Skip to content
Mick & Melissa Kowitz Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Mick & Melissa Kowitz 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.

$34k
Granted FY2025still arriving
15
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$68kReligion$43kEducation$41kHealth$26kArts & Culture$15kFood & Nutrition$6kAnimals$3kInternational$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k13 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$625
Median grant
7
States reached
$547k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Joshua's Place$10,000
Proem Ministries$10,000
Meals on Wheels$5,000
The Library Foundation$1,250
Our Rescue Mission$1,250
Agape International Missions$1,250
Lovesome Stables$1,250
Shower the People$625
Thistle Farms$625
Serving Orphans Worldwide$625
One Generation Away$625
Greenwood Community Church$500
We Need Diverse Books$500
Life Forward$100
Yellow Ribbon Support Center$100
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 (FY21–25, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%Christian Alliance for Orphans: $600 → 6%LYNC8 Project: $100 → 13%Lovesome Stables: $5k → 13%Shower the People: $1k → 14%Lovesome Stables: $2k → 13%Shower the People: $625 → 14%Lovesome Stables: $1k → 13%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

ID
OH
CA
UT
CO
KY
VA
MD
TN
NC
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$114k · 11 repeat orgs$92k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
18

Total granted

$114k
$82k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
0%

Still filing today

64%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationFood & NutritionHealthArts & CultureReligionOther
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

  • BC
    BUTLER COUNTY WARBIRDS INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $11k · revenue +9%
  • LS
    LOVESOME STABLES INC
    3× · 2023–2025 · $7k · revenue +17%
  • LF
    LIFE FORWARD PREGNANCY CARE OF CINCINNATI INC
    4× · 2021–2025 · $800 · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • MH
    Moeller High School
    one grant, 2020 · $30k
  • BL
    BURNING LIMB FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue +4%
  • GE
    Garrett ElementaryAlamance-Burlington School System
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Everything Laid Down Ministries

To give the gospel of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to the poor and dejected of the world. We do this by caring for widows, orphans, and broken people around the world. We care for hem by feeding, clothing, and encouraging them in Jesus by His…

Religion
2
Covenant House New Orleans

Covenant house new orleans (the organization) is a not-for-profit organization affiliated with 34 similar organizations across five countries, all of which are affiliates of covenant house international (parent affiliate) and share a…

Human Services
3
Reaching Out to the Nations Inc

Reaching Out To The Nations' mission is to both preach and demonstrate the love of Go through its projects and programs which include preaching, food distribution, widow and orphan assistance and leadership training.

Religion
4
Wounded Spirits Ministries

The focus of the ministry is to establish christian camps and retreats that will reach men and women who have been affected by post traumatic stress disorder with the gospel of jesus christ, and equip them to recognize, manage, and…

Recreation & Sports
5
Project New Hope International

Publicly supported evangelical organization focused on community transformation and empowerment of impoverished neighborhoods in South America and around the world. Missionaries work with community leaders assisting them in various mission…

—
6
Sowers Ministry Inc

Humanitarian / EducationSOWERS stands for Serving Orphans Widows Educating & Reaching Society.Founded in 2001 by Rev. Jayakumar Babu Salluri, Pastor Jay, God has used this ministry to educate 1,048 pastors, start and support 170 village…

Religion
7
Refuge for Prodigals International Bible Ministries Inc
Religion
8
Journey to Destiny Ministries

Journey To Destiny Ministries (JTDM) is a global, faith-based nonprofit organization committed to transforming and restoring dignity, hope, and opportunity to vulnerable individualsespecially children, women, and families affected by…

Religion
9
New Covenant Safe Haven

New Covenant Safe Haven is a Christian-based organization committed to uplifting and supporting individuals and families living in poverty within our community. Our primary mission is to provide essential services such as temporary shelter…

Human Services
10
Global Commission Partners Inc

Global commission partners is an evangelical missionary not for profit organization dedicated to evaluate and support native ministries who are planting the gospel of jesus christ among unreach people groups in poor countries.

Philanthropy
11
Watch Therefore Ministries Inc

This ministry is committed to reaching the unchurched in our society and around the world. We are training individuals around the world to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their communities. Benevolence is provided in poor communites…

Religion
12
Blits Worldwide

Encourgage and support missions and gospel of jesus christ in us and abroad.

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Agape International Missions; the most unlike its peers is We Need Diverse Books. 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

21 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. 21 of the 36 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/21
Grantees still filing
9/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Moeller High School: $30,000 · OtherMoeller High SchoolChrist's Church of Mason: $14,187 · OtherChrist's Church of MasonProem Ministries: $12,500 · OtherProem MinistriesMount Notre Dame - YPC: $9,150 · OtherMount Notre Dame - YPCMeals on Wheels: $5,000 · OtherGarrett ElementaryAlamance-Burlington School System: $5,000 · OtherOur Rescue Mission: $3,250 · Other+16 more: $17,799 · Other+16 moreJoshua's Place: $51,300 · Food & NutritionJoshua's Place+1 more: $625 · Food & NutritionBURNING LIMB FOUNDATION: $25,000 · HealthBURNING LIMB F…+1 more: $800 · HealthBUTLER COUNTY WARBIRDS INC: $10,500 · Arts & CultureOUR RESCUE: $4,000 · Arts & CultureLOVESOME STABLES INC: $7,250 · Human ServicesSHOWER THE PEOPLE: $1,625 · Human ServicesChristian Alliance for Orphans: $600 · Human Services+1 more: $100 · Human ServicesCINCINNATI URBAN PROMISE INC: $4,000 · Community ImprovementGO MINISTRIES INC: $3,000 · ReligionSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $250 · Religion
Other$96,886Food & Nutrition$51,925Health$25,800Arts & Culture$14,500Human Services$9,575Community Improvement$4,000Religion$3,250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetJoshua's Place: $51,300 over 6y, 2.7% of budgetBURNING LIMB FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetBUTLER COUNTY WARBIRDS INC: $10,500 over 4y, 4.7% of budgetLOVESOME STABLES INC: $7,250 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetOUR RESCUE: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCINCINNATI URBAN PROMISE INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGO MINISTRIES INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE INC: $2,800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS: $2,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSHOWER THE PEOPLE: $1,625 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetONE GENERATION AWAY: $1,125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLIFE FORWARD PREGNANCY CARE OF CINCINNATI INC: $800 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHISTLE FARMS INC: $625 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChristian Alliance for Orphans: $600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CONTRIBUTOR INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY GOSPEL MISSION AND AFFILIATES: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYELLOW RIBBON SUPPORT FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.1% 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 Greater Cincinnat…Hca Healthcare Founda…Duke Energy FoundationRenaissance Charitabl…American Endowment Fo…Natl Christian Charit…Charities Aid Foundat…Ge Aerospace Foundati…Morgan Stanley Global…Network for GoodNational Philanthropi…American Online Givin…
The Greater Cincinnati FoundationOH14.5× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Greater Cincinnati Foundation · Hca Healthcare Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · Ge Aerospace Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc

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 Mick & Melissa Kowitz Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mick & Melissa Kowitz Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 36 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

    Play a game based on Mick & Melissa Kowitz 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