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The Adams Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Adams 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.

$10k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$192kEducation$110kArts & Culture$86kHuman Services$30kHealth$25kRecreation & Sports$6kInternational$2kReligion$500Other$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,500
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION$5,000
THE AINSWORTH FOUNDATION$2,500
BOSIA SCHOLARSHIP FUND$2,400
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 49% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%The Peregrine Fund: $4k → 8%backcountry hunters anglers: $1k → 9%Hermosa Beach Education Foundation: $5k → 14%WEST SYLVAN FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%DESCHUTES BASIN LAND TRUST: $2k → 12%NESKOWIN VALLEY SCHOOL: $5k → 12%William Temple House: $250 → 12%Hermosa Beach Education Foundation: $5k → 14%Columbia Land Trust: $84k → 9%METAVIVOR RESEARCH & SUPPORT: $5k → 6%The Salvation Army Capital Campaign: $5k → 8%HERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%WEST SYLVAN FOUNDATION: $3k → 8%NESKOWIN VALLEY SCHOOL: $4k → 12%The Ainsworth Foundation: $8k → 12%Columbia Land Trust: $75k → 9%METAVIVOR RESEARCH & SUPPORT: $5k → 6%HERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%OHSU FOUNDATIONCENTER FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH: $3k → 12%Columbia Land Trust: $25k → 9%Hermosa Beach Education Foundation: $5k → 14%OHSU FoundationCtr for Women's Heal: $3k → 12%Columbia Land Trust: $3k → 9%HERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%OHSU FoundationCtr for Women's Heal: $3k → 12%OHSU FoundationCtr for Women's Heal: $3k → 12%OHSU FoundationCtr for Women's Heal: $3k → 12%PITTOCK MANSION SOCIETY: $81k → 12%OHSU FoundationCtr for Women's Heal: $3k → 12%PITTOCK MANSION SOCIETY: $5k → 12%BRIDLEMILE FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%The Ainsworth Foundation: $8k → 12%Portland Parks Foundation: $5k → 12%The Ainsworth Foundation: $3k → 12%THE AINSWORTH FOUNDATION: $3k → 12%THE AINSWORTH FOUNDATION: $3k → 12%portland state university foundatio: $2k → 12%The Ainsworth Foundation: $6k → 12%Sunstone montessori School: $5k → 12%SUNSTONE MONTESSORI: $5k → 12%Sunstone montessori School: $3k → 12%Sunstone montessori School: $2k → 12%Sunstone montessori School: $2k → 12%The Ainsworth Foundation: $2k → 12%MINDS MATTER OF PORTLAND: $3k → 12%Sunstone montessori School: $2k → 12%The Library Foundation: $250 → 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.
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.
$393k · 12 repeat orgs$64k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +15% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
15

Total granted

$393k
$64k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+15%

Still filing today

75%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EnvironmentEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyRecreation & SportsHealthOther
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

  • COLUMBIA LAND TRUST
    4× · 2017–2021 · $187k · revenue +70%
  • PM
    PITTOCK MANSION SOCIETY
    2× · 2017–2021 · $86k · revenue +41%
  • HB
    HERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $25k · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • BR
    BOISE RESCUE MISSION
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • TS
    The Salvation Army Capital Campaign
    one grant, 2017 · $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
Foundation for Portland Public Schools

The Mission of the Foundation for Portland Public Schools is to be a catalyst for increased educational opportunities, achievement, and equity for all Portland Public Schools students and staff.

Philanthropy
2
Portland Seamens Friend Society
—
3
Portland Public Library

Portland Public Library is a welcoming cultural center that brings people together and connects them with trusted resources, ideas, experiences, and information. We build a stronger community by inspiring learning, creativity, and…

Education
4
The Orcas Island Education Foundati On

Support orcas island public school district.

—
5
Portland Esl Scholarship Fund
Philanthropy
6
Pacific University

A diverse and sustainable learning community dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship and practice, pacific university inspires students to think, care, create and pursue justice in our world.

Education
7
Fund for Portland Public Schools

The mission of the fund for portland public schools (fund for pps) is to support portland public schools, the largest district in the state of oregon serving 44,000 students, by building a robust generosity network, stewarding strategic…

Education
8
Padilla Bay Foundation

The Organization's mission is to provide support to enhance, implement and sustain the programs and projects of the Padilla Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, including educational programs, scientific research, interpretive programs…

—
9
Portland Community College Foundation Inc

A community where anyone can thrive through education. every person deserves the opportunity and support necessary to achieve their educational goals. (continued on schedule o)we actively seek out and invest in prospective and current…

Philanthropy
10
Portland Board of Realtors

To provide & promote services to enhance members' abilities to conduct their businesses with integrity & competency with due consideration for the promotion & preservation of a favorable environment for brokerage operations & the right to…

Community Improvement
11
Spruce Street School

Spruce Street School is a nurturing educational community that instills in a broad range of children the social, emotional, and intellectual skills for lifelong participation in a diverse society. We offer kindergarten through fifth grade…

Education
12
Museum Foundation of Pacific Grove Inc

The Museum inspires wonder, discovery, and stewardship of our natural world. The Museum is a catalyst for conservation and a valued learning resource, facilitating active scientific and historical inquiry for all ages.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Portland State University Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Friends of West Sylvan. 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

17 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. 17 of the 27 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PITTOCK MANSION SOCIETY: $85,500 · OtherPITTOCK MANSION SOCIETYBOISE RESCUE MISSION: $25,000 · OtherBOISE RESCUE MISSIONHERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $25,000 · OtherHERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATIONOHSU FoundationCtr for Women's Heal: $12,500 · OtherOHSU FoundationCtr for Women's HealNeskowin Valley School: $8,500 · OtherMINDS MATTER OF PORTLAND INC: $8,000 · Other+12 more: $35,950 · Other+12 moreCOLUMBIA LAND TRUST: $186,500 · EnvironmentCOLUMBIA LAND TRUST+1 more: $1,500 · EnvironmentAINSWORTH FOUNDATION: $30,400 · PhilanthropySunstone Montessori School Inc: $12,900 · EducationFRIENDS OF WEST SYLVAN: $5,000 · EducationMETAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC: $10,000 · HealthTHE BRIDLEMILE FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $250 · Arts & CulturePORTLAND PARKS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$200,450Environment$188,000Philanthropy$30,400Education$17,900Health$10,000Arts & Culture$5,250Recreation & Sports$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCOLUMBIA LAND TRUST: $186,500 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetPITTOCK MANSION SOCIETY: $85,500 over 2y, 7.0% of budgetAINSWORTH FOUNDATION: $30,400 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetHERMOSA BEACH EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSunstone Montessori School Inc: $12,900 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMETAVIVOR RESEARCH AND SUPPORT INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNeskowin Valley School: $8,500 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetMINDS MATTER OF PORTLAND INC: $8,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetTHE BRIDLEMILE FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF WEST SYLVAN: $5,000 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetTHE PEREGRINE FUND INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBAINBRIDGE-OMETEPE SISTER ISLANDS ASSOCIATION: $2,400 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetPORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDeschutes Land Trust: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWILLIAM TEMPLE HOUSE: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $250 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.

The Oregon Community …Rose E Tucker Charita…Maybelle Clark Macdon…The Healy FoundationThe Jackson FoundationJuan Young TrustMeyer Memorial TrustThe Autzen FoundationMarie Lamfrom Charita…Ibm International Fou…American Online Givin…The Blackbaud Giving …
The Oregon Community FoundationOR19.8× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Oregon Community Foundation · Rose E Tucker Charitable Trust · Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund · The Healy Foundation · The Jackson Foundation · Juan Young Trust · Meyer Memorial Trust · The Autzen Foundation · Marie Lamfrom Charitable Foundation Trust · Ibm International Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund

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 The Adams Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Adams Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Deschutes Land Trust: 46% of income from government
  • William Temple House: 0% of income from government
  • Portland State University Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
3report 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 The Adams Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Adams 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 27 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 Adams’ 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