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Mountain Spirit Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Mountain Spirit 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.

$14k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$4k
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 2025.

Arts & Culture$32kEducation$22kEmployment$15kCrime & Legal$7kEnvironment$4kInternational$2kHealth$2kFood & Nutrition$2k
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$124k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MERELY PLAYERS$4,250
DURANGO FOOD BANK$2,000
POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER$2,000
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE$2,000
DURANGO EDUCATION FOUNDATION$2,000
DURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER$1,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$1,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 15%. 22% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 15%AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $10k → 15%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $2k → 18%DURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER: $5k → 12%DURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER: $1k → 15%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $2k → 18%DURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER: $5k → 12%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $2k → 18%FORT LEWIS COLLEGE: $5k → 12%EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $1k → 18%POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER: $5k → 12%FORT LEWIS COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER: $5k → 12%MERELY PLAYERS: $4k → 12%POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER: $4k → 12%POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER: $4k → 12%POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER: $4k → 12%POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER: $4k → 12%DURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER: $4k → 12%POWERHOUSE SCIENCE CENTER: $2k → 12%LA PLATA OPEN SPACE CONVERANCY: $2k → 12%LA PLATA OPEN SPACE CONVERANCY: $2k → 12%DURANGO EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%DURANGO FOOD BANK: $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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$56k · 5 repeat orgs$30k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
4

Total granted

$56k
$22k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+55%
+134%

Still filing today

80%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 42% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementCivil RightsFood & NutritionOther
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

  • TP
    THE POWERHOUSE
    7× · 2019–2025 · $28k · revenue +249%
  • DA
    DURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER
    4× · 2021–2025 · $15k · revenue +0%
  • LP
    La Plata Open Space Conservancy
    2× · 2021–2022 · $4k · revenue +55%

Funded once

  • AU
    AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $10k · revenue +51%
  • TF
    THE FORT LEWIS COLLEGE FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue +134%
  • FL
    FORT LEWIS COLLEGE
    one grant, 2019 · $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
Durango Arts Center Inc

The Durango Arts Center ("DAC") enriches the community through innovative visual and performing art, and arts education. DAC advances appreciation and participation in the arts as a cultural leader in the region.

Arts & Culture
2
Womens Resource Center in Durango

Womens Resource Center (WRC) in Durango connects women and girls to the resources and programming that will help them reach their full potential in all states of their life.

—
3
Foundation for Dubuque Public Schools

Support student achievement by promoting investment in the Dubuque Public Schools.

Philanthropy
4
Center for Nonprofit Excellence

The Center for Nonprofit Excellence strengthens Southern Colorado's nonprofit sector through leadership and resource development, advocacy and collaboration. Together, with our partners, we are co-creating a vibrant community in the Pikes…

—
5
Deschutes Land Trust

To preserve and enhance natural ecosystems, scenic areas, open spaces, fish and wildlife habitat within deschutes basin.

Environment
6
Dolores River Boating Advocates

Dolores River Boating Advocates protects and enriches the recreational and ecological values of the Dolores River through advocacy, stewardship and education.

Environment
7
Wild Rockies Field Institute Inc

To broaden the nature of a liberal arts education; teach critical thinking about social & environmental issues; foster understanding of & respect for natural & human communities; & cultivate a sense of place that encourages personal,…

Education
8
Rogue Climate

Rogue Climate's mission is to empower Southern Oregon communities most impacted by climate change including low-income, rural, youth, seniors & communities of color, to win climate justice by organizing for clean energy, sustainable jobs &…

Education
9
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
10
North Dakota State University Foundation

Building enduring relationships that maximize advocacy and philanthropy to support North Dakota State University.

Education
11
Deans for Impact

See Schedule ODeans for Impact supports educator-preparation programs to bring the science of learning into teaching practice; partners with policymakers to ensure pathways into teaching are accessible, practice-based, and…

Education
12
Taproot Earth

Taproot Earth works with communities to support strategies around the use of water, energy and land.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Durango Adult Education Center; the most unlike its peers is Merely Players. 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

10 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. 10 of the 12 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
8/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE POWERHOUSE: $28,000 · Arts & CultureTHE POWERHOUSEMERELY PLAYERS: $4,250 · Arts & CultureMERELY PLAYERSDURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER: $15,000 · EducationDURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTERAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONTHE FORT LEWIS COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EducationTHE FORT LEWIS COLLEGE FOUNDATIONDurango Education Foundation: $2,000 · EducationDurango Education FoundationEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $7,000 · Civil RightsEQUAL JUS…FORT LEWIS COLLEGE: $5,000 · OtherFORT LEWI…PLANNED PARENTHOOD: $2,000 · OtherPLANNED P…La Plata Open Space Conservancy: $4,000 · EnvironmentDURANGO FOOD BANK: $2,000 · Food & NutritionShanta Foundation Inc: $2,000 · Community Improvement
Arts & Culture$32,250Education$32,000Civil Rights$7,000Other$7,000Environment$4,000Food & Nutrition$2,000Community Improvement$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 POWERHOUSE: $28,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetDURANGO ADULT EDUCATION CENTER: $15,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $7,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FORT LEWIS COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMERELY PLAYERS: $4,250 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetLa Plata Open Space Conservancy: $4,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetShanta Foundation Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

Community Foundation …Colorado Gives Founda…Ballantine Family FundLarry and Elizabeth C…Thoren Family Charita…The Moniker FoundationWestmeath FoundationEl Pomar FoundationTexas Instruments Fou…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…
Community Foundation Serving Southwest ColoradoCO17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado · Colorado Gives Foundation · Ballantine Family Fund · Larry and Elizabeth Crawford Family Foundation · Thoren Family Charitable Trust · The Moniker Foundation · Westmeath Foundation · El Pomar Foundation · Texas Instruments Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Mountain Spirit Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Mountain Spirit 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%15%30%45%60%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 · 0–60%
    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 12 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 Mountain Spirit’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