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Murdough Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Murdough Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$715k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$400k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Health$2.5MRecreation & Sports$1.0MEducation$815kReligion$416kHuman Services$10kPhilanthropy$6kEmployment$2kFood & Nutrition$500
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $300k
  • $250k+1 grant · $400k
$200,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION$400,000
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ATHLETICS FOUNDATION$200,000
AKRON CHILDEN'S HOSPITAL$100,000
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF HUDSON$15,000
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 (FY20–20, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%NORTHEAST OHIO FOUNDATION FOR PATRIOTISM: $10k → 17%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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 6 repeat orgs$85k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +94% since the first grant, against +57% for those funded once.

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

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
8

Total granted

$4.7M
$70k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+94%
+57%

Still filing today

50%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
PhilanthropyEmploymentHealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureOther
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

  • JS
    JEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION
    4× · 2020–2023 · $800k · revenue +94%
  • OR
    OCEAN REEF CHAPEL FOUNDATION INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $400k · revenue +226%
  • TK
    The Karen Wellington Memorial Foundation
    2× · 2021–2022 · $2k · revenue +67%

Funded once

  • UH
    UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
  • OR
    OCEAN REEF MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue +57%
  • OB
    ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION
    one grant, 2021 · $15k
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
Ohio Farm Bureau Foundation

Inspiring innovation and cultivating investment in ohio's farm and food community.

Recreation & Sports
2
Ocean Reef Community Foundation Inc

To promote and enhance responsible and effective philanthropy for members of the ocean reef community.

Philanthropy
3
Alaska Whale Foundation

Alaska Whale Foundation is dedicated to marine mammal conservation through research monitoring and education.

Environment
4
United Way Foundation of the Capital Region

The United Way Foundation of the Capital Region (the Foundation) was established with the purpose of supporting the mission of the United Way by soliciting, investing and maintaining funds designated by the board or donors to function as…

—
5
Offield Ocean Fund
Environment
6
Akron Community Foundation

To identify, activate, and support informed and passionate philanthropists who strive to improve the quality of life in our community. we accomplish this by:- building a permanent source of charitable funding- cultivating strategic…

Philanthropy
7
Oakland Chamber of Commerce Foundation

The oakland chamber of commerce foundation carries out charitble work to benefit the greater oakland community.

Recreation & Sports
8
Wilson Medical Center Foundation

Assist Wilson Medical Center in its mission of promoting, improving, and restoring health.

Philanthropy
9
Nancy Owens Breast Cancer Foundation

Nancy Owens Breast Cancer Foundation provides funding to public charities that support education, care, and research to find a cure for breast cancer while memorializing Nancy Owens' life, the values she lived by, and the courage with…

Philanthropy
10
Ao North America Charitable Fund

Promoting excellence in patient care and outcomes in trauma and musculoskeletal disorders by:- improving performance through education- optimizing clinical treatment pathways and guidelines- promoting innovation though research and…

Health
11
Hudson Foundation

General charitable, philanthropic, and eduational purposes within the attendance of hudson area schools.

—
12
Julia Koch Family Foundation

To promote the common good and general welfare of the community.

Public Benefit
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hudson Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Case Barlow Farm. 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 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
8/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION: $2,000,000 · OtherTHE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ATHLETICS FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ATHLETICS FOUNDATIONAKRON CHILDEN'S HOSPITAL: $500,000 · OtherAKRON CHILDEN'S HOSPITALOCEAN REEF CHAPEL FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 · OtherOCEAN REEF CHAPEL FOUNDATION INC+5 more: $71,000 · OtherJEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $800,000 · PhilanthropyJEFFERSON SCHOLARS …+2 more: $7,000 · PhilanthropyNORTHEAST OHIO FOUNDATION FOR PATRIOTISM: $10,000 · Human ServicesTWO FOUNDATION INC TWO CAFE & BOUTIQUE: $2,000 · EmploymentThe Karen Wellington Memorial Foundation: $2,000 · HealthCASE BARLOW FARM: $500 · Arts & Culture
Other$3,971,000Philanthropy$807,000Human Services$10,000Employment$2,000Health$2,000Arts & Culture$500

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 budgetJEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION: $800,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetOCEAN REEF CHAPEL FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 over 4y, 7.0% of budgetOCEAN REEF MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNORTHEAST OHIO FOUNDATION FOR PATRIOTISM: $10,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetHUDSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTWO FOUNDATION INC TWO CAFE & BOUTIQUE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Karen Wellington Memorial Foundation: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AKRON MARATHON CHARITABLE CORPORATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCASE BARLOW FARM: $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.

  • Who funds JEFFERSON SCHOLARS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN REEF CHAPEL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds OCEAN REEF MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTHEAST OHIO FOUNDATION FOR PATRIOTISM ↗
  • Who funds HUDSON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TWO FOUNDATION INC TWO CAFE & BOUTIQUE ↗
  • Who funds The Karen Wellington Memorial Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE AKRON MARATHON CHARITABLE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds CASE BARLOW FARM ↗

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 Harrington Family…Burton D Morgan Found…The Swagelok Foundati…Akron Community Found…The Cleveland Foundat…Raymond James Charita…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…Natl Christian Charit…The Bank of America C…
The Harrington Family FoundationFL13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Harrington Family Foundation · Burton D Morgan Foundation Inc · The Swagelok Foundation · Akron Community Foundation · The Cleveland Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · The Bank of America Charitable 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 Murdough Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Murdough Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%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
    2get 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
    ⤢ 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.

    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

    Play a game based on Murdough’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