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· Private foundation

Prometheus Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$4.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
25
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$2.1M
Largest
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Education$11MArts & Culture$4.8MSocial Science$3.9MHuman Services$1.2MPublic Benefit$229kYouth Development$150kInternational$93kCivil Rights$17kOther$0
02FY2024 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $36k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $171k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+2 grants · $2.5M
$49,730
Median grant
8
States reached
$72M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE$2,083,824
AYN RAND CENTER EUROPE$434,144
AYN RAND CENTRE UKRAINE$246,316
Individual grant recipient$240,000
FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION$173,864
Individual grant recipient$151,650
ANCYRANUM MEDIA COMM CONSULTANCY$116,925
Individual grant recipient$103,975
AMERICA'S FUTURE FOUNDATION$100,000
AYN RAND CENTER GEORGIA$84,000
ATLAS NETWORK$82,000
ADAM SMITH INSTITUTE$50,000
IDEAS BEYOND BORDERS$49,730
Individual grant recipient$45,256
AYN RAND CENTER ARMENIA SENGO$35,000
02The need
03

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.

Your US giving69% of grant dollars ($15M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 31% that went abroad ($6.6M) is mapped below.

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 11% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GOLDWATER INSTITUTE: $225k → 11%FREE OBJECTIVIST BOOKS INC: $25k → 7%THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE: $392k → 10%THE UNDERCURRENT: $10k → 10%CENTER FOR INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS: $25k → 11%PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%IDEAS BEYOND BORDERS: $50k → 17%AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF PARIS: $46k → 8%DUNCAN SCOTT PRODUCTIONS: $109k → 8%FIGHT THE POWER PRODUCTIONS: $37k → 14%TURKISH OBJECTIVIST NETWORK: $99k → 11%DUKE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF RESEARCH SUPPORT: $50k → 11%CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: $250k → 8%FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION: $204k → 13%THOMAS PAINE INSTITUTE: $30k → 9%THE REASON INDIVIDUALISM FREEDOM INSTITUTE: $25k → 14%ISTITUTO BRUNO LEONI-FONDAZIONE: $32k → 6%ATLAS NETWORK: $82k → 7%GLEN ALLEN RESEARCH: $30k → 9%AYN RAND CENTRE UKRAINE: $246k → 5%THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE: $306k → 10%INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY: $15k → 10%PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%DUNCAN SCOTT PRODUCTIONS: $10k → 8%FIGHT THE POWER PRODUCTIONS: $30k → 14%FREEDOM FEST INC: $11k → 8%FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION: $174k → 13%BULGARIAN LIBERTARIAN SOCIETY: $13k → 7%OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE INC: $1.7M → 9%AYN RAND CENTER UKRAINE: $216k → 5%VAN DAMME EDUCATION: $14k → 10%LIBERTY INTERNATIONAL: $11k → 10%FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION: $49k → 13%OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE INC: $373k → 9%AYN RAND CENTRE UKRAINE: $119k → 5%STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY: $1.3M → 7%OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE INC: $323k → 9%OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE: $2.1M → 10%STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY: $733k → 7%GLEN ALLEN PRESS LLC: $297k → 9%STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY: $705k → 7%OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE INC: $277k → 9%STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY: $73k → 7%OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE INC: $83k → 9%STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY: $50k → 7%GLEN ALLEN PRESS LLC: $57k → 9%STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY: $30k → 7%GLEN ALLEN PRESS LLC: $30k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

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.

Which US states your grants reach

IL
NY
MA
OR
NV
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
VA
AZ
NC
SC
DC
GA
TX
FL

Beyond the US31% of all-years giving ($6.6M)

24 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
Serbia$1.7M · 10 grants
Israel$1.3M · 8 grants
Ukraine$695k · 5 grants
Hungary$545k · 7 grants
United Kingdom$472k · 12 grants
Turkey$404k · 7 grants
United Arab Emirates$373k · 3 grants
Netherlands$258k · 6 grants
Germany$187k · 6 grants
Austria$142k · 2 grants

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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.

03Your edge
repeat funding

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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$19M · 40 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

40 repeat relationships — 18 still active in FY2024, 22 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

40
59

Total granted

$19M
$2.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+62%

Still filing today

18%
8%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $106k 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
EducationArts & CultureInternationalPublic BenefitSocial ScienceYouth DevelopmentOther

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

  • OS
    OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE
    6× · 2019–2024 · $4.8M · revenue ×69 · 66% of their budget
  • SF
    STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $2.9M · revenue +49%
  • TA
    THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM
    2× · 2017–2018 · $698k · revenue +213%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $325k
  • CF
    CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INC
    one grant, 2017 · $250k · revenue -98%
  • BG
    BARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCHgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $225k · revenue +62%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

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.

1
The Libertarian Institute

Disseminate information and education about pertinent economic, social and governmental topics, via print, web and other media to educate the public about the principles of LIbertarianism.

Education
2
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
3
Institute for New Global Politics Inc

The Institute for New Global Politics is a California-based educational nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. It is an independent and nonpartisan thinktank dedicated to educating the general…

International
4
Contemporary Policy Institute
Philanthropy
5
The Center for the Study of Great Ideas

Philosophical education

Arts & Culture
6
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
7
Council On Foreign Relations Inc

The council on foreign relations (cfr) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and…

International
8
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
9
The Institute On Religion and Public Life Inc

The institute on religion and public life is an interreligious, nonpartisan research and educational 501(c)(3) organization. the institute's mission is to articulate a governing consensus that supports: (see schedule o)- a religiously…

10
Frontiers of Freedom Institute

To educate the public on constitutional issues and public policy matters. We are dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, peace through strength, limited government, free enterprise, and the values embodied in the Declaration of…

Public Benefit
11
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
12
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Competitive enterprise institute (cei) is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. we believe that consumers are best helped not by government regulation but by being…

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Foundation for Economic Education Inc and the most unlike its peers is Undercurrent 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

13 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 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 13 of the 106 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
8/13
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

FIDELITY CHARITABLE TRUST — $3,625,000 · OtherFIDELITY CHARITABLE TRUSTAJN REND CENTAR EVROPA — $767,902 · OtherAJN REND CENTAR EVROPAAYN RAND CENTER EUROPE — $689,922 · OtherAYN RAND CENTER EUROPEIndividual grant recipient — $500,000 · OtherAYN RAND CENTRE UKRAINE — $463,824 · Other+88 more — $5,773,475 · Other+88 moreOBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE — $4,809,157 · Arts & CultureOBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTETHE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM — $697,842 · Arts & CultureTHE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE C…+1 more — $10,000 · Arts & CultureSTUDENTS FOR LIBERTY INC — $2,929,571 · EducationSTUDENTS FOR LIBE…CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INC — $250,000 · EducationCENTER FOR EXCELL…PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION — $200,000 · EducationPRAGER UNIVERSITY…+1 more — $25,000 · EducationFoundation for Economic Education Inc — $426,528 · Social ScienceBARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH — $225,000 · Public Benefit+1 more — $4,000 · Public BenefitAmerica's Future Foundation — $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentIdeas Beyond Borders Inc — $49,730 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY — $43,602 · International
Other$11,820,123Arts & Culture$5,516,999Education$3,404,571Social Science$426,528Public Benefit$229,000Youth Development$150,000International$93,332

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetOBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE — $4,809,157 over 6y, 66% of budgetSTUDENTS FOR LIBERTY INC — $2,929,571 over 7y, 20% of budgetTHE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM — $697,842 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetFoundation for Economic Education Inc — $426,528 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetCENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INC — $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH — $225,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION — $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAmerica's Future Foundation — $150,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetIdeas Beyond Borders Inc — $49,730 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY — $43,602 over 3y, 10% of budgetTHE RELIANCE COLLEGE FUND — $25,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetUNDERCURRENT INC — $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE — $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
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 OBJECTIVE STANDARD INSTITUTE
  • Who funds STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY INC
  • Who funds THE AYN RAND INSTITUTE THE CENTER FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OBJECTIVISM
  • Who funds Foundation for Economic Education Inc
  • Who funds CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION INC
  • Who funds BARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH
  • Who funds PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
  • Who funds America's Future Foundation

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.

Charles Koch FoundationVA15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charles Koch Foundation · Donors Trust Inc · Atlas Economic Research Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Prometheus 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.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%your share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Prometheus Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Prometheus 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 106 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph