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The Brian Ratner Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Brian Ratner 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.

$307k
Granted FY2025still arriving
45
Grants FY2025still arriving
13
States reached
$50k
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.

Arts & Culture$1.2MPhilanthropy$436kHealth$327kInternational$310kEducation$235kFood & Nutrition$41kAnimals$34kYouth Development$34kOther$0
02FY2025 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k36 grants · $70k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $137k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
$1,250
Median grant
13
States reached
$837k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DALLAS SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION$50,000
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE$50,000
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION$41,000
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME MUSEUM INC$30,000
ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION$26,000
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC$10,000
MILE HIGH UNITED WAY$10,000
BOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH FOUNDATION$10,000
BRAVO COLORADO AT VAIL-BEAVER CREEK$10,000
AMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA LEAGUE$5,000
GRAYSON-JOCKEY CLUB RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC$5,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA$5,000
UNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND$5,000
CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE$5,000
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL$5,000
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 (FY21–25, $13k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 62% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%BELMONT CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION INC: $1k → 6%BELMONT CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION INC: $1k → 6%BELMONT CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION INC: $1k → 6%BELMONT CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION INC: $1k → 6%BELMONT CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION INC: $1k → 6%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $1k → 14%THERE WITH CARE: $1k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $1k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $1k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $1k → 12%VOGEL ALCOVE: $1k → 14%THERE WITH CARE: $1k → 12%CITYSQUARE: $1k → 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

WA
MN
IL
NY
OH
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
SC
DC
HI
LA
AL
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 9% of The Brian Ratner Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Brian Ratner Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 2.2% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
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.
$2.2M · 65 repeat orgs$253k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +12% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

65 repeat relationships: 42 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

65
37

Total granted

$2.2M
$243k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
0%

Still filing today

89%
51%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHealthPhilanthropyInternationalAnimalsOther
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

  • DS
    DALLAS SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION
    5× · 2019–2025 · $375k · revenue +33%
  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INC
    7× · 2019–2025 · $275k · revenue +67%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION
    5× · 2017–2025 · $159k · revenue +79%

Funded once

  • RA
    ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $65k
  • SB
    ST BALDRICK'S - NCCF
    one grant, 2021 · $30k
  • TR
    THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $26k · revenue +80%
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
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
2
The Rand Corporation

Help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

Public Benefit
3
California Dental Association Foundation

The foundation's mission is to improve the oral health of all californians by supporting the dental profession and its efforts to meet community needs.

Science & Tech
4
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
5
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
6
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
7
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
8
Colorado Gives Foundation

We connect people, ideas, and nonprofits to make good happen. our vision is that all of jeffco is thriving.

Philanthropy
9
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
10
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
11
United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee

Empowering the competitive excellence and well-being of team usa athletes, championing the power of sport, and inspiring the nation.

Recreation & Sports
12
Jefferson Regional Foundation

The mission of the foundation is to improve the health and well-being of the communities served by jefferson hospital through engagement, community-driven research and grantmaking. there are three grantmaking priorities focused on the…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mile High United Way Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

82 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. 82 of the 107 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
82/82
Grantees still filing
48/82
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DALLAS SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $375,000 · Arts & CultureDALLAS SYMPHONY ASSOCIATIONDallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: $200,000 · Arts & CultureDallas Holocaust and Human Rights Mus…ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION INC: $72,000 · Arts & CultureROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION I…DALLAS SYMPHONY FOUNDATION: $61,050 · Arts & CultureDALLAS SYMPHONY FOUNDATIONAMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA LEAGUE D/B/A LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS: $42,500 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $159,188 · Arts & Culture+9 moreROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME MUSEUM INC: $282,725 · OtherROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME M…ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION INC: $65,300 · OtherROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME F…UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $35,000 · OtherST BALDRICK'S - NCCF: $30,000 · Other+52 more: $276,750 · Other+52 moreJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $250,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION …ST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $61,500 · PhilanthropyST BALDRICK'S FOUN…MILE HIGH UNITED WAY INC: $50,000 · PhilanthropyMILE HIGH UNITED W…COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $49,500 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATI…+6 more: $42,500 · Philanthropy+6 moreInternational Rescue Committee INC: $275,000 · InternationalInternationa…CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: $20,000 · InternationalCARNEGIE END…+3 more: $9,000 · InternationalUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $159,250 · EducationUNIVERSIT…UNIVERSITY SCHOOL: $25,000 · EducationUNIVERSIT…CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $25,000 · EducationCASE WEST…EDWIN J GREGSON FOUNDATION: $8,500 · Education+6 more: $23,667 · Education+6 moreBaylor Health Care System Foundation: $52,500 · HealthBOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH FOUNDATION: $42,500 · HealthVISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS: $25,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $20,000 · Health+3 more: $10,500 · HealthGRAYSON-JOCKEY CLUB RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · AnimalsTHOROUGHBRED RETIREMENT FOUNDATION INC: $5,750 · AnimalsTHE HUMANE SOCIETY OF BOULDER VALLEY INC: $1,500 · Animals+2 more: $1,250 · Animals
Arts & Culture$909,738Other$689,775Philanthropy$453,500International$304,000Education$241,417Health$150,500Animals$33,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDALLAS SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $375,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $275,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF CLEVELAND: $250,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: $200,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $159,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME FOUNDATION INC: $72,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $61,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDALLAS SYMPHONY FOUNDATION: $61,050 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetBaylor Health Care System Foundation: $52,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMILE HIGH UNITED WAY INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $49,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetBOULDER COMMUNITY HEALTH FOUNDATION: $42,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA LEAGUE D/B/A LEAGUE OF AMERICAN ORCHESTRAS: $42,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetSEATTLE ART MUSEUM: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetJAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER INC: $29,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC: $26,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY SCHOOL: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGRAYSON-JOCKEY CLUB RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetVISITING NURSE ASSOCIATION OF TEXAS: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $22,188 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $19,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetThe Musical Arts Association: $15,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER CLEVELAND: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION OF PALM SPRINGS UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: $15,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER DALLAS: $12,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOLORADO FALLEN HERO FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR PUERTO RICO INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK: $8,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEDWIN J GREGSON FOUNDATION: $8,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetCU BOULDER HILLEL FOUNDATION: $8,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetGREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF RACING INC: $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $6,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO CHAUTAUQUA ASSOCIATION: $6,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPERMANENTLY DISABLED JOCKEYS FUND INC: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ONE LOVE FOUNDATION IN HONOR OF YEARDLEY LOVE INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHOROUGHBRED RETIREMENT FOUNDATION INC: $5,750 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetVICKERY MEADOW YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF GREATER OHIO: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATCHAFIRE FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetDEL MAR FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTorrey Pines Association DBA Torrey Pines Conservancy: $5,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetTHERE WITH CARE: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $5,000 over 5y, 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.

The Charles and Mary …Nafzger Family Founda…Viola Foundation IncColorado Gives Founda…Barry K Schwartz Fami…Thoroughbred Charitie…The Riggio FoundationCarol Bernick Family …The Dallas FoundationTracy Farmer Foundati…Mary K Oxley Foundati…The Lewis Family Char…
The Charles and Mary Heider Family FoundationNE19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Charles and Mary Heider Family Foundation · Nafzger Family Foundation · Viola Foundation Inc · Colorado Gives Foundation · Barry K Schwartz Family Foundation · Thoroughbred Charities of America Inc · The Riggio Foundation · Carol Bernick Family Foundation · The Dallas Foundation · Tracy Farmer Foundation Inc · Mary K Oxley Foundation · The Lewis Family Charitable 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 Brian Ratner Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Brian Ratner Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    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 Brian Ratner Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Brian Ratner 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 107 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 Brian Ratner’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