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Sam and Carol McAdow Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sam and Carol McAdow Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.0M
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$500k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$564kEducation$504kYouth Development$25kPublic Benefit$12kFood & Nutrition$9kHealth$7kHuman Services$5kRecreation & Sports$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
  • $250k+2 grants · $915k
$415,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$9k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The OhioState University Foundation$500,000
Dublin Community Church$415,000
Dublin Community Church Foundation$100,000
Friendship Village of Dublin$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 (FY20–24, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, 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%Boys Town: $50 → 12%Wounded Warrior Project: $100 → 14%Wounded Warrior Project: $100 → 14%National Urban League: $50 → 17%Friendship Village of Dublin: $5k → 15%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

MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
OR
SD
IA
OH
PA
CA
NE
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
MS
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 18 repeat orgs$117k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +22% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 16 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
38

Total granted

$1.0M
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+22%
+9%

Still filing today

61%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $105k 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
EducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsArts & CultureReligionFood & 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

  • OS
    OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $502k · revenue +8%
  • YL
    YOUNG LIFE
    2× · 2022–2023 · $25k · revenue +18%
  • JUDICIAL WATCH INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $11k · revenue +16%

Funded once

  • LA
    LIFECARE ALLIANCEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +44%
  • SC
    South Charleston Heritage Corp
    one grant, 2021 · $2k
  • NA
    NATIONAL APHASIA ASSOCIATION Igraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue +105%
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
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
2
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
3
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
4
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
5
Observer Research Foundation America

Organization mission the observer research foundation america orf america is an independent, non-partisan, and nonprofit organization in washington dc dedicated to addressing policy challenges facing the united states, india, and their…

International
6
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
7
Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Research Center generates a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and…

Social Science
8
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
9
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

University of the sciences prepares students to become leaders, innovators, and skilled practitioners in the sciences, the health professions, and related disciplines. we deliver excellence in teaching, research, and service through a safe…

—
10
Foreign Policy Research Institute

The foreign policy research institute (frpi) is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the united states. we educate…

International
11
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
12
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Judicial Watch Inc; the most unlike its peers is Freedom Watch Inc Center for Economic Justice. 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

40 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. 40 of the 63 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
40/40
Grantees still filing
31/40
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $501,500 · EducationOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION+5 more: $2,400 · EducationDUBLIN COMMUNITY CHURCH: $463,250 · OtherDUBLIN COMMUNITY CHURCH+43 more: $18,553 · OtherDublin Community Church Foundation: $100,000 · ReligionDublin Co…+2 more: $150 · ReligionYOUNG LIFE: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentDUBLIN FOOD PANTRY: $9,000 · Food & NutritionLIFECARE ALLIANCE: $2,500 · Food & NutritionJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $10,600 · Public Benefit+2 more: $400 · Public BenefitFRIENDSHIP VILLAGE OF DUBLIN OHIO INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $200 · Human Services+2 more: $100 · Human Services
Education$503,900Other$481,803Religion$100,150Youth Development$25,000Food & Nutrition$11,500Public Benefit$11,000Human Services$5,300

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 budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $501,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDublin Community Church Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 64% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $10,600 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDUBLIN FOOD PANTRY: $9,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetFRIENDSHIP VILLAGE OF DUBLIN OHIO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLIFECARE ALLIANCE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $1,700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL APHASIA ASSOCIATION I: $1,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAMERICAN CORNERSTONE INSTITUTE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCitizens United Foundation: $750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SPRINGFIELD FOUNDATION: $600 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $550 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Institute: $350 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $345 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHEASTERN LEGAL FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM WATCH INC CENTER FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPATRICK HENRY COLLEGE: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDefenders of Wildlife: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFather Flanagan's Boys' Home: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMid-Ohio Foodbank: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR A CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION INC: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION SMILE INC: $25 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.

John P & Kathryn G Ev…Farrell Family Founda…Columbus FoundationJpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…Natl Christian Charit…Donor Advised Charita…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
John P & Kathryn G Evans FoundationWA15.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: John P & Kathryn G Evans Foundation · Farrell Family Foundation · Columbus Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Sam and Carol McAdow Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sam and Carol McAdow Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of 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 · 0–60%
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 63 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 Sam and Carol McAdow 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