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The John and Mary Alford Foundation at a glance

· Public charity

The John and Mary Alford Foundation

To provide support of educational, social, religious and cultural programs to meet the needs of the growing and changing licking county, ohio community.

$466k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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$674kArts & Culture$385kHousing & Shelter$270kHealth$263kCommunity Improvement$255kYouth Development$248kHuman Services$190kRecreation & Sports$132kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $95k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $350k
$25,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LICKING MEMORIAL HEALTH FOUNDATION$100,000
NEWARK CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT FUND$50,000
CITY OF NEWARK$50,000
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF CENTRAL OHIO$50,000
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL HOUSING FACILITY INC$50,000
NEWARK DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS$50,000
LICKING COUNTY FOUNDATION$25,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF NEWARK$20,000
CITY OF HEALTH$20,000
FURNITURE BANK OF CENTRAL OHIO$20,000
LICKING COUNTY MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEERS$10,000
4TH CAMP OHIO$7,000
PATASKALA UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$6,000
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, $272k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 44% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 13%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $50k → 14%IN HIS IMAGE NEW LIFE CHRISTAN STABLES: $17k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $25k → 14%IN HIS IMAGE NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN STABLES: $7k → 10%FURNITURE BANK OF CENTRAL OHIO: $20k → 15%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $14k → 14%LEARNING 4 LIFE FARM: $10k → 10%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 14%LEARNING 4 LIFE FARM: $10k → 10%LOOK UP MINISTRIES: $50k → 10%LICKING COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $25k → 10%LICKING COUNTY FAMILY YMCA: $25k → 10%Saint Vincent Depaul Housing Facility Inc: $10k → 10%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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 100% of The John and Mary Alford Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 90% of the giving stays in OH; by stated purpose, 0%.

The John and Mary Alford Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.2M · 22 repeat orgs$718k to everyone else

22 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
19

Total granted

$2.2M
$455k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
+44%

Still filing today

68%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 43% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $263k 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
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHealthFood & NutritionOther
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

  • NC
    NEWARK CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT FUND
    4× · 2018–2025 · $502k · revenue +23%
  • TW
    THE WORKS - OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART & TECHNOLOGY
    4× · 2017–2022 · $150k · revenue +69%
  • HF
    HABITAT FOR HUMANITY - MIDOHIO
    4× · 2017–2023 · $145k · revenue +93%

Funded once

  • SK
    SIMON KENTON COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICAgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue +67%
  • LC
    LICKING COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETYgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $50k · revenue +77%
  • GC
    GRANVILLE CHRISTIAN ACADEMYgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +80%
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
Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce

Advancing a thriving central ohio commmunity by serving as a catalyst for all businesses to grow and flourish. our mission pillars are connections, government relations, strategic business solutions and talent/workforce.

—
2
Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio Delaware Housing Inc

See schedule oto create a better world by serving people in need by operating food pantries, homeless shelters, a domestic violence shelter, affordable housing communities, senior living, assisted living and skilled care facilities, a home…

—
3
Licking County Coalition for Housing Inc

Through partnership, guiding those in need to sustainable housing.

Housing & Shelter
4
Licking Land Trust

The mission of the licking land trust is the preservation and permanent protection of central ohio green spaces, wetlands, woods, farmlands, riparian corridors, and scenic vistas, and education about the importance of green spaces and…

—
5
Ohio Living Communities

See schedule oohio living communities was founded in 1922 and was incorporated as an ohio non-profit corporation in 1959. the corporation's mission statement is as follows:our mission is to provide older adults with caring and quality…

Human Services
6
United Way of Licking County Inc

Improving people's lives in licking county, ohio by raising, prioritizing, awarding and monitoring funds allocated to programs that demonstrate success in the areas of education, income, health, and basic needs.

Philanthropy
7
Ashland Assisted Living Inc

To create a better world by serving people in need by operating food pantries, homeless shelters, a domestic violence shelter, affordable housing communities, senior living, assisted living and skilled care facilities, a home health care…

Human Services
8
Greater Cleveland Volunteers

Greater cleveland volunteers enriches the community and indivuduals through volunteer service. volunteers age 18 and older are recruited and placed in the agency's programs or referred to local nonprofit or public organizations to help…

Philanthropy
9
Global Cleveland

Global cleveland is dedicated to growing northeast ohio's economy by welcoming and connecting international people to opportunities and fostering a more inviting community for those seeking a place to call home.

Human Services
10
Digitalc

Empower the people of greater cleveland to achieve success through technology, innovation and connected community.

Community Improvement
11
Leadership Columbus

The mission of leadership columbus is to develop, connect and inspire leaders who serve as catalysts in building a strong and vibrant community.

Public Benefit
12
Greater Cleveland Sports Commission

The mission of the greater cleveland sports commission is to measurably improve the economy of greater cleveland and enrich the community by attracting, creating, managing and enhancing significant sporting and competitive events.

Unclassified
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is A Call to College; the most unlike its peers is In His Image New Life Christian Stables. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

33 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. 33 of the 49 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
32/33
Grantees still filing
20/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MIDLAND THEATER: $200,000 · OtherMIDLAND THEATERHABITAT FOR HUMANITY - MIDOHIO: $145,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANITY - MIDOHIOSAINT VINCENT DE PAUL HOUSING FACILITY INC: $115,000 · OtherSAINT VINCENT DE PAUL HOUSING FACILITY INCHOSPICE OF CENTRAL OHIO: $63,000 · OtherLICKING COUNTY FOUNDATION: $60,000 · OtherTHE DAWES ARBORETUM: $55,000 · OtherSIMON KENTON COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $50,000 · OtherLICKING COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $50,000 · OtherCITY OF NEWARK: $50,000 · OtherBUCKEYE FAMILY YMCA: $40,000 · OtherTHE BRYN DU COMMISSION: $50,000 · OtherJunior Achievement of Central Ohio Inc: $50,000 · OtherTOGETHER WE GROW INC: $44,100 · Other+15 more: $227,500 · Other+15 moreNEWARK CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT FUND: $502,000 · EducationNEWARK CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT F…Granville Athletic Boosters: $75,000 · EducationGranville Athletic BoostersOHIO CAMPUS COMPACT: $50,000 · EducationOHIO CAMPUS COMPACTGRANVILLE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: $50,000 · EducationGRANVILLE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY+2 more: $32,000 · EducationAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $98,500 · Human ServicesAmerican N…Licking County Family YMCA: $50,000 · Human ServicesLicking Co…LOOK UP MINISTRIES: $50,000 · Human ServicesLOOK UP MI…In His Image New Life Christian Stables: $23,500 · Human ServicesIn His Ima…LEARNING 4 LIFE FARM: $20,000 · Human ServicesLEARNING 4…FURNITURE BANK OF CENTRAL OHIO: $20,000 · Human ServicesFURNITURE …ST VINCENT DE PAUL HOUSING FACILITIES INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesNEWARK DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS: $255,000 · Community ImprovementNEWARK DEV…THE WORKS - OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART & TECHNOLOGY: $150,000 · Arts & CultureLICKING COUNTY GOVERNMENTAL PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $25,000 · Arts & CultureWEATHERVANE PLAYHOUSE INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NEWARK INC: $120,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIFEWISE INC: $18,000 · Youth DevelopmentLICKING MEMORIAL HEALTH FOUNDATION: $100,000 · HealthOHIO CANCER RESEARCH ASSOCIATES: $25,000 · Health
Other$1,199,600Education$709,000Human Services$272,000Community Improvement$255,000Arts & Culture$185,000Youth Development$138,000Health$125,000

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 budgetNEWARK CAMPUS DEVELOPMENT FUND: $502,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetNEWARK DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS: $255,000 over 5y, 5.9% of budgetTHE WORKS - OHIO CENTER FOR HISTORY ART & TECHNOLOGY: $150,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY - MIDOHIO: $145,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetTHE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NEWARK INC: $120,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $98,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGranville Athletic Boosters: $75,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetHOSPICE OF CENTRAL OHIO: $63,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSIMON KENTON COUNCIL BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLICKING COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $50,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetLicking County Family YMCA: $50,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetOHIO CAMPUS COMPACT: $50,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetTHE BRYN DU COMMISSION: $50,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetGRANVILLE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: $50,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetLOOK UP MINISTRIES: $50,000 over 1y, 9.7% of budgetJunior Achievement of Central Ohio Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTOGETHER WE GROW INC: $44,100 over 4y, 8.1% of budgetMENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF LICKING COUNTY: $30,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetLICKING COUNTY GOVERNMENTAL PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetTHE FOOD PANTRY NETWORK OF LICKING COUNTY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCENTER FOR DISABILITY SERVICES: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetNEWARK ROTARY CLUB FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetOHIO CANCER RESEARCH ASSOCIATES: $25,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetIn His Image New Life Christian Stables: $23,500 over 2y, 68% of budgetA CALL TO COLLEGE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLEARNING 4 LIFE FARM: $20,000 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetLIFEWISE INC: $18,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWEATHERVANE PLAYHOUSE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetST VINCENT DE PAUL HOUSING FACILITIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.0% 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Licking County Founda…First Federal Foundat…Energy Cooperative Ro…Park National Corpora…The Lindorf Family Fo…Columbus FoundationLicking Memorial Heal…Cecil Mauger Charitab…The O'Neill FoundationThe Englefield Founda…The Lefevre FoundationThe Patricia R and He…
Licking County Foundation IncOH59.7× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Licking County Foundation Inc · First Federal Foundation · Energy Cooperative Roundup Foundation Inc · Park National Corporation Foundation · The Lindorf Family Foundation · Columbus Foundation · Licking Memorial Health Foundation · Cecil Mauger Charitable Trust · The O'Neill Foundation · The Englefield Foundation · The Lefevre Foundation · The Patricia R and Herbert J Murphy 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 John and Mary Alford Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The John and Mary Alford 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%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    18report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 John and Mary Alford Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The John and Mary Alford 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 49 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 John and Mary Alford’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