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The Daba Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Daba Fund

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.

$580k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$880kHuman Services$325kFood & Nutrition$303kCivil Rights$295kCrime & Legal$173kHealth$153kPhilanthropy$100kCommunity Improvement$88kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $30k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $550k
$50,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$13M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC$50,000
GRIFFIN-GRACY EDUCATIONAL RETREAT & HISTORICAL CENTER$50,000
PLENITUD$50,000
FOR THE GWORLS$50,000
SUSU COMMUNITY FARM INC$50,000
THE CENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY$50,000
THE OKRA PROJECT INC$50,000
GAYS AND LESBIANS LIVING IN A TRANSGENDER SOCIETY INC$50,000
SISTERREACH$50,000
SOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC$50,000
BLACK AND PINK INC$50,000
POSSIBILITY LABS$30,000
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 (FY23–25, $285k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 68% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%POSSIBILITY LABS: $30k → 10%SUSU COMMUNITY FARM INC: $50k → 11%PRESENTE MAINE: $30k → 7%POSSIBILITY LABS: $30k → 10%THE OKRA PROJECT INC: $50k → 20%THE OKRA PROJECT INC: $50k → 20%THE OKRA PROJECT INC: $45k → 20%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

ME
VT
MN
NY
CA
NE
AR
TN
NC
DC
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 9 repeat orgs$478k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
7

Total granted

$1.9M
$228k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-12%
0%

Still filing today

89%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 53% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $250k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesEducationFood & NutritionInternationalCivil RightsHealthOther
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

  • SC
    STERLING COLLEGE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $880k · revenue -55%
  • GA
    GAYS AND LESBIANS LIVING IN A TRANSGENDER SOCIETY INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $173k · revenue -21%
  • SF
    SOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC
    4× · 2022–2025 · $173k · revenue -40%

Funded once

  • BP
    BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue 0%
  • PP
    PROJECT PROSPER
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue ×22
  • PM
    Presente Maine
    one grant, 2024 · $30k · revenue 0%
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
Borderless Collective Inc

Borderless A Black & Indigenous Collective (B&I Collective Fund) is organized to build the collective power of Black and Indigenous Peoples or underprivileged groups to exercise their inherent right to self-determination, ownership, and…

Philanthropy
2
The Conversationalist
—
3
Lavender Rights Project

Lavender Rights Project elevates the power, autonomy, and leadership of the black intersex & gender diverse community through intersectional legal and social services. We utilize the law as an organizing principle to affirm our civil…

Crime & Legal
4
Black Appalachian Coalition

Black Appalachian Coalition (BLAC), a multi-state organization working across Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley and Basin, is centered on story-based approaches that amplify Black voices, fights for environmental justice and strengthens…

Civil Rights
5
Floreciendo

The mission of Oakland Bloom is to advance food and economic justice community power and resilience with working-class immigrant and diaspora chef-entrepreneurs. Oakland Bloom does this through stewarding Open Test Kitchen as a kitchen and…

Employment
6
Indigenous Women Rising Indigeous Women Rising
—
7
Indigenous Peoples Rights Inc

To lead and coordinate the global initiative to address and prevent criminalization, violence, and impunity against indigenous peoples towards strengthening their collectives, solidarity, and actions.

Human Services
8
Radical Rest

Radical Rest provides communal trauma healing experiences and education to Black, Indigenous and Peoples of Color (BIPOC) folks in the Portland Metro Area. Radical Rest uplifts access to healing for Portland area black and brown…

Human Services
9
The Black Literacy and Arts Collaborative Project
—
10
Pro-Equity Anti-Racism Institute
Philanthropy
11
Black in Action Collective

Black in Action Collective exists to build Black political power to transform systems and radically reimagine what is possible for ourselves, our families, and our communities

Civil Rights
12
Brighter Green Inc

Brighter green is a public policy action tank that works to raise awareness of and encourage policy action that span the environment, animals, and sustainability. based in new york, brighter green works in the u.s. and internationally with…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Soul Fire Farm Institute Inc; the most unlike its peers is Project Prosper. 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

20 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. 20 of the 22 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/20
Grantees still filing
7/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

STERLING COLLEGE: $880,000 · EducationSTERLING COLLEGESISTERREACH: $50,000 · EducationSISTERREACHGAYS AND LESBIANS LIVING IN A TRANSGENDER SOCIETY INC: $172,500 · OtherGAYS AND LESBIANS LIVING IN A TR…BLACK AND PINK INC: $172,500 · OtherBLACK AND PINK INCPLENITUD: $80,000 · OtherPLENITUDPROJECT PROSPER: $50,000 · OtherPROJECT PROSPERFOR THE GWORLS INC: $50,000 · OtherFOR THE GWORLS INCCENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY INC: $50,000 · OtherCENTER FOR AN AGRICULTURAL ECONO…BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY: $50,000 · OtherBOREALIS PHILANTHROPYArts Business Collaborative: $27,500 · Other+2 more: $40,000 · Other+2 moreTHE OKRA PROJECT: $145,000 · Human ServicesTHE OKRA PROJEC…POSSIBILITY LABS: $60,000 · Human ServicesPOSSIBILITY LAB…GRIFFIN-GRACY EDUCATIONAL RETREAT & HISTORICAL CENTER: $50,000 · Human ServicesGRIFFIN-GRACY E…SUSU COMMUNITY FARM INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesSUSU COMMUNITY …Presente Maine: $30,000 · Human ServicesPresente MaineSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $172,500 · Food & NutritionSOUL FIRE…Niweskok: $30,000 · Food & NutritionNiweskokTHE LOVELAND FOUNDATION INC: $122,500 · Civil RightsDarkness RISING Project: $102,500 · HealthAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $50,000 · Philanthropy
Education$930,000Other$692,500Human Services$335,000Food & Nutrition$202,500Civil Rights$122,500Health$102,500Philanthropy$50,000

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 budgetSTERLING COLLEGE: $880,000 over 5y, 3.9% of budgetGAYS AND LESBIANS LIVING IN A TRANSGENDER SOCIETY INC: $172,500 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $172,500 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetBLACK AND PINK INC: $172,500 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetTHE OKRA PROJECT: $145,000 over 3y, 17% of budgetTHE LOVELAND FOUNDATION INC: $122,500 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetDarkness RISING Project: $102,500 over 3y, 14% of budgetPOSSIBILITY LABS: $60,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSISTERREACH: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetBOREALIS PHILANTHROPY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSUSU COMMUNITY FARM INC: $50,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetPresente Maine: $30,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetNiweskok: $30,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetArts Business Collaborative: $27,500 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetMIDDLE EAST CHILDREN'S ALLIANCE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID: $20,000 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.

Amalgamated Charitabl…Borealis PhilanthropyImpactassetsincTides FoundationStonewall Community F…Groundswell FundMs Foundation for Wom…Social and Environmen…Grapevine giving foun…Rockefeller Philanthr…The Pfizer Foundation…Vanguard Charitable E…
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC22.4× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Borealis Philanthropy · Impactassetsinc · Tides Foundation · Stonewall Community Foundation · Groundswell Fund · Ms Foundation for Women Inc · Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc · Grapevine giving foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Daba Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Daba Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Center for an Agricultural Economy Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Susu Community Farm Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Sterling College: 10% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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 · 0–40%
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 22 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

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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