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The Rod N McDonald Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Rod N McDonald Family 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.

$53k
Granted FY2025still arriving
16
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0193% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Animals$90kFood & Nutrition$84kHealth$65kPhilanthropy$20kArts & Culture$10kHuman Services$10kEnvironment$6kReligion$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k15 grants · $38k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $15k
$2,100
Median grant
7
States reached
$629k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION$15,000
NPR$8,800
WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY$5,000
CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE$5,000
POLAR BEARS INTL$3,000
THE LIVING DESERT ZOO & GARDENS$2,500
FDN FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS EXPRESSION$2,500
NOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS$2,100
Individual grant recipient$2,000
MANNA FOOD BANK$1,500
DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,500
NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL HEALTH$1,000
Individual grant recipient$500
HUMANE COLORADO$500
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 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 68% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FDN FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS EXPRESSION: $3k → 22%RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%MANNA FOOD BANK: $10k → 12%VRCC ANIMAL CARE FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%NEW HORIZONS FOUNDATION: $1k → 9%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $5k → 9%DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $1k → 12%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%MANNA FOOD BANK: $2k → 12%VRCC ANIMAL CARE FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $5k → 9%DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $1k → 12%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%MANNA FOOD BANK: $1k → 12%VRCC ANIMAL CARE FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 9%EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION: $21k → 11%NOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $11k → 8%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 9%DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $2k → 12%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%NOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $10k → 8%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 9%DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $1k → 12%EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION: $15k → 11%NOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $6k → 8%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 9%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%NOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $3k → 8%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 9%EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION: $13k → 11%NOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $2k → 8%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 9%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 9%EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION: $10k → 11%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%MCCALLUM THEATRE: $10k → 11%EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION: $9k → 11%HIGH LINE CANAL CONSERVANCY: $1k → 12%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%HIGH LINE CANAL CONSERVANCY: $1k → 12%THE LIVING DESERT ZOO & GARDENS: $3k → 11%HIGH LINE CANAL: $1k → 12%EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION: $2k → 11%HIGH LINE CANAL CONSERVANCY: $1k → 12%DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1k → 11%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

MT
NY
CA
CO
VA
MD
KS
TN
NC
DC
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$301k · 21 repeat orgs$28k to everyone else

21 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
7

Total granted

$301k
$14k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+76%
+89%

Still filing today

52%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k 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
AnimalsHuman ServicesFood & NutritionPublic BenefitPhilanthropyEducationOther
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

  • CC
    CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $36k · revenue +76%
  • TW
    THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY
    9× · 2017–2025 · $31k · revenue +124%
  • PB
    POLAR BEARS INTERNATIONAL
    8× · 2017–2025 · $25k · revenue +173%

Funded once

  • MT
    MCCALLUM THEATRE
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • RC
    RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO
    one grant, 2017 · $1k · revenue -24%
  • SA
    SALVATION ARMY
    one grant, 2017 · $1k
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
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals
2
Northcoast Marine Mammal Center

The northcoast marine mammal centers (nmmc) mission is to promote the long-term health of marine mammals along approximately two hundred miles of remote coastline in humboldt and del norte counties in northern california. the nmmc does…

Animals
3
Conservation Society of California

Through management of oakland zoo, the conservation society of california deepens connection with animals, saves wildlife, and inspires champions for the natural world.

Animals
4
The Jmt Wilderness Conservancy

Working to restore the watersheds, wilderness, and wildlife in the high sierra nevada following the john muir trail (est. 1915) for all life in california.

Environment
5
Utah Zoological Society

Create champions for wildlife by making connections between people and animals to inspire action.

Animals
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
The Peregrine Fund Inc

To change the future for nature and humanity by conserving birds of prey worldwide.

—
8
Colorado Open Lands

Colorado open lands' mission is to preserve the significant open lands and natural heritage of colorado through private and public partnerships, innovative land conservation, and strategic leadership.

Environment
9
Nature Collective

Nature collective's mission is to drive a passion for nature for all. we think inclusively and diversely when serving those devoid of nature those who remember nature and want to connect back to it and those who have an affinity with…

Environment
10
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign

The american wild horse campaign is the nation's leading conservation organization dedicated to preserving the freedom and habitat of wild horses and burros. through its initiatives in advocacy, conservation, land preservation, and legal…

Animals
11
World Animal Protection

World animal protection is a global organization working to end factory farming and wildlife exploitation. we expose cruel systems, promote animal-friendly alternatives, and influence policy change. for over 75 years, we've been rewriting…

Animals
12
Panthera Corporation

Panthera's mission is the conservation of the world's 40 wild cat species, many of which are endangered or threatened. panthera develops, implements and oversees wild cat conservation strategies on a global scale.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver Dumb Friends League; the most unlike its peers is Soldiers Organized Services. 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

19 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. 19 of the 33 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/19
Grantees still filing
14/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATION: $70,000 · OtherEISENHOWER MEDICAL CTR FOUNDATIONMEALS ON WHEELS: $42,473 · OtherMEALS ON WHEELSMCCALLUM THEATRE: $10,000 · OtherMCCALLUM THEATRENPR: $8,800 · OtherNATIONAL MS SOCIETY: $6,000 · Other+13 more: $35,200 · Other+13 moreTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $31,000 · AnimalsTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCT…POLAR BEARS INTERNATIONAL: $24,500 · AnimalsPOLAR BEARS INTERNATI…DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $6,500 · AnimalsDENVER DUMB FRIENDS L…DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $2,500 · Animals+1 more: $500 · AnimalsNOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $31,500 · Food & NutritionNOURISH MEALS …MANNA FOOD BANK INC: $13,500 · Food & NutritionMANNA FOOD BAN…CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $35,550 · Human ServicesCANINE COMPA…CHALLENGED ATHLETES INC: $3,500 · Human ServicesCHALLENGED A…+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesDESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,314 · PhilanthropyThe New Horizons Foundation Inc: $1,400 · PhilanthropyRADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO: $1,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC: $2,500 · Public BenefitLIVING DESERT THE: $2,500 · Environment
Other$172,473Animals$65,000Food & Nutrition$45,000Human Services$40,050Philanthropy$22,714Public Benefit$2,500Environment$2,500

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 budgetCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $35,550 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetNOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $31,500 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $31,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetPOLAR BEARS INTERNATIONAL: $24,500 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetDESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,314 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetMANNA FOOD BANK INC: $13,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $6,500 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetHIGH LINE CANAL CONSERVANCY: $5,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSOLDIERS ORGANIZED SERVICES: $5,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetCHALLENGED ATHLETES INC: $3,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC: $2,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLIVING DESERT THE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe New Horizons Foundation Inc: $1,400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetHELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL 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.

  • Who funds CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds NOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS ↗
  • Who funds THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY ↗
  • Who funds POLAR BEARS INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds DESERT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MANNA FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds DENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE ↗
  • Who funds HIGH LINE CANAL CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds SOLDIERS ORGANIZED SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds CHALLENGED ATHLETES INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds DENVER ZOOLOGICAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LIVING DESERT THE ↗
  • Who funds The New Horizons Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO ↗
  • Who funds WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds HELEN WOODWARD ANIMAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MONARCH SCHOOL PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗

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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Amazonsmile Foundation
Amazonsmile FoundationWA2.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: 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 Rod N McDonald Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Rod N McDonald Family 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 33 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 Rod N McDonald Family’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