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The Oakfish Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Oakfish 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.

$176k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$62k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$1.1MPhilanthropy$209kYouth Development$176kHealth$175kReligion$26kHousing & Shelter$17kArts & Culture$13kInternational$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k7 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $28k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $113k
$6,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$4.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LIFT UP$62,000
HOPE ACADEMY$51,350
MN ADULT & TEEN CHALLENGE$27,520
THE BANYAN FOUNDATION$8,330
MY VERY OWN BED$6,000
QUINCY HOUSE$5,000
BRIDGES TO BASICS$5,000
NEW HORIZONS FOUNDATION$5,000
BETHEL UNIVERSITY$3,900
NORTHRIDGE FELLOWSHIP CHURCH$1,400
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 (FY24–24, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%BRIDGES TO BASICS: $5k → 14%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.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 11 repeat orgs$106k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +40% since the first grant, against -7% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
8

Total granted

$1.7M
$100k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
-7%

Still filing today

91%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHealthPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentCommunity ImprovementPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • MT
    Minnesota Teen Challenge Inc
    6× · 2019–2024 · $165k · revenue +40%
  • LU
    LIFT UP
    5× · 2020–2024 · $129k · revenue +96%
  • TB
    The Banyan Foundation
    7× · 2017–2024 · $81k · revenue +15%

Funded once

  • UC
    United Christian Academy Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue -83%
  • CE
    CONCORD EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2017 · $16k · revenue -65%
  • TR
    TEAM RUBICON INC
    one grant, 2019 · $10k · revenue -7%
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
Breakthrough Twin Cities

Breakthrough Twin Cities supports students on their journey to college by fostering a community of mutual learning with the next generation of educators so they both can collaborate, grow, and thrive.

Education
2
The Trinity Foundation
—
3
University of Winnipeg Foundation Usa Inc
Education
4
Minnehaha Academy

Minnehaha academy's primary purpose is to provide a high quality education to students in pre-school to grade 12 integrating christian faith and learning.

Education
5
Minnesota Council on Foundations

MCF is a vibrant philanthropic community connecting, strengthening and mobilizing the power of philanthropy to advance prosperity and equity.

—
6
Global Academy Foundation % Walter Link
Philanthropy
7
Mankato Christian Academy

Preparing Students for the Future in Jesus' Name.

—
8
Manna University

Manna University is a biblical higher education institution dedicated to educating, equipping, and empowering emerging leaders to change the world.

Education
9
Global United Foundation
International
10
University Foundation
—
11
Evangel University

Evangel is a comprehensive christian university that is committed to excellence in educating and equipping students to become spirit empowered servants of god who will impact the church and society globally.

Education
12
Ecumen

We empower individuals and families to confidently navigate aging so that it is a purposeful journey filled with dignity and support.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The New Horizons Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Bame Foundation. 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

17 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. 17 of the 22 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BETHEL UNIVERSITY: $933,900 · EducationBETHEL UNIVERSITYGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $72,000 · EducationGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGEHOPE ACADEMY INC: $64,100 · EducationHOPE ACADEMY INCUnited Christian Academy Foundation: $50,000 · Education+2 more: $19,500 · EducationLIFT UP: $129,000 · PhilanthropyLIFT UPBAME FOUNDATION: $75,302 · PhilanthropyBAME FOUNDATI…+1 more: $5,000 · PhilanthropyMinnesota Teen Challenge Inc: $165,040 · HealthMinnesota …+1 more: $5,000 · HealthQUINCY HOUSE: $84,600 · Youth DevelopmentThe Banyan Foundation: $80,960 · Community ImprovementUNION GOSPEL MISSION INC: $25,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTHWESTERN - NORTHWESTERN MEDIA: $12,500 · OtherMIDWAY USA FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherYOUTH INVESTMENT FOUNDATION AKA TIMBER BAY: $5,000 · OtherST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $5,000 · OtherTEAM RUBICON INC: $10,000 · OtherBRIDGE TO BASICS: $5,000 · Other+1 more: $1,400 · OtherMy Very Own Bed: $16,500 · Housing & Shelter
Education$1,139,500Philanthropy$209,302Health$170,040Youth Development$84,600Community Improvement$80,960Other$68,900Housing & Shelter$16,500

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 budgetBETHEL UNIVERSITY: $933,900 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetMinnesota Teen Challenge Inc: $165,040 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLIFT UP: $129,000 over 5y, 17% of budgetQUINCY HOUSE: $84,600 over 7y, 6.6% of budgetThe Banyan Foundation: $80,960 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetBAME FOUNDATION: $75,302 over 4y, 7.1% of budgetGUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE: $72,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE ACADEMY INC: $64,100 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetUnited Christian Academy Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetUNION GOSPEL MISSION INC: $25,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetMy Very Own Bed: $16,500 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetCONCORD EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $16,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetTEAM RUBICON INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE TO BASICS: $5,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetThe New Horizons Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% 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 Richard M Schulze…Saint Paul & Minnesot…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Richard M Schulze Family FoundationMN13× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation · Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation · Amazonsmile 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 Oakfish Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Oakfish Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 22 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 Oakfish’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