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Menk Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Menk 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.

$11k
Granted FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$177kArts & Culture$26kHealth$19kEnvironment$16kEducation$6kAnimals$5kPublic Safety & Disaster$5kHuman Services$3kOther$0
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,500
Median grant
4
States reached
$117k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$2,583
AUTISM SPEAKS$2,500
NATIONAL PARKS FOUNDATION$1,500
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,010
MAPLETON EDUCATION FOUNDATION$1,000
DONORS CHOOSE$594
BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION$500
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 (FY22–23, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 59% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%A PRECIOUS CHILD: $1k → 5%IMAGINE FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%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.
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 100% of Menk Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 86% of the giving stays in CO; by stated purpose, 0%.

Menk Foundationlessmore 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.

29%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$77k · 14 repeat orgs$187k to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
7

Total granted

$77k
$187k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-2%
+93%

Still filing today

57%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
HealthEducationHuman ServicesArts & CultureFood & NutritionPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • NP
    NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION
    5× · 2018–2024 · $14k · revenue +114%
  • AD
    ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC
    4× · 2019–2022 · $9k · revenue +17%
  • THE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $870 · revenue +8%

Funded once

  • BP
    BRUCE PHIPPS MENK FAMILY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $177k
  • AS
    AUTISM SCIENCE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +113%
  • MAUI FOOD BANK INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $2k · revenue +138%
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
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…

—
2
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
3
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
4
National Public Radio Inc

National public radio, inc. ("npr") works collaboratively with member public radio station licensees ("member stations") to create a more informed public, one that is challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of…

Arts & Culture
5
Arizona Community Foundation

To lead, serve and collaborate to mobilize enduring philanthropy for a better arizona.

Philanthropy
6
American Association of Physicists in Medicine

Advancing medicine through excellence in the science, education and professional practice of medical physics. the mission is carried out through driving scientific and clinical innovation in medical physics to improve human health,…

Science & Tech
7
University of Maryland Oncology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
8
National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors

Empowering financial professionals and consumers through world-class advocacy and education.

—
9
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
10
Minnesota Medical Association

To be the leading voice of medicine to make minnesota the healthiest state and the best place to practice.

—
11
University of Maryland Pediatric Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
12
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood Inc; the most unlike its peers is Noco Humane. 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

13 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. 13 of the 21 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)
13/13
Grantees still filing
8/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BRUCE PHIPPS MENK FAMILY FOUNDATION: $177,361 · OtherBRUCE PHIPPS MENK FAMILY FOUNDATIONNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $14,000 · OtherNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATIONSTRINGS ON THE MOUNTAIN: $12,045 · OtherSTRINGS ON THE MOUNTAIN+6 more: $16,658 · Other+6 moreALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $9,000 · HealthAUTISM SPEAKS INC: $5,000 · HealthAUTISM SCIENCE FOUNDATION: $2,500 · HealthROCKY MOUNTAIN PLANNED PARENTHOOD INC: $1,532 · HealthROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $14,000 · Arts & CultureMapleton Education Foundation: $3,000 · EducationDONORSCHOOSEORG: $1,584 · EducationIMAGINE FOUNDATION: $1,500 · Human ServicesA PRECIOUS CHILD INC: $1,027 · Human ServicesMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $2,073 · Food & NutritionNoco Humane: $2,000 · AnimalsTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $870 · Public Safety & Disaster
Other$220,064Health$18,032Arts & Culture$14,000Education$4,584Human Services$2,527Food & Nutrition$2,073Animals$2,000Public Safety & Disaster$870

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 budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $14,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $14,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE & RELATED DISORDERS ASSOCIATION INC: $9,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetAUTISM SPEAKS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMapleton Education Foundation: $3,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetAUTISM SCIENCE FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $2,073 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNoco Humane: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $1,584 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PLANNED PARENTHOOD INC: $1,532 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetIMAGINE FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetA PRECIOUS CHILD INC: $1,027 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREAST CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $870 over 2y, 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.

Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO7.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    0get no government money at all
    5report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Menk Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Menk 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 21 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 Menk’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