Skip to content
Russell and Willene Dobson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Russell and Willene Dobson Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$36k
Granted FY2024still arriving
2
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$31k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Religion$164kInternational$81kHuman Services$40kRecreation & Sports$15kArts & Culture$12kHealth$10kHousing & Shelter$3kEducation$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $31k
$31,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$842k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
First Southern Baptist Church of Scottsdale$31,000
Ute Pass Historical Society$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 (FY19–22, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Bridge to Hope: $500 → 11%Arizona Baptist Childrens Service: $1k → 15%Wounded Warrior Project: $1k → 14%Arizona Baptist Childrens Services: $1k → 15%City Care: $5k → 16%City Care: $5k → 16%City Rescue Mission: $1k → 16%City Rescue Mission: $1k → 16%City Care: $800 → 16%City Rescue Mission: $300 → 16%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
PA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
TN
NC
DC
OK
GA
TX
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.

59%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$197k · 15 repeat orgs$137k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +50% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
21

Total granted

$197k
$106k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+50%
+16%

Still filing today

67%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 14% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $31k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesInternationalRecreation & SportsReligionHealthFood & NutritionOther
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

  • SP
    SAMARITAN'S PURSE
    2× · 2019–2020 · $21k · revenue +151%
  • CC
    CITY CARE INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $10k · revenue +82%
  • ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC
    3× · 2019–2022 · $7k · revenue +99%

Funded once

  • SP
    Samaritan's Purse International Rel
    one grant, 2022 · $50k
  • FS
    First Southern Baptist Church
    one grant, 2019 · $24k
  • O
    OMF
    one grant, 2023 · $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

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
World Relief Corp of National Association of Evangelicals

To boldly engage the world's greatest crises in partnership with the church.

International
2
Wounded Spirits Ministries

The focus of the ministry is to establish christian camps and retreats that will reach men and women who have been affected by post traumatic stress disorder with the gospel of jesus christ, and equip them to recognize, manage, and…

Recreation & Sports
3
The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc

The christian broadcasting network's mission is preaching the gospel of jesus christ into all the world. cbn's mission is preaching the gospel of jesus christ into all the world. the mission of cbn and its affiliated organizations is to…

Religion
4
Church World Service Inc

Church world service, inc. is a private, voluntary faith-based organization with 37 member communions that transformscommunities around the globe through just and sustainable responses to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster.

International
5
Aerial Recovery

Aerial recovery's mission is to save lives and stop evil. through the creation and deployment of humanitarian special operators, aerial recovery brings together selected veterans, first responders, and mission-qualified civilians who,…

—
6
Medical Missions Outreach Inc

In 2005, medical missions outreach began pointing others to the great physician through an annual medical missions trip to the developing world by partnering with local churches to reach their communities with the gospel. now more than 20…

International
7
Americares Foundation Inc

Americares mission is to help people and communities around the world access (see schedule o).

International
8
Management Sciences for Health Inc

(msh) saves lives and improves the health of the world's poorest (see schedule o) and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.

International
9
Global Commission Partners Inc

Global commission partners is an evangelical missionary not for profit organization dedicated to evaluate and support native ministries who are planting the gospel of jesus christ among unreach people groups in poor countries.

Philanthropy
10
Floresta Usa Incorporated

Plant with purpose, a christian nonprofit organization, reverses deforestation and poverty around the world by transforming the lives of the rural poor. we do this through: - watershed restoration & regenerative agriculture - savings…

International
11
Project Hope - the People-to-People Health Foundation Inc

To conduct and support programs and activities aimed at solving some of the world's greatest public health challenges, with a specific focus on enabling health workers to have the greatest possible impact on the health of the people they…

International
12
Jubal Band Ministries

Jubal band ministries mission is to invite people to become disciples of christian life with jesus.

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is City Rescue Mission Inc; the most unlike its peers is Ute Pass Historical Society. 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

21 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. 21 of the 37 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/21
Grantees still filing
14/21
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

First Southern Baptist Church of Sc: $99,500 · OtherFirst Southern Baptist Church of ScSamaritan's Purse International Rel: $50,000 · OtherSamaritan's Purse International RelFIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH OF SCOTTSDALE: $31,000 · OtherFIRST SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCH OF SCOTTSDALEFirst Southern Baptist Church: $23,531 · OtherFirst Southern Baptist ChurchRIO VISTA CENTER INC: $17,000 · OtherRIO VISTA CENTER INCThe Meadows: $11,000 · OtherUTE PASS HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10,000 · Other+15 more: $28,550 · Other+15 moreSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $21,000 · ReligionAMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY: $4,000 · ReligionCITY CARE INC: $10,400 · Human ServicesCITY RESCUE MISSION INC: $2,300 · Human ServicesARIZONA BAPTIST CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $2,000 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $1,000 · Human Services+1 more: $500 · Human ServicesST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $7,000 · HealthBRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION: $3,000 · HealthMercy Ships International: $5,000 · InternationalFEED THE CHILDREN INC: $1,300 · International+1 more: $100 · InternationalCOFFEE CREEK RIDING CENTER: $4,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $100 · Recreation & SportsPAMBE GHANA INC: $1,000 · Education
Other$270,581Religion$25,000Human Services$16,200Health$10,000International$6,400Recreation & Sports$4,100Education$1,000

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 budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $21,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCITY CARE INC: $10,400 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $7,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Ships International: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOFFEE CREEK RIDING CENTER: $4,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetAMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBRIGHTFOCUS FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCITY RESCUE MISSION INC: $2,300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BUTTE THEATER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetARIZONA BAPTIST CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFEED THE CHILDREN INC: $1,300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE TO HOPE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetThe Meadows Center for Opportunity Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $550 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION HOMEFRONT INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Corps: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $100 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.

Natl Christian Charit…Amazonsmile Foundation
Natl Christian Charitable Fdn IncGA9.2× affinity6 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · 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 Russell and Willene Dobson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Russell and Willene Dobson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Mercy Corps: 47% of income from government
  • Feed the Children Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Russell and Willene Dobson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Russell and Willene Dobson 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 37 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 Russell and Willene Dobson’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