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The George Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The George Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$396k
Granted FY2025still arriving
50
Grants FY2025still arriving
13
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% 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$3.2MPhilanthropy$352kAnimals$31kEnvironment$18kScience & Tech$4kRecreation & Sports$3kHealth$2kEducation$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 50 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k47 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $80k
  • $250k+1 grant · $300k
$100
Median grant
13
States reached
$4.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
COLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$300,000
BALLET METROPOLITAN$40,000
WOSU STATIONS FUND$40,000
KALONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY$5,000
CAPITAL AREA HUMANE SOCIETY$1,100
NATURE CONSERVANCY$1,100
COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART$1,075
PRO MUSICA$1,000
OHIO STATE UNIV BUCKS FOR CHARITY$500
OHIO WILDLIFE CENTER$450
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND$450
COLONY CATS & DOGS RESCUE$450
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY$400
BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL$300
ST LOUIS SCIENCE CENTER$299
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 (FY19–25, $150) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%UPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOC: $25 → 15%UPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOC: $25 → 15%UPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOC: $25 → 15%UPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOC: $25 → 15%UPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOC: $25 → 15%UPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOC: $25 → 15%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
IL
MI
NY
MA
IA
OH
NJ
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
NM
TN
NC
DC
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 70 repeat orgs$1k to everyone else

70 repeat relationships: 48 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

70
17

Total granted

$3.3M
$1k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+58%

Still filing today

54%
35%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100 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 & CultureEnvironmentAnimalsEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesOther
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

  • CS
    COLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.5M · revenue +85%
  • BM
    BALLET METROPOLITAN INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $330k · revenue +43%
  • KH
    KALONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $45k · revenue +124%

Funded once

  • W
    WINTERTHUR
    one grant, 2017 · $100
  • The Ohio University Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $100 · revenue +200%
  • AO
    APPALACHIA OHIO ALLIANCEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $100 · revenue +95%
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
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
2
Science Museum of Minnesota

The museum's mission statement is "turn on the science: inspire learning. inform policy. improve lives."

Arts & Culture
3
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
4
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia

The mission is "to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it." the academy implements its mission through understanding the diversity of life; developing and applying science to protect the environment; and informing…

Science & Tech
5
Cincinnati Museum Center

Cincinnati museum center inspires people of all ages to learn more about our world through science, regional history, and educational, engaging and meaningful experiences.

Arts & Culture
6
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals
7
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
8
Cleveland Museum of Natural History

To inspire, through science and education, a passion for nature, the protection of natural diversity, the fostering of health, and leadership to a sustainable future.

Arts & Culture
9
The Chicago Academy of Sciences

The mission of cas/pnnm is to create a positive relationship between people and nature through collaborations, education, research and collections, exhibits and public forums that foster urban connections to our region's nature and science.

Arts & Culture
10
National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States

Impart knowledge and appreciation of humanity's relationship with wildlife through art.

Arts & Culture
11
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
12
West Creek Conservancy

Our mission is to enrich the lives of all people in northeast ohio by conserving natural habitats, restoring the ecological value of our region's lands and waters, and expanding opportunities to connect people from all cultures to…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Archaeological Conservancy; the most unlike its peers is Cahokia Mounds Museum 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

47 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. 47 of the 90 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/47
Grantees still filing
39/47
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $2,549,150 · Arts & CultureCOLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRABALLET METROPOLITAN INC: $330,000 · Arts & CultureBALLET METROPOLITAN INC+15 more: $60,481 · Arts & CultureCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $350,000 · PhilanthropyCOLUMBUS F…+1 more: $1,500 · PhilanthropyWOSU STATIONS FUND: $280,000 · OtherWOSU STATI…PRO MUSICA: $13,300 · Other+45 more: $44,357 · Other+45 moreCOLUMBUS HUMANE: $9,100 · AnimalsCOZY CAT COTTAGE ADOPTION CENTER: $1,850 · AnimalsOHIO WILDLIFE CENTER: $1,650 · AnimalsAlley Cat Allies Inc: $1,000 · AnimalsRAPTOR RESOURCE PROJECT: $1,000 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $800 · Animals+3 more: $650 · AnimalsSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $7,050 · EnvironmentNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $1,900 · EnvironmentMISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $1,680 · EnvironmentWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $1,225 · EnvironmentNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $1,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $900 · EnvironmentAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $900 · EnvironmentTHE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $700 · Environment+3 more: $265 · EnvironmentTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $250 · EducationThe Ohio University Foundation: $100 · EducationCONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY CORPORATION: $50 · EducationUPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $150 · Human Services
Arts & Culture$2,939,631Philanthropy$351,500Other$337,657Animals$16,050Environment$15,620Education$400Human Services$150

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 budgetCOLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $2,549,150 over 9y, 4.0% of budgetCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBALLET METROPOLITAN INC: $330,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetKALONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $45,200 over 9y, 2.1% of budgetCOLUMBUS HUMANE: $9,100 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetCOLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART: $8,075 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $7,050 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCOLUMBUS ASSOCIATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $2,660 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $2,600 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,300 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $1,900 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCOZY CAT COTTAGE ADOPTION CENTER: $1,850 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetMISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BOARD OF TRUSTEES: $1,680 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetOHIO WILDLIFE CENTER: $1,650 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL OHIO INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $1,225 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetFRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS: $1,001 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $1,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetAlley Cat Allies Inc: $1,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetRAPTOR RESOURCE PROJECT: $1,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetMid-Ohio Foodbank: $950 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $900 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN RIVERS INC: $900 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $800 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTHE OHIO ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $700 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMISSOURI HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $565 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: $525 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOHIO HISTORY CONNECTION: $455 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY: $400 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART: $400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetColonial Williamsburg Foundation: $400 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PHILLIPS COLLECTION: $400 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAHOKIA MOUNDS MUSEUM SOCIETY: $350 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLY ASSOCIATION INC: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSHEDD AQUARIUM SOCIETY: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUPPER ARLINGTON CIVIC ASSOCIATION: $150 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF NATURAL HISTORY FOUNDATION: $100 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Ohio University Foundation: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAPPALACHIA OHIO ALLIANCE: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF HURON VALLEY: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOCEAN CONSERVANCY: $65 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCARPE DIEM STRING QUARTET: $50 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCONCORD FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY CORPORATION: $50 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 COLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds COLUMBUS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BALLET METROPOLITAN INC ↗
  • Who funds KALONA HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds COLUMBUS HUMANE ↗
  • Who funds COLUMBUS MUSEUM OF ART ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COLUMBUS ASSOCIATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds BAT CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds COZY CAT COTTAGE ADOPTION CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BOARD OF TRUSTEES ↗
  • Who funds OHIO WILDLIFE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL OHIO INC ↗
  • Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds FRANKLIN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY DBA COSI COLUMBUS ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds Alley Cat Allies Inc ↗
  • Who funds RAPTOR RESOURCE PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Mid-Ohio Foodbank ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN RIVERS 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.

Columbus FoundationCardinal Health Found…Battelle Memorial Ins…Meuse Family Foundati…Greater Columbus Arts…L Brands FoundationIngram-White Castle F…Columbus Jewish Found…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…American Electric Pow…McKesson Foundation I…The John J and Paulin…
Columbus FoundationOH26.4× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Columbus Foundation · Cardinal Health Foundation · Battelle Memorial Institute · Meuse Family Foundation · Greater Columbus Arts Council · L Brands Foundation · Ingram-White Castle Foundation · Columbus Jewish Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Electric Power Foundation · McKesson Foundation Inc · The John J and Pauline Gerlach 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 George Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The George Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%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
    3get no government money at all
    12report 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 George Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The George 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 90 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 George’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