Skip to content
Oak Lodge Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Oak Lodge Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$146k
Granted FY2024still arriving
11
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0189% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$256kInternational$135kArts & Culture$73kReligion$42kHuman Services$35kPhilanthropy$35kAnimals$30kOther$0
02FY2024 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $70k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FRIENDS OF ILLINOIS NATURE PRESERVES$50,000
OXFAM AMERICA$15,000
ASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$15,000
PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTS$10,000
ASPEN CHAPEL$7,500
SAVANNA INSTITUTE$5,000
INTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION$5,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY OF IL$5,000
FOX RIVER VALLEY HOUND HERITAGE FOUNDATION$3,000
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 (FY20–23, $35k) land where the poverty rate runs at 7%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%BRAVEHEARTS: $10k → 6%BRAVEHEARTS: $5k → 9%BRAVEHEARTS: $10k → 6%BRAVEHEARTS: $5k → 9%BRAVEHEARTS: $5k → 9%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

IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
CO
FL
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$565k · 16 repeat orgs$63k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +39% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
10

Total granted

$565k
$60k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+18%

Still filing today

63%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentArts & CultureInternationalAnimalsHuman 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

  • FO
    FRIENDS OF ILLINOIS NATURE PRESERVES
    4× · 2021–2024 · $100k · revenue +339%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $70k · revenue +39%
  • OXFAM-AMERICA INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $65k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • LT
    Little Traverse Conservancy Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +10%
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
Institute for Conservation Leadership

To support healthy communities and a healthy earth, the institute for conservation leadership strengthens leaders, organizations, coalitions and networks.

Community Improvement
2
Eastern National

Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.

Recreation & Sports
3
Amazon Conservation Association

Amazon conservation unites science, people, and innovation to protect the amazon - the greatest wild forest on earth. as guardians of the most iconic forest on the planet, we bring together the power of the latest science and technology…

Environment
4
Aspen Valley Land Trust

Protecting the open land and special places of the roaring fork and middle colorado river valleys for wildlife, agriculture, and community forever.

Environment
5
Conservation Legacy

Conservation legacy engages future leaders who protect, restore, and enhance our nation's lands through community-based service.in 2024, conservation legacy engaged 2,524 participants who completed over 1.5 million service hours on public…

Youth Development
6
Alaska Conservation Foundation

Protects alaska's unique landscapes and ways of life by supporting conservation leaders, organizations, and initiatives.

Environment
7
American River Conservancy

To conduct land conservation, stewardship and education in the upper american river and upper cosumnes river watersheds

Environment
8
Six Rivers Land Conservancy Fka Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy

To conserve, sustain, and connect natural areas, land, and waters that make the places we live special

Environment
9
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
10
Red River Zoological Society

As conservation leaders, the red river zoo connects our community to nature and inspires people to help save species.

Animals
11
Land Conservancy of West Michigan

Our mission is conserving West Michigans ecologically critical land. We protect land by creating public nature preserves, providing support to communities and local governments in creating natural areas, and helping private landowners…

Environment
12
Institute for Applied Ecology

The institute for applied ecology conserves native species and habitats through restorations, research, and education

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves; the most unlike its peers is Fox River Valley Hound Heritage Foundation. 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

18 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. 18 of the 28 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)
17/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ASPEN CHAPEL: $41,500 · OtherASPEN CHAPELTHE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTs INC: $35,000 · OtherTHE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTs INCASPEN FILM IN MEMORY OF ELLEN HUNT: $35,000 · OtherASPEN FILM IN MEMORY OF ELLEN HUNTIndividual grant recipient: $25,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNATURE CONSERVANCY OF IL: $15,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCY OF ILIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $10,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF ILLINOIS: $10,000 · Other+2 more: $8,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF ILLINOIS NATURE PRESERVES: $100,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF ILLINOIS NATURE PRESER…ASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $40,000 · EnvironmentASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ST…JO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · EnvironmentJO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATIO…Little Traverse Conservancy Inc: $10,000 · EnvironmentSAVANNA INSTITUTE: $10,000 · Environment+1 more: $1,000 · EnvironmentMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $70,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERE…OXFAM-AMERICA INC: $65,000 · InternationalOXFAM-AMERICA INCBRAVEHEARTS THERAPEUTIC RIDING AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $35,000 · Human ServicesASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $35,000 · PhilanthropyANDERSON RANCH ARTS CENTER: $13,000 · Arts & CultureTHE ARTS CAMPUS AT WILLITS: $10,000 · Arts & Cultureinternational beethoven project: $5,000 · Arts & CultureFox River Valley Hound Heritage Foundation: $3,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · AnimalsXERCES SOCIETY INC: $5,000 · Animals
Other$199,500Environment$196,000International$135,000Human Services$35,000Philanthropy$35,000Arts & Culture$32,000Animals$30,000

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 budgetFRIENDS OF ILLINOIS NATURE PRESERVES: $100,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $70,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $65,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $40,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetJO DAVIESS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetTHE PRAIRIE ENTHUSIASTs INC: $35,000 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetBRAVEHEARTS THERAPEUTIC RIDING AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER: $35,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetASPEN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetANDERSON RANCH ARTS CENTER: $13,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLittle Traverse Conservancy Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ARTS CAMPUS AT WILLITS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSAVANNA INSTITUTE: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetXERCES SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFox River Valley Hound Heritage Foundation: $3,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetECOFLIGHT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVIZCAYA MUSEUM AND GARDENS TRUST INC: $1,000 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 Chicago Community…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL13.5× affinity5 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Oak Lodge Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Oak Lodge Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Xerces Society Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Oak Lodge Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Oak Lodge 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 28 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 Oak Lodge’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