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The Appleseed Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Appleseed Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$26k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$8k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Human Services$44kYouth Development$40kEducation$40kRecreation & Sports$37kArts & Culture$24kFood & Nutrition$18kCommunity Improvement$13kEnvironment$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$486k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA$7,500
SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS$6,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
ASUM CHILD CARE PRESCHOOL$3,000
BITTERROOT EARLY LEARNING NETWORK$2,000
MONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER$2,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY18–25, $26k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%WATSON'S CHILDRENS SHELTER: $3k → 9%WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER: $2k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $1k → 9%YWCA MISSOULA: $10k → 9%MOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA: $8k → 9%YOUTH HOMES: $2k → 9%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.

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$131k · 12 repeat orgs$112k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +45% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
20

Total granted

$131k
$100k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+19%

Still filing today

50%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 53% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEnvironmentFood & NutritionHealthEducationYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • GC
    GARDEN CITY HARVEST INC
    3× · 2018–2022 · $18k · revenue +21%
  • YH
    YOUTH HOMES
    3× · 2017–2023 · $12k · revenue +11%
  • SA
    SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE) INC
    2× · 2019–2020 · $10k · revenue +345%

Funded once

  • AM
    ARTS MISSOULA
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • YM
    YWCA MISSOULA
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -15%
  • HI
    HOMEWORD INC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · 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
Habitat for Humanity Missoula Inc

Habitat for humanity of missoula is a nonprofit, ecumenical, christian housing ministry dedicated to the elimination of poverty housing in our community and throughout the world.

—
2
Missoula Community Foundation

To enhance community vitality by inspiring community giving and strengthening nonprofits

Community Improvement
3
The Montana Land Reliance

The mission of the montana land reliance (mlr) is to partner with landowners to provide permanent protection for private lands that are significant for agricultural production, fish and wildlife habitat, and open space.

Environment
4
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Montana

Keeping families with a sick child/children close to the care and resources they need, when it matters the most.

Health
5
Mountainland Head Start

Empowering young children and families along a path to their highest potential.

Education
6
Partnership Health Center Inc

Partnership health center ensures that accessible, comprehensive primary healthcare is provided to the medically underserved population in our region, through a partnership of community resources.

—
7
Montana Wilderness School

The mission of the montana wilderness school is to provide empowering expeditionary wilderness courses to youth that foster personal growth and cultivate a conservation ethic through connecting with remote landscapes and wild places.

Environment
8
Run Wild Missoula Inc

Our mission is to empower and support runners and walkers of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds in Missoula. With a vibrant community of over 2,400 members, we provide a welcoming space for like-minded individuals to connect and explore…

Recreation & Sports
9
Montanas Outdoor Legacy Foundation

To collectively serve as a catalyst for engagement and bonding of people to our wildlife and public lands in montana through a sense of place, education, access, research and stewardship.

Environment
10
Northwest Montana Community Land Trust Inc

Provide permanently affordable homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families in the flathead valley and nw montana.

Housing & Shelter
11
Scenic Montana Trails
—
12
Fort Courage Child Care Inc

To provide quality childcare and educational development. fort courage is dedicated to providing services that are in the best interest of the child. the center supports and nurtures physical, emotional, social, cognitive and creative…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mountain Home Montana Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hellgate Elementary Pta 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

19 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. 19 of the 36 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/19
Grantees still filing
13/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FAMILIES FIRST LEARNING LAB: $16,700 · OtherFAMILIES FIRST LEARNING LABSOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS: $16,000 · OtherSOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURSFAMILIES FIRSTCHILDREN'S MUSEUM: $15,400 · OtherFAMILIES FIRSTCHILDREN'S MUSEUMIndividual grant recipient: $10,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientARTS MISSOULA: $10,000 · OtherARTS MISSOULAHAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $10,000 · OtherHAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBITTERROOT ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS RESOURCE: $7,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $7,500 · OtherBOYS GIRLS CLUB OF MISSOULA COUNTY: $7,200 · OtherEVERGREEN PRESCHOOL COOPERATIVE: $6,500 · OtherA CAROUSEL FOR MISSOULA DRAGRON HOLLOW PLAYGROUND: $6,000 · Other+13 more: $41,000 · Other+13 moreYOUTH HOMES: $11,569 · Human ServicesYOUTH HOMESYWCA MISSOULA: $10,000 · Human ServicesYWCA MISSOULAMOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC: $8,500 · Human ServicesMOUNTAIN HOME MO…WATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesWATSON CHILDREN'…+1 more: $955 · Human ServicesGARDEN CITY HARVEST INC: $18,000 · Food & NutritionSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE) INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF MISSOULA PARKS INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentMONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER: $2,000 · EnvironmentHOMEWORD INC: $10,000 · Housing & ShelterTAMARACK GRIEF RESOURCE CENTER INC: $5,000 · HealthSPIRIT AT PLAY INC: $2,500 · Education
Other$154,300Human Services$36,024Food & Nutrition$18,000Environment$17,000Housing & Shelter$10,000Health$5,000Education$2,500

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 budgetGARDEN CITY HARVEST INC: $18,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetYOUTH HOMES: $11,569 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetYWCA MISSOULA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetHOMEWORD INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENTREPRENEURS (SEE) INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMOUNTAIN HOME MONTANA INC: $8,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBITTERROOT ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS RESOURCE: $7,500 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetTAMARACK GRIEF RESOURCE CENTER INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPOWELL COUNTY MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF MISSOULA PARKS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetWATSON CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSPIRIT AT PLAY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNORTH-MISSOULA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetMONTANA NATURAL HISTORY CENTER: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBITTERROOT EARLY LEARNING NETWORK: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMISSOULA BUTTERFLY HOUSE AND INSECTARIUM: $1,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN: $955 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.

Dennis & Phyllis Wash…First Interstate Banc…The Bill & Rosemary G…Headwaters Health Fou…Town Pump Charitable …Max and Betty Swanson…Montana Community Fou…Missoula Community Fo…Otto Bremer TrustUnited Way of Missoul…The Llewellyn Foundat…Louis L Borick Founda…
Dennis & Phyllis Washington FoundationMT31.9× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · The Bill & Rosemary Gallagher Foundation · Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana · Town Pump Charitable Foundation · Max and Betty Swanson Foundation · Montana Community Foundation Inc · Missoula Community Foundation · Otto Bremer Trust · United Way of Missoula County · The Llewellyn Foundation · Louis L Borick 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 Appleseed Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Appleseed 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%19%38%56%75%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 · 0–75%
    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 Appleseed Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Appleseed 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 36 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 Appleseed’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