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The Brownie Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Brownie 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.

$95k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$40k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Youth Development$353kFood & Nutrition$213kEducation$85kHuman Services$33kPublic Safety & Disaster$24kArts & Culture$23kHealth$7kCivil Rights$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $90k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$2.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PEAK ABUNDANCE$40,000
FRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION FOR EDUC$20,000
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION$20,000
TRANS CONTINENTAL PIPELINE$10,000
COMMUNITY AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSEINC$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 (FY20–25, $28k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 60% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%COMMUNITY AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSEINC: $5k → 16%CANYON CARES OF COAL CREEK CANYON: $11k → 7%TRANS CONTINENTAL PIPELINE: $10k → 12%BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $2k → 17%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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$666k · 5 repeat orgs$76k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
42

Total granted

$666k
$61k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+29%

Still filing today

100%
26%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Civil RightsHuman ServicesEducationYouth DevelopmentPublic BenefitPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TI
    TEENS INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $353k · revenue +42%
  • PA
    PEAK ABUNDANCE
    7× · 2019–2025 · $213k · revenue +27%
  • FR
    FRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $40k · revenue +14%

Funded once

  • CC
    Canyon Cares of Coal Creek Canyon
    one grant, 2020 · $11k · revenue +8%
  • SF
    SALUD FAMILY HEALTHgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +29%
  • VC
    V Capron
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Colorado Center On Law and Policy

Colorado center on law and policy is an antipoverty organization advancing the rights of every coloradan.

Crime & Legal
2
Colorado Legal Services

To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.

Crime & Legal
3
Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights

Colorado organization for latina opportunity and reproductive rights (color) is a community-rooted nonprofit organization that works to enable latinx individuals and their families lead safe, healthy, self-determined lives.

Health
4
Colorado Gives Foundation

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

Philanthropy
5
Colorado Nonprofit Association

Colorado nonprofit association strengthens colorado's nonprofits through education, connection and advocacy.

Community Improvement
6
One Colorado Education Fund

One colorado education fund (ocef) is committed to securing and protecting equality and opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) coloradans and their families.

Civil Rights
7
Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Advancing the well-being of all coloradans through relationships free from abuse and oppression.

Human Services
8
Elevations Credit Union

Together we create solutions for a better life.

—
9
Colorado Cross Disability Coalition

To advocate for social justice for people with all types of disabilities.

—
10
Fortaleza Familiar

Fortaleza familiar is dedicated to the wellness of indigenous chicanx latinx lesbian gay bi queer trans two-spirit young people and their families in colorado.

Civil Rights
11
Colorado Fiscal Institute

To provide timely, credible and accessible analyses of fiscal and economic issues facing colorado to inform public policy debates and promote economic prosperity

Community Improvement
12
Colorado Campaign for Inclusive Excellence

The mission of the center for legal inclusiveness (cli) is to advance diversity in the legal profession by actively educating and supporting private and public sector legal organizations in their individual campaigns to create cultures of…

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Immigration Equality; the most unlike its peers is Canyon Cares of Coal Creek Canyon. 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

18 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. 18 of the 49 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)
18/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEENS INC: $352,795 · Youth DevelopmentTEENS INCPEAK ABUNDANCE: $213,350 · OtherPEAK ABUNDANCE+37 more: $38,099 · Other+37 moreUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $45,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF…FRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $40,000 · EducationFRONT RANGE C…+1 more: $250 · EducationCanyon Cares of Coal Creek Canyon: $11,000 · Human ServicesTRANS CONTINENTAL PIPELINE: $10,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSE INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $1,600 · Human ServicesARTISTS FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION INTL: $15,350 · PhilanthropySALUD FAMILY HEALTH: $5,000 · HealthDE-CRUIT INC: $5,000 · Public Benefit
Youth Development$352,795Other$251,449Education$85,250Human Services$27,600Philanthropy$15,350Health$5,000Public Benefit$5,000

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 budgetTEENS INC: $352,795 over 3y, 5.8% of budgetPEAK ABUNDANCE: $213,350 over 7y, 18% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION: $45,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetARTISTS FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION INTL: $15,350 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetCanyon Cares of Coal Creek Canyon: $11,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetTRANS CONTINENTAL PIPELINE: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetSALUD FAMILY HEALTH: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetDE-CRUIT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetSU TEATRO INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPOINT OF PRIDE: $1,900 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $1,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget350ORG: $1,350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOULDER PRIDE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMMIGRATION EQUALITY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MALALA FUND: $250 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.

  • Who funds TEENS INC ↗
  • Who funds PEAK ABUNDANCE ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ARTISTS FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION INTL ↗
  • Who funds Canyon Cares of Coal Creek Canyon ↗
  • Who funds TRANS CONTINENTAL PIPELINE ↗
  • Who funds SALUD FAMILY HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds DE-CRUIT INC ↗
  • Who funds SU TEATRO INC ↗
  • Who funds POINT OF PRIDE ↗
  • Who funds THE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIVE AMERICAN RIGHTS FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds 350ORG ↗
  • Who funds BOULDER PRIDE ↗

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.

Colorado Gives Founda…Mile High United Way …Community Foundation …Rose Community Founda…The Colorado Health F…The Denver FoundationThe Pfizer Foundation…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Colorado Gives FoundationCO18.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · Mile High United Way Inc · Community Foundation Boulder County · Rose Community Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · The Denver Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Brownie Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Brownie Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Community Against Substance Abuse Inc: 9% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get 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 · 0–50%
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 49 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 Brownie’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