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The Michael & Nancy Baker Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Michael & Nancy Baker Foundation

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.

$27k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$15k
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, FY2020 to 2025.

Housing & Shelter$37kHuman Services$11kFood & Nutrition$11kYouth Development$7kArts & Culture$7kHealth$4kEducation$3kAnimals$500Other$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$2,500
Median grant
1
States reached
$129k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BETHANY HOUSE SERVICES$15,296
FOUND VILLAGE$3,132
ARTS WAVE$2,500
STEPPING STONES$2,500
SHELTER HOUSE$1,500
QUEEN CITY BOOK BANK$1,000
ST VINCENT DEPAUL SOCIETY$1,000
CINCINNATI WORKS$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 (FY23–25, $8k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 81% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%MILITARY FAMILY ADVISORY NETWORK: $1k → 7%MILITARY FAMILY ADVISORY NETWORK: $500 → 7%CHAIR FORCE 1: $3k → 16%STEPPING STONES: $3k → 16%STEPPING STONES: $700 → 16%CINCINNATI WORKS: $500 → 16%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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$73k · 11 repeat orgs$6k to everyone else

11 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
4

Total granted

$73k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+132%

Still filing today

82%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesHousing & ShelterInternationalFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentArts & 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

  • SV
    Shelterhouse Volunteer Group Inc
    6× · 2020–2025 · $8k · revenue +19%
  • FV
    Found Village
    5× · 2021–2025 · $7k · revenue +87%
  • LN
    LITERACY NETWORK OF GREATER CINCINNATI DBA QUEEN CITY BOOK BANK
    3× · 2023–2025 · $3k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • CF
    CHAIR FORCE 1
    one grant, 2024 · $3k
  • TC
    The Christ Hospital Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $1k · revenue +192%
  • SA
    SALVATION ARMY
    one grant, 2022 · $500
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
Strategies to End Homelessness Inc

Strategies to End Homelessness leads a coordinated community effort to end homelessness in Greater Cincinnati.

Human Services
2
Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati

To resolve serious legal problems of low income people, to promote economic and family stability, and reduce poverty through effective legal assistance.

—
3
Community Shelter Board

The community shelter board is ending homelessness by creating collaborations, innovating solutions, and investing in quality programs.

—
4
Jewish Family Service of the Cincinnati Area

A social service agency, JFS strengthens lives and our diverse community by providing exceptional and transformational human services. Services include: Counseling, Case Management, Financial and Food Support, Home Care, Senior Services,…

Human Services
5
Cincinnati Union Bethel

Empowering women to break the cycles of poverty, addiction, and human trafficking.

Human Services
6
Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio

Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio serves and empowers people through God's love in their times of vulnerability. We do so through a full range of local services that engage the community in building solidarity.

Human Services
7
Lifetime Housing Group Inc

Plan, coordinate and provide affordable housing to low-income individuals and families in Southeastern Indiana.

Food & Nutrition
8
United Way of Greater Lima Inc

United Way improves lives by uniting the caring power of our community.

—
9
Ohio United Way

To strengthen the capacity of United Ways across Ohio and to advance the common good for Ohioans.

Philanthropy
10
Columbus Housing Initiative Inc

Stabilize neighborhoods through establishing financing, education, rehabilitation of existing housing and development of new housing

Housing & Shelter
11
FutureHeights Inc

FutureHeights seeks to inspire and facilitate collaboration and empowerment across our communities to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for Cleveland Heights and University Heights.

Arts & Culture
12
Cincinnati's Optimum Residential Environments Inc

Residential & Habilitative Svs. Provide residential and habilitative services to adults with developmental disabilities

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Stepping Stones Inc; the most unlike its peers is Found Village. 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

13 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. 13 of the 17 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)
13/13
Grantees still filing
7/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Bethany House Services Inc: $29,296 · Housing & ShelterBethany House Services IncShelterhouse Volunteer Group Inc: $7,575 · Housing & ShelterShelterhouse Volunteer Group IncRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE: $3,500 · OtherRONALD MCDONALD…LITERACY NETWORK OF GREATER CINCINNATI DBA QUEEN CITY BOOK BANK: $3,000 · OtherLITERACY NETWOR…DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS CHARITABLE TRUST: $1,500 · OtherDISABLED AMERIC…ST VINCENT DEPAUL SOCIETY: $1,000 · OtherST VINCENT DEPA…SALVATION ARMY: $500 · OtherThe Christ Hospital Foundation: $1,000 · OtherThe Christ Hosp…A WAY HOME FOR DOGS INC: $500 · OtherSTEPPING STONES INC: $3,200 · Human ServicesSTEPPING ST…CHAIR FORCE 1: $2,500 · Human ServicesCHAIR FORCE…MILITARY FAMILY ADVISORY NETWORK INC: $1,500 · Human ServicesMILITARY FA…CINCINNATI WORKS: $500 · Human ServicesCINCINNATI …Found Village: $6,632 · Youth DevelopmentFound Vil…Cincinnati Institute of Fine Arts: $6,500 · Arts & CultureCincinnat…Matthew 25 Ministries Inc: $6,000 · InternationalFREESTORE FOODBANK INC: $4,500 · Food & Nutrition
Housing & Shelter$36,871Other$11,000Human Services$7,700Youth Development$6,632Arts & Culture$6,500International$6,000Food & Nutrition$4,500

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 budgetBethany House Services Inc: $29,296 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetShelterhouse Volunteer Group Inc: $7,575 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFound Village: $6,632 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCincinnati Institute of Fine Arts: $6,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMatthew 25 Ministries Inc: $6,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFREESTORE FOODBANK INC: $4,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPPING STONES INC: $3,200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLITERACY NETWORK OF GREATER CINCINNATI DBA QUEEN CITY BOOK BANK: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHAIR FORCE 1: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMILITARY FAMILY ADVISORY NETWORK INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Christ Hospital Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetA WAY HOME FOR DOGS INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

The Greater Cincinnat…Spaulding FoundationJohn a Schroth Family…Carol Ann and Ralph V…Johnson Charitable Gi…Hcs FoundationThe Wohlgemuth Hersch…Sutphin Family Founda…Hatton FoundationMarge & Charles J Sch…Farmer Family Foundat…Millstone Fund
The Greater Cincinnati FoundationOH21.1× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Greater Cincinnati Foundation · Spaulding Foundation · John a Schroth Family Char Tr · Carol Ann and Ralph V Haile Jr Foundation · Johnson Charitable Gift Fund · Hcs Foundation · The Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation Co Fifth Third Bank Na Agent · Sutphin Family Foundation Ica · Hatton Foundation · Marge & Charles J Schott Foundation · Farmer Family Foundation · Millstone 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 Michael & Nancy Baker Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Michael & Nancy Baker 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 17 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

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    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