Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

The Ahrens 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.

$202k
Granted FY2025still arriving
43
Grants FY2025still arriving
11
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What you fund
0196% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Environment$245kAnimals$190kHealth$177kFood & Nutrition$147kHuman Services$110kArts & Culture$62kHousing & Shelter$60kPublic Safety & Disaster$44kOther$0
02FY2025 · 43 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k32 grants · $92k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $110k
$2,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEARBY NATURE$10,000
VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE$10,000
WILLAMETTE FAMILY INC$10,000
FOOD FOR LANE CO$10,000
LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICE$10,000
HOPE & SAFETY ALLIANCE$10,000
CASCADE RAPTOR CENTER$10,000
MCKENSIE RIVER TRUST$10,000
LANE COUNTY SCHOOL GARDEN PROJECT$10,000
SHELTER CARE$10,000
LOUISVILLE NATURE CENTER$10,000
KY ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY$6,500
RAPTOR REHAB OF KENTUCIANA$5,000
DARE TO CARE FOOD BANK$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION - NEXT STEP$5,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–25, $110k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICE: $10k → 15%LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICE: $10k → 15%LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICE: $10k → 15%LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICE: $10k → 15%LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICE: $10k → 15%LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICE: $5k → 15%HOPE & SAFETY ALLIANCE: $10k → 15%HOPE & SAFETY ALLIANCE: $10k → 15%HOPE & SAFETY ALLIANCE: $10k → 15%HOPE & SAFETY ALLIANCE: $10k → 15%HOPE & SAFETY ALLIANCE: $10k → 15%WOMENSPACE: $5k → 15%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

ID
IL
WI
NY
OR
IN
OH
CO
KY
WV
VA
DC

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.2M · 48 repeat orgs$12k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +46% since the first grant, against -3% for the ones you funded once.

48 repeat relationships — 43 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

48
4

Total granted

$1.2M
$12k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+46%
-3%

Still filing today

60%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentAnimalsArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesEducationOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • WF
    WILLAMETTE FAMILY INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $60k · revenue +71%
  • W
    WOMENSPACE
    6× · 2020–2025 · $55k · revenue +28%
  • LG
    LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICES
    6× · 2020–2025 · $55k · revenue +134%

Funded once

  • MP
    MOUNT PISGAH ARBORETUMgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue +190%
  • GC
    GALAPAGOS CONSERVANCY INC
    one grant, 2021 · $3k · revenue -16%
  • BB
    BECKHAM BIRD CLUB INC
    one grant, 2020 · $2k · revenue -3%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
2
Eastern National

Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.

Recreation & Sports
3
Tenngreen Land Conservancy

The organization's primary mission is conserving land where people and nature can thrive by creating green corridors linking existing public lands using conservation easments and outright purchase.

Recreation & Sports
4
Jefferson National Parks Association

Jefferson national parks association provides quality educational products and related services that enhance public understanding and appreciation of america's national parks, public lands and historic places.

Arts & Culture
5
Bartlett Arboretum Association Inc

To cultivate and develop an expansive collection of trees, gardens, and plants for all to explore, enjoy and study; and to provide through education and stewardship, a greener, healthier, more beautiful environment.

Environment
6
Lake Champlain Land Trust Inc

The mission of the lake champlain land trust is to save the scenic beauty, natural communities, and recreational amenities of lake champlain by permanently preserving significant islands, shoreline areas, and natural communities in the…

Environment
7
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

To sustain, restore, and enhance the nation's fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats.

Animals
8
Institute for Conservation Leadership

To support healthy communities and a healthy earth, the institute for conservation leadership strengthens leaders, organizations, coalitions and networks.

Community Improvement
9
The Forest Park Conservancy

To protect and restore the ecological health of forest park and marquam nature park, maintain and enhance their extensive trails networks, promote equitable access, and inspire diverse community appreciation and stewardship of these iconic…

Environment
10
Rainforest Trust

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

International
11
The Land Trust for Tennessee Inc

To conserve the unique character of tennessee's natural and historic landscapes and sites for future generations.

Environment
12
Center for Natural Lands Management

The mission of the center for natural lands management is (a) to conserve native species, their habitat and functioning ecosystems in perpetuity, (b) to own and/or manage lands in an ecologically beneficial manner consistent with local,…

Environment

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is 21ST Century Parks Inc and the most unlike its peers is The Peregrine Fund Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyPublic University Foundatio…Food Pantries & AssistanceDomestic Violence Crisis Se…Wildlife Rehabilitation Cen…Community Arts OrganizationsHomeless Services & ShelterSubstance Abuse TreatmentCancer Support OrganizationsFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Pregnancy Support ServicesLand Conservation Organizat…Child and Family Services
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 48 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%0%<5yr14%3%5–10yr19%3%10–20yr16%27%20–35yr13%47%35–55yr16%20%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%0%<5yr14%1%5–10yr19%1%10–20yr16%35%20–35yr13%42%35–55yr16%22%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/33
the rest of the field
13%
240,396/1,819,532

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

32 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 32 of the 52 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/32
Grantees still filing
28/32
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

CASCADE RAPTOR CENTER — $60,000 · OtherCASCADE RAPTOR CENTERLANE COUNTY SCHOOL GARDEN PROJECT — $60,000 · OtherLANE COUNTY SCHOOL GARDEN PROJECTVOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE — $60,000 · OtherVOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINEFOOD FOR LANE CO — $60,000 · OtherFOOD FOR LANE CONEARBY NATURE — $52,000 · OtherNEARBY NATURENATURE CONSERVATORY — $40,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVATORYRAPTOR REHAB OF KENTUCIANA — $34,000 · OtherKY ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY — $22,500 · Other+24 more — $260,000 · Other+24 moreLOUISVILLE NATURE CENTER INC — $40,000 · EnvironmentLOUISVILLE NA…McKenzie River Trust — $35,000 · EnvironmentMcKenzie Rive…WATERFRONT BOTANICAL GARDENS INC — $21,000 · EnvironmentWATERFRONT BO…KENTUCKY NATURAL LANDS TRUST INC — $13,000 · EnvironmentKENTUCKY NATU…THE FALLS OF THE OHIO FOUNDATION — $12,000 · EnvironmentTHE FALLS OF …CINCINNATI NATURE CENTER — $12,000 · EnvironmentCINCINNATI NA…MOUNT PISGAH ARBORETUM — $5,000 · EnvironmentWOMENSPACE — $55,000 · Human ServicesWOMENSPACELOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICES — $55,000 · Human ServicesLOOKING GL…WILLAMETTE FAMILY INC — $60,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SW OREGON — $27,000 · HealthAMERICAN SIGN MUSEUM — $30,000 · Arts & CultureCINCINNATI FIRE MUSEUM — $30,000 · Arts & CultureAmerican Battlefield Trust — $12,000 · Arts & CultureSHELTERCARE — $60,000 · Housing & ShelterXERCES SOCIETY INC — $25,000 · AnimalsAMERICAN BIRDING ASSOCIATION — $12,000 · AnimalsAmerican Bird Conservancy — $8,000 · AnimalsINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC — $6,000 · AnimalsBECKHAM BIRD CLUB INC — $2,000 · Animals
Other$648,500Environment$138,000Human Services$110,000Health$87,000Arts & Culture$72,000Housing & Shelter$60,000Animals$53,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetSHELTERCARE — $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWILLAMETTE FAMILY INC — $60,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetWOMENSPACE — $55,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetLOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICES — $55,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetNEARBY NATURE — $52,000 over 6y, 2.5% of budgetLOUISVILLE NATURE CENTER INC — $40,000 over 6y, 3.1% of budgetMcKenzie River Trust — $35,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN SIGN MUSEUM — $30,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetCINCINNATI FIRE MUSEUM — $30,000 over 6y, 2.9% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SW OREGON — $27,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetXERCES SOCIETY INC — $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetWATERFRONT BOTANICAL GARDENS INC — $21,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC — $20,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION — $19,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDARE TO CARE INC — $18,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDENISON UNIVERSITY — $15,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetKENTUCKY NATURAL LANDS TRUST INC — $13,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Battlefield Trust — $12,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FALLS OF THE OHIO FOUNDATION — $12,000 over 6y, 2.2% of budget21ST CENTURY PARKS INC — $12,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC — $12,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCINCINNATI NATURE CENTER — $12,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN BIRDING ASSOCIATION — $12,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetAPPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY — $9,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Bird Conservancy — $8,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDERMATOLOGY FOUNDATION — $7,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PEREGRINE FUND INC — $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL CRANE FOUNDATION INC — $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCREASEY MAHAN NATURE PRESERVE INC — $6,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMOUNT PISGAH ARBORETUM — $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetGALAPAGOS CONSERVANCY INC — $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBECKHAM BIRD CLUB INC — $2,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds SHELTERCARE
  • Who funds WILLAMETTE FAMILY INC
  • Who funds WOMENSPACE
  • Who funds LOOKING GLASS COMMUNITY SERVICES
  • Who funds NEARBY NATURE
  • Who funds LOUISVILLE NATURE CENTER INC
  • Who funds McKenzie River Trust
  • Who funds AMERICAN SIGN MUSEUM
  • Who funds CINCINNATI FIRE MUSEUM
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SW OREGON
  • Who funds XERCES SOCIETY INC
  • Who funds WATERFRONT BOTANICAL GARDENS INC
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI FOUNDATION
  • Who funds DARE TO CARE INC
  • Who funds DENISON UNIVERSITY
  • Who funds KENTUCKY NATURAL LANDS TRUST INC
  • Who funds American Battlefield Trust
  • Who funds THE FALLS OF THE OHIO FOUNDATION
  • Who funds 21ST CENTURY PARKS INC
  • Who funds UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC
  • Who funds CINCINNATI NATURE CENTER
  • Who funds AMERICAN BIRDING ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY
  • Who funds American Bird Conservancy

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a loosely connected circle, clustered around a few shared anchors.

The Oregon Community FoundationOR18.9× affinity8 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Oregon Community Foundation · United Way of Lane County · W L Lyons Brown Foundation · Chambers Family Foundation · The Community Foundation of Louisville Inc · Lane Community Health Council · Snowy Owl Foundation Inc · The Gheens Foundation Inc · The Ford Family Foundation · The Haugland Family Foundation Fka Rosaria P Haugland Foundation · R & M Clark Family Foundation · Ina B Bond Ashbourne Charitable Fund Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Ahrens Family Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 18%
  • Womenspace62% of income from government
  • Xerces Society Inc22% of income from government
  • Looking Glass Community Services18% of income from government
  • Sheltercare18% of income from government
  • McKenzie River Trust8% of income from government
  • Willamette Family Inc4% of income from government
  • Mount Pisgah Arboretum2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 52 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph