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The McConnell Educational Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The McConnell Educational 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.

$1.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$500k
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.

Health$12MYouth Development$1.7MRecreation & Sports$844kEducation$568kCommunity Improvement$250kArts & Culture$150kHuman Services$125kPhilanthropy$50kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k22 grants · $132k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $256k
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.4M
$7,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$35M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$500,000
OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION$500,000
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION$350,000
Individual grant recipient$150,000
BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES$105,500
MCCONNELL ARTS CENTER$25,000
DUBLIN HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY ASSOCIATION$9,500
OLENTANGY ORANGE ATHLETIC BOOSTERS$9,500
ST CHARLES PREPATORY SCHOOL$9,500
OLENTANGY BERLIN ATHLETIC BOOSTERS$7,000
LIBERTY ATHLETIC BOOSTERS-ICE$7,000
UPPER ARLINGTON ICE HOCKEY$7,000
GAHANNA LINCOLN HOCKEY$7,000
DUBLIN JEROME ICE HOCKEY BOOSTERS$7,000
Individual grant recipient$7,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 90% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATION: $50k → 17%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERWSITY FOUNDATION: $100k → 15%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERWSITY FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERWSITY FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%WESTERVILLE PARKS FOUNDATION: $150k → 5%THE COLUMBUS ZOO: $150k → 5%THE COLUMBUS ZOO: $150k → 5%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $1.3M → 15%THE COLUMBUS ZOO: $150k → 5%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $1.3M → 15%THE COLUMBUS ZOO: $150k → 5%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $1.3M → 15%THE COLUMBUS ZOO: $150k → 5%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $1.3M → 15%THE COLUMBUS ZOO: $150k → 5%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $1.3M → 15%THE COLUMBUS ZOO: $150k → 5%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $1.0M → 15%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $500k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $350k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $250k → 15%COLUMBUS DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CORP-NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL: $250k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $236k → 15%OHIOHEALTH FOUNDATION: $200k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $200k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $200k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $200k → 15%CHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY: $144k → 15%CHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY: $144k → 15%CHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY: $138k → 15%CHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY: $138k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $130k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $130k → 15%COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $125k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $106k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $90k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $77k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $75k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $69k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $66k → 15%BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $61k → 15%NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $720k → 15%NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $500k → 15%NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $500k → 15%NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $144k → 15%NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $144k → 15%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF CENTRAL OHIO: $125k → 15%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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 34 repeat orgs$1.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +48% since the first grant, against +38% for those funded once.

34 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
10

Total granted

$15M
$1.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+38%

Still filing today

38%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
Recreation & SportsHealthEducationPhilanthropyArts & 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

  • CB
    COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.7M · revenue +64%
  • CO
    CHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $564k · revenue +53%
  • OS
    OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    4× · 2019–2022 · $250k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • NC
    NATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2017 · $720k
  • CD
    COLUMBUS DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT CORP-NATIONAL VETERANS MEMORIAL
    one grant, 2017 · $250k
  • WP
    WESTERVILLE PARKS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $150k · revenue -62% · 60% of their budget
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
The Columbus Crew Foundation

The columbus crew foundation changes young lives through a passion for soccer

Recreation & Sports
2
Ohio Field Hockey Supporters

Field Hockey public education, outreach, financial support

—
3
Newark Ice Hockey Association

The mission of the newark ice hockey association is to teach the youth of central ohio, sportsmanship, fair play, respect for coaches, referees, players and fans through the sport of ice hockey, so that they can continue to be good…

Recreation & Sports
4
Central Ohio Youth Ice Hockey Officials Association Inc

To promote the safe and organized development of youth ice hockey in Central Ohio. This is done by providing an educated population of officials for youth hockey associations and tournaments in Central Ohio. This work is invaluable in…

Recreation & Sports
5
The Columbus Chill Youth Hockey Association Inc

The organization's mission is the development and education of youth hockey players in the Central Ohio aea.

Recreation & Sports
6
Team Ohio Hockey Foundaton Inc

To educate youths the conceptual and fundamental skills of hockey, as well as team skills, through hands-on hockey instruction and competitive play, so that youths may learn to play the game of hockey at advanced levels. the organization…

Recreation & Sports
7
Columbus Hockey Association

Training youth to play hockey and providing opportunities for them to participate in league play.

Recreation & Sports
8
Columbus Futsal Foundation
—
9
Cincinnati Cyclones Foundation

To promote physical health, teamwork, education and life skills for children and youth, primarily in the greater cincinnati community.

Youth Development
10
Club Ohio Soccer Inc

Club ohio soccer is designed and structured to meet the needs of the elite boy's and girl's club soccer player who aspires to play at the highest level of competition. to be successful at the regional and national level, it's necessary to…

Recreation & Sports
11
Dublin Coffman Hockey Booster Club Dublin Coffman Hockey Boosters

The purpose of the Dublin Coffman Hockey Booster Club (DCHBC) is to support the Dublin Coffman Hockey program and to benefit the student athletes of the Dublin City School District who play hockey at Dublin Coffman High School. A 501c3,…

Education
12
Columbus Youth Hockey Incorporated

Provide youth opportunities on team sports (ice hockey)

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Columbus Foundation; the most unlike its peers is New Albany Hockey Club. 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

19 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. 19 of the 45 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
19/19
Grantees still filing
17/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OHIOHEALTH CORPORATION: $8,000,000 · OtherOHIOHEALTH CORPORATIONNATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1,288,750 · OtherNATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $1,050,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $720,000 · OtherNATIONWIDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL+24 more: $1,306,500 · Other+24 moreCOLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $1,691,000 · PhilanthropyCOLUMBUS BLU…+2 more: $90,000 · PhilanthropyBIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $671,500 · HealthBIRDIES F…CHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY INC: $563,750 · HealthCHAMPIONS…BREAKTHROUGH T1D: $150,000 · HealthBREAKTHRO…CHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $250,000 · EducationOLENTANGY ORANGE ATHLETIC BOOSTERS INC: $44,500 · EducationOLENTANGY BERLIN ATHLETIC BOOSTERS: $35,000 · EducationTHE COLUMBUS ACADEMY: $31,500 · EducationWESTERVILLE PARKS FOUNDATION: $150,000 · Recreation & SportsNortheast Storm Hockey Club Inc: $47,000 · Recreation & SportsProwler Hockey Association Inc: $47,000 · Recreation & SportsNEW ALBANY HOCKEY CLUB: $40,000 · Recreation & SportsCOLUMBUS ICE HOCKEY CLUB INC: $34,500 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL INC: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$12,365,250Philanthropy$1,781,000Health$1,435,250Education$361,000Recreation & Sports$318,500Arts & Culture$25,000

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 budgetCOLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION: $1,691,000 over 8y, 19% of budgetBIRDIES FOR BUDDIES: $671,500 over 8y, 36% of budgetCHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY INC: $563,750 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERVILLE PARKS FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 60% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $150,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF CENTRAL OHIO: $125,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMid-Ohio Foodbank: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLUMBUS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNortheast Storm Hockey Club Inc: $47,000 over 8y, 7.2% of budgetProwler Hockey Association Inc: $47,000 over 8y, 6.6% of budgetOLENTANGY ORANGE ATHLETIC BOOSTERS INC: $44,500 over 8y, 1.0% of budgetSTAR HOUSE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetNEW ALBANY HOCKEY CLUB: $40,000 over 8y, 7.2% of budgetOLENTANGY BERLIN ATHLETIC BOOSTERS: $35,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetCOLUMBUS ICE HOCKEY CLUB INC: $34,500 over 8y, 7.5% of budgetTHE COLUMBUS ACADEMY: $31,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.9% 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 COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BIRDIES FOR BUDDIES ↗
  • Who funds CHAMPIONS OF THE COMMUNITY INC ↗
  • Who funds OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WESTERVILLE PARKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH T1D ↗
  • Who funds LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF CENTRAL OHIO ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S TUMOR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Mid-Ohio Foodbank ↗
  • Who funds COLUMBUS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Northeast Storm Hockey Club Inc ↗
  • Who funds Prowler Hockey Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds OLENTANGY ORANGE ATHLETIC BOOSTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds STAR HOUSE ↗
  • Who funds NEW ALBANY HOCKEY CLUB ↗
  • Who funds OLENTANGY BERLIN ATHLETIC BOOSTERS ↗
  • Who funds COLUMBUS ICE HOCKEY CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COLUMBUS ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL 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.

Columbus FoundationUnited Way of Central…Nisource Charitable F…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Enterprise Holdings F…Vanguard Charitable E…Network for GoodAmerican Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…
Columbus FoundationOH23.8× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Columbus Foundation · United Way of Central Ohio Inc · Nisource Charitable Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Enterprise Holdings Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 McConnell Educational Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The McConnell Educational Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 McConnell Educational Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The McConnell Educational 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 45 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 McConnell Educational’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