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Starting Line Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Starting Line 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.

$279k
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$50k
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.

Education$727kPhilanthropy$690kHuman Services$273kHealth$175kFood & Nutrition$110kEnvironment$60kCrime & Legal$60kCommunity Improvement$50kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $49k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $181k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Endeavor Foundation$50,000
Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA)$30,000
IMPACT ON EDUCATION$30,000
Stanford University$25,000
COMMUNITY FOOD SHARE$25,000
THE ASPEN INSTITUTE$15,000
donors choose$15,000
Roots Music Project$10,799
THERE WITH CARE - BOULDER$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
GROWING GARDENS$10,000
E-TOWN$5,000
Boulder County Farmers Market$5,000
CAL WOOD EDUCATION CENTER$5,000
Blue Sky Bridge$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 (FY19–25, $79k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PRESENTING DENVER: $1k → 12%NEW STORY: $13k → 10%EFAA: $30k → 12%EFAA: $25k → 12%ACCESS OPPORTUNITY: $5k → 12%VIA MOBILITY SERVICES: $5k → 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

IL
WI
NY
PA
CA
CO
VA
DC
AL
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 14% of Starting Line Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Starting Line 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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$940k · 16 repeat orgs$369k to everyone else

16 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
18

Total granted

$940k
$263k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+24%

Still filing today

75%
72%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 58% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $107k 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
EducationHuman ServicesHealthEnvironmentArts & CultureCivil RightsOther
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

  • IO
    IMPACT ON EDUCATION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $170k · revenue +122%
  • CF
    COMMUNITY FOOD SHARE INC
    6× · 2019–2025 · $85k · revenue +18%
  • KA
    KHAN ACADEMY INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $75k · revenue +48%

Funded once

  • EG
    ENDEAVOR GLOBAL INC (F/K/A THE ENDEAVOR INITIATIVE INC)
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue 0%
  • PP
    PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION
    one grant, 2019 · $30k
  • CF
    CENTER FOR INQUIRY INC
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue -35%
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 Museum of Natural History

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

Arts & Culture
2
Endeavor Colorado

Endeavor colorado is a not-for-profit leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement in colorado to catalyze long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and supporting the best high-impact entrepreneurs in our region. high-impact…

Community Improvement
3
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
4
Colorado Fiscal Institute

To provide timely, credible and accessible analyses of fiscal and economic issues facing colorado to inform public policy debates and promote economic prosperity

Community Improvement
5
Boulder Chamber of Commerce

The nonprofit boulder chamber is the region's flagship business advocacy and support organization. with almost 120 years of dedicated service to our members and the boulder community, the boulder chamber's innovative programs help local…

—
6
Colorado Gives Foundation

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

Philanthropy
7
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
8
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
9
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

—
10
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
11
Social Venture Partners Boulder County Inc

To harness the collective power of nonprofits and philanthropic changemakers to accelerate community impact.

Philanthropy
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Aspen Institute Inc; the most unlike its peers is Endeavor Foundation 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

35 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. 35 of the 47 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)
35/35
Grantees still filing
20/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $630,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNT…ENDEAVOR FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 · PhilanthropyENDEAVOR FOUNDATION INC+1 more: $7,500 · PhilanthropyIMPACT ON EDUCATION INC: $170,000 · OtherIMPACT ON EDUCATION INCEmergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA): $92,500 · OtherEmergency Family Assistance Associatio…DONORS CHOOSE ORG: $75,000 · OtherDONORS CHOOSE ORGEFAA (EMPOWERING FAMILIES ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION): $70,000 · OtherEFAA (EMPOWERING FAMILIES ASSISTANCE A…THERE WITH CARE - BOULDER: $50,000 · OtherTHERE WITH CARE - BOULDERPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION: $30,000 · OtherCHILD AND FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM: $35,000 · Other+19 more: $258,299 · Other+19 moreTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $330,025 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES O…KHAN ACADEMY INC: $75,200 · EducationKHAN ACADEMY INCDONORSCHOOSEORG: $50,000 · EducationDONORSCHOOSEORG+3 more: $17,000 · EducationBOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH FOUNDATION: $100,000 · HealthUSONA INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 · HealthBOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH: $10,000 · HealthCOMMUNITY FOOD SHARE INC: $85,000 · Food & NutritionBoulder County Farmers Market: $5,000 · Food & NutritionEMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION: $55,000 · Human ServicesNEW STORY INC: $13,000 · Human ServicesVia Mobility Services: $5,000 · Human ServicesACCESS OPPORTUNITY: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesENDEAVOR GLOBAL INC (F/K/A THE ENDEAVOR INITIATIVE INC): $50,000 · InternationalGLOBAL FUND FOR WOMEN INC: $10,000 · International
Philanthropy$687,500Other$780,799Education$472,225Health$120,000Food & Nutrition$90,000Human Services$79,000International$60,000

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 budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $630,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $330,025 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetIMPACT ON EDUCATION INC: $170,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetBOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOOD SHARE INC: $85,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetKHAN ACADEMY INC: $75,200 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION: $55,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDONORSCHOOSEORG: $50,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetENDEAVOR FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetENDEAVOR GLOBAL INC (F/K/A THE ENDEAVOR INITIATIVE INC): $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCHILD AND FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM: $35,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetCal-Wood Education Center: $25,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetCENTER FOR INQUIRY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ASPEN INSTITUTE INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHORNE ECOLOGICAL INSTITUTE: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNEW STORY INC: $13,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUSONA INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetGLOBAL FUND FOR WOMEN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGROWING GARDENS OF BOULDER COUNTY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBOULDER VALLEY WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE VOTER PARTICIPATION CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetStanford Jazz Workshop: $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWOLFRAM FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 1y, 34% of budgetDEFY VENTURES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetVia Mobility Services: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACCESS OPPORTUNITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE EXPLORATORIUM: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChallenge Success: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPRESENTING DENVER: $1,000 over 1y, 1.1% 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.

Community Foundation …Colorado Gives Founda…Amg Charitable Gift F…The Longmont Communit…AEC TrustThe Denver FoundationL & N Andreas Foundat…Silicon Valley Commun…The Wolf Family Found…Rose Community Founda…Jewish Communal FundImpactassetsinc
Community Foundation Boulder CountyCO29.9× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation Boulder County · Colorado Gives Foundation · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · The Longmont Community Foundation · AEC Trust · The Denver Foundation · L & N Andreas Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · The Wolf Family Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · Jewish Communal Fund · Impactassetsinc

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 Starting Line Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Starting Line 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%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    10report 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 47 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 Starting Line’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