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The Robert S Johnson and Sharon L Johnson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Robert S Johnson and Sharon L Johnson 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.

$2k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$1k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0183% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$10kFood & Nutrition$2kArts & Culture$1kInternational$1kHuman Services$800Environment$600Employment$550Education$505Other$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
3
States reached
$65k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MERF$1,000
Friends of Arizona PBS$500
World Central Kitchen$500
Community Food Bank of Southern Ari$250
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 (FY20–22, $900) 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%The Brigid Alliance: $500 → 17%The Innocence Project: $100 → 17%Youth On Their Own: $200 → 15%Youth On Their Own: $100 → 15%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
NY
OR
CA
AZ
TN
DC
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.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18k · 8 repeat orgs$6k to everyone else

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

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
26

Total granted

$18k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-12%
+42%

Still filing today

50%
65%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalFood & NutritionHuman ServicesCrime & LegalEnvironmentAnimalsOther
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

  • ME
    Medical Ed Research Found'n
    3× · 2017–2019 · $9k
  • M
    MERF
    4× · 2020–2025 · $5k
  • CF
    Community Food Bank Inc
    7× · 2018–2025 · $2k · revenue -16%

Funded once

  • DIRECT RELIEFgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $500 · revenue +94%
  • NN
    NATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND
    one grant, 2022 · $500 · revenue -37%
  • TB
    THE BRIGID ALLIANCE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $500 · revenue +42%
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
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
2
Feeding San Diego

On a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. through direct service and community partnerships, feeding san diego provides more than 26 million meals each year to children, families,…

Food & Nutrition
3
Food Forward Inc

Food forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same.

Food & Nutrition
4
Waste Not Inc

Waste Not cultivates sustainable food systems that help people and the planet flourish. We do this by eliminating food waste and hunger through innovative community partnerships.

Food & Nutrition
5
Arizona Family Health Partnership

To make sexual and reproductive healthcare accessible to everyone

—
6
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
7
Arizona Community Foundation

To lead, serve and collaborate to mobilize enduring philanthropy for a better arizona.

Philanthropy
8
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
9
America's Second Harvest of the Big Bend Inc

To advance change by feeding the hungry and educating and engaging the community in the fight to end hunger.

Food & Nutrition
10
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
11
International Aids Vaccine Initiative Inc

A nonprofit scientific research organization that develops vaccines and antibodies for hiv, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases.

International
12
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Tucson Family Food Project Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Innocence Project 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

23 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. 23 of the 36 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
12/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Medical Ed Research Found'n: $9,000 · OtherMedical Ed Research Found'nMERF: $4,700 · OtherMERFArizona Public Media: $751 · Other+17 more: $3,278 · Other+17 moreCommunity Food Bank Inc: $1,933 · Food & NutritionCommunity F…ARIZONA FOOD BANK NETWORK: $200 · Food & NutritionARIZONA FOO…TUCSON FAMILY FOOD PROJECT INC: $150 · Food & NutritionTUCSON FAMI…GREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $100 · Food & NutritionDIRECT RELIEF: $500 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $500 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL RELIEF TEAMS: $250 · InternationalSave The Children Federation Inc: $200 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $100 · InternationalTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $500 · Human ServicesYOUTH ON THEIR OWN: $300 · Human ServicesTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $100 · Human ServicesNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND: $500 · EnvironmentTUCSON BOTANICAL GARDENS: $100 · EnvironmentFARESTART: $550 · EmploymentARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $500 · Education
Other$17,729Food & Nutrition$2,383International$1,550Human Services$900Environment$600Employment$550Education$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 budgetCommunity Food Bank Inc: $1,933 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFARESTART: $550 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL NETWORK OF ABORTION FUNDS LILITH FUND: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BRIGID ALLIANCE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOUTSIDE IN: $300 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTH ON THEIR OWN: $300 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL RELIEF TEAMS: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARIZONA FOOD BANK NETWORK: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $200 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTUCSON FAMILY FOOD PROJECT INC: $150 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKIND INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTUCSON BOTANICAL GARDENS: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOUSTON SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREATER CHICAGO FOOD DEPOSITORY: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOREGON FOOD BANK: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR SAFETY AND JUSTICE: $100 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.

Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundMA5.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Robert S Johnson and Sharon L Johnson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Robert S Johnson and Sharon L Johnson Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Outside in: 33% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Oregon Food Bank: 21% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
7report 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 36 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

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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