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The Jefferson Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Jefferson Foundation

Jeffco schools foundation vision is "every jeffco student thrives- and mission is "secure resources and engage in partnerships to ensure jeffo students thrive through equitable, excellent, and engaging educational experiences."

$403k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$242k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$4.6MCommunity Improvement$250kHuman Services$65kEmployment$55kPhilanthropy$8k
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 7 grants below total $299,683, the rows itemized in this filing. The $402,898 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $103,215 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $27k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $242k
$8,205
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
JEFFERSON PUBLIC SCHOOLS$242,233
ARVADA HIGH SCHOOL$16,450
POMONA JRSR HIGH SCHOOL$14,000
COLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION$8,205
ALAMEDA INTERNATIONAL JRSR HIGH$7,880
DEANE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL$5,600
SLATER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL$5,315
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 (FY22–22, $18k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION: $18k → 12%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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 4 repeat orgs$275k to everyone else

4 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
5

Total granted

$4.7M
$226k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+28%

Still filing today

50%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 83% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $49k 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
EducationHuman 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

  • JP
    JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $4.0M
  • RO
    REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
    2× · 2021–2022 · $368k
  • AC
    ARVADA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
    3× · 2022–2024 · $305k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • TJ
    TeamUp JeffCo
    one grant, 2021 · $117k · 37% of their budget
  • FR
    FRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +10%
  • MS
    METROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $30k · revenue +28%
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
Colorado Chamber of Commerce Fka Co Assn of Commerce & Industry

The colorado chamber of commerce mission is to enhance the business climate of the state of colorado by promoting a positive legislative and regulatory environment and providing programs and services for its members, economic education,…

—
2
Colorado Jazz Ambassadors
Arts & Culture
3
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

—
4
Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce

The denver metro chamber of commerce is the architect of tomorrow, igniting change and driving progress to build dynamic economies and communities. we champion innovation, forge powerful partnerships, and relentlessly advocate for our…

—
5
The Jefferson Foundation

Jeffco schools foundation vision is "every jeffco student thrives- and mission is "secure resources and engage in partnerships to ensure jeffo students thrive through equitable, excellent, and engaging educational experiences."

Education
6
Energize Colorado Inc

We foster resiliency in underinvested business communities across colorado by innovatively addressing capital gaps. at energize colorado, we envision a future where we are the go-to destination for business owners seeking comprehensive…

Community Improvement
7
South Metro Denver Chamber

We are committed to improving the strength and stability of our business community. We help our members maximize the value of their membership to increase success.

—
8
Stronger Faster Boulder Co
Recreation & Sports
9
Elevations Credit Union

Together we create solutions for a better life.

—
10
Core Electric Cooperative

The following mission statement guides the cooperative in fulfilling its tax exempt purpose of providing quality and reliable electric service to our member-consumers: improving lives and communities through choice and innovation.

—
11
Colorado Thrives

Colorado Thrives exists to support Coloradans to achieve economic mobility through access to good jobs.

Community Improvement
12
Pta Colorado Congress
Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Colorado Gives Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Golden High School Performing Arts Booster Club. 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

8 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. 8 of the 15 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
7/8
Grantees still filing
7/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $3,971,236 · OtherJEFFCO PUBLIC SCHOOLSREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $368,432 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOARVADA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $305,000 · OtherARVADA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE+6 more: $114,245 · OtherTeamUp JeffCo: $117,133 · EducationFRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 · EducationMETROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER FOUNDATION INC: $30,494 · EducationGOLDEN HIGH SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS BOOSTER CLUB: $10,000 · EducationRemerg: $18,000 · Human ServicesCOLORADO GIVES FOUNDATION: $8,205 · Philanthropy
Other$4,758,913Education$207,627Human Services$18,000Philanthropy$8,205

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetARVADA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $305,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetTeamUp JeffCo: $117,133 over 1y, 37% of budgetJEFFCO ACTION CENTER INC THE ACTION CENTER: $65,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFRONT RANGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetMETROPOLITAN STATE UNIVERSITY OF DENVER FOUNDATION INC: $30,494 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRemerg: $18,000 over 1y, 10.0% 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.

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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Colorado Gives Founda…
Colorado Gives FoundationCO13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives 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 Jefferson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Jefferson 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%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 15 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 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 Jefferson’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