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The J K Lowder Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The J K Lowder 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.

$1.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
47
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$650k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$2.2MEducation$1.2MHuman Services$801kPhilanthropy$403kRecreation & Sports$346kInternational$280kReligion$260kHealth$176kOther$0
02FY2025 · 47 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k28 grants · $87k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $250k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $375k
  • $250k+1 grant · $650k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (ENDOWMENTCAPITAL)$650,000
ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (BOARD COMPAIGN)$125,000
AUBURN UNIVERSITY TIGERS UNLIMITED$75,000
AUBURN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS$75,000
MONTESSORI SCHOOL AT HAMPSTEAD$50,000
RIVER REGION UNITED WAY$50,000
MISSION TO NORTH AMERICA$35,000
ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL - GALA$35,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
VALIANT CROSS ACADEMY$25,000
FAMILY SUNSHINE CENTER$20,000
REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY$20,000
MONTGOMERY ACADEMY$20,000
CLOVERDALE PLAYHOUSE$15,000
MONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS$12,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $74k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $3k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $3k → 14%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER: $5k → 7%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $2k → 14%MONTGOMERY AREA COUNCIL ON AGING: $2k → 18%FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER OF ALABAMA INC: $4k → 18%FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER OF ALABAMA INC: $2k → 18%FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER OF ALABAMA INC: $1k → 18%FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER OF ALABAMA INC: $1k → 18%FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER OF ALABAMA INC: $1k → 18%FAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER OF ALABAMA INC: $1k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER INC: $5k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER INC: $5k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER INC: $5k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER: $5k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER: $5k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER INC: $5k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER INC: $5k → 18%SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER INC: $3k → 18%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

CA
MO
VA
MD
NC
DC
AL
GA
TX
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.1M · 80 repeat orgs$343k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against -4% for those funded once.

80 repeat relationships: 46 still active in FY2025, 34 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

80
43

Total granted

$7.1M
$338k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
-4%

Still filing today

59%
28%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
EducationArts & CultureHealthHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentAnimalsOther
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

  • MS
    MONTESSORI SCHOOL AT HAMPSTEAD INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $250k · revenue +114%
  • MM
    MONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $181k · revenue +6%
  • TM
    THE MONTGOMERY ACADEMY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $150k · revenue +27%

Funded once

  • AU
    AUBURN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
    one grant, 2017 · $100k
  • YO
    YMCA OF GREATER MONTGOMERY
    one grant, 2020 · $78k
  • AU
    AUBURN UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
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
Montgomery Cancer Wellness Foundation

To provide supportive services, educational services, and assistance to cancer patients throughout central alabama, including those patients who lack the resources

Health
2
Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation Inc

Promote charitable, educational, scientific, and cultural activities in the city of montgomery, alabama.

Community Improvement
3
Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce

To advance the civic, commercial, and industrial interests of the montgomery area for the general benefit and welfare of the total community.

—
4
Leadership Montgomery Inc

To train, educate, and gather community leaders to improve the welfare of the montgomery, alabama community

Public Benefit
5
Alabama Bankers Association Inc

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

—
6
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
7
The Children's Hospital of Alabama

The mission of Children's of Alabama is to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education. Children's will be an advocate for all children and work…

Health
8
The Arc of Alabama Inc

The arc of alabama provides services to advocate and aid individuals with cognitive, intellectual, and developmental disabilities in the state of alabama.

—
9
Alabama Alliance Network

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

Public Benefit
10
Montgomery General Health Care System Inc

None

Health
11
Alabama Sports Foundation Inc

Alabama sports foundation exists to optimize the athlete experience through performance, education, innovation, and implementation. alabama sports foundation does this with each individual by partnering with teams, clubs, and…

—
12
Montgomery Academy

K-12 school serving students with special needs.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Alabama 4-H Club Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Blood Cancer United 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

61 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. 61 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/61
Grantees still filing
38/61
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (BOARD COMPAIGN): $1,175,145 · OtherALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (BOARD COMPAIGN)ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (ENDOWMENTCAPITAL): $950,000 · OtherALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (ENDOWMENTCAPITAL)YMCA - ANNUAL CAMPAIGN (HAMPSTEAD): $372,500 · OtherYMCA - ANNUAL CAMPAIGN (HAMPSTEAD)AUBURN COLLEGE OF BUSINESS: $325,000 · OtherAUBURN COLLEGE OF BUSINESSMISSION TO NORTH AMERICA: $315,000 · OtherMISSION TO NORTH AMERICAAUBURN UNIVERSITY TIGERS UNLIMITED: $200,000 · OtherREFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $180,000 · OtherFAMILY SUNSHINE CENTER: $180,000 · Other+82 more: $1,301,553 · Other+82 moreALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $200,000 · Arts & CultureALABAMA SHAKE…MONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION: $180,805 · Arts & CultureMONTGOMERY MU…CLOVERDALE PLAYHOUSE INC: $147,150 · Arts & CultureCLOVERDALE PL…CAPRI COMMUNITY FILM SOCIETY INC: $118,000 · Arts & CultureCAPRI COMMUNI…MONTGOMERY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $90,000 · Arts & CultureMONTGOMERY SY…ALABAMA DANCE THEATRE: $50,000 · Arts & CultureALABAMA DANCE…CLEFWORKS INC: $45,000 · Arts & CultureALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION IN THE ARTS: $40,500 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $11,750 · Arts & CultureMONTESSORI SCHOOL AT HAMPSTEAD INC: $250,000 · EducationMONTESSORI…MONTGOMERY CITY-COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY: $110,000 · EducationMONTGOMERY…VALIANT CROSS ACADEMY: $77,000 · EducationVALIANT CR…THE A EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP: $65,000 · EducationTHE A EDUC…THE LIBERTY LEARNING FOUNDATION: $63,000 · EducationTHE LIBERT…AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50,500 · EducationAUBURN UNI…MONTGOMERY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $42,000 · EducationMONTGOMERY…Teach for America Inc: $30,000 · Education+3 more: $19,000 · EducationRIVER REGION UNITED WAY: $450,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $3,000 · PhilanthropyTHE MONTGOMERY ACADEMY: $150,000 · Food & NutritionHEART OF ALABAMA FOOD BANK INC: $9,000 · Food & NutritionFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $80,000 · Youth DevelopmentBridge Builders Alabama: $12,000 · Youth DevelopmentGIRLS ON THE RUN INTERNATIONAL INC: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentCOMMON GROUND MONTGOMERY: $9,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $3,000 · Youth DevelopmentMONTGOMERY AREA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $42,500 · AnimalsSERVICE DOGS ALABAMA INC: $41,000 · AnimalsMONTGOMERY HUMANE SOCIETY: $20,000 · Animals
Other$4,999,198Arts & Culture$883,205Education$706,500Philanthropy$453,000Food & Nutrition$159,000Youth Development$114,000Animals$103,500

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 budgetRIVER REGION UNITED WAY: $450,000 over 9y, 2.1% of budgetMONTESSORI SCHOOL AT HAMPSTEAD INC: $250,000 over 9y, 4.6% of budgetALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: $200,000 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetMONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION: $180,805 over 9y, 3.2% of budgetTHE MONTGOMERY ACADEMY: $150,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetCLOVERDALE PLAYHOUSE INC: $147,150 over 9y, 9.8% of budgetCAPRI COMMUNITY FILM SOCIETY INC: $118,000 over 9y, 6.6% of budgetMONTGOMERY CITY-COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY: $110,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetMONTGOMERY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $90,000 over 9y, 1.5% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $80,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetVALIANT CROSS ACADEMY: $77,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetTHE A EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP: $65,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LIBERTY LEARNING FOUNDATION: $63,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetAUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ALABAMA 4-H CLUB FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetALABAMA DANCE THEATRE: $50,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetCLEFWORKS INC: $45,000 over 9y, 21% of budgetMONTGOMERY AREA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $42,500 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetMONTGOMERY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $42,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetSERVICE DOGS ALABAMA INC: $41,000 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION IN THE ARTS: $40,500 over 9y, 4.9% of budgetTHE SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER IN: $37,500 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetJACKSON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $32,000 over 9y, 1.1% of budgetJOY TO LIFE FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $30,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetJOHN ED MATHISON LEADERSHIP MINISTRIES: $25,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $20,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetMONTGOMERY HUMANE SOCIETY: $20,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTRINITY PRESBYTERIAN SCHOOL INC: $17,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetRIVER REGION TRAILS INC: $15,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetMONTGOMERY BOTANICAL GARDEN AT OAK PARK: $15,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $14,100 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBridge Builders Alabama: $12,000 over 4y, 4.6% of budgetLANDMARKS FOUNDATION OF MONTGOMERY: $10,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN INTERNATIONAL INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCRIMESTOPPERS 215STOP INC: $10,000 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetFAMILY GUIDANCE CENTER OF ALABAMA INC: $9,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICE OF MONTGOMERY INC: $9,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMON GROUND MONTGOMERY: $9,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetHEART OF ALABAMA FOOD BANK INC: $9,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetALABAMA COASTAL FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetChild Protect Inc: $7,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetVOICES for Alabama's Children: $6,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetMONTGOMERY COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIET TISHA RHODES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: $5,750 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetSAMARITAN COACHING AND CONSULTING: $5,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetMAGIC MOMENTS: $4,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetDruids Charity Club Inc: $3,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetCENTRAL ALABAMA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 3y, 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 RIVER REGION UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds MONTESSORI SCHOOL AT HAMPSTEAD INC ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds MONTGOMERY MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE MONTGOMERY ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds CLOVERDALE PLAYHOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds CAPRI COMMUNITY FILM SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTGOMERY CITY-COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds MONTGOMERY SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES ↗
  • Who funds VALIANT CROSS ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds THE A EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP ↗
  • Who funds THE LIBERTY LEARNING FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds AUBURN UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ALABAMA 4-H CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA DANCE THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds CLEFWORKS INC ↗
  • Who funds MONTGOMERY AREA ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds MONTGOMERY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds SERVICE DOGS ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION IN THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE SAMARITAN COUNSELING CENTER IN ↗
  • Who funds JACKSON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JOY TO LIFE FOUNDATION ↗

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.

The Daniel Foundation…The S Adam Schloss Fo…Kiwanis Club of Montg…Alabama Power Foundat…Alfa FoundationArthur M Britton Foun…Gordy-Mead-Britton Fo…Central Alabama Commu…John and Joyce Caddel…Samuel L Schloss Fami…The Landa FundCrum Family Charitabl…
The Daniel Foundation of AlabamaAL55.8× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Daniel Foundation of Alabama · The S Adam Schloss Foundation Inc · Kiwanis Club of Montgomery Foundation Inc · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Alfa Foundation · Arthur M Britton Foundation Inc · Gordy-Mead-Britton Foundation · Central Alabama Community Foundation Inc · John and Joyce Caddell Foundation · Samuel L Schloss Family Foundation Tr Schlossburke K Trustee · The Landa Fund · Crum Family Charitable 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 J K Lowder Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The J K Lowder Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%2%6%14%25%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
    1get no government money at all
    25report 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 J K Lowder Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The J K Lowder 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 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on J K Lowder 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