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Taco Johns Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Taco Johns Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$110k
Granted FY2024still arriving
32
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$139kArts & Culture$108kCommunity Improvement$104kAnimals$92kHuman Services$82kYouth Development$82kHealth$81kFood & Nutrition$63kOther$0
02FY2024 · 32 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k28 grants · $65k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $45k
$2,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$60k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHEYENNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$14,674
FORMAK$10,800
UNITED HEROS LEAGUE$10,000
BLACK DOG ANIMAL RESCUE$10,000
HOPE$7,500
UNACCOMPANIED STUDENTS INITIATIVE$5,500
ALEX'S LEMONADE STAND FOUNDATION$5,292
WYOMING CHILDRENS SOCIETY$5,000
CHEYENNE BOTANIC GARDENS$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
CHRISTOPHER BREMER MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$5,000
FRIDAY FOOD BAG$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING FOUNDATION$2,500
Individual grant recipient$2,500
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$2,036
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 (FY17–24, $43k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 74% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CAMP KESEM: $326 → 14%CORE (CHILDREN OF RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES): $10k → 6%HUTS FOR VETS: $250 → 7%CORE (CHILDREN OF RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES): $1k → 6%THE LINK: $500 → 11%K9S 4 MOBILITY: $2k → 10%K9S 4 MOBILITY: $1k → 10%K9S 4 MOBILITY: $1k → 10%K9S 4 MOBILITY: $1k → 10%K9S 4 MOBILITY: $1k → 10%K9S 4 MOBILITY: $1k → 10%NEEDS: $500 → 10%NEEDS: $500 → 10%NEEDS: $500 → 10%NEEDS: $500 → 10%NEEDS: $500 → 10%NEEDS: $500 → 10%NEEDS: $500 → 10%NEEDS: $250 → 10%WYOMING 211: $3k → 10%CLIMB WYOMING: $3k → 10%CLIMB WYOMING: $2k → 10%CLIMB WYOMING: $2k → 10%CLIMB WYOMING: $2k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF CHEYENNE: $1k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF CHEYENNE: $1k → 10%CASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $1k → 10%CASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $1k → 10%CASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $1k → 10%CASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $1k → 10%CASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $1k → 10%COMMUNITY ACTION OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $500 → 10%CASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $500 → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF CHEYENNE: $500 → 10%WYOMING CITIZEN REVIEW PANEL: $250 → 10%WYOMING 211: $100 → 10%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

ID
MN
NY
MA
WY
SD
IN
PA
CA
CO
NE
KY
MD
KS
HI
OK
GA
TX
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$913k · 80 repeat orgs$153k to everyone else

80 repeat relationships: 26 still active in FY2024, 54 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

80
100

Total granted

$913k
$143k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+35%

Still filing today

44%
26%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $11k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationHealthArts & CultureAnimalsCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • BD
    Black Dog Animal Rescue
    8× · 2017–2024 · $76k · revenue +69%
  • CS
    CHEYENNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
    8× · 2017–2024 · $47k · revenue +144%
  • CF
    Cheyenne Family Young Men's Christian Association
    2× · 2017–2018 · $20k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • EO
    EMPLOYEES OF TACO JOHN FRANCHISEE
    one grant, 2022 · $32k
  • CF
    CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS OLD WEST MUSEUM
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +7%
  • WE
    WRLA EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $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
Cowboy State Daily

Cowboy state daily's mission is to provide high-quality local and statewide reporting on the issues that impact wyoming, featuring stories that capture wyoming's wonderful "small town with long streets" vibe.

Arts & Culture
2
Caring Foundation of Wyoming
Human Services
3
Wyoming Food Coalition Wy Food Matters
Food & Nutrition
4
Wyoming Sheep Foundation
Food & Nutrition
5
Better Wyoming

Better wyoming works to educate, organize and mobilize wyoming residents on behalf of statewide change.

Public Benefit
6
Wyoming Wildlife Advocates

To promote science-based wildlife management that fosters ecosystem health and dynamic equilibrium between species throughout the state of wyoming.

Animals
7
Laramie Chamber Business Alliance

To lead the community in the improvement of the local business environment, creation of jobs and growth of the local tax base in laramie, wyoming.

Community Improvement
8
Wyofile

Wyofile is an independent, nonprofit news service focused on the people, places and policy of wyoming. recognizing the rapid decline in resources among traditional news outlets, wyofile offers in-depth coverage of complicated subjects and…

Arts & Culture
9
Wyoming Civic Engagement Network

The wyoming civic engagement network strives for equitable voter participation by building power in marginalized and under-resourced communities, growing the capacity of their leaders and organizations, facilitating equitable access to…

Civil Rights
10
Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of Wyoming

Assist disabled and needy veterans.

—
11
Wyoming Early Childhood Partnership

The mission and purpose of the wyoming early childhood partnership is to lead a public-private partnership in the development of an accessible and sustainable, high quality, early childhood system that supports communities and families.

—
12
Wyoming Wildlife Federation

Wyoming wildlife federation delivers leadership in conservation for the state's wildlife, hunters, anglers, and conservationists through policy, education, advocacy, and habitat.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Laramie County; the most unlike its peers is Lights On Bright. 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

66 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. 66 of the 186 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
65/66
Grantees still filing
36/66
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FRIDAY FOOD BAG: $46,315 · OtherFRIDAY FOOD BAGCHEYENNE BOTANIC GARDENS: $45,511 · OtherCHEYENNE BOTANIC GARDENSYOUTH ALTERNATIVES: $41,300 · OtherYOUTH ALTERNATIVESBOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $36,100 · OtherEMPLOYEES OF TACO JOHN FRANCHISEE: $32,400 · OtherLCCC FOUNDATION: $30,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $28,388 · OtherUNITED WAY OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $24,154 · Other+138 more: $431,569 · Other+138 moreBlack Dog Animal Rescue: $75,500 · AnimalsCHEYENNE ANIMAL SHELTER: $9,005 · Animals+1 more: $150 · AnimalsCHRISTOPHER BREMER MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · HealthRecover Wyoming: $17,813 · HealthWYOMING CHILDRENS SOCIETY: $16,350 · Health+4 more: $4,760 · HealthCHEYENNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $46,674 · Arts & CultureCHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS OLD WEST MUSEUM: $10,222 · Arts & CultureBIG EIGHT FOUNDATION: $4,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $825 · Arts & CultureFORMAK: $46,469 · Community ImprovementWYOMING ASSOCIATION OF ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS: $5,000 · Community ImprovementTHE ARC OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $3,250 · Community ImprovementCHILDREN OF RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES LTD: $11,000 · Human ServicesCLIMB DBA CLIMB WYOMING: $8,500 · Human ServicesK9'S 4 MOBILITY INC: $7,000 · Human ServicesCASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $5,561 · Human ServicesNEEDS INC: $3,750 · Human ServicesFAMILY PROMISE OF CHEYENNE: $3,030 · Human ServicesWYOMING 2-1-1 INC: $2,600 · Human Services+5 more: $1,826 · Human ServicesDISCOVER CHEYENNE INC: $15,000 · EducationTHE CHEYENNE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $15,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF WYOMING FOUNDATION: $3,500 · Education+6 more: $4,000 · Education
Other$715,737Animals$84,655Health$68,923Arts & Culture$61,721Community Improvement$54,719Human Services$43,267Education$37,500

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 budgetBlack Dog Animal Rescue: $75,500 over 8y, 2.9% of budgetCHEYENNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $46,674 over 8y, 1.9% of budgetFORMAK: $46,469 over 3y, 20% of budgetCHRISTOPHER BREMER MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 4y, 20% of budgetUNITED WAY OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $24,154 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCheyenne Family Young Men's Christian Association: $20,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetUNITED HEROES LEAGUE: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBEAST FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetRecover Wyoming: $17,813 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetWYOMING CHILDRENS SOCIETY: $16,350 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetDISCOVER CHEYENNE INC: $15,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetTHE CHEYENNE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 5y, 7.5% of budgetWYOMING HOSPITALITY AND TRAVEL COALITION: $14,000 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetCHILDREN OF RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES LTD: $11,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetCHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS OLD WEST MUSEUM: $10,222 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCHEYENNE ANIMAL SHELTER: $9,005 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCHEYENNE LEADS: $8,660 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCLIMB DBA CLIMB WYOMING: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetK9'S 4 MOBILITY INC: $7,000 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetUNACCOMPANIED STUDENTS INITIATIVE: $6,700 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCASA OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $5,561 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetALEXS LEMONADE STAND FOUNDATION: $5,292 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHEYENNE ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetWYOMING ASSOCIATION OF ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS: $5,000 over 4y, 1.9% of budgetNEEDS INC: $3,750 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WYOMING FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ARC OF LARAMIE COUNTY: $3,250 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetWYOMING 2-1-1 INC: $2,600 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetST MARY'S SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $2,036 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLIGHTS ON BRIGHT: $2,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE INC: $1,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEXTENDED HANDS OF HOPE: $1,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCHEYENNE AMERICAN LEGION POST 6 BASEBALL CLUB: $1,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCULINARY INSTITUTE OF AMERICA: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLATTE RIVERS VETERANS FLYFISHING: $1,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLARAMIE COUNTY LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWYOMING AGRICULTURE IN THE CLASSROOM: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOWBOY JOE CLUB: $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAGIC CITY ENTERPRISES INC: $550 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBRENT ELEY FOUNDATION: $524 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LINK: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSARAH'S HOME CORPORATION: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY ACTION OF LARAMIE COUNTY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEGAL AID OF WYOMING INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWYOMING FAMILY HOME OWNERSHIP PROGRAM: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR FOUNDATION: $500 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 Black Dog Animal Rescue ↗
  • Who funds CHEYENNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds FORMAK ↗
  • Who funds CHRISTOPHER BREMER MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF LARAMIE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds Cheyenne Family Young Men's Christian Association ↗
  • Who funds UNITED HEROES LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds BEAST FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Recover Wyoming ↗
  • Who funds WYOMING CHILDRENS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds DISCOVER CHEYENNE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHEYENNE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WYOMING HOSPITALITY AND TRAVEL COALITION ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN OF RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES LTD ↗
  • Who funds CHEYENNE FRONTIER DAYS OLD WEST MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds CHEYENNE ANIMAL SHELTER ↗
  • Who funds CHEYENNE LEADS ↗
  • Who funds CLIMB DBA CLIMB WYOMING ↗
  • Who funds K9'S 4 MOBILITY INC ↗
  • Who funds UNACCOMPANIED STUDENTS INITIATIVE ↗

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.

The Andrew Allen Char…Wyoming Assn of Non P…Joannides Family Foun…Cheyenne Kiwanis Club…Wyoming Community Fou…First Interstate Banc…United Way of Laramie…The John P Ellbogen F…Thankful ThursdayH Fort Flowers Founda…Hughes Charitable Fou…Mary H Storer Foundat…
The Andrew Allen Charitable FoundationWY40.5× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Andrew Allen Charitable Foundation · Wyoming Assn of Non Profit Organizations dba Wyoming Nonprofit Network · Joannides Family Foundation · Cheyenne Kiwanis Club Foundation · Wyoming Community Foundation · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · United Way of Laramie County · The John P Ellbogen Foundation · Thankful Thursday · H Fort Flowers Foundation · Hughes Charitable Foundation · Mary H Storer 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 Taco Johns Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Taco Johns Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 Taco Johns Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Taco Johns 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 186 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 Taco Johns’ 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