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The Orau Foundation at a glance

· Public charity

The Orau Foundation

THE ORAU FOUNDATION supports oak ridge associated universities, inc.

$422k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$150k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Science & Tech$915kHealth$247kEducation$195kSocial Science$26k
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 3 grants below total $285,052, the rows itemized in this filing. The $421,566 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $136,514 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$75,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$69M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE$149,512
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER$75,000
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH$60,540
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 80% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $61k → 11%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $75k → 16%THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $75k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $37k → 16%TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $53k → 22%OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY: $39k → 19%FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $45k → 10%FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: $18k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA: $75k → 12%VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: $20k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: $31k → 17%FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY: $38k → 16%EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $27k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: $46k → 27%UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $25k → 12%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: $38k → 15%SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY AT CARBONDALE: $75k → 23%UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI: $35k → 18%VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY: $150k → 21%VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY: $68k → 22%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $50k → 19%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $40k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $37k → 16%FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $39k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: $31k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: $26k → 27%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

IL
NY
OH
PA
CO
VA
MD
TN
NC
OK
MS
GA
TX
FL
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.

50%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$798k · 6 repeat orgs$795k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +27% since the first grant, against +6% for those funded once.

6 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
16

Total granted

$798k
$735k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+6%

Still filing today

17%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $61k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time
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

  • TU
    THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
    6× · 2019–2025 · $364k
  • PS
    PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2018–2024 · $115k
  • RO
    REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
    2× · 2018–2025 · $100k

Funded once

  • VP
    VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE & STATE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2024 · $150k
  • SI
    SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY- CARBONDALE
    one grant, 2023 · $75k
  • VH
    VCUVCU HEALTH CAMPUS
    one grant, 2023 · $68k
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
2
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
3
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
4
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
5
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
7
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
8
The University of Tulsa

The university of tulsa is a student-centered research university that cultivates interconnected learning experiences to explore complex ideas and create new knowledge in a spirit of free inquiry. guided by our commitment to diversity,…

Education
9
Trustees of Boston University

Organization's mission: boston university is an international, comprehensive, private research university, committed to educating students to be reflective, resourceful individuals ready to live, adapt, and lead in an interconnected world.…

—
10
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
11
University of Virginia Investment Management Company

The university of virginia investment management company (uvimco) is organized to invest funds on behalf of the rector and visitors of the university of virginia (the university or uva) and university-associated organizations (uaos).

Education
12
Indiana University Foundation

The Indiana University Foundation (IUF) maximizes private philanthropic support for Indiana University by fostering lifelong relationships with key stakeholders and providing advancement leadership and fundraising services for (Continued…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Florida Institute of Technology Inc; the most unlike its peers is Emory University. 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

8 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. 8 of the 24 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/8
Grantees still filing
5/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE: $363,527 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEEVIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE & STATE UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · OtherVIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE & STATE UNIVERSITYPENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $115,000 · OtherPENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITYREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $100,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOSOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY- CARBONDALE: $74,627 · OtherSOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY- CARBONDALEUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: $74,214 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONVCUVCU HEALTH CAMPUS: $68,000 · OtherVCUVCU HEALTH CAMPUSTHE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: $61,032 · OtherTEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $52,914 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA: $45,950 · Other+6 more: $169,478 · Other+6 moreFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $84,000 · EducationFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHN…THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $75,000 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA U…UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $60,540 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGHJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $49,760 · EducationJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITYTHE INNOVATION FOUNDATION AT OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY INC: $39,336 · EducationTHE INNOVATION FOUNDATION …OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $37,500 · EducationOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUN…Emory University: $26,949 · EducationEmory UniversityVanderbilt University: $20,000 · Education
Other$1,274,742Education$393,085

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%grantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $84,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $75,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $60,540 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $49,760 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $37,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEmory University: $26,949 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ↗
  • Who funds JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds THE INNOVATION FOUNDATION AT OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY INC ↗
  • Who funds OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Emory University ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University ↗

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Orau Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Orau 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • The Innovation Foundation at Oklahoma State University Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Florida Institute of Technology Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
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 Orau Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Orau 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 24 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 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