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Samford-Cannon Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Samford-Cannon 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.

$470k
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$148k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$876kReligion$473kRecreation & Sports$290kHealth$183kCommunity Improvement$154kHuman Services$125kYouth Development$62kArts & Culture$44kOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k13 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $182k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $248k
$5,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$9.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FIRST METHODIST CHURCH$147,752
OPELIKA CHAMBER FOUNDATION$50,012
OPELIKA SPORTSPLEX & AQUATICS CENTER$50,000
EAST ALABAMA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION$40,836
OPELIKA CITY SCHOOLS$27,955
AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$25,000
AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$24,931
US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION$24,284
JASON DUFNER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION$18,385
SOUTHERN UNION FOUNDATION$10,418
HUDSON FAMILY FOUNDATION$10,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
EXODUS RANCH$5,000
HUNTINGDON COLLEGE$5,000
WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY$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, $108k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 26% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $26k → 11%US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $25k → 11%US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $24k → 11%US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $5k → 11%ESPERANZA HOUSE: $10k → 15%ESPERANZA HOUSE: $6k → 15%BIG HOUSE FOUNDATION: $3k → 15%ESPERANZA HOUSE: $1k → 15%EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION OF EAST ALABAMA: $5k → 15%EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION OF EAST ALABAMA: $3k → 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.
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 7% of Samford-Cannon Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Samford-Cannon Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 33 repeat orgs$98k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

33 repeat relationships: 19 still active in FY2024, 14 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

33
20

Total granted

$2.2M
$84k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
0%

Still filing today

61%
30%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k 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 ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • AU
    AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $464k · revenue +80%
  • HC
    HUNTINGDON COLLEGE
    4× · 2020–2024 · $207k · revenue +17%
  • EA
    EAST ALABAMA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $109k · revenue +79%

Funded once

  • BL
    BLUE LAKE UNITED METHODIST ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • EA
    EAST ALABAMA ARTS ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2023 · $20k
  • MP
    MT PLEASANT HISTORICAL PRESERVATION SOCIETY
    one grant, 2021 · $6k
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
Uab Educational Foundation

To support the university of alabama at birmingham in its scientific and educational mission, including managing and disbursing funds, acquiring real property, and providing operational flexibility.

Education
2
The University Foundation

The university foundation is organized to assist and aid the board of trustees of the university of alabama in fulfilling its educational, research, and public service programs and activities.

—
3
University of North Alabama Foundation

To support the university of north alabama in its educational endeavors.

Education
4
Alabama a&M University Foundation

The Alabama A&M University Foundation was established to receive, hold, invest, manage, use, and administer property of all kinds, whether given absolutely or in trust, for the benefit of Alabama A&M University and its educational,…

—
5
Alabama Partnership for Children

To work in partnership with families and organizations to ensure that all alabama children (birth to five) get everything they need to develop to their fullest potential.

Education
6
Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County Inc

Habitat for humanity of baldwin county, inc. is an ecumenical, christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing by partnering with the community to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.

—
7
Augusta University Foundation Inc

To raise private support from individuals, corporations, foundations, and others to further the interests of augusta university. other purposes of the foundation are to establish and maintain endowments and provide the administration for…

—
8
Mountain Brook City Schools Foundation

The mission of the Foundation is to mobilize community support and resources for the academic improvement of the Mountain Brook City School System through technological improvement, library enhancement, and professional development.

Education
9
Alabama Christian Academy

To glorify god by providing a quality, christ-centered education which challenges students and teachers to maximize their potential so that graduates are prepared to further their education while becoming productive christian citizens.

—
10
University of Southern Mississippi Wesley Foundation Inc

College students often feel disconnected when they arrive to campus. university of southern mississippi wesley foundation fosters meaningful relationships that provide a faith family for students during their college years.

Religion
11
Mid-Atlantic Christian University

Mid-atlantic christian university is an undergraduate institution of christian higher learning whose mission is to impact the world by transforming ordinary people into extraordinary christian leaders. students are taught to think…

Education
12
Alabama a&M University Trust for Educational Excellence

The Trusts mission is to support and improve educational excellence at Alabama A&M University through the granting of academic scholarships at the Unviversity, the endowment of academic chairs, the subsidizing of current faculty positions,…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Center for Family Philanthropy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Bighouse Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

30 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. 30 of the 57 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/30
Grantees still filing
17/30
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIRST METHODIST CHURCH: $297,774 · OtherFIRST METHODIST CHURCHOPELIKA SPORTSPLEX & AQUATICS CENTER: $250,000 · OtherOPELIKA SPORTSPLEX & AQUATICS CENTERFIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $165,576 · OtherFIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCHEAST ALABAMA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $108,945 · OtherEAST ALABAMA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATIONOPELIKA CITY SCHOOLS: $85,069 · OtherOPELIKA CITY SCHOOLSYOUTH FOR CHRIST OF EAST ALABAMA: $60,500 · Other+30 more: $206,456 · Other+30 moreAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $463,652 · EducationAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONHUNTINGDON COLLEGE: $207,241 · EducationHUNTINGDON COLLEGEHUDSON FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $57,000 · EducationHUDSON FAMILY FOUNDATION INC+3 more: $27,000 · EducationOPELIKA CHAMBER FOUNDATION INC: $151,521 · Community ImprovementUS SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $80,019 · Human ServicesJASON DUFNER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $33,385 · Human ServicesESPERANZA HOUSE INC: $17,000 · Human ServicesUNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME: $9,000 · Human ServicesTHE EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $7,500 · Human Services+1 more: $3,000 · Human ServicesSMILE-A-MILE: $18,000 · HealthHighlands Cashiers Health Foundation Inc: $7,000 · HealthSTORYBOOK FARM INC: $19,700 · Recreation & SportsMIRACLE LEAGUE OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $2,000 · Recreation & SportsTHE EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Recreation & SportsPerforming Arts Center Inc: $10,000 · Arts & CultureMT PLEASANT HISTORICAL PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $5,500 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $50 · Arts & Culture
Other$1,174,320Education$754,893Community Improvement$151,521Human Services$149,904Health$25,000Recreation & Sports$22,700Arts & Culture$15,550

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $463,652 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHUNTINGDON COLLEGE: $207,241 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetOPELIKA CHAMBER FOUNDATION INC: $151,521 over 3y, 9.5% of budgetEAST ALABAMA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $108,945 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetUS SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $80,019 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHUDSON FAMILY FOUNDATION INC: $57,000 over 5y, 3.6% of budgetFOOD BANK OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $37,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetJASON DUFNER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $33,385 over 3y, 36% of budgetWashington and Lee University: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSTORYBOOK FARM INC: $19,700 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetSMILE-A-MILE: $18,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetESPERANZA HOUSE INC: $17,000 over 3y, 8.8% of budgetPerforming Arts Center Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetUNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME: $9,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHighlands Cashiers Health Foundation Inc: $7,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMT PLEASANT HISTORICAL PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $5,500 over 1y, 23% of budgetBIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Exodus Ranch: $5,000 over 1y, 6.1% of budgetAUBURN OPELIKA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBIGHOUSE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $2,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILY PHILANTHROPY INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLUTZIE 43 FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLiteracy Council of Highlands Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKEEP OPELIKA BEAUTIFUL INC: $200 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSTEGALL SEMINARY SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF EAST ALABAMA INC: $50 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 AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HUNTINGDON COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds OPELIKA CHAMBER FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds EAST ALABAMA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HUDSON FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF EAST ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds JASON DUFNER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Washington and Lee University ↗
  • Who funds STORYBOOK FARM INC ↗
  • Who funds SMILE-A-MILE ↗
  • Who funds ESPERANZA HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds Performing Arts Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds UNITED METHODIST CHILDREN'S HOME ↗
  • Who funds THE EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION OF EAST ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds MT PLEASANT HISTORICAL PRESERVATION SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds The Exodus Ranch ↗
  • Who funds AUBURN OPELIKA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC ↗
  • Who funds BIGHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE ↗
  • Who funds MIRACLE LEAGUE OF EAST ALABAMA 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.

Alabama Power Foundat…Scott Foundation IncBruce Pearl Family Fo…E L Spencer Jr Founda…Pleiad FoundationDavison Bruce Foundat…Robert Trent Jones Go…Alfa FoundationThe Daniel Foundation…The Community Foundat…Publix Super Markets …Enterprise Holdings F…
Alabama Power Foundation IncAL22.7× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Scott Foundation Inc · Bruce Pearl Family Foundation · E L Spencer Jr Foundation Inc · Pleiad Foundation · Davison Bruce Foundation · Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Foundation · Alfa Foundation · The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Publix Super Markets Charities Inc · Enterprise Holdings 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 Samford-Cannon Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Samford-Cannon Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 57 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 Samford-Cannon’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