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Paulsen Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Paulsen Family 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.

$226k
Granted FY2024still arriving
30
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0186% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$460kEducation$350kEnvironment$242kHealth$183kPhilanthropy$163kRecreation & Sports$130kAnimals$63kPublic Safety & Disaster$35kOther$0
02FY2024 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $86k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $140k
$5,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$7.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION$20,000
EARTH JUSTICE$20,000
OUTDOOR AFRO$15,000
OUTDOOR ALLIANCE$15,000
TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND$15,000
SHE JUMPS$15,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND$10,000
LIVE THRIVE$10,000
ASHEVILLE ON BIKES$10,000
GEORGIA CYCLING ASSOCIATION$7,500
MOUNTAIN TRUE$5,000
BIKEPACKING ROOTS$5,000
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
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 (FY23–24, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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%FREE BIKES 4 KIDZ ATLANTA: $3k → 13%FREE BIKES 4 KIDZ ATLANTA: $3k → 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

WA
MN
NY
MA
WY
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
TN
NC
SC
DC
GA
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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 61 repeat orgs$318k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

61 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2024, 41 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

61
27

Total granted

$1.5M
$235k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+19%

Still filing today

62%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 63% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $83k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationRecreation & SportsAnimalsHealthOther
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

  • AS
    ASHEVILLE SCHOOL INC
    5× · 2017–2023 · $192k · revenue +12%
  • THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND
    2× · 2023–2024 · $35k · revenue +1%
  • SheJumps
    2× · 2023–2024 · $35k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • HB
    HAZELDEN BETTY FORD FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $100k
  • CP
    CAROLINE PAULSEN DONOR ADVISED FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • KC
    KATHERINE COBB DONOR ADVISED FUND
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
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
New York Botanical Garden

The new york botanical garden is a museum of plants and a scientific research center devoted to the study of plants and their uses. it is the garden's mission to improve public understanding of the natural world, horticulture, and the…

Environment
2
Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation

Brooklyn bridge park corporation's mission, d/b/a brooklyn bridge park ("bbp") mission is to provide an exceptional public space that connects people, nature, and the waterfront, through inclusive, innovative, and sustainable management…

Recreation & Sports
3
Denver Botanic Gardens Inc

The mission of denver botanic gardens is to connect people with plants, especially plants from the rocky mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone.

Environment
4
The Adirondack Council Inc

The adirondack council ensures the ecological integrity (clean water and air, wildlife habitat, etc.), wild character (solitude, scenic beauty, etc.), and vibrant communities of new york's six-million-acre adirondack park. the adirondack…

Environment
5
Nashville Public Radio

Nashville public radio's mission is to be the most trusted & independent nashville voice, connecting our communities through non-partisan journalism, compelling storytelling, civil conversation and music discovery.

Arts & Culture
6
The Architectural League of New York

The architectural league of new york supports critically transformative work in the allied fields that shape the built environment. as a vital, independent forum, the league stimulates thinking, debate, and action on today's (continued on…

—
7
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
8
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
9
Natural Areas Conservancy Inc

The natural areas conservancy champions urban natural areas in new york city and across the nation through innovative research, partnerships, and advocacy. we increase the health and resilience of urban forests and wetlands, catalyze…

Environment
10
Boston Architectural College

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

—
11
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
12
Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah

Heal utah's mission is to protect utah's environment and its people by promoting clean air, clean energy, and comprehensive solutions to radioactive and toxic waste.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Metropolitan Museum of Art. 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

58 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. 58 of the 98 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
57/58
Grantees still filing
36/58
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS- ANNUAL FUND: $111,000 · OtherPENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS- ANNUAL FUNDHAZELDEN BETTY FORD FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherHAZELDEN BETTY FORD FOUNDATIONBROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC: $80,000 · OtherBROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INCOUTDOOR ALLIANCE: $65,000 · OtherOUTDOOR ALLIANCEUNC-FLAGLER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: $35,000 · Other+55 more: $435,630 · Other+55 moreASHEVILLE SCHOOL INC: $192,000 · EducationASHEVILLE SCHOOL I…SheJumps: $35,000 · EducationSheJumpsDECATUR EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $29,500 · EducationDECATUR EDUCATION …DUKE UNIVERSITY: $23,000 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITYDavidson College: $19,500 · EducationDavidson College+1 more: $2,000 · EducationMUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN: $180,000 · Arts & CultureMUSEUM OF ARTS…NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $19,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK PUBLI…DECATUR ARTS ALLIANCE INC: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $31,900 · Arts & Culture+9 moreTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $35,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FO…OUTDOOR AFRO: $35,000 · EnvironmentOUTDOOR AFROLIVE-THRIVE INC: $33,250 · EnvironmentLIVE-THRIVE …ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $25,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTA…Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy: $21,000 · EnvironmentSouthern App…EARTHJUSTICE: $20,000 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICEGreen Built Alliance: $15,000 · EnvironmentGreen Built …+5 more: $25,000 · Environment+5 moreREADSOURCE INC: $150,000 · HealthREADSOURCE …HAZELDEN NEW YORK: $20,000 · HealthHAZELDEN NE…ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthALZHEIMER'S…GEORGIA AQUARIUM INC & SUBSIDIARY: $24,500 · AnimalsAMERICAN KENNEL CLUB CANINE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $17,500 · AnimalsHOPE FOR HORSES INC: $6,500 · AnimalsPortuguese Water Dog Foundation: $4,500 · AnimalsASHEVILLE ON BIKES INC: $35,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Other$826,630Education$301,000Arts & Culture$240,900Environment$209,250Health$180,000Animals$53,000Public Safety & Disaster$35,000

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 budgetASHEVILLE SCHOOL INC: $192,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN: $180,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetREADSOURCE INC: $150,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetBROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC: $80,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetASHEVILLE ON BIKES INC: $35,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetOUTDOOR AFRO: $35,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetSheJumps: $35,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetLIVE-THRIVE INC: $33,250 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetDECATUR EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $29,500 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGIA AQUARIUM INC & SUBSIDIARY: $24,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $23,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSouthern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy: $21,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHAZELDEN NEW YORK: $20,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetAsheville GreenWorks: $20,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetDavidson College: $19,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $19,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSoccer In the Streets Inc: $18,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN KENNEL CLUB CANINE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $17,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGreen Built Alliance: $15,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetTHE GIVING KITCHEN INITIATIVE INC: $13,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRiverLink Inc: $12,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPISGAH LEGAL SERVICES: $11,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDECATUR ARTS ALLIANCE INC: $10,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetTAKE THE LEAD INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetWHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $6,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE FOR HORSES INC: $6,500 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF HUDSON RIVER PARK INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFREE BIKES 4 KIDZ OF ATLANTA CO: $5,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA SUSTAINABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBIKEPACKING ROOTS: $5,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetBELOVED ASHEVILLE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK CONSERVANCY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAWARE-USA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 9.0% of budgetMountainTrue: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $5,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNANTUCKET LAND & WATER COUNCIL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetGEORGIA BIKES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPortuguese Water Dog Foundation: $4,500 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTRIPS FOR KIDS NATIONAL: $3,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetWNET: $2,500 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.

  • Who funds ASHEVILLE SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds READSOURCE INC ↗
  • Who funds BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND ↗
  • Who funds ASHEVILLE ON BIKES INC ↗
  • Who funds OUTDOOR AFRO ↗
  • Who funds SheJumps ↗
  • Who funds LIVE-THRIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds DECATUR EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds GEORGIA AQUARIUM INC & SUBSIDIARY ↗
  • Who funds DUKE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds EARTHJUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HAZELDEN NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds Asheville GreenWorks ↗
  • Who funds Davidson College ↗
  • Who funds NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO ↗
  • Who funds Soccer In the Streets Inc ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB CANINE HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Green Built Alliance ↗
  • Who funds THE GIVING KITCHEN INITIATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds RiverLink Inc ↗

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…The Community Foundat…Foundation for the Ca…PatagoniaorgRichard Eckerd Founda…Luluma Charitable Tru…Bailey Family Foundat…The Harold T Southern…The Frances & William…The Wilderness SocietyZ Smith Reynolds Foun…THDF II Inc DBA The H…
The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina IncNC18.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc · The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Inc · Foundation for the Carolinas · Patagoniaorg · Richard Eckerd Foundation Inc · Luluma Charitable Trust Xxxxx8009 · Bailey Family Foundation Inc · The Harold T Southern Family Foundation · The Frances & William H Beattie Fdn · The Wilderness Society · Z Smith Reynolds Foundation Inc · THDF II Inc DBA The Home Depot Foundation & Homer 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 Paulsen Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Paulsen Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Newark Public Radio Inc: 51% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Nantucket Historical Association: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 98 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 Paulsen 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