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The Bowles Family Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Bowles 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.

$60k
Granted FY2025still arriving
2
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Animals$95kInternational$80kPhilanthropy$65kArts & Culture$50kPublic Safety & Disaster$50kEducation$40kReligion$18kHuman Services$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$863k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC$50,000
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND (BOWLES FAMILY FUND)$10,000
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 53% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%DAY STAR ZENDO: $1k → 7%BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC: $50k → 16%TRAVIS MANION FOUNDATION: $5k → 6%SOCIETY FOR CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE: $1k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $20k → 22%BUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF: $20k → 6%NEW SKETE MONASTERIES INC: $5k → 11%NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $500 → 17%WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $50k → 14%RAPTOR TRUST: $50k → 4%MORNING STAR ZENDO: $10k → 14%PROJECT GO - GLOBAL ORTHOPEDICS FOR ANIMALS INC: $10k → 6%OXFAM AMERICA: $10k → 16%UNITED FRIENDS SCHOOL OF THE GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY INC: $10k → 6%PENN VET INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT: $15k → 22%BUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF: $20k → 6%NEW SKETE MONASTERIES: $500 → 11%THE RAPTOR TRUST: $10k → 4%FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND (BOWLES FAMILY FUND): $10k → 16%TINICUM CONSERVANCY: $3k → 6%PENN VET WORKING DOG CENTER: $10k → 22%BUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF: $10k → 6%RAPTOR TRUST: $5k → 4%FIDELITY INVESTMENT CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $5k → 16%TINICUM CONSERVANCY: $500 → 6%BUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF: $10k → 6%RAPTOR TRUST: $5k → 4%FIDELITY INVESTMENT CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $3k → 16%BUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF: $10k → 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.
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.

48%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$149k · 4 repeat orgs$163k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
10

Total granted

$149k
$113k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+4%

Still filing today

75%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50k 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
InternationalAnimalsEducationPhilanthropyEnvironmentHealthOther
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

  • TR
    THE RAPTOR TRUST
    4× · 2018–2022 · $70k · revenue +35%
  • BG
    BUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION
    4× · 2021–2024 · $70k · revenue +59%
  • TC
    TINICUM CONSERVANCY
    2× · 2020–2023 · $3k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • BC
    BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue +4%
  • PV
    PENN VET INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT
    one grant, 2020 · $15k
  • PG
    PROJECT GO (GLOBAL ORTHOPEDICS FOR ANIMALS) INC
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue 0% · 97% of their budget
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
The Rand Corporation

Help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

Public Benefit
2
International Biomedical Research Alliance

Our mission is to invest in and accelerate the development of the most promising future leaders in biomedical research with global impact.

Health
3
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
4
University of Virginia Investment Management Company

The university of virginia investment management company (uvimco) is organized to invest funds on behalf of the rector and visitors of the university of virginia (the university or uva) and university-associated organizations (uaos).

Education
5
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
6
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
7
The Bridgespan Group Inc

Bridgespan's mission is to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society's most important challenges and opportunities.

Community Improvement
8
Worldwide Vets Incorporated

Our goal is to sustainably improve animal welfare, provide veterinary care, and improve veterinary education globally. in order to achieve this goal, we work in over 10 countries, across 5 continents, supporting local people and animals,…

Animals
9
Fajr Scientific

To provide multi-specialty surgical care, humanitarian aid and educational support to people in low- and middle-income countries.

Science & Tech
10
Foreign Policy Research Institute

The foreign policy research institute (frpi) is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the united states. we educate…

International
11
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
12
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Multiple Sclerosis Society. 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

12 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 12 of the 18 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/12
Grantees still filing
10/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $70,000 · InternationalBUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF A NJ NONPROFI…WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $50,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INCOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $10,000 · InternationalOXFAM-AMERICA INCBERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC: $50,000 · EducationBERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUS…TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $30,000 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVER…THE RAPTOR TRUST: $70,000 · AnimalsTHE RAPTOR TRUSTPENN VET INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT: $15,000 · OtherPENN VET INSTI…PROJECT GO (GLOBAL ORTHOPEDICS FOR ANIMALS) INC: $10,000 · OtherPROJECT GO (GL…MORNING STAR ZENDO: $10,000 · OtherMORNING STAR Z…UNITED FRIENDS SCHOOL OF THE GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY INC: $10,000 · OtherUNITED FRIENDS…NEW SKETE MONASTERIES INC: $5,500 · OtherNEW SKETE MONA…+2 more: $2,250 · OtherDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $47,214 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED …Travis Manion Foundation: $5,000 · PhilanthropyTravis Manion …FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $18,000 · Community ImprovementTINICUM CONSERVANCY: $3,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $500 · Health
International$130,000Education$80,000Animals$70,000Other$52,750Philanthropy$52,214Community Improvement$18,000Environment$3,000Health$500

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 budgetTHE RAPTOR TRUST: $70,000 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetBUDDHIST GLOBAL RELIEF A NJ NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $70,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetBERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $47,214 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $18,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT GO (GLOBAL ORTHOPEDICS FOR ANIMALS) INC: $10,000 over 1y, 97% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTravis Manion Foundation: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTINICUM CONSERVANCY: $3,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $500 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.

Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.6× affinity7 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Bowles Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Bowles Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Berklee College of Music Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
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 18 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 Bowles Family’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