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Michaelson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Michaelson Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$23k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$95kEnvironment$60kAnimals$45kHuman Services$40kInternational$22kEducation$10kHousing & Shelter$5kHealth$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $3k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $20k
$2,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Fractured Atlas$20,000
Pancreatic Cancer Fund$2,000
Childrens International$1,080
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 (FY20–24, $50k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 91% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Northwest Animal Companions: $3k → 8%Street Roots: $5k → 12%Northwest Animal Companions: $2k → 8%Friendly House: $10k → 12%FRIENDLY HOUSE: $10k → 12%Friendly House: $10k → 12%Friendly House: $10k → 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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$251k · 9 repeat orgs$30k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
6

Total granted

$251k
$28k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+22%

Still filing today

89%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’24’25
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesAnimalsEnvironmentInternationalEducationOther
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

  • FRACTURED ATLAS INC
    5× · 2020–2025 · $85k · revenue +63%
  • FRIENDLY HOUSE INC
    4× · 2020–2024 · $40k · revenue +123%
  • MA
    MT ADAMS RESOURCE STEWARDS
    3× · 2021–2024 · $35k · revenue +272%

Funded once

  • FS
    FRIENDS SCHOOL OF ATLANTA
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +1%
  • STREET ROOTS INC
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue -65%
  • BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +5%
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
Friends of Oakland Animal Services

Our mission is to provide homes, health, and happiness to oakland's animals in need. our primary focus has been to fund programs and activities at oakland animal services to greatly increase lifesaving of shelter animals.

Animals
2
Wild Salmon Rivers

To conserve functioning salmon/steelhead eco-system at watershed levels, integrate angling activities with basic scientific research, collect raw data, monitor environmental functions, salmon/steelhead population dynamics, public…

Environment
3
Portland Trails

Over the next five years, portland trails will work to transform greater portland into a regional hub of connectivity and sustainability. by facilitating the expansion and enhancement of our trail network, we will foster inclusive…

Environment
4
Washington Office On Latin America

To advance human rights and social justice in the americas.

International
5
Coho Productions Inc

Coho productions provides critical theatrical opportunities to low-income and underserved artists in portland through our resource center and co-production model. we bring people of all backgrounds together into a theatre community where…

Arts & Culture
6
Oakland Museum of California

The museum's mission is to inspire all californians to create a more vibrant future for themselves and their communities. through collections, exhibitions, education programs, and public dialogue, we inspire people of all ages and…

Arts & Culture
7
Leach Garden Friends

Leach botanical garden offers immersive, restorative, and educational experiences in a unique landscape of native plants and horticultural collections for the purpose of building community, celebrating nature, and inspiring environmental…

Environment
8
One Tail At a Time - Pdx

To improve the lives of companion animals by providing humane individualized care and a chance to know the comforts of a loving home through advocacy education and support of those in need.

—
9
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
10
Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & clark is a premier private higher education institution offering an exceptional education in an inclusive environment. by fostering critical thinking, innovation, creativity, civic engagement, and leadership, both inside and…

Education
11
Animal Wellness Action

To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. enacting good laws depends upon electing good lawmakers, and we remind voters which candidates care about and support animal issues.

Human Services
12
Urban League of Portland Inc

To help empower african americans and others achieve equality in education, employment, and economic security.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Write Around Portland; the most unlike its peers is Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. 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

14 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. 14 of the 16 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
11/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FRACTURED ATLAS INC: $85,000 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED ATLAS INC+2 more: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+2 moreMT ADAMS RESOURCE STEWARDS: $35,000 · EnvironmentMT ADAMS RESOURCE STEWAR…COLUMBIA LAND TRUST: $25,000 · EnvironmentCOLUMBIA LAND TRUSTFRIENDLY HOUSE INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesFRIENDLY HOUSE INCSTREET ROOTS INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesSTREET ROOTS INCNORTHWEST ANIMAL COMPANIONS: $4,500 · Human ServicesNORTHWEST ANIMAL CO…OREGON HUMANE SOCIETY: $35,000 · AnimalsOREGON HUMANE SO…BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $5,000 · AnimalsBEST FRIENDS ANI…FRIENDS SCHOOL OF ATLANTA: $10,000 · OtherChildrens International: $6,920 · OtherOUTSIDE IN: $2,500 · OtherPancreatic Cancer Fund: $2,000 · OtherCHILD AID: $15,000 · InternationalWRITE AROUND PORTLAND: $5,000 · Education
Arts & Culture$90,000Environment$60,000Human Services$49,500Animals$40,000Other$21,420International$15,000Education$5,000

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 budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $85,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDLY HOUSE INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetMT ADAMS RESOURCE STEWARDS: $35,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetOREGON HUMANE SOCIETY: $35,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCOLUMBIA LAND TRUST: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHILD AID: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS SCHOOL OF ATLANTA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWRITE AROUND PORTLAND: $5,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetSTREET ROOTS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHWEST ANIMAL COMPANIONS: $4,500 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetOUTSIDE IN: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMOVEMENT RESEARCH INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

The Oregon Community …The Collins FoundationMeyer Memorial TrustMarie Lamfrom Charita…Rose E Tucker Charita…American Endowment Fo…American Online Givin…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Oregon Community FoundationOR18.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Oregon Community Foundation · The Collins Foundation · Meyer Memorial Trust · Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Trust · Rose E Tucker Charitable Trust · American Endowment Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Michaelson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michaelson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • Outside in: 33% of income from government
  • Write Around Portland: 6% of income from government
  • Friendly House Inc: 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get 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
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 16 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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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