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The John J Pohanka Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The John J Pohanka Family Foundation

Its FY2024 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 FY2024still arriving
91
Grants FY2024still arriving
13
States reached
$215k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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$3.6MEducation$2.3MHealth$1.1MCommunity Improvement$496kHuman Services$394kSocial Science$313kYouth Development$299kPublic Benefit$291kOther$0
02FY2024 · 91 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k48 grants · $141k
  • $10k–50k33 grants · $644k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.1M
$6,042
Median grant
13
States reached
$23M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
KENNEDY CENTER$215,000
GETTYSBURG COLLEGE$150,000
MIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL$130,878
UT MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER$125,000
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION$98,456
SAINT JAMES SCHOOL$80,000
CATHOLIC CHARITIES$75,800
THE MIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL$75,000
THE METROPOLITAN OPERA$75,000
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT$57,000
WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA$42,500
CARSON SCHOLARS FUND$40,000
FORESTVILLE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF PRINCE GEORGES$32,200
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON FOUNDATION$30,240
THE HILL SCHOOL$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 (FY17–24, $205k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 54% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%MARY'S SHELTER: $750 → 8%GLEN DOHERTY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $15k → 10%UMFS: $750 → 9%GLEN DOHERTY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $15k → 10%PAWFECTLY DELICIOUS DOG TREATS: $20k → 6%PAWFECTLY DELICIOUS DOG TREATS: $18k → 6%PAWFECTLY DELICIOUS DOG TREATS: $15k → 6%CHINESE-AMERICAN PLANNING COUNCIL: $5k → 17%MIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $25k → 14%MIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $20k → 14%PAWFECTLY DELICIOUS DOG TREATS: $10k → 6%MIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $15k → 14%HOSPICE FOUNDATION OF PALM BEACH COUNTY: $500 → 11%MIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $15k → 14%MIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $15k → 14%MIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $15k → 14%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

IL
MI
NY
MA
NV
IN
PA
NJ
CA
UT
MO
WV
VA
MD
DE
TN
NC
DC
LA
TX
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.1M · 93 repeat orgs$2.2M to everyone else

93 repeat relationships: 37 still active in FY2024, 56 since wound down; 51 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

93
151

Total granted

$8.1M
$1.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
+59%

Still filing today

57%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $361k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHealthHuman ServicesAnimalsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • GC
    GETTYSBURG COLLEGE
    8× · 2017–2024 · $907k · revenue +18%
  • WT
    WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
    6× · 2018–2024 · $558k · revenue +62%
  • WN
    WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA
    8× · 2017–2024 · $483k · revenue ×23 · 25% of their budget

Funded once

  • JH
    JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2017 · $200k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $125k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $125k
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
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
2
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
3
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
4
Maryland Institute

Degree granting college-maryland institute college of art is a private college dedicated to the education of professional artists and the further advancement of art in the community.

Education
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
University of Maryland Physicians Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

—
7
Thomas Jefferson School of Law

The mission of the school is to provide outstanding legal education in a collegial and supportive environment with attention to newly emerging areas of law, particularly those related to technological development, globalization and the…

Education
8
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
9
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
10
University of Maryland Oncology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
11
University of Maryland Otorhino-Laryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
12
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Convoy of Hope; the most unlike its peers is Next Gen Personal Finance. 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

130 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. 130 of the 301 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)
33
Early backer (in before they grew)
123/130
Grantees still filing
93/130
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL: $430,878 · OtherMIAMI MUSIC FESTIVALCOMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: $400,000 · OtherCOMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTEKENNEDY CENTER: $343,000 · OtherKENNEDY CENTERCATHOLIC CHARITIES: $309,633 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIESSTEVEN CALLAN FINE ART: $251,445 · OtherUT MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $250,000 · OtherTHE METROPOLITAN OPERA: $230,500 · OtherJOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $200,000 · OtherMercatus Center Inc: $200,000 · Other+129 more: $2,814,329 · Other+129 moreGETTYSBURG COLLEGE: $907,150 · EducationGETTYSBURG COLLEGELEHIGH UNIVERSITY: $157,500 · EducationLEHIGH UNIVERSITYSAINT JAMES SCHOOL: $155,000 · EducationSAINT JAMES SCHOOLMIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $150,500 · EducationMIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL …THE HILL SCHOOL CORPORATION OF MIDDLEBURG: $127,000 · EducationTHE HILL SCHOOL CORPO…THE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM: $90,000 · Education+13 more: $384,055 · Education+13 moreWOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $558,456 · Arts & CultureWOLF TRAP FOUNDATION…WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $482,500 · Arts & CultureWASHINGTON NATIONAL …JOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $150,000 · Arts & CultureJOHN F KENNEDY CENTE…THE WAGNER SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON DC: $120,100 · Arts & CultureTHE WAGNER SOCIETY O…LEVINE MUSIC INC: $65,000 · Arts & Culture+19 more: $457,000 · Arts & Culture+19 moreTHE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL: $249,000 · HealthRehabilitation Center for Children and Adults Inc: $30,000 · HealthNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $20,030 · HealthBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $16,461 · HealthTIDALHEALTH PENINSULA REGIONAL INC: $12,500 · Health+2 more: $16,650 · HealthMIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $105,000 · Human ServicesPAWFECTLY DELICIOUS DOG TREATS: $63,164 · Human ServicesNEXT GEN PERSONAL FINANCE: $50,000 · Human ServicesGLEN DOHERTY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · Human Services+1 more: $4,500 · Human ServicesTHE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE: $150,000 · Public BenefitCAESAR RODNEY INSTITUTE: $50,000 · Public BenefitStand Together Foundation: $25,000 · Public BenefitJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $125,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $75,000 · InternationalCONVOY OF HOPE: $10,000 · International+1 more: $5,000 · International
Other$5,429,785Education$1,971,205Arts & Culture$1,833,056Health$344,641Human Services$252,664Public Benefit$225,000International$215,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetGETTYSBURG COLLEGE: $907,150 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetWOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $558,456 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetWASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA: $482,500 over 8y, 25% of budgetCOMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: $400,000 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetTHE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL: $249,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMercatus Center Inc: $200,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetLEHIGH UNIVERSITY: $157,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSAINT JAMES SCHOOL: $155,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetMIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $150,500 over 3y, 24% of budgetTHE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE: $150,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetJOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $150,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HILL SCHOOL CORPORATION OF MIDDLEBURG: $127,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER WASHINGTON: $125,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetTHE WAGNER SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON DC: $120,100 over 7y, 21% of budgetMIRIAM'S KITCHEN: $105,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM: $90,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGreater Prince George's Business Roundtable Inc: $70,500 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetLEVINE MUSIC INC: $65,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN TRANSPARENCY: $65,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetPAWFECTLY DELICIOUS DOG TREATS: $63,164 over 4y, 23% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR YOUNG DRAMATIC VOICES INC: $60,000 over 3y, 24% of budgetNorthwood University: $60,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMISSION OF LOVE CHARITIES INC: $54,550 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetNEXT GEN PERSONAL FINANCE: $50,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE MIAMI FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARMY WAR COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCAESAR RODNEY INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetHIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DENYCE GRAVES FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetCARSON SCHOLARS FUND INC: $40,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetMorattico Waterfront Museum: $40,000 over 4y, 25% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $38,640 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJOSHUA M FREEMAN FOUNDATION: $37,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetRAPPAHANNOCK AREA YMCA INC: $37,098 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSEA TURTLE ADVENTURES INC: $35,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetRehabilitation Center for Children and Adults Inc: $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetGLEN DOHERTY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetCOLGATE UNIVERSITY: $30,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SHAKESPEARE THEATRE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetStand Together Foundation: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOCA HELPING HANDS INC: $25,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $20,030 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE FAIRFAX COUNTY PARK FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetTHE ISAMU NOGUCHI FOUNDATION AND GARDEN MUSEUM: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNADA Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetBIG DOG RANCH RESCUE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% 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 GETTYSBURG COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA ↗
  • Who funds COMPETITIVE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds THE JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL ↗
  • Who funds Mercatus Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds LEHIGH UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SAINT JAMES SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds MIAMI MUSIC FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HEARTLAND INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds JOHN F KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ↗
  • Who funds THE HILL SCHOOL CORPORATION OF MIDDLEBURG ↗
  • Who funds JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT OF GREATER WASHINGTON ↗
  • Who funds THE WAGNER SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON DC ↗
  • Who funds MIRIAM'S KITCHEN ↗
  • Who funds THE NATIONAL SPORTING LIBRARY AND MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable Inc ↗
  • Who funds LEVINE MUSIC INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN TRANSPARENCY ↗
  • Who funds PAWFECTLY DELICIOUS DOG TREATS ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR YOUNG DRAMATIC VOICES INC ↗
  • Who funds Northwood University ↗
  • Who funds PALM BEACH OPERA INC ↗

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.

Greater Washington Co…The Morris and Gwendo…Scott a & Phyllis P C…Community Foundation …United Way of the Nat…The Community Foundat…The Carl M Freeman Fo…Dimick Foundation Joh…T Rowe Price Program …Alan and Amy Meltzer …The Dorothy G Bender …Philip L Graham Fund …
Greater Washington Community FoundationDC24.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Washington Community Foundation · The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation · Scott a & Phyllis P Crabtree Family Foundation Inc · Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region Inc · United Way of the National Capital Area · The Community Foundation Inc · The Carl M Freeman Foundation Inc · Dimick Foundation John M Lynham Jr Trustee · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc · Alan and Amy Meltzer Family Foundation Inc · The Dorothy G Bender Foundation Inc · Philip L Graham Fund co Graham Holdings Company

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 J Pohanka Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The John J Pohanka Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 210%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Joshua M Freeman Foundation: 20% of income from government
  • Mission of Love Charities Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Jacobs Ladder Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Tidalhealth Peninsula Regional Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Big Dog Ranch Rescue Inc: 0% of income from government
  • The Palm Beach Symphony Society Inc: 0% of income from government
  • The Johns Hopkins Hospital: 0% of income from government
  • Luminis Health Doctors Community Medical Center Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
21get no government money at all
28report 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 301 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 John J Pohanka 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