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Schoelzel Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Schoelzel Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$506k
Granted FY2025still arriving
38
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$85k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Animals$1.1MHealth$596kEducation$312kHuman Services$206kRecreation & Sports$166kPhilanthropy$133kEnvironment$132kFood & Nutrition$111kOther$0
02FY2025 · 38 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k23 grants · $106k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $195k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $205k
$5,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$1.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$85,000
DENVER ZOO CONSERVATION ALLIANCE$60,000
HUMANE COLORADO$60,000
WARREN VILLAGE$30,000
FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKEIS$25,000
TALL TALES RANCH$25,000
GOLD CROWN FOUNDATION$20,000
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK$15,000
ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ALSAC$15,000
CHILDREN OF THE PUEBLO INC$15,000
CHILDREN'S HOSPTIAL CO FOUNDATION$10,000
REACH OUT AND READ CO$10,000
AWE$10,000
CURE SEARCH FOR CHILDRENS CANCER$10,000
ANCHOR CENTER FOR THE BLIND$10,000
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 (FY17–25, $188k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%DENVER HOSPICE: $1k → 12%FLORENCE CRITTENTON SERVICES: $1k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $110k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $30k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $25k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $10k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $5k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $4k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $2k → 12%WARREN VILLAGE: $1k → 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

NY
WY
IA
PA
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
KS
TN
DC
HI
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.8M · 53 repeat orgs$153k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +54% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

53 repeat relationships: 34 still active in FY2025, 19 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

53
29

Total granted

$2.8M
$78k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+11%

Still filing today

62%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $75k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsEducationPhilanthropyHealthRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesOther
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

  • DD
    DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE
    9× · 2017–2025 · $491k · revenue +254%
  • TT
    TALL TALES RANCH
    8× · 2018–2025 · $427k · revenue +193%
  • WV
    WARREN VILLAGE INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $186k · revenue +194%

Funded once

  • TD
    THE DISCOVERY LAND COMPANY FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue -17%
  • GR
    GOLDEN RULE RELIEF FUND - GLOBAL IMPACT
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
  • I
    IAPF
    one grant, 2022 · $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
Colorado Open Lands

Colorado open lands' mission is to preserve the significant open lands and natural heritage of colorado through private and public partnerships, innovative land conservation, and strategic leadership.

Environment
2
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
3
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
4
Colorado Gives Foundation

We connect people, ideas, and nonprofits to make good happen. our vision is that all of jeffco is thriving.

Philanthropy
5
Glacier National Park Conservancy

The glacier national park conservancy works to preserve and protect glacier national park for future generations.

Recreation & Sports
6
Education Commission of the States

The mission of education commission of the states is to advocate for attaining educational excellence for all and to help state leaders identify, develop and implement public policy for education that addresses current and future needs of…

Education
7
Fountain Valley School of Colorado

Fountain valley school of colorado provides a transformative curriculum in a supportive environment where students are challenged to think critically, become leaders, and live by our core values: courage, compassion, curiosity,…

Education
8
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
9
Colorado Legal Services

To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.

Crime & Legal
10
Denver Botanic Gardens Inc

The mission of denver botanic gardens is to connect people with plants, especially plants from the rocky mountain region and similar regions around the world, providing delight and enlightenment to everyone.

Environment
11
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
12
Conservation Legacy

Conservation legacy engages future leaders who protect, restore, and enhance our nation's lands through community-based service.in 2024, conservation legacy engaged 2,524 participants who completed over 1.5 million service hours on public…

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver Dumb Friends League; the most unlike its peers is T Kevin Mcnicholas Foundation. 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

52 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. 52 of the 86 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
52/52
Grantees still filing
40/52
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $367,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKEIS: $81,000 · OtherFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKEISMONTERREY PENINSULA FOUNDATION: $69,500 · OtherMONTERREY PENINSULA FOUNDATIONDENVER ZOO CONSERVATION ALLIANCE: $60,000 · OtherDENVER ZOO CONSERVATION ALLIANCEREACH OUT AND READ CO: $52,500 · OtherST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL ALSAC: $47,000 · OtherANCHOR CENTER FOR THE BLIND: $45,000 · Other+45 more: $398,250 · Other+45 moreDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $491,365 · AnimalsDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUEDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $157,000 · AnimalsDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $49,000 · AnimalsWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWOR…Wildlife Conservation Society: $31,000 · Animals+6 more: $25,500 · AnimalsTALL TALES RANCH: $427,000 · HealthTALL TALES RANCHCURESEARCH FOR CHILDREN'S CANCER: $27,000 · HealthCURESEARCH FOR CHI…+3 more: $34,500 · Health+3 moreWARREN VILLAGE INC: $186,000 · Human Services+3 more: $3,000 · Human ServicesCOLORADO ACADEMY: $46,000 · EducationGRALAND COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $37,500 · EducationTeach for America Inc: $30,000 · EducationKENT DENVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $26,000 · EducationTHE CHERRY HILLS PALMER SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WYOMING FOUNDATION: $14,000 · EducationSouthern Methodist University: $10,000 · Education+2 more: $2,000 · EducationGOLD CROWN FOUNDATION: $112,500 · PhilanthropyZarlengo Foundation: $22,000 · PhilanthropyTHE DISCOVERY LAND COMPANY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · PhilanthropyJUDI'S HOUSE INC: $5,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $500 · PhilanthropyASPIRE SCHOLARSHIP: $79,500 · Public Benefit
Other$1,120,750Animals$753,865Health$488,500Human Services$189,000Education$180,500Philanthropy$150,000Public Benefit$79,500

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 budgetDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $491,365 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetTALL TALES RANCH: $427,000 over 8y, 14% of budgetWARREN VILLAGE INC: $186,000 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $157,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetGOLD CROWN FOUNDATION: $112,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetASPIRE SCHOLARSHIP: $79,500 over 9y, 16% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $49,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO ACADEMY: $46,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetGRALAND COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $37,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $31,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $29,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCURESEARCH FOR CHILDREN'S CANCER: $27,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetKENT DENVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL: $26,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetZarlengo Foundation: $22,000 over 7y, 1.6% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING FOR KIDS: $22,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetNational 4-H Council: $16,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHERRY HILLS PALMER SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WYOMING FOUNDATION: $14,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSADDLE UP: $13,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE DENVER SANTA CLAUSE SHOP INC: $13,250 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetA FRIEND OF JACK RESCUE: $11,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCraig Hospital Foundation: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DISCOVERY LAND COMPANY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOLORADO GOLF ASSOCIATION: $7,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHIGH LINE CANAL CONSERVANCY: $6,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS COLORADO: $6,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTEROLYN HORSE RESCUE INC: $5,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetHOPE COMMUNITIES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBest Buddies International Inc: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJUDI'S HOUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCENTRAL CITY OPERA HOUSE ASSOCIATION: $5,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR COLORADO: $4,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSylvia Earle AllianceMission Blue: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget2 BLONDES ALL BREED RESCUE INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetRedline: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHERRY HILLS LAND PRESERVE INC: $2,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BARBARA BUSH FOUNDATION FOR FAMILY LITERACY INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetROOM TO READ: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHINING STARS FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFLORENCE CRITTENTON SERVICES OF COLORADO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCharity Navigator: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICE OF METRO DENVER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetT KEVIN MCNICHOLAS FOUNDATION: $500 over 1y, 0.4% 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 DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds TALL TALES RANCH ↗
  • Who funds WARREN VILLAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GOLD CROWN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ASPIRE SCHOLARSHIP ↗
  • Who funds WILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds GRALAND COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Wildlife Conservation Society ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES ↗
  • Who funds CURESEARCH FOR CHILDREN'S CANCER ↗
  • Who funds KENT DENVER COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Zarlengo Foundation ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL LEARNING FOR KIDS ↗
  • Who funds National 4-H Council ↗
  • Who funds THE CHERRY HILLS PALMER SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SADDLE UP ↗
  • Who funds THE DENVER SANTA CLAUSE SHOP INC ↗
  • Who funds A FRIEND OF JACK RESCUE ↗
  • Who funds Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation ↗
  • Who funds Craig Hospital Foundation ↗

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.

Colorado Gives Founda…The Denver FoundationThe Colorado Health F…Xcel Energy FoundationRose Community Founda…The Anschutz Foundati…Western Union Foundat…Amg Charitable Gift F…Records Johnston Fami…Schlessman Foundation…Libertygives Foundati…The Janus Henderson F…
Colorado Gives FoundationCO35.4× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · The Denver Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · The Anschutz Foundation · Western Union Foundation · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · Records Johnston Family Foundation · Schlessman Foundation Inc · Libertygives Foundation · The Janus Henderson 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 Schoelzel Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Schoelzel Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
15report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–30%
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 86 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Schoelzel 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