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The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Oprah Winfrey Charitable 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.

$23M
Granted FY2024still arriving
25
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$8.9M
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, FY2018 to 2024.

Education$57MYouth Development$27MPhilanthropy$25MPublic Benefit$20MPublic Safety & Disaster$11MInternational$9.3MHealth$6.0MFood & Nutrition$4.9MOther$0
02FY2024 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k7 grants · $125k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $935k
  • $250k+10 grants · $22M
$150,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$172M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$8,919,077
OW LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOUNDATION$8,882,411
US DREAM ACADEMY$947,972
HERRENDORF FAMILY FOUNDATION$925,000
HERRENDORF FAMILY FOUNDATION$910,000
HERRENDORF FAMILY FOUNDATION$524,900
TELLURIDE COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS$500,000
OMPRAKASH FOUNDATION-HUMANITY CREW$270,000
MINDFULLNESS LEADER NFP$250,000
NATIONAL CARES MENTORING MOVEMENT INC$250,000
HERRENDORF FAMILY FOUNDATION$210,000
MINNIE'S FOOD PANTRY INC$200,000
MANA MAOLI$150,000
THE HARLEM SCHOOL OF THE ARTS INC$100,000
JOHNNETTA BETSCH COLE LEGACY FOUNDATION$100,000
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 (FY18–24, $3.0M) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NIA IMANI FAMILY INC: $50k → 17%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $750k → 14%UNITY SHOPPE INC: $200k → 14%CENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES: $125k → 19%AFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $100k → 14%UNITY SHOPPE INC: $100k → 14%NATIONAL CARES MENTORING MOVEMENT INC: $1.1M → 17%NATIONAL CARES MENTORING MOVEMENT INC: $250k → 17%NATIONAL CARES MENTORING MOVEMENT INC: $250k → 17%SHE READY FOUNDATION: $75k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
TN
NC
DC
HI
MS
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 8% of The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 54% of the giving stays in CA; by stated purpose, 16%.

The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 23% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

69%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$102M · 22 repeat orgs$46M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +9% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
63

Total granted

$102M
$36M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
+9%

Still filing today

77%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9.7M went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesHealthYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TO
    THE OPRAH WINFREY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOUNDATION
    5× · 2018–2022 · $34M · revenue +202% · 95% of their budget
  • THE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION
    3× · 2018–2020 · $20M · revenue +27%
  • UD
    US DREAM ACADEMY INC
    5× · 2018–2024 · $6.8M · revenue +41% · 46% of their budget

Funded once

  • MC
    MOREHOUSE COLLEGE
    one grant, 2020 · $6.5M · revenue -13%
  • RC
    RON CLARK ACADEMY INC
    one grant, 2018 · $5.0M · revenue -9% · 26% of their budget
  • MZ
    MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2020 · $2.1M
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
New York Foundation for the Arts Inc

Established in 1971, the mission of the new york foundation for the arts (nyfa) is to empower artists in all disciplines, as well as cultural workers, to achieve success on their own terms by providing critical support, resources, and…

Arts & Culture
2
New York School of Interior Design

New york school of interior design provides the most innovative, immersive, and transformative interior design education in the world, demonstrating the impact of professionally designed interiors on the health, happiness, and well-being…

Education
3
Ucla Foundation

The ucla foundation is the giving, receiving, and investing arm of the ucla campus. the foundation enables private donors to help build, sustain and advance one of the world's finest academic and research institutions. private philanthropy…

Education
4
The Leadership Foundation

The leadership foundation, inc. (the foundation), established in 1990, is the mechanism by which iwf members advance the next generation of women leaders. the foundation accelerates the careers of top-performing women by offering…

—
5
Robert a Toigo Foundation

Our mission is to shape the future of finance by developing leaders whose innovation, investment excellence, and human-centered leadership advance the industry and its adjacent sectors.

Education
6
The Uc Davis Foundation

The mission of the uc davis foundation is to secure, steward and manage private gifts for uc davis.

Education
7
Afp Foundation for Philanthropy

The afp foundation shall strive to enhance philanthropy and volunteerism through programs, education, and research.

—
8
Brooklyn Community Foundation

Spark lasting social justice change, mobilizing people, capital, & expertise for a fair brooklyn.

Philanthropy
9
International Women's Forum Inc

The mission of the international women's forum is to advance women's leadership worldwide. iwf takes direct action to achieve our mission in three important ways. connect: our convenings provide networking and cutting-edge content…

Education
10
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
11
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
12
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative; the most unlike its peers is Ordinary Towards Extraordinary Foundation Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

71 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. 71 of the 100 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.

16
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
65/71
Grantees still filing
44/71
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE OPRAH WINFREY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $34,082,020 · PhilanthropyTHE OPRAH WINFREY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOU…ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $18,204,132 · PhilanthropyENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATIONHALO FOUNDATION: $5,000,000 · PhilanthropyHALO FOUNDATION+7 more: $3,425,000 · Philanthropy+7 moreOW LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $18,507,683 · OtherOW LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOUNDATIO…Individual grant recipient: $8,919,077 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPATHWAYS TO COLLEGE: $3,151,715 · OtherPATHWAYS TO COLLEGEMOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH: $2,053,500 · OtherWHITAKER PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE: $2,200,000 · Other+44 more: $12,270,209 · Other+44 moreTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $20,000,000 · Arts & CultureTHE BARACK OBAM…SCREEN ACTORS GUILD-AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TELEVISION AND RADIO ARTISTS FOUND: $1,000,000 · Arts & CultureACADEMY FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · Arts & Culture+4 more: $475,000 · Arts & CultureMOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $6,500,000 · EducationMOREHOUSE COLL…RON CLARK ACADEMY INC: $5,000,000 · EducationRON CLARK ACAD…Herrendorf Family Foundation Inc: $3,349,900 · EducationHerrendorf Fam…UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS FOUNDATION INC: $1,500,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF …UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $1,149,950 · EducationLa Paz Global: $1,000,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,000,000 · EducationTeach for America Inc: $1,000,000 · EducationMISS PORTER'S SCHOOL INC: $1,000,000 · Education+6 more: $675,000 · EducationUS DREAM ACADEMY INC: $6,847,972 · Youth DevelopmentTHE SOLA FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · Youth DevelopmentMindfulness Leader NFP: $350,000 · Youth Development+2 more: $365,000 · Youth DevelopmentRush University Medical Center: $2,738,500 · HealthMAUI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · HealthWATTS HEALTHCARE CORPORATION: $1,000,000 · HealthPACIFIC BIRTH COLLECTIVE INCORPORATED: $500,000 · HealthSanta Barbara Cottage Hospital: $200,000 · Health+2 more: $35,000 · HealthNational Cares Mentoring Movement Inc: $1,600,000 · Human ServicesAFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $850,000 · Human ServicesUNITY SHOPPE INC: $300,000 · Human ServicesCENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES INC: $125,000 · Human Services+3 more: $225,000 · Human Services
Philanthropy$60,711,152Other$47,102,184Arts & Culture$22,475,000Education$22,174,850Youth Development$8,562,972Health$5,473,500Human Services$3,100,000

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 budgetTHE OPRAH WINFREY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOUNDATION: $34,082,020 over 5y, 95% of budgetTHE BARACK OBAMA FOUNDATION: $20,000,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY FOUNDATION: $18,204,132 over 1y, 18% of budgetUS DREAM ACADEMY INC: $6,847,972 over 5y, 46% of budgetMOREHOUSE COLLEGE: $6,500,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetRON CLARK ACADEMY INC: $5,000,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetHALO FOUNDATION: $5,000,000 over 2y, 55% of budgetHerrendorf Family Foundation Inc: $3,349,900 over 2y, 76% of budgetRush University Medical Center: $2,738,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWHITAKER PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE: $2,200,000 over 2y, 20% of budgetNational Cares Mentoring Movement Inc: $1,600,000 over 3y, 27% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS FOUNDATION INC: $1,500,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetUNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND INC: $1,149,950 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetLa Paz Global: $1,000,000 over 1y, 65% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetHISPANIC FEDERATION INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetWATTS HEALTHCARE CORPORATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMISS PORTER'S SCHOOL INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetTHE SOLA FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetSCREEN ACTORS GUILD-AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TELEVISION AND RADIO ARTISTS FOUND: $1,000,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetACADEMY FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetTHE PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAFRICAN WOMEN RISING: $850,000 over 2y, 52% of budgetMINNIES FOOD PANTRY INC: $850,000 over 5y, 4.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $600,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NEW JERSEY: $500,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPACIFIC BIRTH COLLECTIVE INCORPORATED: $500,000 over 1y, 43% of budgetMindfulness Leader NFP: $350,000 over 2y, 69% of budgetOUT For JUSTICE INC: $300,000 over 1y, 46% of budgetUNITY SHOPPE INC: $300,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetOrdinary Towards Extraordinary Foundation Inc: $250,000 over 6y, 55% of budgetMISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR JUSTICE: $250,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetMANA MAOLI: $250,000 over 2y, 9.0% of budgetSanta Barbara Cottage Hospital: $200,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOLLYROD FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetPROJECT HOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $200,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE WOMENS MEDIA CENTER INC: $150,000 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetGOFUNDMEORG: $150,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetCENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES INC: $125,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF EAST MISSISSIPPI: $115,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetA BETTER CHANCE INC: $110,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetWELLPOINT CARE FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARLEM SCHOOL OF THE ARTS INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTRIBECA FILM INSTITUTE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetSocial Impact Fund: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Pledgeling FoundationWasserman FoundationThe Ford FoundationCalifornia Community …Tides FoundationGreater Houston Commu…National Philanthropi…The Chicago Community…The Goldman Sachs Cha…Rockefeller Philanthr…Boston Foundation IncSilicon Valley Commun…
Pledgeling FoundationCA19.5× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Pledgeling Foundation · Wasserman Foundation · The Ford Foundation · California Community Foundation · Tides Foundation · Greater Houston Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · The Chicago Community Trust · The Goldman Sachs Charitable Gift Fund · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · Boston Foundation Inc · Silicon Valley Community 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 Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 36%
  • Center for Urban Families Inc: 36% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
5get no government money at all
17report 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 Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Oprah Winfrey Charitable 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 100 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 Oprah Winfrey’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