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The MakeSense Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The MakeSense Foundation

Its FY2022 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$124k
Granted FY2022
24
Grants FY2022
15
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Human Services$687kHealth$403kReligion$317kEducation$277kPhilanthropy$188kEmployment$86kYouth Development$84kHousing & Shelter$70kOther$0
02FY2022 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • Under $10k20 grants · $79k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $45k
$5,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$5.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Child Protection Center$15,000
Breast Cancer Coalition$10,000
RMHC Central Ohio$10,000
Individual grant recipient$10,000
Individual grant recipient$7,500
Doorways for Women Familes$5,000
Arkansas Crisis Center$5,000
Marlon Marcs Foundation$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Blackburn Center$5,000
Embrace Grace$5,000
Girls Inc of Orange County$5,000
The Women's Center$5,000
Weld Women2Women$5,000
Meadow Rose Society$4,500
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 (FY17–22, $293k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 92% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE DWELLING PLACE: $3k → 7%WOMEN'S SHELTER INC: $23k → 9%Blackburn Center: $5k → 10%NEXT DOOR SOLUTIONS TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $3k → 8%HOPE'S DOOR NEW BEGINNING CENTER: $3k → 5%AMARILLO CHILDREN'S HOME: $25k → 17%FAMILY CRISIS CENTER: $385 → 14%DRESS FOR SUCCESS: $25k → 16%RISE: $20k → 19%BLAZE OF HOPE: $3k → 9%ALPHA HOUSE OF PINELLA'S COUNTY: $3k → 12%SAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER INC: $20k → 18%COYOTE HILL: $225 → 11%FAYETTE COUNTY COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $3k → 6%WOODLANDS SERVING CENTRAL OHIO: $3k → 10%FREE2LUV: $10k → 9%THE CARING PLACE: $3k → 15%BLACKBURN CENTER: $3k → 10%WOMEN'S CENTER & SHELTER OF GREATER PITTSBURGH: $3k → 11%RESCUE MISSION ALLIANCE: $3k → 10%MARJAREE MASON CENTER: $3k → 19%BAY AREA TURNING POINT: $3k → 16%WOMENS RESOURCE CENTER: $450 → 13%DRESS FOR SUCCESS: $20k → 16%SAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER INC: $9k → 18%ABUSED WOMEN'S AID IN CRISIS: $225 → 10%FAYETTE COUNTY COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: $5k → 15%DRESS FOR SUCCESS: $10k → 16%LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA: $20k → 13%SAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER INC: $5k → 18%Embrace Grace: $5k → 11%LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA: $8k → 13%SAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER INC: $3k → 18%ONE STEP MINISTRY: $5k → 10%CITY LIGHTS FOUNDATION: $2k → 15%The Spring Shelter: $3k → 15%DRESS FOR SUCCESS OKLAHOMA CITY: $225 → 16%WISEPLACE: $10k → 10%WISEPLACE: $149 → 10%LAURA'S HOUSE: $10k → 10%LAURA'S HOUSE: $5k → 10%LAURAS HOUSE: $450 → 10%LAURA'S HOUSE: $113 → 10%DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTERVENTION SERVICES: $6k → 15%STL234 Outreach: $4k → 15%DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTERVENTION SERVICES: $3k → 15%ELI HOME: $338 → 10%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

AK
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
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.

31%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$774k · 27 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

27 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2022, 25 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
283

Total granted

$774k
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+44%

Still filing today

67%
32%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 8% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $114k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22
Human ServicesHealthHousing & ShelterCrime & LegalInternationalYouth 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

  • CC
    CARING COMMUNITY FRIENDS INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $60k · revenue +20%
  • DF
    Dress for Success Oklahoma City Inc
    3× · 2017–2020 · $55k · revenue +193%
  • SC
    SAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $37k · revenue +50%

Funded once

  • RM
    Ronald McDonald House Charities of Tulsa
    one grant, 2019 · $100k · revenue +15%
  • MD
    MSF DONATIONS VARIOUS LOCATIONS
    one grant, 2021 · $40k
  • CT
    CHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $32k · revenue +73%
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
A Safe Place

Emergency shelter for victims of domestic violence.

—
2
Chances & Changes Inc

To operate residential and non-residential programs for victims of domestic violence.

—
3
The Center for Women and Children in Crisis

Provide a caring, advocating, safe, and educationally based environment for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Health
4
Russell House Response to Domestic

Provide compassionate services to empower survivors of domestic and sexual violence. we provide emergency shelter, advocacy, counseling, support groups, transporation and a 24/7 crisis line.

Human Services
5
Women's and Children's Crisis Shelter

Women's and children's crisis shelter is committed to providing safety, shelter and hope to victims of domestic violence.

Human Services
6
Life Crisis Center Inc

To improve the quality of life in our community through crisis intervention and violence prevention.

Human Services
7
Crisis Care Line

Domestic violence victim services

—
8
Domestic Violence Project

The mission of SafeHouse Center is to empower survivors of both sexual and intimate partner violence by providing advocacy, support, and promoting social change within our community.

Human Services
9
Hope Crisis Center

Hope crisis center provides crisis line services and shelter to domestic violence and sexual assault victims

Health
10
My Sisters House Inc

Services for abused women & their children

—
11
Womanhaven a Center for Family Solutions

Our mission is to promote and provide a comprehensive response to domestic violence,stalking_and human trafficing through community outreach & education, prevention,intervention, client support services and safety and shelter services

Human Services
12
Womens Aid in Crisis Inc

Domestic violence shelter provides 24 hour a day crisis intervention and advocacy along with emergency food, clothing, and shelter to those in situations related to domestic violence and sexual assault.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Liberty House of Albany Inc; the most unlike its peers is Open Gate International. 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

121 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. 121 of the 333 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)
37
Early backer (in before they grew)
118/121
Grantees still filing
94/121
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NAEIR: $289,881 · OtherNAEIRRonald McDonald House Charities of Tulsa: $100,000 · OtherRonald McDonald House Charities of TulsaCARING COMMUNITY FRIENDS INC: $60,160 · Other+135 more: $1,292,321 · Other+135 moreDress for Success Oklahoma City Inc: $55,225 · Human ServicesDress for Succe…SAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER INC: $36,500 · Human ServicesSAFEHOUSE CRISI…LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $28,285 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE CENT…PRESBYTERIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN: $25,000 · Human ServicesPRESBYTERIAN HO…Blackfem Inc: $25,000 · Human ServicesBlackfem IncWOMEN'S SHELTER INC: $22,862 · Human ServicesWOMEN'S SHELTER…Casa de la Bondad Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesCasa de la Bond…RISE CORP: $20,000 · Human ServicesRISE CORPLAURA'S HOUSE: $15,563 · Human Services+22 more: $91,849 · Human Services+22 moreSammys Superheroes Foundation: $37,000 · HealthSammys Su…CHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATION: $32,000 · HealthCHILDREN'…THE GOOD SAMARITAN HEALTH CENTER INC: $20,000 · HealthTHE GOOD …American Heart Association Inc: $16,000 · HealthAmerican …LIVING BEYOND BREAST CANCER: $15,000 · HealthLIVING BE…NEW DIRECTIONS FOR WOMEN INC: $11,000 · HealthTHE ANDREW MCDONOUGH B FOUNDATION: $10,000 · HealthMARCH OF DIMES INC: $10,000 · HealthOKLAHOMA PROJECT WOMAN INC: $10,000 · HealthTEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN: $10,000 · Health+9 more: $35,510 · Health+9 moreREMERGE INC: $31,000 · Crime & LegalYOUTH SERVICES OF CREEK COUNTY INC: $25,000 · Crime & LegalCHILD PROTECTION CENTER INC: $15,000 · Crime & LegalPathways for Change Inc: $2,500 · Crime & LegalAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · InternationalMEDICAL MISSIONS OUTREACH INC: $14,490 · InternationalPROJECT CONCERN INTERNATIONAL: $10,000 · InternationalPACE CENTER FOR GIRLSINC: $21,758 · Youth DevelopmentMaris Place: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE MARLON AND MARCUS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $20,000 · Food & NutritionMeals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa Inc: $10,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$1,742,362Human Services$340,284Health$206,510Crime & Legal$73,500International$49,490Youth Development$36,758Food & Nutrition$30,000

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 budgetRonald McDonald House Charities of Tulsa: $100,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetCARING COMMUNITY FRIENDS INC: $60,160 over 4y, 4.0% of budgetDress for Success Oklahoma City Inc: $55,225 over 3y, 9.5% of budgetSammys Superheroes Foundation: $37,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetSAFEHOUSE CRISIS CENTER INC: $36,500 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATION: $32,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetREMERGE INC: $31,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $28,285 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNITED WAY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPRESBYTERIAN HOME FOR CHILDREN: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBlackfem Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetTULSA AREA UNITED WAY: $23,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN'S SHELTER INC: $22,862 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPACE CENTER FOR GIRLSINC: $21,758 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GOOD SAMARITAN HEALTH CENTER INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRISE CORP: $20,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetCHILD AND FAMILY SERVICE: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILIES FORWARD: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSHOW INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $16,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLAURA'S HOUSE: $15,563 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLIVING BEYOND BREAST CANCER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHILD PROTECTION CENTER INC: $15,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetMEDICAL MISSIONS OUTREACH INC: $14,490 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNEW DIRECTIONS FOR WOMEN INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWISEPLACE: $10,149 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPROJECT CONCERN INTERNATIONAL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANDREW MCDONOUGH B FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMeals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCREEK COUNTY LITERACY PROGRAM INC: $10,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetMARCH OF DIMES INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN GATE INTERNATIONAL: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetBristow Social Services Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetFREE2LUV INC: $10,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetOKLAHOMA PROJECT WOMAN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTEXAS SCOTTISH RITE HOSPITAL FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL BREAST CANCER COALITION FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR PUERTO RICO INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDOMESTIC VIOLENCE INTERVENTION SERVICES: $8,200 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDOORWAYS FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBLACKBURN CENTER INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFAYETTE COUNTY COUNCIL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGIRLS INCORPORATED OF ORANGE COUNTY: $5,225 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MARLON AND MARCUS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 4.6% 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.

Mary Kay Ash Foundati…The Anne and Henry Za…Sarkeys FoundationTulsa Community Found…The Hardesty Family F…Edward & Helen Bartle…Tulsa Area United WayThe Gelvin FoundationThe Kerr Foundation I…Community Food Bank o…Grace & Franklin Bern…Oneok Foundation Inc
Mary Kay Ash FoundationTX37× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Mary Kay Ash Foundation · The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation · Sarkeys Foundation · Tulsa Community Foundation · The Hardesty Family Foundation Inc · Edward & Helen Bartlett Foundation · Tulsa Area United Way · The Gelvin Foundation · The Kerr Foundation Inc · Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma Inc · Grace & Franklin Bernsen Foundation · Oneok Foundation Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 240%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Alianza Dv Services Inc: 82% of income from government
  • Bridging Freedom Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Domestic Violence Intervention Services: 15% of income from government
  • Alpha House of Pinellas County Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Tulsa Day Center Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Remerge Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Pace Center for Girlsinc: 2% of income from government
  • The Sexual Assaultspouse Abuse Resource Center Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Northeastern Vermont Regional Hosp Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
24get no government money at all
42report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 333 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on MakeSense’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