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The Herschend Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Herschend Family 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.

$512k
Granted FY2025still arriving
46
Grants FY2025still arriving
13
States reached
$161k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$2.2MReligion$905kCommunity Improvement$813kHuman Services$384kFood & Nutrition$250kYouth Development$237kHousing & Shelter$212kPhilanthropy$143kOther$0
02FY2025 · 46 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k32 grants · $102k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $250k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $161k
$5,000
Median grant
13
States reached
$3.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Elevate Branson$160,500
Individual grant recipient$49,981
Miracle of Nazareth International Foundation Inc$30,000
Heart Support$25,000
K-Life$25,000
Younglife$20,000
Special Operations Care Fund$20,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
Harvesters Community Food$13,000
1st Presbyterian Church of Branson$12,000
The Lodge Ministries$10,000
Convoy of Hope$10,000
John Brown University$10,000
Ozark Mountain Legacy$10,000
Como Mobile Aid Collective$8,000
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 (FY17–25, $329k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HEARTLIGHT MINISTRIES: $1k → 16%LITTLE ONE'S MINISTRIES: $24k → 16%DOGWOOD RANCH: $9k → 8%COMO MOBILE AID COLLECTIVE: $8k → 17%Street Grace: $2k → 9%SPECIAL OPERATIONS CARE FUND: $40k → 13%HEARTLIGHT MINISTRIES: $1k → 16%LITTLE ONE'S MINISTRIES: $24k → 16%DOGWOOD RANCH: $7k → 8%Como Mobile Aid Collective: $8k → 17%Special Operations Care Fund: $20k → 13%DOGWOOD RANCH: $7k → 8%KANSAS CITY INDIAN CENTER: $5k → 15%SPECIAL OPERATIONS CARE FUND: $18k → 13%DOGWOOD RANCH: $5k → 8%DOGWOOD RANCH: $1k → 8%DOGWOOD RANCH: $100 → 8%CHANGES OF STONE COUNTY: $2k → 13%Gift of Hope: $2k → 14%MAN UP AND GO: $750 → 15%THE KITCHEN: $15k → 15%THE KITCHEN: $5k → 15%THE KITCHEN: $5k → 15%LOST AND FOUND GRIEF CENTER: $18k → 15%LOST AND FOUND GRIEF CENTER: $14k → 15%HONOR FLIGHT OF THE OZARKS: $9k → 15%HONOR FLIGHT OF THE OZARKS: $8k → 15%GENERATION NEXT: $21k → 14%Lost & Found Grief Center: $7k → 15%Honor Flight of the Ozarks: $6k → 15%LOST AND FOUND: $6k → 15%LOST AND FOUND: $5k → 15%HARMONY HOUSE: $3k → 15%HONOR FLIGHT OF THE OZARKS: $3k → 15%GENERATION NEXT: $10k → 14%HONOR FLIGHT OF THE OZARKS: $2k → 15%LOST AND FOUND: $2k → 15%LOST AND FOUND: $1k → 15%GENERATION NEXT: $3k → 14%GENERATION NEXT: $3k → 14%GENERATION NEXT: $500 → 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

ME
NH
WA
MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
OH
PA
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
KS
AR
TN
SC
DC
OK
AL
GA
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.

56%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 94 repeat orgs$2.6M to everyone else

94 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2025, 66 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

94
138

Total granted

$3.3M
$2.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+36%

Still filing today

43%
27%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $143k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’25
Human ServicesReligionInternationalPhilanthropyEducationHealthOther
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

  • EB
    ELEVATE BRANSON
    8× · 2017–2025 · $944k · revenue +154%
  • FO
    FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES
    7× · 2017–2023 · $97k · revenue +120%
  • YL
    YOUNG LIFE
    7× · 2017–2025 · $85k · revenue +59%

Funded once

  • TN
    THE NAZARETH PROJECTgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $2.0M · revenue +378%
  • CO
    City of Rockaway Beach
    one grant, 2019 · $20k
  • TK
    TRI-COUNTY K-LIFE
    one grant, 2020 · $20k
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
Christianity Today International

Christianity Today is a global community inspired by evangelical conviction to advance the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God. Our mission is to elevate the storytellers and sages of the global church.

Religion
2
Christian Mission for the United Nations Community

Christian Mission for the United Nations Community is a ministry aimed at leading the head of every nation and other top leaders to faith in Jesus Christ and helping them to walk in dependence upon God as they discharge the…

—
3
Feed the Hunger Inc

Feeding the spiritual and physical hunger, especially in at-risk children.

—
4
Hope Ministries of Baton Rouge

Prevent homelessness. promote self-sufficiency and dignity.

Housing & Shelter
5
Bless the Children Ministries Inc

To be the love of christ to uganda's orphaned and vulnerable children, equipping them to become authentic godly leaders that transform generations

International
6
Freedom House Ministries

House of Hope Kansas City is unique, because we work with teens and their parents to find solutions and ultimately, restoration of healthy family relationships. We serve families in crisis with our program for residents to experience the…

Education
7
Servenow

Sharing Christ's Passion for the world by serving the most vulnerable through national churches and leaders.

Human Services
8
Door of Hope Redeeming Lives Restoring Families

Helping men, women and children by hosting educational conferences, facilitating healing and freedom through support groups, trauma recovery prayer ministry and licensed counseling appointmnts. they seek to redeem lives, restore families…

Human Services
9
Miracle Hill Ministries Inc

Miracle hill ministries is committed to life transformation for children and adults experiencing homelessness. more information and program outcomes may be found at www.miraclehill.org.

Human Services
10
Harvest Bridge

Harvest Bridge equips South Asian Christians to serve their communities more effectively. With our assistance, people and communities in South Asia are transformed by the love of Christ.

Religion
11
Orphan Outreach

To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by ministering to orphans around the world by meeting spiritual, physical, emotional, and educational needs.

International
12
Alongside Inc

Restore hope, purpose, passion and relationships among Christian leaders who are making an impact around the world.

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Convoy of Hope; the most unlike its peers is Osage Arts Community Inc. 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

93 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. 93 of the 253 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
31
Early backer (in before they grew)
88/93
Grantees still filing
65/93
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE NAZARETH PROJECT: $2,000,000 · InternationalTHE NAZARETH PROJECTCONVOY OF HOPE: $100,000 · International+7 more: $68,300 · InternationalBRIDGE OF FAITH: $180,015 · OtherBRIDGE OF FAITHTRI-LAKES K-LIFE: $131,000 · OtherTRI-LAKES K-LIFEIndividual grant recipient: $111,685 · OtherIndividual grant recipientATLANTA YOUTH ACADEMY: $69,500 · Other+153 more: $1,483,093 · Other+153 moreELEVATE BRANSON: $944,108 · Food & NutritionELEVATE BRANSON+3 more: $35,000 · Food & NutritionSPECIAL OPERATIONS CARE FUND INC: $78,000 · Human ServicesLITTLE ONES MINISTRIES INC: $77,008 · Human ServicesLOST & FOUND: $51,955 · Human ServicesGENERATION NEXT INC: $37,265 · Human ServicesDOGWOOD RANCH CORPORATION: $29,450 · Human ServicesHONOR FLIGHT OF THE OZARKS: $27,500 · Human ServicesTHE KITCHEN INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesCOMO MOBILE AID COLLECTIVE: $16,000 · Human Services+7 more: $23,700 · Human ServicesFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $97,400 · Youth DevelopmentYOUNG LIFE: $84,500 · Youth Development+1 more: $2,500 · Youth DevelopmentSILVER DOLLAR CITY FOUNDATION INC: $76,058 · PhilanthropyGET VOLUNTEERING: $40,000 · PhilanthropyTHE GIVING KITCHEN INITIATIVE INC: $10,500 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE OZARKS INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyPHILANTHROPY MISSOURI: $7,300 · PhilanthropyPARTNERS RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT: $6,500 · Philanthropy+2 more: $4,300 · PhilanthropyFaith Community Health DBA Hope Counseling Center: $62,889 · HealthSKAGGS FOUNDATION: $35,000 · HealthCARE BEYOND THE BOULEVARD INC: $5,000 · Health+1 more: $1,000 · Health
International$2,168,300Other$1,975,293Food & Nutrition$979,108Human Services$365,878Youth Development$184,400Philanthropy$154,658Health$103,889

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetELEVATE BRANSON: $944,108 over 8y, 15% of budgetCONVOY OF HOPE: $100,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $97,400 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $84,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSPECIAL OPERATIONS CARE FUND INC: $78,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetLITTLE ONES MINISTRIES INC: $77,008 over 6y, 9.1% of budgetSILVER DOLLAR CITY FOUNDATION INC: $76,058 over 4y, 7.5% of budgetFaith Community Health DBA Hope Counseling Center: $62,889 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetLOST & FOUND: $51,955 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetJOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY: $50,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetOzark Mountain Legacy: $45,000 over 4y, 65% of budgetWORLD VISION INC: $42,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSE OF HOPE INC: $41,560 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetGET VOLUNTEERING: $40,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetGENERATION NEXT INC: $37,265 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetSKAGGS FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetMIRACLE OF NAZARETH INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 over 2y, 57% of budgetCOLLEGE OF THE OZARKS: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetChristian Action Ministries: $30,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetDOGWOOD RANCH CORPORATION: $29,450 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetHONOR FLIGHT OF THE OZARKS: $27,500 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetTHE KITCHEN INC: $25,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCornerstone International Inc: $22,700 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetOZARKS FOOD HARVEST INC: $22,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOMO MOBILE AID COLLECTIVE: $16,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetENLACE CHRISTIAN TELEVISION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CARING PEOPLE: $13,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetTHE GIVING GROVE: $11,500 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetTHE GIVING KITCHEN INITIATIVE INC: $10,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLove and Hope Foundation: $10,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE OZARKS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENWOOD PARENT ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPHILANTHROPY MISSOURI: $7,300 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetPARTNERS RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT: $6,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTaneyhills Library Inc DBA Friends of the Library: $6,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetBranson Chorale: $6,000 over 2y, 42% of budgetKANSAS CITY PET PROJECT: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHAVAHEART RESCUE: $5,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCatalyst Sports Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEED MY STARVING CHILDREN INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCARE BEYOND THE BOULEVARD INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetChristian City Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF AMERICA INDIAN CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetJosiah Venture: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVETERANS MEMORIAL GARDEN INC: $4,000 over 2y, 4.7% 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 THE NAZARETH PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds ELEVATE BRANSON ↗
  • Who funds CONVOY OF HOPE ↗
  • Who funds FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL OPERATIONS CARE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE ONES MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds SILVER DOLLAR CITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Faith Community Health DBA Hope Counseling Center ↗
  • Who funds LOST & FOUND ↗
  • Who funds JOHN BROWN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Ozark Mountain Legacy ↗
  • Who funds WORLD VISION INC ↗
  • Who funds HOUSE OF HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds GET VOLUNTEERING ↗
  • Who funds GENERATION NEXT INC ↗
  • Who funds SKAGGS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MIRACLE OF NAZARETH INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE OF THE OZARKS ↗
  • Who funds Christian Action Ministries ↗
  • Who funds DOGWOOD RANCH CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds HONOR FLIGHT OF THE OZARKS ↗
  • Who funds HEARTSUPPORT 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.

Community Foundation …Stanley & Elaine Ball…The Charlie & Mary Be…United Way of the Oza…Roy W Slusher Charita…Cook Family FoundationLarry P O'Reilly and …Arvest FoundationMissouri Sports Hall …Ozarks Health Advocac…Servant FoundationCommerce Bancshares F…
Community Foundation of the Ozarks IncMO54.5× affinity29 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc · Stanley & Elaine Ball Charitable Tr · The Charlie & Mary Beth O'Reilly Family Foundation · United Way of the Ozarks Inc · Roy W Slusher Charitable Foundation · Cook Family Foundation · Larry P O'Reilly and Family Foundation · Arvest Foundation · Missouri Sports Hall of Fame · Ozarks Health Advocacy Foundation · Servant Foundation · Commerce Bancshares 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 Herschend Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Herschend Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
20report 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 Herschend Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Herschend Family 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 253 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 Herschend Family’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