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The American Donkey Trust at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The American Donkey Trust

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.

$90k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$54k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Animals$287kHealth$18kRecreation & Sports$6kFood & Nutrition$2kPublic Safety & Disaster$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $54k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$308k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MIDDLEBURG HUMANE FOUNDATION$54,000
OSCAR'S PLACE ADOPTION CENTER & SANCTUARY$10,000
ROCKY'S HORSE RESCUE & REHABILITATION INC$6,000
LOST MEADOWS MULE REFUGE INC$5,500
RAINBOW THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER$5,000
LITTLE LONGEARS MINIATURE DONKEY RESCUE$5,000
HOMELESS ANIMALS RESCUE TEAM INC$2,000
UPPERVILLE COLT & HORSE SHOW INC$1,500
BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER$1,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 5%. 97% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 5%SAVE THE BRAYS DONKEY RESCUE: $3k → 11%LITTLE LONGEARS MINIATURE DONKEY RESCUE: $5k → 9%OSCAR'S PLACE ADOPTION CENTER & SANCTUARY: $10k → 18%PEACEFUL VALLEY DONKEY RESCUE: $9k → 13%LOST MEADOWS MULE REFUGE INC: $40k → 15%SOUND EQUINE OPTIONS: $3k → 8%NC VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION INC: $5k → 8%NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY & MUSEUM: $2k → 4%HOMELESS ANIMALS RESCUE TEAM INC: $2k → 6%FAUQUIER SPCA: $5k → 6%RAINBOW THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $13k → 7%BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER: $30k → 7%LITTLE FORK VOLUNTEER FIRE AND RESCUE: $1k → 8%GERDA'S EQUINE RESCUE INC: $7k → 11%ROCKY'S HORSE RESCUE & REHABILITATION INC: $6k → 6%THE PHOENYX FARM & SANCTUARY: $2k → 7%SAVE THE BRAYS DONKEY RESCUE: $1k → 11%PEACEFUL VALLEY DONKEY RESCUE: $7k → 13%LOST MEADOWS MULE REFUGE INC: $6k → 15%UPPERVILLE COLT & HORSE SHOW INC: $3k → 4%HOMELESS ANIMALS RESCUE TEAM INC: $2k → 6%FAUQUIER SPCA: $1k → 6%RAINBOW THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $5k → 7%BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER: $20k → 7%GERDA'S EQUINE RESCUE INC: $4k → 11%LIFEHORSE INC: $4k → 6%PEACEFUL VALLEY DONKEY RESCUE: $3k → 13%UPPERVILLE COLT & HORSE SHOW INC: $2k → 4%BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER: $1k → 7%GERDA'S EQUINE RESCUE INC: $1k → 11%ROCKY'S HORSE RESCUE & REHABILITATION INC: $2k → 6%BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER: $1k → 7%ROCKY'S HORSE RESCUE & REHABILITATION INC: $2k → 6%ROCKY'S HORSE RESCUE & REHABILITATION INC: $1k → 6%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

VT
MN
OR
PA
CA
VA
MD
NC
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$301k · 12 repeat orgs$33k to everyone else

12 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
7

Total granted

$301k
$18k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+19%

Still filing today

75%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k 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
AnimalsRecreation & SportsEducationPhilanthropyPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • MH
    MIDDLEBURG HUMANE FOUNDATION
    4× · 2022–2025 · $108k · revenue +187%
  • BR
    BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER
    4× · 2021–2025 · $52k · revenue +101%
  • PV
    Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue Inc
    3× · 2021–2024 · $19k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • NC
    NORTH CAROLINA VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +74%
  • LH
    Life Horse Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $4k · revenue -74%
  • SE
    SOUND EQUINE OPTIONS
    one grant, 2024 · $3k · revenue +19%
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
Red Bucket Equine Rescue
Animals
2
New Hope Farm Inc

Rescue and sanctuary for horses, donkeys, and mules.

—
3
Equine Rescue Inc

To rescue and provide care, rehabilitation and adoption services for abused, neglected and abandoned horses.

Animals
4
Liberty Barn Inc

Rescued abused abandoned and neglected horses and farm animals including goats pigs chickens and donkeys. Provided emergency care veterinary services proper nutrition shelter and behavioral rehabilitation to each intake.

Animals
5
Hooves of My Heart Equine Rescue Ltd
Animals
6
2nd Chance Ranch and Rescue

Sanctuary for abused or abandoned animals

Animals
7
Dragn Ass Rescue & Sanctuary

Donkey and horse rescue

Animals
8
Rescue Life Inc

The mission of rescue life is to save the lives of wild, farm, and domestic animals which include horses, pigs, donkeys, llamas, zebras, alpacas,and dogs. the mission includes providing care, shelter, and adoption services. rescue life…

Animals
9
Muddy Paws Farm Rescue

Muddy Paws Farm Rescue provides a loving forever home to farm animals who are neglected, abused, bound for slaughter, or otherwise need a new forever home.

Animals
10
North Point Equine Sanctuary Llc
—
11
Wolfe Ranch Rescue
Animals
12
Far View Horse Rescue

Animal rescue and education

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Blue Ridge Wildlife Center; the most unlike its peers is Little Fork Volunteer Fire and. 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

15 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. 15 of the 21 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)
15/15
Grantees still filing
10/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MIDDLEBURG HUMANE FOUNDATION: $107,500 · AnimalsMIDDLEBURG HUMANE FOUNDATIONLOST MEADOWS MULE REFUGE: $45,000 · AnimalsLOST MEADOWS MULE REFUGEPeaceful Valley Donkey Rescue Inc: $18,500 · AnimalsPeaceful Valley Donkey Rescue IncGERDAS EQUINE RESCUE INC: $11,500 · AnimalsGERDAS EQUINE RESCUE INCOSCAR'S PLACE ADOPTION CENTER & SANCTUARY: $10,000 · Animals+3 more: $13,000 · Animals+3 moreTHE DONKEY SANCTUARY: $20,000 · OtherTHE DONKEY SANCTUARYRAINBOW THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $18,000 · OtherRAINBOW THERAPEUTIC …ROCKYS HORSE RESCUE AND REHABILITATION: $10,330 · OtherROCKYS HORSE RESCUE …LITTLE LONGEARS MINIATURE DONKEY RESCUE: $5,000 · OtherLITTLE LONGEARS MINI…SAVE THE BRAYS DONKEY RESCUE: $4,000 · OtherSAVE THE BRAYS DONKE…+2 more: $3,900 · Other+2 moreBLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER: $52,000 · PhilanthropyBLUE RIDGE WILDLI…UPPERVILLE COLT & HORSE SHOW INC: $4,000 · Recreation & SportsLife Horse Inc: $3,500 · Recreation & SportsNORTH CAROLINA VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationTHE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM: $2,000 · EducationLITTLE FORK VOLUNTEER FIRE AND: $1,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Animals$205,500Other$61,230Philanthropy$52,000Recreation & Sports$7,500Education$7,000Public Safety & Disaster$1,000

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 budgetMIDDLEBURG HUMANE FOUNDATION: $107,500 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetBLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER: $52,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetLOST MEADOWS MULE REFUGE: $45,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetPeaceful Valley Donkey Rescue Inc: $18,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRAINBOW THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $18,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetGERDAS EQUINE RESCUE INC: $11,500 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetOSCAR'S PLACE ADOPTION CENTER & SANCTUARY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAUQUIER SPCA INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUPPERVILLE COLT & HORSE SHOW INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOMELESS ANIMALS RESCUE TEAM INC: $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLife Horse Inc: $3,500 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetSOUND EQUINE OPTIONS: $3,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLITTLE FORK VOLUNTEER FIRE AND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

The Kathryn J Clark F…Wise FoundationDun FoundationMightycause Charitabl…Ronald M Bradley Foun…William M Backer Foun…The Luminescence Foun…Northern Piedmont Com…Fauquier Health Found…Morgan Stanley Global…Verizon FoundationNetwork for Good
The Kathryn J Clark Foundation IncVA26.3× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Kathryn J Clark Foundation Inc · Wise Foundation · Dun Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Ronald M Bradley Foundation Inc · William M Backer Foundation Inc · The Luminescence Foundation Inc · Northern Piedmont Community Foundation · Fauquier Health Foundation Dba the Path Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Verizon Foundation · Network for Good

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    3get 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 · 0–5%
    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 American Donkey Trust?

    Find your warmest path to The American Donkey Trust 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 21 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 American Donkey’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