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The Oak Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Oak 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.

$138k
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$305kHuman Services$272kArts & Culture$139kAnimals$89kHealth$73kYouth Development$33kFood & Nutrition$30kPhilanthropy$28kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k13 grants · $58k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $80k
$5,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OUR LADY OF PEACE$25,000
ETOWN$12,500
THERE WITH CARE$12,500
KENZI'S CAUSES$10,000
COLORADO HORSE RESCUE$10,000
TROUT UNLIMITED$10,000
GROWING GARDENS OF BOULDER$7,500
TREES THAT FEED FOUNDATION$5,000
SMALL SUMS$5,000
TAKING THE REINS$5,000
CONVERGE 45$5,000
MINNESOTA INDEPENDENCE COLLEGE AND COMMUNITY$5,000
ALWAYS CHOOSE ADVENTURES$5,000
ASSISTANCE DOGS OF HAWAII$5,000
OCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE$5,000
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 (FY17–24, $318k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 90% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%OUR LADY OF PEACE: $38k → 14%TAKING THE REINS: $5k → 14%SOCK IT TO EM SOCK CAMPAIGN: $3k → 3%KENZI'S CAUSES: $10k → 8%KENZI'S CAUSES: $4k → 12%GO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION: $6k → 12%THE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $3k → 11%OUR LADY OF PEACE: $25k → 14%TAKING THE REINS: $5k → 14%SOCK IT TO EM SOCK CAMPAIGN: $3k → 3%KENZI'S CAUSES: $5k → 8%GO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION: $6k → 12%OUR LADY OF PEACE: $23k → 14%TAKING THE REINS: $5k → 14%SOCK IT TO EM SOCK CAMPAIGN: $2k → 3%KENZI'S CAUSES: $4k → 8%GO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION: $4k → 12%OUR LADY OF PEACE: $19k → 14%TAKING THE REINS: $5k → 14%SOCK IT TO EM SOCK CAMPAIGN: $1k → 3%KENZI'S CAUSES: $4k → 8%GO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION: $3k → 12%OUR LADY OF PEACE: $15k → 14%TAKING THE REINS: $5k → 14%GO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION: $7k → 12%OUR LADY OF PEACE: $13k → 14%TAKING THE REINS: $5k → 14%OUR LADY OF PEACE: $13k → 14%TAKING THE REINS: $3k → 14%KENZI'S CAUSES: $3k → 12%DOLLS FOR DAUGHTERS AND KENZI'S KIDS: $3k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $17k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $13k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $13k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $13k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $10k → 12%THERE WITH CARE: $10k → 12%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
WA
MN
IL
NY
OR
NJ
CA
CO
MO
VA
TN
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$867k · 22 repeat orgs$192k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +72% since the first grant, against +36% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
22

Total granted

$867k
$177k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+72%
+36%

Still filing today

91%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $15k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesAnimalsHealthEnvironmentPhilanthropyRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • OL
    OUR LADY OF PEACE
    7× · 2017–2024 · $143k · revenue +111%
  • WILD SALMON CENTER
    5× · 2018–2023 · $133k · revenue +274%
  • TU
    TROUT UNLIMITED INC
    4× · 2020–2024 · $128k · revenue +81%

Funded once

  • IF
    INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER PROJECT
    one grant, 2017 · $68k
  • TW
    THERE WITH CARE
    one grant, 2021 · $23k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $13k
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
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
2
Wildcoast

The mission of wildcoast is to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems and address climate change through natural solutions. our staff is dedicated to conserving threatened and endangered coastlines and wildlife in california and mexico.…

Environment
3
Wildearth Guardians

Wildearth guardians works to protect and restore the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the american west.

Unclassified
4
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc

Connect conservationists and supporters, deploy resources to the field, provide conservationists with tools and support they need to succeed.

Animals
5
Oceana Inc

To advocate for policy changes by governments and corporations in order to preserve ocean life and return the oceans to their former abundance.

Environment
6
Wildaid Inc

Wildaid's mission is to inspire change and empower the world to protect wildlife and vital habitats from critical threats.

Animals
7
Conservation Farms & Ranches

Preserving and enhancing the habitat of wildlife, such as sandhill cranes, waterfowl, raptors, which habitat expenses are supported by agricultural activities.

Housing & Shelter
8
The Humane Society for Seattleking County

Seattle humane promotes the human-animal bond by saving and serving pets in need, regardless of age, ability, circumstance or geography.

Animals
9
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

To sustain, restore, and enhance the nation's fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats.

Animals
10
Health Care Without Harm

The mission of health care without harm (hcwh) is to transform health care worldwide so that it reduces its environmental footprint, becomes a community anchor for sustainability and a leader in the global movement for environmental health…

Environment
11
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
12
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wild Salmon Center; the most unlike its peers is Isla Urbana Inc. 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

35 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. 35 of the 48 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)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/35
Grantees still filing
28/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WILD SALMON CENTER: $132,500 · AnimalsWILD SALMON CENTERTROUT UNLIMITED INC: $127,500 · AnimalsTROUT UNLIMITED INCCOLORADO HORSE RESCUE: $33,500 · AnimalsCOLORADO HORSE RESCUESEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $22,500 · AnimalsSEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETYASSISTANCE DOGS OF HAWAII: $20,000 · AnimalsASSISTANCE DOGS OF HAWAII+2 more: $17,500 · AnimalsOUR LADY OF PEACE: $143,000 · Human ServicesOUR LADY OF PEACETHERE WITH CARE: $74,167 · Human ServicesTHERE WITH CARETAKING THE REINS: $33,000 · Human ServicesTAKING THE REINSDOLLS FOR DAUGHTERS: $32,000 · Human ServicesDOLLS FOR DAUGHTERSGO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION: $26,000 · Human ServicesGO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION+2 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesE TOWN: $68,750 · OtherE TOWNINDEPENDENT FILMMAKER PROJECT: $68,000 · OtherINDEPENDENT FILMMAKER PROJECTAmp the Cause: $22,500 · OtherAmp the CauseTHERE WITH CARE: $22,500 · OtherTHERE WITH CAREGROWING GARDENS OF BOULDER: $20,000 · OtherGROWING GARDENS OF BOULDERIndividual grant recipient: $12,500 · OtherTREES THAT FEED FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Other+17 more: $67,500 · Other+17 moreKIDS FIRST HEALTH CARE: $25,000 · HealthHELP AMERICA HEAR INC: $5,000 · HealthFREEDOMWORKS INCORPORATED: $5,000 · HealthNATURAL HIGHS--HEALTHY ALTERNATIVES TO DRUGS AND ALCOHOL: $1,500 · HealthAT HOME GROUP: $25,000 · EmploymentOCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE: $10,000 · EnvironmentTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EnvironmentALWAYS CHOOSE ADVENTURES: $5,000 · EnvironmentIsla Urbana Inc: $4,000 · EnvironmentJOHN AUSTIN CHELEY FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 · Recreation & Sports
Animals$353,500Human Services$318,167Other$291,750Health$36,500Employment$25,000Environment$24,000Recreation & Sports$12,500

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 budgetOUR LADY OF PEACE: $143,000 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetWILD SALMON CENTER: $132,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTROUT UNLIMITED INC: $127,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHERE WITH CARE: $74,167 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetE TOWN: $68,750 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetCOLORADO HORSE RESCUE: $33,500 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetTAKING THE REINS: $33,000 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetDOLLS FOR DAUGHTERS: $32,000 over 7y, 1.0% of budgetGO4THEGOAL FOUNDATION: $26,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetAT HOME GROUP: $25,000 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetKIDS FIRST HEALTH CARE: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetAmp the Cause: $22,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSEA SHEPHERD CONSERVATION SOCIETY: $22,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetASSISTANCE DOGS OF HAWAII: $20,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetJOHN AUSTIN CHELEY FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetOCEAN DEFENDERS ALLIANCE: $10,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetKITSAP HUMANE SOCIETY: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTREES THAT FEED FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetSOCK IT TO EM SOCK CAMPAIGN: $7,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetREWILD: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPARK NICOLLET FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE COLORADO NONPROFIT DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetONE TREE PLANTED INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHELP AMERICA HEAR INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetFREEDOMWORKS INCORPORATED: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE OCEAN CLEANUP FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSylvia Earle AllianceMission Blue: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetALWAYS CHOOSE ADVENTURES: $5,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetIsla Urbana Inc: $4,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRIDGE FOR YOUTH: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOULDER PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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.

Colorado Gives Founda…The Denver FoundationXcel Energy FoundationCommunity Foundation …The Minneapolis Found…Aetna Foundation IncAbbVie FoundationMightycause Charitabl…National Philanthropi…Raymond James Charita…American Online Givin…Charities Aid Foundat…
Colorado Gives FoundationCO17.3× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Community Foundation Boulder County · The Minneapolis Foundation · Aetna Foundation Inc · AbbVie Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 49%
  • Wild Salmon Center: 49% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
6report 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 Oak Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Oak 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 48 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 Oak’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