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The Petunia Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Petunia Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$120k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$50k
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$20kInternational$12kHealth$11kEnvironment$11kPhilanthropy$10kAnimals$5kCivil Rights$3kCommunity Improvement$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $100k
$50,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$371k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC$50,000
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC$50,000
OUR CHILDRENS TRUST$10,000
DUKE UNIVERSITY$10,000
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 (FY17–20, $3k) 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%PROMISE ARIZONA: $500 → 11%NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC: $2k → 17%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.

51%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$101k · 4 repeat orgs$96k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +102% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

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

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
12

Total granted

$101k
$36k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+102%
+10%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentHuman ServicesInternationalEducationCivil RightsHealthOther
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

  • AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2017–2025 · $51k · revenue +102%
  • DUKE UNIVERSITY
    6× · 2018–2025 · $29k · revenue +41%
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC
    2× · 2017–2022 · $11k · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • SU
    SAVE UKRAINE
    one grant, 2024 · $10k
  • RAZOM INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue -65%
  • WI
    WILDLIFEDIRECT INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $5k · revenue +28%
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
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
2
Federation for American Immigration Reform

The federation for american immigration reform's (fair) mission is to educate the public about the economic, sociological, environmental, demographic and other effects of mass immigration to the united states.

International
3
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
4
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
5
Washington Office On Latin America

To advance human rights and social justice in the americas.

International
6
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
7
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.": - count it: our work is…

International
8
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
9
Third Way

To research and develop centrist policy ideas.

Civil Rights
10
The Architectural League of New York

The architectural league of new york supports critically transformative work in the allied fields that shape the built environment. as a vital, independent forum, the league stimulates thinking, debate, and action on today's (continued on…

—
11
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
12
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners

Founded in 1889, the national association of regulatory utility commisioners (naruc) is a non-profit organization dedicated to representing the state public service commisions who regulate the utilities that provide essential services such…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Our Children's Trust; the most unlike its peers is Save Ukraine Np. 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

18 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover.

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)
18/18
Grantees still filing
11/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $50,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INCEarth Island Institute Inc: $10,600 · EnvironmentEarth Island Institute IncOUR CHILDREN'S TRUST: $10,000 · EnvironmentOUR CHILDREN'S TRUSTAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $51,000 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNIO…DUKE UNIVERSITY: $28,500 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITYABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL SCHOOL: $1,000 · EducationRAZOM INC: $10,000 · InternationalRAZOM INCWILDLIFEDIRECT INC: $5,000 · InternationalWILDLIFED…KEEPING OUR PROMISE INC: $2,000 · InternationalKEEPING O…PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $11,000 · HealthSAVE UKRAINE: $10,000 · PhilanthropyNATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesPROMISE ARIZONA: $500 · Human ServicesTRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INC: $2,000 · OtherFeeding America: $1,000 · OtherEVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY SUPPORT FUND INC: $500 · OtherHISPANIC FEDERATION INC: $500 · Other
Environment$70,600Civil Rights$51,000Education$29,500International$17,000Health$11,000Philanthropy$10,000Human Services$3,500Other$4,000

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 budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $51,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $28,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $10,600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetOUR CHILDREN'S TRUST: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetRAZOM INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILDLIFEDIRECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetNATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKEEPING OUR PROMISE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetABRAHAM JOSHUA HESCHEL SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROMISE ARIZONA: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHISPANIC FEDERATION INC: $500 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.

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.

Morgan Stanley Global…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust IncIN10× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Petunia Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Petunia 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 →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report 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.

    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 18 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Petunia’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