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The M K Owens Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The M K Owens Foundation

Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$55k
Granted FY2023
13
Grants FY2023
2
States reached
$9k
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 2023.

Philanthropy$47kRecreation & Sports$43kAnimals$22kHealth$9kArts & Culture$7kHuman Services$1kInternational$887Food & Nutrition$500Other$0
02FY2023 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$4,180
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$8,624
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$7,025
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$6,349
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$5,460
SANTA FE LACROSSE$5,250
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$4,978
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$4,180
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$4,080
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$3,992
DESERT LABRADOR RETREIVER RESCUE$2,500
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$2,023
THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST$481
Individual grant recipient$200
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 (FY17–23) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 55% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HOUSE OF BROADCASTING: $3k → 11%ANIMAL SHELTER - WOOD RIVER VALLEY: $12k → 7%MARE RIDING CENTER: $250 → 18%BROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $2k → 17%SANTA FE LACROSSE: $5k → 12%HOUSE OF BROADCASTING: $1k → 11%MOUNTAIN HUMANE: $6k → 7%BROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $2k → 17%HOUSE OF BROADCASTING: $1k → 11%ANIMAL SHELTER - WOOD RIVER VALLEY: $2k → 7%BROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1k → 17%HOUSE OF BROADCASTING: $1k → 11%BLAINE COUNTY RECREATION DISTRICT: $100 → 7%BROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1k → 17%FEED OUR NATIONS: $1k → 11%BLAINE COUNTY RECREATION DISTRICT: $100 → 7%BROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1k → 17%FEED OUR NATIONS: $200 → 11%Wood River Community YMCA: $29k → 7%BROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $1k → 17%FEED OUR NATIONS: $200 → 11%Wood River Community YMCA: $6k → 7%AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: $500 → 11%Wood River Community YMCA: $3k → 7%HOPE 4 KIDS INTERNATIONAL: $372 → 11%HIGHER GROUND SUN VALLEY: $345 → 7%ARIZONA BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION: $1k → 11%THE HUNGER COALITION: $500 → 7%ARIZONA BROADCASTERS ASSOCIATION: $770 → 11%ARIZONA CANCER FOUNDATION FOR CHILD: $500 → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $9k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $7k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $6k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $5k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $5k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $4k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $4k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $4k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $2k → 11%THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $481 → 11%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.

51%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$67k · 7 repeat orgs$64k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +795% since the first grant, against +73% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2023, 6 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
8

Total granted

$67k
$9k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+795%
+73%

Still filing today

29%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
AnimalsPublic BenefitRecreation & SportsInternationalFood & 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

  • WR
    Wood River Community YMCA
    3× · 2017–2019 · $37k
  • AS
    ANIMAL SHELTER - WOOD RIVER VALLEY
    2× · 2017–2018 · $14k
  • BF
    BROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA
    6× · 2017–2022 · $8k · revenue +22%

Funded once

  • AS
    ANIMAL SHELTER OF WOOD RIVER VALLEY DBA MOUNTAIN HUMANEgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $6k · revenue +44%
  • HI
    He Intends Victory
    one grant, 2022 · $515 · revenue +2%
  • BC
    BLAINE COUNTY HUNGER COALITION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $500 · revenue +217%
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
Idaho Animal Rescue Network

Idaho Animal Rescue Network is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Idaho that works in Idaho and Eastern Washington to educate, advocate, and network with other rescues and law enforcement in Idaho regarding animal cruelty and neglect. We are…

Animals
2
Hope Ranch Animal Sanctuary

Animal rescue

Animals
3
Humane Society of Southern Arizona

To compassionately serve pets and the people who love them.

Animals
4
The Animal Retreat Inc formerly Meridian Canine Rescue Inc

Meridian Canine Rescue's mission is to save animals' lives through storytelling and education. We focus primarily on individual dogs and their unique behaviors as we provide resources to the public, facilitate adoptions, and train…

Animals
5
Valley Humane SocietyInc

Valley Humane Society (VHS) creates a brighter future for cats and dogs by encouraging and strengthening the bond between people and pets. VHS rescues and rehabilitates companion animals, champions responsible caretaking, shares pets'…

Animals
6
Believe Ranch and Rescue
Animals
7
Border Animal Rescue Inc

The mission of Border Animal Rescue, Inc (BAR) is the reduction of animal overpopulation through spay and neuter programs and to promote the adoption of unwanted, homeless pets by caring for them in foster homes, providing medical care,…

Animals
8
Arizona Small Dog Rescue

To rescue and save homeless, unwanted, abandoned, neglected, and abused dogs

Animals
9
Animal Rescue of the Rockies

Animal Care and Adoption - ARR's mission is to save the lives of homeless and abandoned dogs and cats. Our goal is reaching a no-kill society in the United States.

Animals
10
Ranch Hands Rescue

To provide a sanctuary for people and animals, founded on hope and healing for the long-term recovery of trauma victims, special needs animals, and male survivors of sex trafficking.

Animals
11
Alliance for Arizona Animal Protection

Prevention of animal cruelty and intervention on behalf of animals being abused.

Animals
12
Volunteers of the Burbank Animal Shelter

Providing a helping hand to homeless pets in our community. As an all-volunteer, 501c3 organization, we rely on donations from foundations, local businesses, and individuals like you. Join us and support our life saving programs today.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Broadcasters Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is Arizona Media Association. 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 18 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
9/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUST: $47,192 · OtherTHE OWENS FAMILY CHARITABLE TRUSTWood River Community YMCA: $36,500 · OtherWood River Community YMCAANIMAL SHELTER - WOOD RIVER VALLEY: $13,910 · OtherANIMAL SHELTER - WOOD RIVER VALLEYBROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $8,000 · OtherBROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICAHOUSE OF BROADCASTING INC: $5,687 · OtherSANTA FE LACROSSE: $5,250 · Other+6 more: $4,635 · OtherANIMAL SHELTER OF WOOD RIVER VALLEY DBA MOUNTAIN HUMANE: $5,700 · AnimalsDESERT LABRADOR RETRIEVER RESCUE INC: $2,500 · AnimalsBLAINE COUNTY HUNGER COALITION INC: $500 · Food & NutritionArizona Cancer Foundation for Children Inc: $500 · Public BenefitHOPE 4 KIDS INTERNATIONAL: $372 · InternationalHIGHER GROUND USA INC: $345 · Recreation & Sports
Other$121,174Animals$8,200Food & Nutrition$500Public Benefit$500International$372Recreation & Sports$345

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBROADCASTERS FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $8,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetANIMAL SHELTER OF WOOD RIVER VALLEY DBA MOUNTAIN HUMANE: $5,700 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDESERT LABRADOR RETRIEVER RESCUE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetArizona Media Association: $1,770 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHe Intends Victory: $515 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLAINE COUNTY HUNGER COALITION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetArizona Cancer Foundation for Children Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOPE 4 KIDS INTERNATIONAL: $372 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHIGHER GROUND USA INC: $345 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARE Riding Center: $250 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.

American Endowment Fo…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
American Endowment FoundationOH8.9× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Endowment Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 M K Owens Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The M K Owens Foundation. 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s 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 · 0–20%
    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 M K Owens Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The M K Owens 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 18 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on M K Owens’ 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