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Nelson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Nelson 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.

$49k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Philanthropy$225kInternational$147kCivil Rights$52kArts & Culture$28kCommunity Improvement$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $9k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $40k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$968k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ROOTED WISDOM AFRICA$20,293
THE OR FOUNDATION$20,000
AFRICA DEVELOPMENT PROMISE$8,650
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 (FY22–25, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%AFRICA DEVELOPMENT PROMISE: $10k → 12%AFRICA DEVELOPMENT PROMISE: $9k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

VT
ID
NY
MA
PA
CA
CO
VA
MD
DC
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 37% of Nelson Family Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Nelson Family Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 6.7% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

73%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$265k · 8 repeat orgs$96k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
4

Total granted

$265k
$76k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+8%

Still filing today

63%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalEducationHuman ServicesOther
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

  • FT
    Five Talents USA
    2× · 2023–2024 · $41k · revenue +23%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF ROOTS
    2× · 2023–2024 · $36k · revenue +90%
  • AD
    AFRICA DEVELOPMENT PROMISE
    2× · 2022–2025 · $19k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • OXFAM-AMERICA INC
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +8%
  • FO
    Friends of APIE Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue -9%
  • HE
    HER ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND AUTONOMY
    one grant, 2024 · $16k
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
Upaya Social Ventures

Upaya Social Ventures' mission is to create dignified jobs for people living in extreme poverty by building scalable businesses with investment and consulting support.

International
2
Roots Africa Inc

ROOTS Africa is a non-profit venture whose mission is to combat hunger and poverty in Africa by connecting academic institutions and experts in the US to farming communities in Africa. We have a vision to connect the world by engaging…

International
3
International Development Enterprises

See schedule o for a more detailed description of ide's mission statement and achievements.

International
4
Osotuwa Foundation Inc

Osotuwa Foundation's mission is to end forced childhood marriage in northern Tanzania by promoting gender equality through education. We raise funds through sponsorships and donations for education.

Education
5
VisionFund International

VisionFund International (VFI) was established for the purpose of supporting World Vision International (WVI) by coordinating and providing funding to World Vision - affiliated microfinance institutions (MFIs) located in developing…

Philanthropy
6
Roots International Ltd
Community Improvement
7
Realize Impact

Realize Impact is organized and operated exclusively for the charitable purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code, specifically to provide financial support, mentorship, and other assistance to early-stage…

Human Services
8
Trustafrica

Promote peace, democracy and economic prosperity in Africa.

International
9
Global Goods Partners Inc
International
10
Partnership for Policy Integrity

Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) uses data-driven advocacy and litigation to fight for forests, communities and the climate.

Environment
11
EcoVentures International

To support well-functioning market systems which enable livelihood and environmental sustainability by training, mentoring, and connecting communities, networks, businesses, and vulnerable groups, especially women and youth, within these…

Environment
12
Kula Project Inc

Kula exists to eradicate poverty through the development of entrepreneurs in Rwanda's coffee communities. We operate at the intersection of economic development, environmental sustainability, and gender equality, providing a poverty…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Venture Fund; the most unlike its peers is Friends of Apie Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

11 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 11 of the 15 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)
10/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY FUNDS INC: $63,613 · OtherCOMMUNITY FUNDS INCIndividual grant recipient: $34,955 · OtherIndividual grant recipientYoung Tradition Vermont Inc: $28,000 · OtherYoung Tradition Vermont IncHER ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND AUTONOMY: $16,000 · OtherHER ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND AUTONOMYIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $151,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUSTFive Talents USA: $41,000 · InternationalFive Talents USAFRIENDS OF ROOTS: $36,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF ROOTSRooted Wisdom Africa Into Your Hands: $33,293 · InternationalRooted Wisdom Africa Into Your …OXFAM-AMERICA INC: $24,870 · InternationalOXFAM-AMERICA INCLITTLE SISTERS FUND INC: $9,000 · InternationalLITTLE SISTERS FUND INCTHE OR FOUNDATION LTD: $20,000 · EducationFriends of APIE Inc: $20,000 · EducationAFRICA DEVELOPMENT PROMISE: $18,650 · Human ServicesNEW VENTURE FUND: $10,000 · Environment
Other$157,568Philanthropy$151,000International$144,163Education$40,000Human Services$18,650Environment$10,000

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 budgetNATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST: $151,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFive Talents USA: $41,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF ROOTS: $36,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetRooted Wisdom Africa Into Your Hands: $33,293 over 2y, 19% of budgetYoung Tradition Vermont Inc: $28,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $24,870 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFriends of APIE Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetAFRICA DEVELOPMENT PROMISE: $18,650 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLITTLE SISTERS FUND INC: $9,000 over 2y, 1.0% 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.

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.

National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
National Philanthropic TrustPA8.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Nelson Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Nelson Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of 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 · 0–5%
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 15 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