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The Allen and Ruth Potts Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Allen and Ruth Potts 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.

$900
Granted FY2022
4
Grants FY2022
4
States reached
$325
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Civil Rights$367kHealth$100kReligion$30kInternational$19kEducation$16kEnvironment$13kAnimals$13kPhilanthropy$7kOther$0
02FY2022 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$325
Median grant
4
States reached
$82k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREENPEACE FUND$325
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND$325
NATIVE AMERICAN HERITAGE ASSOCIATIO$150
MACULAR DEGENERATION RESEARCH$100
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 (FY17–21, $3k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $500 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $500 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $200 → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $200 → 14%MEALS ON WHEELS WEST: $300 → 14%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
MA
SD
IN
PA
CA
NE
VA
MD
AZ
DC
AL
GA
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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$480k · 25 repeat orgs$85k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +62% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2022, 22 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
22

Total granted

$480k
$85k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+62%
0%

Still filing today

44%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $150 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22
HealthEnvironmentAnimalsInternationalHuman ServicesEducationOther
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

  • SJ
    SAINT JOHN'S CANCER INSTITUTE
    2× · 2017–2018 · $50k · revenue +48%
  • VENICE FAMILY CLINIC
    5× · 2017–2021 · $13k · revenue +110%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    5× · 2017–2021 · $13k · revenue +98%

Funded once

  • SJ
    SAINT JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $30k · revenue -41%
  • UU
    UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST COMMUNITY CH
    one grant, 2017 · $30k
  • MS
    MOUNT SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2017 · $15k · revenue 0%
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
Conservation International Foundation

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

Environment
2
Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Foundation

To engage and catalyze global seafood supply chains in rebuilding depleted fish stocks and reducing the environmental impacts of fishing and fish farming.

Animals
3
Project Drawdown

Project drawdown's mission is to drive meaningful climate action by advancing science-based solutions and strategies. project drawdown's work is focused on three pillars: science - advancing science-based climate solutions and strategies;…

Education
4
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.

Health
5
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
6
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
7
Target Als Foundation Inc

Our mission is to break down barriers to als research to find effective treatments. by uniting academia, the pharma and biotech industry, government, venture capital, related nonprofits, and the als community, we aim to overcome the…

Education
8
Southern California University of Health Sciences

The mission of southern california university of health sciences (scu) is to educate students as competent, caring and successful practitioners of integrative healthcare. the university is committed to providing excellence in academics,…

Education
9
National Audubon Society Inc

We work towards a future where birds thrive across the americas because audubon is a powerful, diverse, and ever-growing force for conservation. (continued on schedule o).

Environment
10
Oceana Inc

To advocate for policy changes by governments and corporations in order to preserve ocean life and return the oceans to their former abundance.

Environment
11
United States Pharmacopeial Convention

Usp's mission is to improve global health through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods.

Health
12
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Saint John's Health Center Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Meals On Wheels Inc. 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

25 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. 25 of the 50 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
19/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE: $365,000 · OtherAMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEEUNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST COMMUNITY CH: $30,000 · OtherUNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST COMMUNITY CH+30 more: $39,688 · Other+30 moreSAINT JOHN'S CANCER INSTITUTE: $50,000 · HealthSAINT JOHN'S CANCE…SAINT JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER FOUNDATION: $30,150 · HealthSAINT JOHN'S HEALT…VENICE FAMILY CLINIC: $13,000 · HealthVENICE FAMILY CLIN…+3 more: $650 · HealthMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $12,500 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $6,000 · InternationalMOUNT SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,053 · EducationWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $3,675 · EnvironmentTHEODORE PAYNE FOUNDATION FOR WILD FLOWERS AND NATIVE PLANTS INC: $875 · Environment+1 more: $150 · EnvironmentBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $2,500 · AnimalsINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC: $300 · AnimalsLOS ANGELES SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $250 · AnimalsAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,400 · Human ServicesMEALS ON WHEELS WEST: $300 · Human Services
Other$434,688Health$93,800International$18,500Education$16,053Environment$4,700Animals$3,050Human Services$2,700

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSAINT JOHN'S CANCER INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSAINT JOHN'S HEALTH CENTER FOUNDATION: $30,150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMOUNT SAINT MARY'S UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVENICE FAMILY CLINIC: $13,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $12,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $7,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $6,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $3,675 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,400 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $1,600 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,053 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHEODORE PAYNE FOUNDATION FOR WILD FLOWERS AND NATIVE PLANTS INC: $875 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $450 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $400 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS WEST: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFCNL EDUCATION FUND: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOS ANGELES SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY INC: $225 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $100 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.

California Community …The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
California Community FoundationCA13× affinity4 shared granteesties to 5 of 5Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 The Allen and Ruth Potts Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Allen and Ruth Potts Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    4report 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 50 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2022, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Allen and Ruth Potts’ filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
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    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
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    $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