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The Musser Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Musser Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$905k
Granted FY2024still arriving
90
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$1.4MEnvironment$816kHuman Services$320kCommunity Improvement$305kEducation$233kYouth Development$214kFood & Nutrition$203kRecreation & Sports$145kOther$0
02FY2024 · 90 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k44 grants · $135k
  • $10k–50k46 grants · $770k
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST$35,000
TEXAS CONSERVATION ALLIANCE$34,800
FRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER$30,000
MA KA HANA KA IKE$25,000
PROJECT FINE$25,000
IRAQI AND AMERICAN RECONCILIATION PROJEC$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
YAMPA VALLEY STREAM IMPROVEMENT CHARITAB$25,000
ROSHNI$25,000
NEW HOPE FOR IMMIGRANTS$25,000
RED WING ART ASSOCIATION$25,000
MOVE FOR AMERICA$25,000
FEEDING OUR COMMUNITIES PARTNERS$24,300
VOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR COLORADO$22,000
TEXAS FOLKLIFE RESOURCES INC$20,000
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 (FY20–24, $239k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 84% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CONEXIONES: $6k → 11%NEW HOPE FOR IMMIGRANTS: $25k → 11%CANINE COMPANIONS: $3k → 11%BEAUTIFUL REDEMPTION: $25k → 9%GRASSROOTS FOUNDATION INC: $25k → 13%RURAL COMMUNITIES RESOURCE CENTER: $3k → 13%NORTH FORK SENIOR CONNECTIONS: $5k → 15%RURAL COMMUNITIES RESOURCE CENTER: $2k → 13%RURAL COMMUNITIES RESOURCE CENTER: $2k → 13%RURAL COMMUNITIES RESOURCE CENTER: $2k → 13%OASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $10k → 10%NATIVE GOVERNANCE CENTER: $18k → 14%OASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $10k → 10%URBAN LEAGUE TWIN CITIES: $25k → 11%HOKULANI CHILDREN'S THEATRE OF MOLOKAI: $12k → 9%OASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $10k → 10%WEST HAWAII MEDIATION CENTER: $5k → 15%A LITTLE HELP: $25k → 12%A LITTLE HELP: $19k → 12%OASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $9k → 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

VT
ID
MN
NY
WY
CA
CO
VA
DE
DC
HI
TX
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.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.4M · 95 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +54% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

95 repeat relationships: 54 still active in FY2024, 41 since wound down; 35 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

95
130

Total granted

$2.4M
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+23%

Still filing today

81%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 60% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $361k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEnvironmentEducationHuman ServicesFood & NutritionAnimalsOther
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

  • PF
    PROJECT FINE
    5× · 2020–2024 · $125k · revenue +74%
  • MK
    MA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM
    4× · 2020–2024 · $100k · revenue +180%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
    4× · 2021–2024 · $91k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • SC
    SHERIDAN COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
    one grant, 2022 · $45k · revenue +9%
  • LP
    LOWER PHALEN CREEK PROJECT
    one grant, 2023 · $35k · revenue -7%
  • KK
    KOKUA KALIHI VALLEY COMPREHENSIVE FAM SE
    one grant, 2020 · $35k
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
Museum of Western Colorado Inc

The museum of western colorado is an educational institution that collects, preserves, and interprets artifacts, specimens, and information concerning the cultural and natural history of western colorado and the contiguous area. we enhance…

Arts & Culture
2
Creede Repertory Theatre

From its rocky mountain roots, creede repertory theatre serves as an artistic home to our rural community and beyond, through the creation of repertory seasons, dynamic educational programs, and compelling new works.

Arts & Culture
3
Wind River Valley Artist Guild
—
4
Colorado Open Lands

Colorado open lands' mission is to preserve the significant open lands and natural heritage of colorado through private and public partnerships, innovative land conservation, and strategic leadership.

Environment
5
Fort Collins Mural Project

Our mission is to collaborate with local artists and businesses to promote contemporary art in public spaces in Fort Collins, Colorado. FCMP is focused on providing opportunities for underrepresented and emerging artists in Colorado.

Arts & Culture
6
Western Montana Creative Initiatives

To strengthen the creative capacity of western montana and foster dialogue and experiences that are culturally vibrant, healthy, and intellectually vigorous. we focus on fostering collaboration, creative placemaking, artist-community…

Arts & Culture
7
The Center for the Arts

The center for arts, a home for arts and culture, offers engaging opportunities and educational experiences to enrich and expand the life of our community.

Arts & Culture
8
Mountain Area Land Trust

Mountain area land trust's mission is to save natural areas, wildlife habitat, streams and rivers, working ranches and historic lands, for the benefit of the community and as a legacy for future generations.

Environment
9
Boulder Watershed Collective

The Boulder Watershed Collective is a 501c3 non-profit stakeholder-driven organization established to address forested watershed health,resiliency and stewardship. We have three program areas: ClimateAdaptation and Resilience Watershed…

Environment
10
Greater Yellowstone Coalition

Greater yellowstone coalition works with all people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the greater yellowstone ecosystem, now and for future generations.

Environment
11
Grand Canyon Conservancy

As the official philanthropic and collaborative partner of the grand canyon national park, grand canyon conservancy's mission is to inspire generations of park champions to cherish and support the natural and cultural wonder of the grand…

Environment
12
Montana Center for the Arts

Montana center for the arts purpose is to nurture, promote and expand cultural engagement and opportunity in our region. through collaboration with the community at large, and in partnership with the area's diverse cultural and educational…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Elys Historic State Theater; the most unlike its peers is Nene Research and Conservation. 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

181 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. 181 of the 262 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.

9
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
59
Early backer (in before they grew)
176/181
Grantees still filing
127/181
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

+108 more: $1,891,821 · Other+108 moreRoshni: $89,000 · Arts & CultureRoshniPiney Woods Fine Arts Association: $54,000 · Arts & CulturePRATTSVILLE ART PROJECT INC: $54,000 · Arts & CultureMALAMA PUPUKEA-WAIMEA: $42,900 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF LINDEN HILL INC: $40,000 · Arts & CultureBRENHAM CHILDRENS CHORUS INC: $36,000 · Arts & Culture+41 more: $738,575 · Arts & Culture+41 moreFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $91,250 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF TH…PILOT HILL INC: $73,000 · EnvironmentPILOT HILL IN…THE NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $60,000 · EnvironmentTHE NORTH SHO…SHERIDAN COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $45,000 · EnvironmentSHERIDAN COMM…LOWER PHALEN CREEK PROJECT: $35,000 · EnvironmentLOWER PHALEN …ASPEN VALLEY LAND TRUST: $35,000 · EnvironmentASPEN VALLEY …CONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL COALITION: $34,940 · EnvironmentCONTINENTAL D…American Forests: $25,000 · EnvironmentLAND STEWARDSHIP PROJECT: $25,000 · EnvironmentMONTEZUMA LAND CONSERVANCY: $20,000 · Environment+8 more: $48,980 · Environment+8 moreA LITTLE HELP: $43,500 · Human ServicesOASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA INC: $39,000 · Human ServicesGRASSROOTS FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesNEW HOPE FOR IMMIGRANTS: $25,000 · Human ServicesBEAUTIFUL REDEMPTION: $25,000 · Human ServicesURBAN LEAGUE TWIN CITIES: $25,000 · Human ServicesNATIVE GOVERNANCE CENTER: $18,200 · Human ServicesHOKULANI CHILDREN'S THEATRE OF MOLOKAI: $12,000 · Human Services+5 more: $27,500 · Human ServicesPROJECT FINE: $125,000 · Community ImprovementKAULUAKALANA: $35,000 · Community ImprovementWIND RIVER DEVELOPMENT FUND: $21,500 · Community ImprovementSULLIVAN COUNTY LAND BANK CORPORATION: $10,000 · Community ImprovementLARAMIE MAIN STREET ALLIANCE: $7,800 · Community Improvement+1 more: $5,000 · Community ImprovementMA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentLANAI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS IN: $34,000 · Youth DevelopmentThe Pinhead Institute: $19,000 · Youth DevelopmentTexas Conservation Alliance: $42,800 · AnimalsGREAT RIVER GREENING: $35,000 · AnimalsWYOMING WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $25,309 · AnimalsWYOMING WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION: $25,000 · AnimalsMORRISON COUNTY ANIMAL HUMANE SOCIETY: $10,000 · Animals
Other$1,891,821Arts & Culture$1,054,475Environment$493,170Human Services$240,200Community Improvement$204,300Youth Development$153,000Animals$138,109

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 budgetPROJECT FINE: $125,000 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetMA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM: $100,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: $91,250 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetRoshni: $89,000 over 4y, 70% of budgetPILOT HILL INC: $73,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetTHE NORTH SHORE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $60,000 over 2y, 8.5% of budgetVOLUNTEERS FOR OUTDOOR COLORADO: $58,500 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetPiney Woods Fine Arts Association: $54,000 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetPRATTSVILLE ART PROJECT INC: $54,000 over 5y, 28% of budgetSPRING INSTITUTE FOR INTERCULTURAL LEARNING: $49,955 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetHEARTLAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $45,000 over 5y, 21% of budgetSHERIDAN COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $45,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetA LITTLE HELP: $43,500 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetMALAMA PUPUKEA-WAIMEA: $42,900 over 2y, 16% of budgetTexas Conservation Alliance: $42,800 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF LINDEN HILL INC: $40,000 over 4y, 4.8% of budgetFeeding Our Communities Partners: $39,740 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetOASIS CENTRAL MINNESOTA INC: $39,000 over 4y, 5.8% of budgetBRENHAM CHILDRENS CHORUS INC: $36,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetLOWER PHALEN CREEK PROJECT: $35,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetGREAT RIVER GREENING: $35,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetKINSHIP OF MORRISON COUNTY INC: $35,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetURBAN ROOTS MN: $35,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetKAULUAKALANA: $35,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetASPEN VALLEY LAND TRUST: $35,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCONTINENTAL DIVIDE TRAIL COALITION: $34,940 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetHAWAII CHILDRENS THEATRE: $34,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetLANAI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS IN: $34,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetLANDER ART CENTER: $32,000 over 3y, 11% of budgetPLAZA DIANE - COMMUNITY CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $32,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetZTP: $30,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetMORRISON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $30,000 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetEMPLOYMENT ENTERPRISES INC: $29,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetBAROQUE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF COLORADO: $28,000 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetWYOMING WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $25,309 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetIraqi and American Reconciliation Project: $25,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetTHE YES NETWORK: $25,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetGRASSROOTS FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetSAN LUIS VALLEY LOCAL FOODS COALITION: $25,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetMONTEZUMA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 42% of budgetEAST SIDE FREEDOM LIBRARY: $25,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetAmerican Forests: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMOVE FOR AMERICA: $25,000 over 1y, 9.7% of budgetYAMPA VALLEY STREAM IMPROVEMENT CHARITABLE TRUST: $25,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetRed Wing Arts Association: $25,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetELYS HISTORIC STATE THEATER: $25,000 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetWYOMING WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION: $25,000 over 1y, 3.7% 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 loosely connected circle, clustered around a few shared anchors.

Wyoming Community Fou…Atherton Family Found…El Pomar FoundationColorado Gives Founda…Gates Family Foundati…Wyoming Assn of Non P…Hughes Charitable Fou…Wyoming Humanities Co…Minnesota Humanities …Mardag FoundationAnschutz Family Found…The Colorado Health F…
Wyoming Community FoundationWY35.8× affinity18 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Wyoming Community Foundation · Atherton Family Foundation · El Pomar Foundation · Colorado Gives Foundation · Gates Family Foundation · Wyoming Assn of Non Profit Organizations dba Wyoming Nonprofit Network · Hughes Charitable Foundation · Wyoming Humanities Council · Minnesota Humanities Center · Mardag Foundation · Anschutz Family Foundation · The Colorado Health 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 Musser Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Musser Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • St Anne's Episcopal School: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
58report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Musser Fund?

Find your warmest path to The Musser Fund 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 262 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 Musser’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