· Private foundation
Nelson Family Foundation
Its FY2018 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
What you funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2018.
Where the money goes
Your grants by size, and where they go.
By grant size · FY2018
- Under $10k21 grants · $16k
- $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| THE HOTCHKISS FUND | $10,000 |
| SWALLOW HILL MUSIC ASSOCIATION | $2,000 |
| DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE | $2,000 |
| ROCKY MOUNTAIN PBS | $1,500 |
| COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO | $1,500 |
| VAIL VALLEY MEDICAL FOUNDATION | $1,000 |
| Individual grant recipient | $1,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF CO HOSPITAL FOUNDATION | $1,000 |
| BRAVO VAIL VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL | $1,000 |
| COLORADO GOLF FOUNDATION | $500 |
| WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT | $500 |
| JOHN AUSTIN CHELEY FOUNDATION | $500 |
| DENVER ART MUSEUM | $300 |
| DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION | $300 |
| DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS | $300 |
Do your dollars go where the need is?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–18) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 93% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.
Who you back again
Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.
20 repeat relationships — 20 still active in FY2018, 0 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2018 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2018, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $500 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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
- DDDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE2× · 2017–2018 · $4k · revenue +254%
- PBPUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC2× · 2017–2018 · $3k · revenue +81%
- JAJOHN AUSTIN CHELEY FOUNDATION INC2× · 2017–2018 · $1k · revenue +14%
Funded once
- LALEARNING ALLYone grant, 2017 · $500
- CCCENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATIONgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $300 · revenue +64%
- OCOPERA COLORADOgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $300 · revenue +30%
Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
To bring conventions and leisure visitors to denver for the economic benefit of the city, the community, and our partners.
We connect people, ideas, and nonprofits to make good happen. our vision is that all of jeffco is thriving.
AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…
To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.
The colorado symphony association (csa) is a not-for-profit organization established to fund and operate the colorado symphony orchestra for the enjoyment and benefit of the citizens of metropolitan denver and (cont'd on schedule…
Community radio for northern colorado's (crnc) mission is to strengthen our community by cultivating the mind and spirit - informing, inspiring, and entertaining. crnc strives to meet its mission by operating two public media services -…
To continually redefine the way our community experiences and engages with classical music
To create extraordinary experiences that champion the wonder and joy of childhood.
To advance the science of jurisprudence, secure the more efficient administration of justice, encourage the adoption of proper legislation, advocate thorough and continuing legal education, uphold the honor and integrity of the bar,…
The denver metro chamber of commerce is the architect of tomorrow, igniting change and driving progress to build dynamic economies and communities. we champion innovation, forge powerful partnerships, and relentlessly advocate for our…
To provide a challenging environment where children can reach their full potential by enhancing their musical talents, forging diverse meaningful friendships, and sharing their joy of music with others.
Colorado nonprofit association strengthens colorado's nonprofits through education, connection and advocacy.
For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Denver Foundation and the most unlike its peers is Denver Zoological Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
16 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 16 of the 25 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.
Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee
Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them
A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds SWALLOW HILL MUSIC ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE ↗
- Who funds ROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC ↗
- Who funds PUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC ↗
- Who funds JOHN AUSTIN CHELEY FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC ↗
- Who funds DENVER ART MUSEUM ↗
- Who funds DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS INC ↗
- Who funds DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE DENVER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds JUNIOR LEAGUE OF DENVER FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds THE SANTA FE OPERA ↗
- Who funds Colorado Museum of Natural History ↗
- Who funds COLORADO GOLF FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds OPERA COLORADO ↗
The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · The Anschutz Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.
Government reliance of your grantees
Every dot is one organization Nelson Family Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.
- Wounded Warrior Project Inc — 0% of income from government
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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.