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Priester Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Priester 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.

$11M
Granted FY2023
9
Grants FY2023
2
States reached
$2.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0182% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2023.

Human Services$5.6MInternational$1.7MReligion$1.7MEducation$1.5MArts & Culture$309kPhilanthropy$9kHealth$5kOther$0
02FY2023 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,371,917
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CATHOLIC CHARITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF DENVER$2,195,068
SEEDS OF HOPE$1,646,301
FRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS(NPHUSA)$1,646,301
ALL SOULS CATHOLIC CHURCH$1,646,301
ARRUPE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL$1,371,917
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER SAMARITAN HOUSE$1,097,534
Individual grant recipient$548,767
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER DBA MARISOL$548,767
CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSN$274,383
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%MARYKNOLLS FATHERS AND BROTHERS: $3k → 10%SACRED HEART PARRISH: $5k → 21%TMP MARIAN HIGH: $1k → 14%FOCUS: $5k → 7%SEMINARIES: $3k → 8%ARRUPE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL: $1.4M → 12%FRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS(NPHUSA): $1.6M → 14%SIOUX FALLS CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: $2k → 9%SACRED HEART PARRISH: $1k → 21%ALL SOULS CATHOLIC CHURCH: $1.6M → 8%ARRUPE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL: $40k → 12%ESCUEL DE GUADALUPE: $549k → 8%ARRUPE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL: $30k → 12%ESCUEL DE GUADALUPE: $10k → 8%CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $26k → 12%ALL SOULS CATHOLIC CHURCH: $8k → 8%BROWN ROBE BENEFIT: $5k → 12%ESCUEL DE GUADALUPE: $5k → 8%LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR: $3k → 12%ST VINCENT DE PAUL: $4k → 8%CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSN: $274k → 12%ALL SOULS CATHOLIC CHURCH: $2k → 8%CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSN: $16k → 12%ST VINCENT DE PAUL: $1k → 8%CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSN: $10k → 12%BISHOP MACHEBEUF HIGH SCHOOL: $3k → 12%BISHOP MACHEBEUF HIGH SCHOOL: $2k → 12%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER SAMARITAN HOUSE: $1.1M → 12%SEEDS OF HOPE: $1.6M → 12%SEEDS OF HOPE: $21k → 12%SEEDS OF HOPE: $20k → 12%SEEDS OF HOPE: $20k → 12%ARCHBISHOP'S CATHOLIC APPEAL: $10k → 12%ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $5k → 12%ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $4k → 12%ARCHBISHOP'S CATHOLIC APPEAL: $2k → 12%ALL SOULS CATHOLIC CHURCH: $2k → 12%ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC SCHOOL: $2k → 12%ALL SAINTS CATHOLIC CHURCH: $2k → 12%ARAPAHOE LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%CATHOLIC CHARITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF DENVER: $2.2M → 12%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER DBA MARISOL: $549k → 12%CAPAUCHIN POOR CLARES: $1k → 12%CAPAUCHIN POOR CLARES: $1k → 12%FATHER WOODY'S HAVEN OF HOPE: $6k → 12%DENVER ART MUSEUM: $3k → 12%FATHER WOODY'S HAVEN OF HOPE: $3k → 12%DENVER ART MUSEUM: $2k → 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

IL
NY
SD
CA
CO
AZ
KS
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.

51%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.8M · 17 repeat orgs$5.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +13% since the first grant, against -88% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2023, 12 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
9

Total granted

$5.8M
$48k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
-88%

Still filing today

35%
11%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5.5M went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureInternationalPhilanthropyHealthEducationOther
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 THE ORPHANS D/B/A NPH-USA
    3× · 2020–2022 · $75k · revenue +10%
  • HO
    HAVEN OF HOPE
    2× · 2020–2021 · $9k · revenue +13%
  • DA
    DENVER ART MUSEUM
    3× · 2020–2022 · $5k · revenue +72%

Funded once

  • CC
    CATHOLIC CHARITIES
    one grant, 2020 · $26k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • FO
    FELLOWSHIP OF CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
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
04the grantee network

7 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. 7 of the 30 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
7/7
Grantees still filing
4/7
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CATHOLIC CHARITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF DENVER: $2,195,068 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF DENVERSEEDS OF HOPE: $1,707,086 · OtherSEEDS OF HOPEALL SOULS CATHOLIC PARISH IN ENGLEWOOD: $1,657,601 · OtherALL SOULS CATHOLIC PARISH IN ENGLEWOODFRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS(NPHUSA): $1,646,301 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS(NPHUSA)ARRUPE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOL: $1,441,917 · OtherARRUPE JESUIT HIGH SCHOOLCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER SAMARITAN HOUSE: $1,097,534 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER SAMARITAN HOUSEIndividual grant recipient: $563,767 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER DBA MARISOL: $548,767 · Other+15 more: $87,060 · OtherCENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $300,383 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $8,650 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS D/B/A NPH-USA: $75,000 · InternationalHAVEN OF HOPE: $9,000 · PhilanthropyLITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR HOME FOR THE AGED: $3,000 · HealthARAPAHOE LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION INC: $2,250 · Education
Other$10,945,101Arts & Culture$309,033International$75,000Philanthropy$9,000Health$3,000Education$2,250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $300,383 over 4y, 4.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS D/B/A NPH-USA: $75,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetHAVEN OF HOPE: $9,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDENVER ART MUSEUM: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Metropolitan Opera Guild Inc: $4,150 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR HOME FOR THE AGED: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARAPAHOE LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION INC: $2,250 over 3y, 1.1% 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 CENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE ORPHANS D/B/A NPH-USA ↗
  • Who funds HAVEN OF HOPE ↗
  • Who funds DENVER ART MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds The Metropolitan Opera Guild Inc ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR HOME FOR THE AGED ↗
  • Who funds ARAPAHOE LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION 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 Catholic Foundati…Saeman Family Foundat…Jk Mullen FoundationThe Martin Family Fou…The Colorado Health F…The Denver FoundationColorado Gives Founda…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…American Online Givin…The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…
The Catholic Foundation No ColoradoCO15.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Catholic Foundation No Colorado · Saeman Family Foundation a Charitable Trust · Jk Mullen Foundation · The Martin Family Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Colorado Gives Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Priester Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Priester Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%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
    ⤢ 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 30 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Priester’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