKEROWEWORKS FOUNDATIONAMERICAN BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE: $354,188 · EducationAMERICAN BROWNS…THE REASON FOUNDATION: $124,356 · EducationTHE REASON FOUN…AMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN GROWTH FUND INC: $100,000 · EducationAMERICAN FEDERA…COLORADO JAPANESE SCHOOL: $55,000 · EducationCOLORADO JAPANE…FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC: $500,000 · Civil RightsFOUNDATION F…CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT THOUGHT: $300,000 · Social ScienceCENTER FOR I…Foundation for Economic Education Inc: $200,000 · Social ScienceFoundation f…HEARING HEALTH FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Health
Other$1,804,000Philanthropy$1,100,000Education$633,544Civil Rights$500,000Social Science$500,000Health$100,000

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 budgetTHE DENVER FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION INC: $500,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetElectronic Frontier Foundation Inc: $400,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetAMERICAN BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE: $354,188 over 2y, 8.2% of budgetCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT THOUGHT: $300,000 over 2y, 6.6% of budgetFoundation for Economic Education Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetTHE REASON FOUNDATION: $124,356 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetAdvocates for Self-Government Inc: $104,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetHEARING HEALTH FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetAMERICAN FEDERATION FOR CHILDREN GROWTH FUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMIKEROWEWORKS FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetCOLORADO JAPANESE SCHOOL: $55,000 over 2y, 17% 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.

Donors Trust IncAmazonsmile Foundation
Donors Trust IncVA13.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donors Trust Inc · 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 Liberty Ears Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Liberty Ears Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 17 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Liberty Ears’ 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