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The Austin E Knowlton Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Austin E Knowlton Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$12M
Granted FY2024still arriving
46
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$6.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$76MPublic Benefit$4.7MArts & Culture$2.7MHuman Services$1.6MCrime & Legal$1.4MYouth Development$818kRecreation & Sports$649kReligion$530kOther$0
02FY2024 · 46 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k23 grants · $470k
  • $50k–250k14 grants · $1.7M
  • $250k+5 grants · $9.4M
$30,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$267M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$6,000,000
DENISON UNIVERSITY$1,000,000
THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER$1,000,000
RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FDN & INSTITUTE$925,000
GEORGETOWN COLLEGE$500,000
RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FDN & INSTITUTE$200,000
THE ALEXANDER HAMILTON SOCIETY$200,000
INSTITUTE FOR CITIZENS AND SCHOLARS$200,000
ALLIANCE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN PRISON$150,000
CAMPING AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION$150,000
AUGUSTANA COLLEGE$100,000
OHIO JUSTICE AND POLICY CENTER$100,000
TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES$100,000
KENYON COLLEGE$100,000
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$100,000
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 (FY17–24, $1.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 31% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $140k → 9%NOT FOR SALE FUND: $22k → 10%URBAN SPECIALISTS ENTERPRISES INC: $15k → 14%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $125k → 9%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $110k → 9%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $110k → 9%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $100k → 9%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $100k → 9%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $100k → 9%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $100k → 9%BUSINESS JET CARES INC: $5k → 14%BUSINESS JET CARESINC: $3k → 14%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $50k → 9%BUSINESS JET CARES INC: $3k → 14%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $25k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $25k → 16%BUSINESS JET CARESINC: $3k → 14%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $15k → 9%TALBERT HOUSE: $10k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $5k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $5k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES INC: $2k → 16%MADISONVILLE EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE CENTER INC: $1k → 16%MADISONVILLE EDUCATION AND ASSISTANCE CENTER: $1k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $35k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $35k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $30k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $30k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $25k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $25k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $25k → 16%TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI: $15k → 16%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES GREATER CINCINNATI: $10k → 16%KEN ANDERSON ALLIANCE: $10k → 16%STEPPING STONES INC: $30k → 16%STEPPING STONES INC: $20k → 16%STEPPING STONES INC: $20k → 16%STEPPING STONES INC: $10k → 16%STEPPING STONES INC: $10k → 16%STEPPING STONES INC: $10k → 16%PARKINSON COMMUNITY FITNESS: $2k → 16%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

IL
WI
NY
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CA
CO
KY
VA
MD
TN
DC
OK
TX
FL
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$86M · 82 repeat orgs$3.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

82 repeat relationships: 32 still active in FY2024, 50 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

82
60

Total granted

$86M
$2.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+20%

Still filing today

82%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $780k 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
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthCrime & LegalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • OS
    OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    7× · 2017–2024 · $17M · revenue +36%
  • DU
    DENISON UNIVERSITY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $14M · revenue +39%
  • AC
    AUGUSTANA COLLEGE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $10M · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • Oberlin Collegegraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $500k · revenue +41%
  • AM
    ARCHBISHOP MOELLER HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2021 · $300k
  • OW
    OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $200k · revenue +44%
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
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
2
Capital University

Capital university transforms lives by empowering an inclusive community of learners through engaging academic, co-curricular, and professional experiences.

Education
3
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
4
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
5
Gettysburg College

Gettysburg college is a residential, undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences.

Education
6
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
7
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
8
Trinity University

Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

Education
9
Benedictine University

Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…

Education
10
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
11
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
12
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Inc; the most unlike its peers is Cincinnati Academy of Performing Arts. 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

112 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. 112 of the 153 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)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
110/112
Grantees still filing
77/112
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $17,405,000 · EducationOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONDENISON UNIVERSITY: $13,630,000 · EducationDENISON UNIVERSITYAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $10,330,928 · EducationAUGUSTANA COLLEGETHE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER: $9,300,000 · EducationTHE COLLEGE OF WOOSTERBaldwin Wallace University: $8,500,000 · EducationBaldwin Wallace UniversityTHE RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION AND INSTITUTE: $4,555,000 · EducationTHE RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION AND INSTITUTEBluffton University: $3,525,000 · EducationCENTRE COLLEGE: $3,100,000 · Education+33 more: $9,317,000 · Education+33 moreCAMPING AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $577,500 · OtherMENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE U S: $330,000 · OtherARCHBISHOP MOELLER HIGH SCHOOL: $300,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR CITIZENS AND SCHOLARS: $200,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $200,000 · OtherEXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INC: $170,000 · OtherALLIANCE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN PRISON: $150,000 · Other+74 more: $2,264,166 · OtherCINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER: $1,300,000 · Arts & CultureThe Cincinnati Ballet Company Inc: $752,500 · Arts & CultureCincinnati Chamber Orchestra: $120,000 · Arts & Culture+12 more: $271,500 · Arts & CultureTEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $950,000 · Human ServicesTEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI INC: $220,000 · Human ServicesSTEPPING STONES INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $61,667 · Human Services+8 more: $83,000 · Human ServicesProKids: $1,028,000 · Civil RightsOHIO JUSTICE AND POLICY CENTER: $100,000 · Civil RightsMOST VALUABLE KIDS OF GREATER CINCINNATI: $240,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE ALEXANDER HAMILTON SOCIETY: $200,000 · International
Education$79,662,928Other$4,191,666Arts & Culture$2,444,000Human Services$1,414,667Civil Rights$1,128,000Youth Development$240,000International$200,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $17,405,000 over 7y, 1.8% of budgetDENISON UNIVERSITY: $13,630,000 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetAUGUSTANA COLLEGE: $10,330,928 over 8y, 2.3% of budgetTHE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER: $9,300,000 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetBaldwin Wallace University: $8,500,000 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetTHE RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL FOUNDATION AND INSTITUTE: $4,555,000 over 6y, 3.3% of budgetBluffton University: $3,525,000 over 3y, 5.3% of budgetCENTRE COLLEGE: $3,100,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetMOUNT ST JOSEPH UNIVERSITY: $1,800,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetCINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER: $1,300,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetProKids: $1,028,000 over 7y, 5.9% of budgetTEN THOUSAND VILLAGES: $950,000 over 8y, 1.5% of budgetThe Cincinnati Ballet Company Inc: $752,500 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetGEORGETOWN COLLEGE: $750,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE CHATFIELD EDGE: $646,000 over 3y, 5.7% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $600,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCAMPING AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $577,500 over 8y, 3.5% of budgetWilmington College: $500,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetOberlin College: $500,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBELLARMINE UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED: $400,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTaylor University: $400,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $400,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetGoshen College Inc: $300,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetOHIO DOMINICAN UNIVERSITY: $300,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetXAVIER UNIVERSITY: $250,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMOST VALUABLE KIDS OF GREATER CINCINNATI: $240,000 over 8y, 10% of budgetTEN THOUSAND VILLAGES OF CINCINNATI INC: $220,000 over 8y, 11% of budgetOhio Northern University: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMUSKINGUM UNIVERSITY: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR CITIZENS AND SCHOLARS: $200,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetTHOMAS MORE UNIVERSITY INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetOHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $200,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLAKE ERIE COLLEGE: $200,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHeidelberg University: $200,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF WITTENBERG COLLEGE: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ALEXANDER HAMILTON SOCIETY: $200,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetSPRINGER SCHOOL AND CENTER: $175,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetEXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION INC: $170,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDHOOD FOOD SOLUTIONS: $135,000 over 8y, 8.1% of budgetOtterbein University: $125,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINDIAN HILL FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetCincinnati Chamber Orchestra: $120,000 over 7y, 5.8% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF GREATER CINCINNATI: $111,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetSTEPPING STONES INC: $100,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetLUZERNE MUSIC CENTER INC: $100,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetTiffin University: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOHIO JUSTICE AND POLICY CENTER: $100,000 over 1y, 5.4% 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 Greater Cincinnat…The Thomas J Emery Me…Carol Ann and Ralph V…Charles H Dater Found…Johnson Charitable Gi…Louise Taft Semple Fo…Millstone FundAndrew Jergens Founda…Hcs FoundationFarmer Family Foundat…John a Schroth Family…Elsa M Heisel Sule Ch…
The Greater Cincinnati FoundationOH51.3× affinity32 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Greater Cincinnati Foundation · The Thomas J Emery Memorial · Carol Ann and Ralph V Haile Jr Foundation · Charles H Dater Foundation Inc · Johnson Charitable Gift Fund · Louise Taft Semple Foundation · Millstone Fund · Andrew Jergens Foundation · Hcs Foundation · Farmer Family Foundation · John a Schroth Family Char Tr · Elsa M Heisel Sule Charitable Trust 2005

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    30report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    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 153 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 Austin E Knowlton’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