Skip to content
The Kirchner Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Kirchner 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.

$108k
Granted FY2024still arriving
23
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$20k
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 2024.

Public Benefit$224kCrime & Legal$165kHealth$40kCivil Rights$37kHuman Services$26kArts & Culture$24kRecreation & Sports$22kEducation$9kOther$0
02FY2024 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k19 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $62k
$2,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Pacific Legal Foundation$20,000
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation$20,000
The National Right to Work and Lega$11,000
Judicial Watch$11,000
National Legal and Policy Center$6,000
Sportsman Alliance Foundation$5,000
The Heritage Foundation$5,000
American Policy Foundation$5,000
Leadership Institute$4,000
Grid Alternatives$4,000
Citizens Against Govt Waste$3,000
St Jude Children's Research Hospita$2,000
Pro English$2,000
Aim High$1,000
Ashbrook$1,000
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 (FY19–24, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Freedom Center: $7k → 14%Freedom Center: $5k → 14%Freedom Center: $3k → 14%Freedom Center: $3k → 14%Freedom Center: $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.

Which US states its grants reach

MI
NY
IN
OH
CA
VA
TN
DC
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$502k · 26 repeat orgs$47k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against +41% for those funded once.

26 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

26
14

Total granted

$502k
$25k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+41%

Still filing today

77%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $22k 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
Public BenefitCrime & LegalPhilanthropyCivil RightsHuman ServicesArts & CultureOther
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

  • PL
    Pacific Legal Foundation
    8× · 2017–2024 · $155k · revenue +136%
  • HJ
    Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation
    7× · 2018–2024 · $102k · revenue +44%
  • JUDICIAL WATCH INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $39k · revenue +141%

Funded once

  • ST
    State Theater for the Arts
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
  • CP
    CALVARY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
    one grant, 2017 · $4k
  • UE
    US ENGLISH FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $3k · revenue +480%
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
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
2
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
3
Liberty Justice Center

To advance economic and social liberties and a free enterprise society through strategic litigation, training, communication, activism and research. in addition, the center will train law students, lawyers and policy activists in the…

Crime & Legal
4
Aclu Foundation of Arizona

The mission of the aclu foundation of arizona is to defend and preserve, through litigation and public education, individual rights and freedoms guaranteed to all by the constitution and the laws of the united states and arizona.

Civil Rights
5
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.

—
6
National Taxpayers Union Foundation

National taxpayers union foundation (ntuf) provides crucial, impactful research and analysis showing americans how taxes, government spending, and regulations affect them. with our unique combination of policy expertise, outreach know-how,…

—
7
Citizens United Foundation

An educational organization, which conducts research, informs and educates the public on various national and international issues.

Unclassified
8
American Constitution Society for Law & Policy

The american constitution society for law and policy (acs) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others,…

Education
9
The Foundation for the Constitution

The Foundations Mission is to enhance our understanding of the Constitution and our constitutional history.

Social Science
10
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
11
International Republican Institute

Iri advances freedom and democracy worldwide by developing political parties, civic institutions, open elections, democratic governance and the rule of law.

Education
12
American Law Institute

The institute's mission, as set out in its certificate of incorporation, is to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to…

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Red Bluff Round Up Rodeo Museum & Hs. 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

34 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. 34 of the 46 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/34
Grantees still filing
25/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation: $102,000 · Public BenefitHoward Jarvis Taxpayers FoundationJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $39,200 · Public BenefitJUDICIAL WATCH INCTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $39,000 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATIONLeadership Institute: $16,000 · Public BenefitLeadership Institute+1 more: $6,000 · Public BenefitPacific Legal Foundation: $155,000 · Crime & LegalPacific Legal FoundationNATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY CENTER: $7,000 · Crime & Legal+1 more: $1,000 · Crime & LegalNational Right to Work: $20,000 · OtherNational Right to WorkSportsman Alliance Foundation: $16,000 · OtherSportsman Alliance Founda…Red Bluff State Theatre: $11,000 · OtherRed Bluff State TheatreThe National Right to Work and Lega: $11,000 · OtherThe National Right to Wor…Citizens Against Govt Waste: $7,000 · OtherCitizens Against Govt Was…Citizens United: $6,100 · OtherState Theater for the Arts: $5,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $5,750 · Other+19 more: $42,900 · Other+19 moreTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $31,000 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $5,000 · HealthFREEDOM CENTER INC: $18,500 · Human ServicesAIM HIGH: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $500 · Human ServicesRed Bluff Round Up Rodeo Museum & HS: $6,500 · Arts & CultureAmerican Battlefield Trust: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $100 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN POLICY FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS UNION: $1,500 · Civil RightsINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $1,000 · Civil Rights
Public Benefit$202,200Crime & Legal$163,000Other$124,750Health$36,000Human Services$24,000Arts & Culture$7,600Civil Rights$7,500

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 budgetPacific Legal Foundation: $155,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetHoward Jarvis Taxpayers Foundation: $102,000 over 7y, 3.7% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $39,200 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $39,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SHRINERS' HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN: $31,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Institute: $16,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL LEGAL AND POLICY CENTER: $7,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetRed Bluff Round Up Rodeo Museum & HS: $6,500 over 2y, 15% of budgetCitizens United: $6,100 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL: $5,750 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAIM HIGH: $5,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSENECA HOSPITAL AUXILIARY: $4,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetPRO ENGLISH: $4,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCO2 COALITION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUS ENGLISH FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetKIDS OUTDOOR SPORTS CAMP: $3,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetOLYMPIC CLUB FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $1,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MARIO ST GEORGE BOIARDI FOUNDA: $1,500 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetAMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS UNION: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMERCY FOUNDATION NORTH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Battlefield Trust: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPacific Research Institute For Public Policy: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNRA FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAKE ALMANOR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHOMAS MORE LAW CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION: $100 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.

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.

Donors Trust IncIrving Rothlein Found…Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Donors Trust IncVA15× affinity5 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donors Trust Inc · Irving Rothlein Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · 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 Kirchner Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Kirchner Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Shriners' Hospital for Children: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
1report 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 Kirchner Family Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Kirchner Family 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 46 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 Kirchner 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