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The John Zellars Jr Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The John Zellars Jr Foundation Inc

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.

$123k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$88k
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$486kHealth$53kArts & Culture$49kRecreation & Sports$8kAnimals$7kReligion$2kPhilanthropy$1k
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k8 grants · $5k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $88k
$250
Median grant
3
States reached
$369k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Berry College$87,500
Berry College$20,100
Skyland Trail George West Foundtn$10,000
Fernbank Museum of Natural History$2,500
Georgia Public Broadcasting$1,500
Martin-Lipscomb Performing Arts$250
Flagler County Humance Society$250
Cashiers-Highland Humane Society$250
DeKalb Humane Society$250
Oglethorpe University$250
Mountain Theatre Company$150
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Highlands Playhouse: $3k → 12%Georgia Public Broadcasting: $2k → 13%Berry College: $160k → 15%Highlands Playhouse: $3k → 12%Georgia Public Broadcasting: $2k → 13%Berry College: $100k → 15%Mountain Theatre Company: $1k → 12%Georgia Public Broadcasting: $2k → 13%Berry College: $88k → 15%Highland Playhouse: $1k → 12%Georgia Public Broadcasting: $2k → 13%Berry College: $27k → 15%Highlands Playhouse: $1k → 12%GEOGIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $2k → 13%Berry College: $25k → 15%Martin-Lipscomb Performing Arts Ctr: $1k → 12%Georgia Public Broadcasting: $2k → 13%Berry College: $22k → 15%Highlands -Cashiers Hospital Founda: $1k → 12%GEOGIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING: $2k → 13%Berry College: $20k → 15%Georgia Public Broadcasting: $2k → 13%Berry College: $16k → 15%Berry College: $9k → 15%Geaorge West Foundation: $11k → 14%Berry College: $6k → 15%SKY TRAIL GEORGE WEST FOUNDTAION: $10k → 14%Berry College: $5k → 15%Skyland Trail George West Foundtn: $10k → 14%Berry College: $5k → 15%Skyland Trail George West Foundtn: $10k → 14%Berry College: $1k → 15%SKY TRAIL GEORGE WEST FOUNDTAION: $6k → 14%Delta Flight Museum: $1k → 13%Skyland Trail George West Fndtn: $5k → 14%Delta Flight Museum: $1k → 13%Skyland Trail: $5k → 14%Skyland Trail - George West Found: $3k → 14%Fernbamk Museum: $3k → 14%Fernbank Museum: $3k → 14%Fernbank Museum: $3k → 14%FERNBANK MUSEUM OF NATUAL HISTORY: $3k → 14%Fernbank: $3k → 14%Fernbank Museum of Natural History: $3k → 14%FERNBANK MUSEUM OF NATUAL HISTORY: $3k → 14%Fernbank Museum of Natural History: $3k → 14%Fernbank Museum of Natural History: $3k → 14%Fernbank Museum of Natural History: $1k → 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.
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.
$575k · 17 repeat orgs$32k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against -38% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
20

Total granted

$575k
$32k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
-38%

Still filing today

41%
15%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
HealthEducationArts & CultureAnimalsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BC
    BERRY COLLEGE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $484k · revenue +36%
  • FI
    Fernbank Inc
    6× · 2017–2025 · $16k · revenue +85%
  • CH
    CASHIERS HIGHLANDS HUMANE SOCIETY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $3k · revenue +32%

Funded once

  • GW
    Geaorge West Foundation
    one grant, 2021 · $11k
  • ST
    Skyland Trail George West Fndtn
    one grant, 2020 · $5k
  • GW
    GEORGE WEST MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +51%
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
Conway Hospital Community Services

Conway hospital community services provides outpatient health care services to horry county and the surrounding community in conjunction with conway hospital, inc., a non-profit acute care hospital system.

Health
2
Union Health System

To serve our communities by provding innovative and compassionate healthcare.

Health
3
Unc Health Foundation Inc

At unc health foundation, we inspire philanthropic support for unc health and unc school of medicine that transforms healthcare and provides hope to the people of north carolina and communities around the world.

Education
4
Carolina Family Health Centers Inc

Carolina Family Health Centers, Inc. provides accessible and affordable health care with excellence...where patients come FIRST

—
5
Georgia Highlands Medical Services Inc

To develop and administer a comprehensive primary health care system for the citizens of Forsyth County, Gwinnett County, Bartow County, Dawson County, and Cherokee County, Georgia, their surrounding communities and their citizens,…

Health
6
University Hospital & Clinics Inc

The organization provides medical care to improve, maintain, and restore the health of the people in the communities we serve.

Health
7
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
8
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
9
Arh Tug Valley Health Services Inc

To improve health and promote well-being of all people in central appalachia in partnership with our communities.

Health
10
Medical Center of Central Georgia Inc

To enhance the health status of those we serve in partnership with medical staff and other community organizations by providing wellness services, health education, training, and access to safe high quality health care services.

Health
11
Humane Society of Charlotte Inc

Humane Society of Charlotte mission is to champion the wellbeing of companion animals and strengthen their bond with the people who know, love, and need them.

Animals
12
Ashland University

Ashland university, guided by our christian heritage, is a comprehensive, private university that provides a transformative learning experience, shaping graduates who work, serve and lead with integrity in their local, national, and global…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Cashiers Highlands Humane Society; the most unlike its peers is George West Mental Health Foundation 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

10 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. 10 of the 37 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
6/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BERRY COLLEGE INC: $483,600 · EducationBERRY COLLEGE INC+1 more: $2,400 · EducationSkyland Trail George West Foundtn: $20,000 · OtherSkyland Trail Geo…SKY TRAIL GEORGE WEST FOUNDTAION: $16,000 · OtherSKY TRAIL GEORGE …Geaorge West Foundation: $10,500 · OtherGeaorge West Foun…Georgia Public Broadcasting: $9,200 · OtherGeorgia Public Br…Highlands Playhouse: $6,000 · OtherHighlands Playhou…Skyland Trail George West Fndtn: $5,100 · OtherSkyland Trail Geo…FERNBANK MUSEUM OF NATUAL HISTORY: $5,000 · OtherFERNBANK MUSEUM O…+20 more: $19,500 · Other+20 moreFernbank Inc: $16,000 · Arts & CultureHIGHLANDS COMMUNITY THEATRE INC: $1,650 · Arts & CultureGEORGE WEST MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 · HealthHighlands Cashiers Health Foundation Inc: $1,000 · Health+1 more: $150 · HealthCASHIERS HIGHLANDS HUMANE SOCIETY: $3,050 · AnimalsFLAGLER HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $1,300 · AnimalsUNITED WAY OF GREATER ATLANTA INC: $1,200 · Philanthropy
Education$486,000Other$91,300Arts & Culture$17,650Health$5,650Animals$4,350Philanthropy$1,200

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBERRY COLLEGE INC: $483,600 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetFernbank Inc: $16,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGE WEST MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCASHIERS HIGHLANDS HUMANE SOCIETY: $3,050 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetOGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY INC: $2,400 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetHIGHLANDS COMMUNITY THEATRE INC: $1,650 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFLAGLER HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $1,300 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER ATLANTA INC: $1,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHighlands Cashiers Health Foundation Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $150 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 BERRY COLLEGE INC ↗
  • Who funds Fernbank Inc ↗
  • Who funds GEORGE WEST MENTAL HEALTH FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CASHIERS HIGHLANDS HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds FLAGLER HUMANE SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GREATER ATLANTA INC ↗
  • Who funds Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY 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.

Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Natl Christian Charitable Fdn IncGA9.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Zellars Jr Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The John Zellars Jr Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Flagler Humane Society Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
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.

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 37 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

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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