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The Joy Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Joy Fund

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.

$140k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$23k
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, FY2021 to 2025.

Philanthropy$113kEnvironment$108kPublic Benefit$76kHuman Services$70kFood & Nutrition$48kScience & Tech$25kInternational$18kCrime & Legal$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $33k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $108k
$12,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION$23,000
BOULDER FOOD RESCUE$20,000
PROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT$20,000
PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS$20,000
OURAY FOOD PANTRY$12,500
MAINE NEEDS$12,000
CAMFED USA FOUNDATION$7,500
GIVE DIRECTLY INC$7,500
SISTER CARMEN COMMUNITY CENTER INC$5,000
COMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR THE CIVICS CENTER$5,000
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION$5,000
THE TRUST FOR LAND RESTORATION INC$2,500
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 (FY24–25, $55k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 78% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GIVE DIRECTLY INC: $8k → 17%FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: $5k → 20%PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIVE AMERICANS: $20k → 14%SISTER CARMEN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $5k → 12%MAINE NEEDS: $12k → 7%GIVE DIRECTLY: $5k → 17%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

ME
WA
NY
MA
SD
CA
UT
CO
KS
DC
TX
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 38% of The Joy Fund’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

The Joy Fundlessmore 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.

42%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$140k · 8 repeat orgs$192k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
14

Total granted

$140k
$85k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-24%
0%

Still filing today

63%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 23% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $108k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentHuman ServicesCivil RightsInternationalHealthYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • CI
    CERES INC
    3× · 2021–2023 · $30k · revenue -24%
  • EF
    ECDYSIS FOUNDATION
    2× · 2022–2024 · $25k · revenue -25%
  • TF
    TIDES FOUNDATIONMOVEMENT VOTER PROJECT
    2× · 2021–2023 · $20k

Funded once

  • DU
    DENVER URBAN GARDENS
    one grant, 2024 · $10k · revenue 0%
  • DA
    DRYLANDS AGROECOLOGY RESEARCH
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • CA
    CLEAN AND PROSPEROUS AMERICA FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $8k
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
Eden Peopleplanet

To offer the dignity of fair employment to people living in impoverished communities, who become transformational agents of global forest restoration.

International
2
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
3
Development in Gardening

Development in Gardening is improving the nutrition and livelihoods of some of the world's most uniquely marginalized people by teaching them to plant regenerative gardens that grow health, wealth, and a sense of belonging.

Community Improvement
4
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
5
Environment Next Inc

Environment next supports individuals, nonprofits and businesses around the world on solutions to complex climate issues. we provide leadership, outreach and communication support, grants, and investments to empower leaders and their ideas…

Environment
6
Boulder Watershed Collective

The Boulder Watershed Collective is a 501c3 non-profit stakeholder-driven organization established to address forested watershed health,resiliency and stewardship. We have three program areas: ClimateAdaptation and Resilience Watershed…

Environment
7
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
8
Climate Foundation

To research and develop healthy climate solutions comprising global food security, ecosystem regeneration and carbon balance in seas and soils.

Science & Tech
9
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
10
The Commons Inc

To partner with individuals and organizations to access, organize, and share data that inspires action that restores our environment.

—
11
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research

Foundation for food and agriculture research connects funders, researchers and farmers through public-private partnerships to support audacious research addressing the biggest food and agriculture challenges.

Food & Nutrition
12
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is As You Sow; the most unlike its peers is Moab Valley Multicultural Center. 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

23 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. 23 of the 32 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
8/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $113,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULD…TIDES FOUNDATIONMOVEMENT VOTER PROJECT: $20,000 · OtherTIDES FOUNDATIONMOVEMENT VOTER PRO…OURAY FOOD PANTRY: $17,500 · OtherOURAY FOOD PANTRYCOMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR THE CIVICS CENTER: $12,500 · OtherCOMMUNITY PARTNERS FOR THE CIVICS …DRYLANDS AGROECOLOGY RESEARCH: $10,000 · OtherDRYLANDS AGROECOLOGY RESEARCHCLEAN AND PROSPEROUS AMERICA FUND: $7,500 · OtherThe Land Institute: $7,500 · OtherTIDES FOUNDATIONTRANS JUSTICE FUNDING PROJECT: $7,000 · OtherCOLORADO AGRIVOLTAIC LEARNING CENTER: $5,000 · OtherSEEKHAVEN FAMILY CRISIS & RESOURCE CENTER: $5,000 · OtherKZMU: $5,000 · OtherBOULDER FOOD RESCUE: $20,000 · OtherBOULDER FOOD RESCUECAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $12,500 · OtherCAMFED USA FOUNDATIONTHE FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE: $5,000 · OtherSlow Money Institute Inc: $5,000 · Other+2 more: $5,000 · OtherGLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND: $30,000 · EnvironmentGLOBAL GREENGRANTS F…CERES INC: $30,000 · EnvironmentCERES INCDENVER URBAN GARDENS: $10,000 · EnvironmentDENVER URBAN GARDENSSAVORY INSTITUTEORG INC: $7,500 · EnvironmentSAVORY INSTITUTEORG …CONSERVATION COLORADO EDUCATION FUND: $5,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION COLORAD…+1 more: $2,500 · EnvironmentPartnership With Native Americans: $20,000 · Human ServicesPartnership W…GIVEDIRECTLY INC: $12,500 · Human ServicesGIVEDIRECTLY …Maine Needs Inc: $12,000 · Human ServicesMaine Needs I…FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesFREEDOM OF TH…SISTER CARMEN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesSISTER CARMEN…PROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $20,000 · Civil RightsMOAB VALLEY MULTICULTURAL CENTER: $10,000 · Civil RightsECDYSIS FOUNDATION: $25,000 · HealthDEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION: $23,000 · Crime & Legal
Philanthropy$113,000Other$144,500Environment$85,000Human Services$54,500Civil Rights$30,000Health$25,000Crime & Legal$23,000

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 budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $113,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetGLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCERES INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetECDYSIS FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetDEMOCRACY FORWARD FOUNDATION: $23,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPartnership With Native Americans: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCAMFED USA FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $12,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER URBAN GARDENS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMOAB VALLEY MULTICULTURAL CENTER: $10,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetThe Land Institute: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSAVORY INSTITUTEORG INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSlow Money Institute Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetTHE FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCONSERVATION COLORADO EDUCATION FUND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSISTER CARMEN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE VENTURE OUT PROJECT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAS YOU SOW: $2,500 over 1y, 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.

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.

Community Foundation …PatagoniaorgThe Denver FoundationColorado Gives Founda…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…The Pfizer Foundation…Network for GoodVanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …
Community Foundation Boulder CountyCO17.6× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation Boulder County · Patagoniaorg · The Denver Foundation · Colorado Gives Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Network for Good · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 Joy Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Joy Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 32 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 Joy’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