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Michael a Obannon Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Michael a Obannon 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.

$508k
Granted FY2024still arriving
6
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$398k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Health$2.6MFood & Nutrition$245kAnimals$165kHuman Services$145kHousing & Shelter$69kEnvironment$40kEducation$20kYouth Development$5k
02FY2024 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+1 grant · $398k
$30,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$4.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Mayo Clinic Foundation$397,780
Madonna Foundation$50,000
Shade Tree Shelter$30,000
Nebraska Humane Society$20,000
GILCREASE NATURE SANCTUARY$5,000
SNUSBCA (Bowel For The Cure)$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 (FY17–18, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Open Door Mission: $1k → 12%Open Door Mission: $1k → 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.
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.
$3.2M · 13 repeat orgs$130k to everyone else

13 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

13
3

Total granted

$3.2M
$125k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+43%

Still filing today

62%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
AnimalsFood & NutritionHousing & ShelterHuman ServicesPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • TM
    THE MADONNA FOUNDATION
    2× · 2023–2024 · $150k · revenue +18%
  • TS
    THREE SQUARE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $115k · revenue +9%
  • NH
    NEBRASKA HUMANE SOCIETY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $105k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • JH
    Johns Hopkins(Wilmer Eye Inst)
    8× · 2017–2024 · $100k
  • NF
    Nebraska Food Bank
    2× · 2023–2024 · $20k
  • GS
    GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA INCgraduated
    2× · 2022–2023 · $5k · revenue +43%
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
Nevada Humane Society

To care for pets, find them homes and save lives.

Animals
2
Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Nevada spca saves the lives of southern nevada's most vulnerable pets, inspires human companions to uphold the best possible care and increases the human-animal bond through adoption, foster and preventative care.

Animals
3
Animal Humane Society

Animal Humane Society (AHS) established in 1878 and incorporated as a nonprofit charitable organization in 1891 works to engage the hearts, hands, and minds of the community to help animals. AHS's vision is to compassionately and…

Animals
4
Whiskey Acres Sanctuary Mindy James
Animals
5
Humane Society of Southwest Missouri

The humane society of southwest missouri is one of the largest open admission, no kill shelters in southwest missouri. it is dedicated to helping sick, injured and abandoned dogs and cats find their forever homes. for over 60 years the…

Animals
6
Platte Ranch Forever Home Sanctuary
Animals
7
Humane Society of Grand Forks Dba Circle of Friends Animal Shelter

The mission of the cicrle of friends animal shelter is to enrich the lives of pets through healing, education and connecting companions.

Animals
8
Lawrence Humane Society

The lawrence humane society nurtures the human-animal bond by providing shelter, care and advocacy for homeless and abused animals, as well as resource for the pets and people in our community

Animals
9
Kansas Humane Society of Wichita Kansas

The kansas humane society is a community resource for pets and people, dedicated to enhancing the welfare of all companion animals.

Animals
10
Humane Society of Southern Arizona

To compassionately serve pets and the people who love them.

Animals
11
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The aspca's mission, as stated by founder henry bergh in 1866, is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the united states." the aspca was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and…

Animals
12
Nebraska Academy of Sciences
Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nebraska Humane Society; the most unlike its peers is Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary. 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

9 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. 9 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
7/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Mayo Clinic Foundation: $2,347,631 · OtherMayo Clinic FoundationShade Tree Shelter: $140,000 · OtherNebraska Heartland Food Bank: $110,000 · OtherJohns Hopkins(Wilmer Eye Inst): $100,000 · Other+6 more: $127,000 · OtherTHE MADONNA FOUNDATION: $150,000 · PhilanthropyNEBRASKA HUMANE SOCIETY: $105,000 · AnimalsBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $40,000 · AnimalsTHREE SQUARE: $115,000 · Food & NutritionSIENA FRANCIS HOUSE: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterGIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA INC: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentOPEN DOOR MISSION D/B/A OPEN DOOR MISSION & LYDIA HOUSE: $2,000 · Human Services
Other$2,824,631Philanthropy$150,000Animals$145,000Food & Nutrition$115,000Housing & Shelter$50,000Youth Development$5,000Human Services$2,000

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 MADONNA FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetTHREE SQUARE: $115,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetNEBRASKA HUMANE SOCIETY: $105,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSIENA FRANCIS HOUSE: $50,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $40,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetGILCREASE NATURE SANCTUARY: $40,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetOMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetOPEN DOOR MISSION D/B/A OPEN DOOR MISSION & LYDIA HOUSE: $2,000 over 5y, 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.

  • Who funds THE MADONNA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THREE SQUARE ↗
  • Who funds NEBRASKA HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds SIENA FRANCIS HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds GILCREASE NATURE SANCTUARY ↗
  • Who funds OMAHA PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF SOUTHERN NEVADA INC ↗
  • Who funds OPEN DOOR MISSION D/B/A OPEN DOOR MISSION & LYDIA HOUSE ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Michael a Obannon Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michael a Obannon 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report 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 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Michael a Obannon’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