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The James Milton and Sallie R Johnson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The James Milton and Sallie R Johnson 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.

$1.9M
Granted FY2025still arriving
36
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$1.0M
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 2025.

Education$2.2MPhilanthropy$1.3MArts & Culture$961kCommunity Improvement$410kHuman Services$326kHealth$229kAnimals$215kFood & Nutrition$107kOther$0
02FY2025 · 36 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k15 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $240k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $563k
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.0M
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA$1,045,000
WOLFORD COLLEGE$134,225
BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART$120,122
COMMUNITY FOODBANK OF CENTRAL ALABAMA$100,000
EMPOWER COMMUNITY SCHOOL$83,333
MODERN CLASSROOMS PROJECT$75,000
BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION (SAIL PROGRAM)$50,000
O'NEAL LIBRARY CAPITAL CAMPAIGN$30,000
FOUNDATIONS EARLY LEARNING CENTER$25,000
THE LOVELADY CENTER$25,000
STAIR$25,000
ALABAMA APPLESEED CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE$20,000
YWCA OF CENTRAL ALABAMA$15,000
GRACE KLEIN COMMUNITY INC$15,000
RED MOUNTAIN THEATRE$15,000
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 (FY19–25, $167k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $3k → 14%CHRISTIAN SERVICE MISSION: $20k → 16%THE LOVELADY CENTER: $25k → 16%THE LOVELADY CENTER: $25k → 16%GRACE KLIEN COMMUNITY: $15k → 16%GRACE KLEIN COMMUNITY INC: $15k → 16%GRACE KLIEN COMMUNITY: $15k → 16%GRACE KLIEN COMMUNITY: $10k → 16%IS ABLE MINISTRIES: $10k → 16%IS ABLE MINISTRIES: $10k → 16%CHILDCARE RESOURCES: $10k → 16%IS ABLE MINISTRIES: $7k → 16%CHILDCARE RESOURCES: $2k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
MA
TN
NC
SC
DC
MS
AL
GA
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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.4M · 45 repeat orgs$818k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +24% for those funded once.

45 repeat relationships: 30 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

45
32

Total granted

$5.4M
$677k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+24%

Still filing today

60%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $141k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHuman ServicesHealthPhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC
    2× · 2020–2025 · $1.1M · revenue +21%
  • WOFFORD COLLEGE
    8× · 2017–2025 · $800k · revenue +52%
  • TM
    THE MODERN CLASSROOMS PROJECT INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $150k · revenue +11%

Funded once

  • AF
    ART FUND INC
    one grant, 2024 · $117k
  • AA
    ALABAMA AEROSPACE & AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL
    one grant, 2024 · $100k · revenue -11%
  • TW
    THE WOMEN'S FUND
    one grant, 2017 · $63k
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
Alabama Christian Academy

To glorify god by providing a quality, christ-centered education which challenges students and teachers to maximize their potential so that graduates are prepared to further their education while becoming productive christian citizens.

—
3
Covenant Academy of Mobile

Operation of a public charter school in Mobile Alabama.

Human Services
4
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
5
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
6
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
7
University Charter School

Operation of a public charter school in Livingston, AL.

Education
8
Crestwood Day School Inc

Crestwood day school is a private elementary (k-6th) grade school in alabama.

Education
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
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.

—
11
Arborbrook Christian Academy

Arborbrook Christian Academy partners with parents to equip, empower, and encourage students to cultivate godly character, pursue life-long learning, and love the Lord Jesus Christ.

Education
12
Legacy Schools

Operation of a public charter school in Livingston, AL.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Stair of Birmingham; the most unlike its peers is Turning Point Foundation. 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

48 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. 48 of the 85 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)
48/48
Grantees still filing
34/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WOFFORD COLLEGE: $799,653 · OtherWOFFORD COLLEGEBIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ART: $758,313 · OtherBIRMINGHAM MUSEUM OF ARTJEFFERSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $227,049 · OtherJEFFERSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGEIndividual grant recipient: $170,000 · OtherBIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION (SAIL PROGRAM): $150,015 · OtherART FUND INC: $117,358 · Other+51 more: $1,120,800 · Other+51 moreUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC: $1,075,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL AL…THE MODERN CLASSROOMS PROJECT INC: $150,000 · PhilanthropyTHE MODERN CLASSROOMS PR…WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA: $126,000 · PhilanthropyWOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF AL…+3 more: $23,500 · PhilanthropyEMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA: $166,666 · EducationEMPOWER SCHOO…STAIR OF BIRMINGHAM: $120,000 · EducationSTAIR OF BIRM…BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $117,500 · EducationBIRMINGHAM ED…ALABAMA AEROSPACE & AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL: $100,000 · EducationALABAMA AEROS…PRESCHOOL PARTNERS: $85,000 · EducationPRESCHOOL PAR…COLLEGE CHOICE FOUNDATION: $65,000 · EducationCOLLEGE CHOIC…+6 more: $70,500 · Education+6 moreWOODLAWN UNITED INC: $300,000 · Community ImprovementWIMBERLY HOUSE MINISTRIES INC: $47,000 · Community ImprovementBirmingham Zoo Inc: $215,000 · AnimalsGRACE KLEIN COMMUNITY INC: $55,000 · Human ServicesFREEDOM RAIN INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesIS-ABLE MINISTRIES: $27,000 · Human ServicesChristian Service Mission Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesCHILDCARE RESOURCES: $12,000 · Human Services+1 more: $2,500 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL ALABAMA: $100,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$3,343,188Philanthropy$1,374,500Education$724,666Community Improvement$347,000Animals$215,000Human Services$166,500Food & Nutrition$100,000

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 budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC: $1,075,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWOFFORD COLLEGE: $799,653 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetWOODLAWN UNITED INC: $300,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetBirmingham Zoo Inc: $215,000 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetEMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA: $166,666 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE MODERN CLASSROOMS PROJECT INC: $150,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetWOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA: $126,000 over 4y, 7.7% of budgetSTAIR OF BIRMINGHAM: $120,000 over 5y, 5.2% of budgetBIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $117,500 over 4y, 5.7% of budgetALABAMA AEROSPACE & AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL: $100,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetPRESCHOOL PARTNERS: $85,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetCOLLEGE CHOICE FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetGLENWOOD INC: $60,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetALABAMA APPLESEED CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE INC: $60,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetGRACE KLEIN COMMUNITY INC: $55,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetKIWANIS CLUB OF BIRMINGHAM: $50,000 over 1y, 8.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF JEMISON PARK: $50,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetFREEDOM RAIN INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWIMBERLY HOUSE MINISTRIES INC: $47,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetSMILE-A-MILE: $42,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetIS-ABLE MINISTRIES: $27,000 over 3y, 6.3% of budgetFRESHWATER LAND TRUST: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetChristian Service Mission Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetVULCAN PARK FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNEW SCHOOLS FOR ALABAMA: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetChrist Health Center Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WELLHOUSE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetROOTED MINISTRIES INC: $18,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURES IN EDUCATION INC: $17,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTUM TUM TREE FOUNDATION: $15,800 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetCORNERSTONE SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetI3 ACADEMY: $13,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMountain Brook City Schools Foundation: $12,500 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetCHILDCARE RESOURCES: $12,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCRISIS CENTER INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetQuarterbacking Children's Health Foundation: $8,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetThe Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE EXCEPTIONAL FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE RESTORATION ACADEMY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACADEMY OF CRAFT TRAINING: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPRIORY IN THE USA OF THE MOST VENERABLE ORDER OF THE HOSP / ST JOHN OF JERUSALEM: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $2,500 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 UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds WOFFORD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds WOODLAWN UNITED INC ↗
  • Who funds Birmingham Zoo Inc ↗
  • Who funds EMPOWER SCHOOLS OF ALABAMA ↗
  • Who funds THE MODERN CLASSROOMS PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN'S FOUNDATION OF ALABAMA ↗
  • Who funds STAIR OF BIRMINGHAM ↗
  • Who funds BIRMINGHAM EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL ALABAMA ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA AEROSPACE & AVIATION HIGH SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds PRESCHOOL PARTNERS ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE CHOICE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GLENWOOD INC ↗
  • Who funds ALABAMA APPLESEED CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE INC ↗
  • Who funds GRACE KLEIN COMMUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds KIWANIS CLUB OF BIRMINGHAM ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF JEMISON PARK ↗
  • Who funds FREEDOM RAIN INC ↗
  • Who funds WIMBERLY HOUSE MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds SMILE-A-MILE ↗
  • Who funds IS-ABLE MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds FRESHWATER LAND TRUST ↗

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 Community Foundat…Mike and Gillian Good…Protective Life Found…Dunn-French FoundationHill Crest Foundation…Altecstyslinger Found…Alabama Power Foundat…Susan Mott Webb Chari…Junior League of Birm…Robert R Meyer Founda…Campbell Estelle S Ch…
The Daniel Foundation of AlabamaAL64.4× affinity30 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 Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham · Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation · Protective Life Foundation · Dunn-French Foundation · Hill Crest Foundation Inc · Altecstyslinger Foundation · Alabama Power Foundation Inc · Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust · Junior League of Birmingham Inc · Robert R Meyer Foundation · Campbell Estelle S Char 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 James Milton and Sallie R Johnson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The James Milton and Sallie R Johnson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%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
1get no government money at all
15report 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 James Milton and Sallie R Johnson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The James Milton and Sallie R Johnson 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 85 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 James Milton and Sallie R Johnson’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