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Nelson Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Nelson Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$1.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$1.2MPhilanthropy$526kFood & Nutrition$511kHealth$58kHuman Services$35kArts & Culture$17kAnimals$16kInternational$9kOther$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$475,714
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BALL STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$1,155,410
UNITED WAY OF GREATER ATLANTA$475,714
ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK$475,714
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 (FY21–23, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%FOREVER FAMILY: $1k → 13%FOREVER FAMILY: $1k → 13%FOREVER FAMILY: $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

MN
MI
WY
IN
CA
VA
AR
DC
GA
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.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 32 repeat orgs$2k to everyone else

32 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 29 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
2

Total granted

$2.4M
$2k

Still filing today

59%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHealthAnimalsPublic BenefitEducationPhilanthropyOther
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

  • AC
    ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $511k · revenue +10%
  • GA
    GEORGIA AQUARIUM INC & SUBSIDIARY
    3× · 2021–2023 · $13k · revenue +44%
  • RW
    ROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC
    3× · 2021–2023 · $6k · revenue +10%

Funded once

  • PB
    PUBLIC BROADCASTING ATLANTA
    one grant, 2021 · $1k
  • TN
    THE NATURE CONSERVANCY IN GEORGIA
    one grant, 2023 · $1k
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
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
2
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
3
Savannah College of Art and DesignInc

Scad prepares talented students for creative professions through engaged teaching and learning in a positively oriented university environment.

Education
4
American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Founded in 1780, the american academy of arts and sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together "to…

Social Science
5
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
6
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
7
American Law Institute

The institute's mission, as set out in its certificate of incorporation, is to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to…

Crime & Legal
8
American Anthropological Association

To advance anthropology as the science that studies humankind in all its aspects, through archeological, biological, ethnological, and linguistic research; and to further the professional interest of american anthropologist, including the…

Social Science
9
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
10
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
11
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
12
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Forever Family Inc. 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

24 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. 24 of the 37 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/24
Grantees still filing
16/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Ball State University Foundation Inc: $1,196,160 · EducationBall State University Foundation Inc+2 more: $700 · EducationUNITED WAY OF GREATER ATLANTA INC: $525,714 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF GREATER AT…ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK INC: $510,714 · Food & NutritionATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD B…CHILDRENS HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA INC: $30,000 · OtherCRISTO REY ATLANTA JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL INC: $10,000 · OtherHEIFER INTERNATIONAL: $9,000 · OtherAIR INC: $4,500 · OtherSIGMA PHI EPSILON EDUCATIONAL: $3,600 · OtherGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $5,500 · Other+17 more: $31,050 · OtherNATIONAL FAMILIES IN ACTION INC: $30,000 · HealthAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $3,000 · HealthNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC: $6,000 · Arts & CultureATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureHEART MOUNTAIN WYOMING FOUNDATION: $3,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $750 · Arts & CultureGEORGIA AQUARIUM INC & SUBSIDIARY: $12,500 · AnimalsAtlanta Humane Society & Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Inc: $3,000 · Animals
Education$1,196,860Philanthropy$525,714Food & Nutrition$510,714Other$93,650Health$33,000Arts & Culture$27,750Animals$15,500

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 budgetBall State University Foundation Inc: $1,196,160 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER ATLANTA INC: $525,714 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK INC: $510,714 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL FAMILIES IN ACTION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 64% of budgetNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGIA AQUARIUM INC & SUBSIDIARY: $12,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetROBERT W WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $5,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetATLANTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAtlanta Humane Society & Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Inc: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFOREVER FAMILY INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetHEART MOUNTAIN WYOMING FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTREES ATLANTA INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUSO COUNCIL OF GEORGIA INC: $2,250 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetChastain Park Conservancy Inc: $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Institute: $750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CRAFT COUNCIL: $750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $200 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

The Community Foundat…United Way of Greater…Georgia Power Foundat…Annie E Casey Foundat…Enterprise Holdings F…Natl Christian Charit…Charities Aid Foundat…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta IncGA18.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Inc · United Way of Greater Atlanta Inc · Georgia Power Foundation Inc · Annie E Casey Foundation Inc · Enterprise Holdings Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Nelson Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Nelson Family Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 37 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Nelson 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