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The Hugh Kaul Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Hugh Kaul Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.6M
Granted FY2024still arriving
68
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$395k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$4.0MArts & Culture$3.2MEnvironment$1.6MHealth$1.2MHuman Services$555kCommunity Improvement$430kHousing & Shelter$410kFood & Nutrition$345kOther$0
02FY2024 · 68 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k51 grants · $927k
  • $50k–250k11 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+1 grant · $395k
$20,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$50M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM$395,000
WOMENS FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA$200,000
COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL ALABAMA$200,000
JEFFERSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE$200,000
BIRMINGHAM LANDMARKS$150,000
16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH$100,000
ALABAMA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$100,000
BIRMINGHAM ZOO$100,000
THE SALVATION ARMY$75,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY$50,000
BIRMINGHAM SOUTHERN COLLEGE$50,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA ALABAMA$50,000
Individual grant recipient$40,000
RAILROAD PARK FOUNDATION$30,000
HISPANIC INTEREST COALITION OF ALABAMA$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 (FY20–24, $1.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%EKVN-YEFOLECV: $575k → 18%FREEDOM RAIN INC: $25k → 16%FREEDOM RAIN INC: $25k → 16%UNLESS U: $20k → 16%COLLAT JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 16%COLLAT JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 16%COLLAT JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 16%COLLAT JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $10k → 16%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $15k → 16%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $15k → 16%COMMUNITY GRIEF SUPPORT SERVICE: $10k → 16%COMMUNITY GRIEF SUPPORT SERVICE: $5k → 16%COMMUNITY GRIEF SUPPORT SERVICE: $5k → 16%COMMUNITY GRIEF SUPPORT SERVICE: $5k → 16%GRACE HOUSE MINISTRIES INC: $10k → 16%COMMUNITY GRIEF SUPPORT SERVICE: $5k → 16%COMMUNITY ON THE RISE: $75k → 16%COMMUNITY ON THE RISE: $50k → 16%COMMUNITY ON THE RISE: $35k → 16%COMMUNITY ON THE RISE: $25k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER BIRMINGHAM: $25k → 16%FIRST LIGHT INC: $20k → 16%PATHWAYS INC: $20k → 16%FIRST LIGHT INC: $20k → 16%FIRST LIGHT INC: $20k → 16%FIRST LIGHT INC: $20k → 16%FIRST LIGHT INC: $20k → 16%PATHWAYS INC: $10k → 16%PATHWAYS INC: $10k → 16%TERRIFIC NEW THEATRE: $10k → 16%PATHWAYS INC: $10k → 16%PATHWAYS INC: $10k → 16%ALABAMA ASSOCIATION OF NONPROFITS: $10k → 16%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.

88%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$12M · 77 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

77 repeat relationships: 55 still active in FY2024, 22 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

77
35

Total granted

$12M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+8%

Still filing today

79%
66%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $285k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementHealthEnvironmentOther
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

  • TA
    THE ART FUND OF BIRMINGHAM INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $1.5M · revenue +246%
  • TC
    The Children's Hospital of Alabama
    3× · 2020–2023 · $800k · revenue +22%
  • FL
    FRESHWATER LAND TRUST
    4× · 2020–2024 · $500k · revenue +193%

Funded once

  • EY
    EKVNV YEFOLECVLKE
    one grant, 2023 · $575k · revenue -8%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • BR
    BESSEMER REDEVELOPMENT CORP
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue +14%
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
Alabama Partnership for Children

To work in partnership with families and organizations to ensure that all alabama children (birth to five) get everything they need to develop to their fullest potential.

Education
2
Legal Aid Society of Birmingham

The Organization is a nonprofit community defender providing legal assistance through court appointment to children and other indigent persons.

Crime & Legal
3
Birmingham Corps

Birmingham corps' mission is to drive fair workforce opportunities and accelerate social change by recruiting, training, and retaining people in birmingham.

Employment
4
Birmingham Promise Inc

Birmingham Promise supports and prepares every Birmingham City School student in achieving economic security, mobility, and prosperity by providing connections to high-quality work experiences and last-dollar tuition scholarships

Education
5
Uab Educational Foundation

To support the university of alabama at birmingham in its scientific and educational mission, including managing and disbursing funds, acquiring real property, and providing operational flexibility.

Education
6
Alabama Bankers Association Inc

To promote the preservation and continued development of commercial banking in alabama.

—
7
The Alabama Center for Law and Civic Education

The mission of ACLCE is to prepare youth to become active, engaged, and informed participants in a democratic society.

—
8
Alabama Alliance Network

The alabama alliance netowrk works to strengthen and enhance alabama's civic society through research, education, and grantmaking

Public Benefit
9
Alabama Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils

Coordinate rc&d activity in alabama

Environment
10
A Best Practices Center

The alabama best practices center helps teachers and administrators develop the competence, commitment and courage to do whatever it takes to improve student learning.

Education
11
Voices for Alabama's Children

Our mission is to speak for the well-being of Alabama's children through research, public awareness, and advocacy.

Arts & Culture
12
Alabama Values

A nonpartisan grassroots communication organization that works to raise awareness and increase engagement around community issues in alabama by working directly with civic organizations advocating civic participation in communities across…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Stair of Birmingham; the most unlike its peers is David Mathews Center for Civic Life. 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, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 93 of the 125 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
92/93
Grantees still filing
57/93
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE ART FUND OF BIRMINGHAM INC: $1,500,000 · OtherTHE ART FUND OF BIRMINGHAM INCUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham: $1,405,000 · OtherUniversity of Alabama at BirminghamUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA: $770,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMAALABAMA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $500,000 · OtherALABAMA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA BIRMINGHAM: $425,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA BIRMINGHAMJEFFERSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $270,000 · OtherBirmingham Zoo Inc: $300,000 · Other+59 more: $2,747,000 · Other+59 moreEKVNV YEFOLECVLKE: $574,850 · Human ServicesEKVNV YEFO…COMMUNITY ON THE RISE: $185,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY …FIRST LIGHT INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesFIRST LIGH…PATHWAYS INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesFREEDOM RAIN INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesCOLLAT JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF BIRMINGHAM: $40,000 · Human Services+10 more: $185,000 · Human Services+10 moreRED MOUNTAIN THEATRE COMPANY INC: $425,000 · Arts & CultureRED MOUNT…BIRMINGHAM LANDMARKS INC: $245,000 · Arts & CultureBIRMINGHA…THE STATE OF ALABAMA BALLET INC: $150,000 · Arts & CultureTHE STATE…OPERA BIRMINGHAM INC: $105,000 · Arts & CultureOPERA BIR…MCWANE SCIENCE CENTER: $90,000 · Arts & CultureMCWANE SC…SIDEWALK FILM CENTER AND CINEMA INC: $85,000 · Arts & CultureSIDEWALK …REV BIRMINGHAM INC: $75,000 · Arts & CultureREV BIRMI…+1 more: $5,000 · Arts & CultureThe Children's Hospital of Alabama: $800,000 · HealthThe Child…ALBERT SCHWEITZER FELLOWSHIP OF ALABAMA: $70,000 · HealthALBERT SC…Oasis Counseling for Women and Children: $52,000 · HealthVAX 2 STOP CANCER: $50,000 · HealthMITCHELL'S PLACE INC: $50,000 · HealthSMILE-A-MILE: $50,000 · Health+1 more: $10,000 · HealthTeach for America Inc: $250,000 · EducationThe Birmingham Athletic Partnership: $115,000 · EducationSTAIR OF BIRMINGHAM: $100,000 · EducationBIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $75,000 · EducationI3 ACADEMY: $70,000 · EducationPRESCHOOL PARTNERS: $60,000 · EducationHighlands School: $50,000 · EducationTHE A EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP: $45,000 · EducationMagic City Acceptance Academy Charter Sc: $30,000 · Education+4 more: $50,000 · EducationFRESHWATER LAND TRUST: $500,000 · EnvironmentTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $100,000 · EnvironmentTHE BIRMINGHAM BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC: $50,000 · EnvironmentCOOSA RIVERKEEPER INC: $50,000 · Environment+3 more: $41,000 · EnvironmentWOODLAWN UNITED INC: $125,000 · Community ImprovementHISPANIC AND IMMIGRANT CENTER OF ALABAMA: $110,000 · Community ImprovementBESSEMER REDEVELOPMENT CORP: $100,000 · Community ImprovementCahaba River Society Inc: $70,000 · Community ImprovementVENTURE FOR AMERICA INC: $60,000 · Community ImprovementYOUR-TOWN ALABAMA INC: $20,000 · Community Improvement+2 more: $15,000 · Community Improvement
Other$7,917,000Human Services$1,194,850Arts & Culture$1,180,000Health$1,082,000Education$845,000Environment$741,000Community Improvement$500,000

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 budgetTHE ART FUND OF BIRMINGHAM INC: $1,500,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetThe Children's Hospital of Alabama: $800,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetEKVNV YEFOLECVLKE: $574,850 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetFRESHWATER LAND TRUST: $500,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetRED MOUNTAIN THEATRE COMPANY INC: $425,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetBirmingham Zoo Inc: $300,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetWOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA: $250,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $250,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBIRMINGHAM LANDMARKS INC: $245,000 over 3y, 4.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL ALABAMA: $220,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY ON THE RISE: $185,000 over 4y, 24% of budgetTHE STATE OF ALABAMA BALLET INC: $150,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetWOODLAWN UNITED INC: $125,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetThe Birmingham Athletic Partnership: $115,000 over 5y, 9.9% of budgetRAILROAD PARK FOUNDATION: $115,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetHISPANIC AND IMMIGRANT CENTER OF ALABAMA: $110,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetBIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE: $110,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetOPERA BIRMINGHAM INC: $105,000 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetFIRST LIGHT INC: $100,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBESSEMER REDEVELOPMENT CORP: $100,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetSTAIR OF BIRMINGHAM: $100,000 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMCWANE SCIENCE CENTER: $90,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSIDEWALK FILM CENTER AND CINEMA INC: $85,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetBIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetREV BIRMINGHAM INC: $75,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF CENTRAL ALABAMA: $75,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetALBERT SCHWEITZER FELLOWSHIP OF ALABAMA: $70,000 over 5y, 7.3% of budgetCahaba River Society Inc: $70,000 over 5y, 2.9% of budgetTHE WELLHOUSE INC: $65,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetPATHWAYS INC: $60,000 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetVENTURE FOR AMERICA INC: $60,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetPRESCHOOL PARTNERS: $60,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetGRACE HOUSE MINISTRIES INC: $60,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetBETTER BASICS INC: $52,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetOasis Counseling for Women and Children: $52,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetONE PLACE METRO AL FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER: $50,000 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetJONES VALLEY URBAN FARM: $50,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE BIRMINGHAM BOTANICAL SOCIETY INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetFREEDOM RAIN INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetRED MOUNTAIN PARK FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 9.8% of budgetCREATE BIRMINGHAM: $50,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetHighlands School: $50,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetVAX 2 STOP CANCER: $50,000 over 5y, 9.6% of budgetMITCHELL'S PLACE INC: $50,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetSMILE-A-MILE: $50,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetCOOSA RIVERKEEPER INC: $50,000 over 5y, 3.5% 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 ART FUND OF BIRMINGHAM INC ↗
  • Who funds The Children's Hospital of Alabama ↗
  • Who funds EKVNV YEFOLECVLKE ↗
  • Who funds FRESHWATER LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds RED MOUNTAIN THEATRE COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds Birmingham Zoo Inc ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA ↗
  • Who funds Teach for America Inc ↗
  • Who funds BIRMINGHAM LANDMARKS INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL ALABAMA ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY ON THE RISE ↗
  • Who funds THE STATE OF ALABAMA BALLET INC ↗
  • Who funds WOODLAWN UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds The Birmingham Athletic Partnership ↗
  • Who funds RAILROAD PARK FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HISPANIC AND IMMIGRANT CENTER OF ALABAMA ↗
  • Who funds BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds OPERA BIRMINGHAM INC ↗
  • Who funds FIRST LIGHT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CONSERVATION FUND A NONPROFIT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds BESSEMER REDEVELOPMENT CORP ↗
  • Who funds STAIR OF BIRMINGHAM ↗
  • Who funds THE NATURE CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds MCWANE SCIENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds SIDEWALK FILM CENTER AND CINEMA INC ↗
  • Who funds BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds REV BIRMINGHAM INC ↗
  • Who funds GIRLS INCORPORATED OF CENTRAL ALABAMA ↗
  • Who funds I3 ACADEMY ↗

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.

Susan Mott Webb Chari…The Daniel Foundation…Robert R Meyer Founda…Protective Life Found…The Community Foundat…Mike and Gillian Good…Alabama Power Foundat…Hill Crest Foundation…Altecstyslinger Found…The Joseph S Bruno Ch…The Maynard Nexsen Fo…Orlean & Ralph W Bees…
Susan Mott Webb Charitable TrustAL149× affinity70 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · Robert R Meyer Foundation · Protective Life Foundation · The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Hill Crest Foundation Inc · Altecstyslinger Foundation · The Joseph S Bruno Charitable Foundation · The Maynard Nexsen Foundation · Orlean & Ralph W Beeson Fund

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%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
    35report 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.

    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 125 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Hugh Kaul’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