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The Curtis-Meares Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Curtis-Meares 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.

$19k
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$12k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Environment$76kArts & Culture$39kFood & Nutrition$5kEducation$4kHuman Services$2kInternational$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $8k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $12k
$1,033
Median grant
2
States reached
$230k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$11,797
CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER$5,500
BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER$1,033
KBBI$518
KUAC FRIENDS GROUP$500
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 12%. 31% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%NYFA WILD SHORE: $12k → 17%NY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 20%WEST EDMONDS COOPERATIVE SCHOOL: $1k → 9%KUAC FRIENDS GROUP: $1k → 8%KACHEMAK BAY BROADCASTING INC: $2k → 11%FOOD BANK OF ALASKA: $5k → 21%CONSERVATION FUND: $5k → 7%NYFA WILD SHORE: $6k → 17%NY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $3k → 20%West Edmonds Cooperative School: $500 → 9%KUAC: $500 → 8%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%SALVATION ARMY: $2k → 21%NYFA WILD SHORE: $4k → 17%NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $2k → 20%WEST EDMONDS COOPERATIVE PRESCHOOL: $1k → 9%KUAC FRIENDS GROUP: $500 → 8%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%SPRUCE TREE MONTESSORI: $1k → 21%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $500 → 17%NY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $2k → 20%WEST EDMONDS COOPERATIVE PRESCHOOL: $1k → 9%KUAC FRIENDS GROUP: $500 → 8%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%FAIRBANKS CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $518 → 21%NY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $2k → 20%KUAC: $500 → 8%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%FAIRBANKS CHILDRENS MUSEUM: $518 → 21%NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship: $2k → 20%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%Calypso Farm & Ecology Center: $8k → 8%BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $1k → 11%CALYPSO FARM & ECOLOGY CENTER: $7k → 8%KBBI: $518 → 11%CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER: $15k → 8%CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER: $8k → 8%CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER: $8k → 8%CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER: $8k → 8%CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER: $7k → 8%CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER: $6k → 8%CALYPSO FARM AND ECOLOGY CENTER: $5k → 8%FAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL INC: $1k → 8%FAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL INC: $1k → 8%FAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL INC: $1k → 8%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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$132k · 11 repeat orgs$19k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +58% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
9

Total granted

$132k
$19k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
+13%

Still filing today

64%
44%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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 & CultureFood & NutritionEducationEnvironmentInternationalOther
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

  • CF
    CALYPSO FARM & ECOLOGY CENTER
    9× · 2017–2025 · $71k · revenue +118%
  • BS
    BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER
    9× · 2017–2025 · $9k · revenue +58%
  • KB
    KACHEMAK BAY BROADCASTING INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $6k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +9%
  • FB
    Food Bank of Alaska
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue -6%
  • NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $2k · revenue +213%
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
Alaska Farmers Market Association

to promote, support and advocate for Alaska agriculture

Education
2
Alaska Rural Electric Cooperative Association Educational Foundation Inc
Environment
3
Alaska Farmland Trust Corporation

The Alaska Farmland Trust envisions a future with thriving local food markets that will give Alaskans access to fresh, healthy food, and keep our farmers farming.

Environment
4
Anchorage Museum Association

The anchorage museum association operates the anchorage museum at rasmuson center.

Arts & Culture
5
Alaska Historical Publication Association
Education
6
Alaska Trails

Building partnerships, building trails. Working to build trails across the state and build capacity for trail organizations.

Recreation & Sports
7
Kodiak Baranof Productions Inc

Provide concerts, plays - both amateur and professional, festivals, art shows, education and an outlet for local art.

Arts & Culture
8
Willapa Bay AiR
Arts & Culture
9
Museums Alaska Inc

Museums alaska supports museums and cultural centers in alaska and enhances public understanding of their value.

—
10
Southeast Alaska Conservation Council Inc-Seacc

SEACC's mission is to protect the special places of the world's largest temperate rainforest, promote conservation, and advocate for sustainability in human use of natural resources. Inspired by the land, wildlife, cultures, and…

Environment
11
Alaska Museum of Science and Nature

The alaska museum of science and nature is dedicated to the education and exploration of our scientific and natural world.

Youth Development
12
Fairbanks Public Media Inc

To educate, communicate, and inform the residents in the Interior of Alaska.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Conservation Fund a Nonprofit Corporation; the most unlike its peers is West Edmonds Cooperative Preschool. 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

11 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. 11 of the 20 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)
11/11
Grantees still filing
9/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CALYPSO FARM & ECOLOGY CENTER: $71,000 · Food & NutritionCALYPSO FARM & ECOLOGY CENTERFood Bank of Alaska: $5,000 · Food & NutritionFood Bank of AlaskaIndividual grant recipient: $21,297 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS: $10,000 · OtherNY FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTSKACHEMAK BAY BROADCASTING INC: $5,518 · OtherKACHEMAK BAY BROADCASTING INCFAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL: $5,000 · OtherFAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVALIndividual grant recipient: $2,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMY: $2,000 · Other+5 more: $5,000 · Other+5 moreBUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $9,105 · Arts & CultureBUNNELL STRE…KUAC FRIENDS GROUP: $4,000 · Arts & CultureKUAC FRIENDS…NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS INC: $2,000 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK FOU…Fairbanks Childrens Museum: $1,536 · Arts & CultureFairbanks Ch…THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $5,000 · EnvironmentWEST EDMONDS COOPERATIVE PRESCHOOL: $2,000 · EducationMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $500 · International
Food & Nutrition$76,000Other$50,815Arts & Culture$16,641Environment$5,000Education$2,000International$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 budgetCALYPSO FARM & ECOLOGY CENTER: $71,000 over 9y, 2.3% of budgetBUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER: $9,105 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetKACHEMAK BAY BROADCASTING INC: $5,518 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL: $5,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetFood Bank of Alaska: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKUAC FRIENDS GROUP: $4,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetNEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWEST EDMONDS COOPERATIVE PRESCHOOL: $2,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetFairbanks Childrens Museum: $1,536 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $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.

  • Who funds CALYPSO FARM & ECOLOGY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds BUNNELL STREET ARTS CENTER ↗
  • Who funds KACHEMAK BAY BROADCASTING INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds FAIRBANKS SUMMER ARTS FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds Food Bank of Alaska ↗
  • Who funds KUAC FRIENDS GROUP ↗
  • Who funds NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds WEST EDMONDS COOPERATIVE PRESCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Fairbanks Childrens Museum ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗

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.

Rasmuson FoundationThe Alaska Community …The Usibelli Foundati…Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Rasmuson FoundationAK19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Rasmuson Foundation · The Alaska Community Foundation · The Usibelli Foundation · 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 Curtis-Meares Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Curtis-Meares 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    6report 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 Curtis-Meares Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Curtis-Meares 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 20 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 Curtis-Meares’ 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