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The Taking Flight Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Taking Flight 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.

$104k
Granted FY2025still arriving
14
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$20k
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.

Human Services$245kHealth$89kEducation$80kAnimals$44kPhilanthropy$40kEnvironment$23kReligion$21kArts & Culture$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $85k
$10,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$2.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BIRDS OF PREY FOUNDATION$20,000
FRIENDS OF THE GREAT COMMISSION$15,000
THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY A COLORADO NON-PROFIT CO$10,000
FRIENDS OF THE BRIDGER-TETON$10,000
CIRCLE OF HOPE HEALTH CARE SERVICES$10,000
CHILD AND FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM$10,000
MERCY AIR HELICOPTER INC$10,000
CHILD SAFE MICHIGAN$5,000
LONGHOPES DONKEY SHELTER INC$5,000
WESTERN RESOURCE ADVOCATES$3,000
ROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC$2,500
STAR VALLEY SEARCH AND RESCUE$1,500
PUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC$1,000
EQUAL REPRESENTATION OF MEDIA ADVOCACY CORPORATION$1,000
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 (FY17–25, $253k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $2k → 9%LIFT UP OF ROUTT COUNTY: $500 → 6%GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $500 → 9%CHILD SAFE MICHIGAN: $5k → 8%WISH FOR WHEELS: $5k → 12%BOULDER JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $25k → 12%BOULDER JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $10k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF COLORADO INC: $5k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF COLORADO INC: $3k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF COLORADO INC: $2k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF COLORADO INC: $2k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $35k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $30k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $25k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $25k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $25k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $25k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $20k → 12%SAFEHOUSE PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE FOR NONVIOLENCE INC: $5k → 12%SAFEHOUSE PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE FOR NONVIOLENCE INC: $2k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $2k → 12%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
ID
IL
MI
NY
MA
NV
WY
CT
CA
CO
MD
AZ
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.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$551k · 29 repeat orgs$154k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +57% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 21 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
27

Total granted

$551k
$117k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+57%
+16%

Still filing today

83%
81%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $37k 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
Human ServicesHealthEducationArts & CultureAnimalsEnvironmentOther
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

  • EF
    EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION
    6× · 2018–2024 · $187k · revenue +112%
  • BO
    Birds of Prey Foundation
    3× · 2023–2025 · $45k · revenue +78%
  • TB
    THE BOULDER JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER
    2× · 2017–2019 · $35k · revenue +111%

Funded once

  • HL
    HILLSIDE LEARNING CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue +55%
  • CF
    COLLINGS FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $15k
  • SV
    Star Valley Medical Center Charitable Foundation
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +24%
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
Rocky Mountain Wild

Rocky mountain wild works to protect, connect, and restore wildlife and wild lands in the southern rocky mountain region. we work to secure the biodiversity of the mountains, plains, and desert ecosystems of colorado, wyoming, utah, and…

Environment
2
Boulder Carshare

To provide and promote alternatives to individual car ownership, thereby reducing the environmental and social impacts associated with motor vehicle use.

Environment
3
Boulder Bike Sharing

Promote health, quality of life and preservation of the environment in boulder, colorado by building and operating a comprehensive city-wide bike sharing

—
4
Animal Rescue of the Rockies

Animal Care and Adoption - ARR's mission is to save the lives of homeless and abandoned dogs and cats. Our goal is reaching a no-kill society in the United States.

Animals
5
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

—
6
Aspen Valley Land Trust

Protecting the open land and special places of the roaring fork and middle colorado river valleys for wildlife, agriculture, and community forever.

Environment
7
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
8
Colorado Museum of Natural History

Be a catalyst! Ignite our community's passion for nature and science.

Arts & Culture
9
Ethics Watch Dba Colorado Ethics Watch

Ethics watch uses high impact legal actions to hold public officials and organizations accountable for unethical activities that undermine the integrity of government in colorado. the organization accomplishes its mission by combining…

—
10
Colorado Animal Rescue Inc

C.A.R.E's mission is practicing excellence in the animal care, education, and advocacy to connect pets to their people.

Animals
11
Wild Rockies Field Institute Inc

To broaden the nature of a liberal arts education; teach critical thinking about social & environmental issues; foster understanding of & respect for natural & human communities; & cultivate a sense of place that encourages personal,…

Education
12
Boulder Watershed Collective

The Boulder Watershed Collective is a 501c3 non-profit stakeholder-driven organization established to address forested watershed health,resiliency and stewardship. We have three program areas: ClimateAdaptation and Resilience Watershed…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Foundation Boulder County; the most unlike its peers is Aish Hatorah Detroit. 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

56 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. 56 of the 64 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)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/56
Grantees still filing
39/56
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION: $186,500 · Human ServicesEMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATIONTHE BOULDER JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $35,000 · Human ServicesTHE BOULDER JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF COLORADO INC: $11,000 · Human Services+5 more: $20,000 · Human Services+5 moreBirds of Prey Foundation: $45,000 · OtherBirds of Prey FoundationCOLLINGS FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · OtherCOLLINGS FOUNDATION INCMICHIGAN B'NAI B'RITH HILLEL FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 · OtherCONGREGATION HAR HASHEM: $8,080 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $25,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTYCOLORADO MUSIC FESTIVAL & CENTER FOR MUSICAL ARTS: $10,500 · OtherPARTNERS IN ACTION INC: $14,000 · OtherPARTNERS IN ACTION INCFriends of the Great Commission: $15,000 · OtherFriends of the Great CommissionMetro Food Rescue: $10,000 · OtherGIRLS ON THE RUN OF THE ROCKIES: $10,000 · OtherMERCY AIR HELICOPTER INC: $10,000 · Other+24 more: $61,700 · Other+24 moreCIRCLE OF HOPE HEALTH CARE SVCS INC: $30,000 · HealthCIRCLE OF HOPE…AEROANGEL INC: $25,000 · HealthAEROANGEL INCANGEL FLIGHT WEST INC: $15,000 · HealthANGEL FLIGHT W…Star Valley Medical Center Charitable Foundation: $10,000 · HealthStar Valley Me…KEEP A CHILD ALIVE INC: $10,000 · HealthKEEP A CHILD A…+1 more: $500 · HealthALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION: $25,500 · EducationALEXANDER …HILLSIDE LEARNING CENTER: $20,000 · EducationHILLSIDE L…REGIS UNIVERSITY: $17,500 · EducationREGIS UNIV…I Have A Dream Foundation Of Boulder County: $5,000 · EducationI Have A D…+1 more: $1,000 · EducationTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $17,770 · AnimalsLonghopes Donkey Shelter Inc: $5,000 · AnimalsINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC: $5,000 · AnimalsANIMAL HUMANE ASSOC OF STAR VALLEY: $5,000 · Animals+1 more: $750 · AnimalsFRIENDS OF THE BRIDGER-TETON: $25,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,000 · Environment+1 more: $400 · EnvironmentCHILD AND FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM: $19,000 · Crime & LegalWestern Resource Advocates: $6,500 · Crime & Legal
Human Services$252,500Other$234,780Health$90,500Education$69,000Animals$33,520Environment$26,400Crime & Legal$25,500

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 budgetEMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION: $186,500 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetBirds of Prey Foundation: $45,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetTHE BOULDER JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER: $35,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCIRCLE OF HOPE HEALTH CARE SVCS INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetALEXANDER DAWSON FOUNDATION: $25,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAEROANGEL INC: $25,000 over 6y, 5.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE BRIDGER-TETON: $25,000 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION BOULDER COUNTY: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHILLSIDE LEARNING CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCHILD AND FAMILY ADVOCACY PROGRAM: $19,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $17,770 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetREGIS UNIVERSITY: $17,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetANGEL FLIGHT WEST INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPARTNERS IN ACTION INC: $14,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF COLORADO INC: $11,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMICHIGAN B'NAI B'RITH HILLEL FOUNDATION INC: $10,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCOLORADO MUSIC FESTIVAL & CENTER FOR MUSICAL ARTS: $10,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN OF THE ROCKIES: $10,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetStar Valley Medical Center Charitable Foundation: $10,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetMERCY AIR HELICOPTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetMetro Food Rescue: $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetKEEP A CHILD ALIVE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAFEHOUSE PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE FOR NONVIOLENCE INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWestern Resource Advocates: $6,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBOULDER VALLEY WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER INC: $6,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetA BETTER CHANCE IN DARIEN INC: $5,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetCHILD SAFE MICHIGAN: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLonghopes Donkey Shelter Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetINTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWish for Wheels Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetANIMAL HUMANE ASSOC OF STAR VALLEY: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetI Have A Dream Foundation Of Boulder County: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetACLU FOUNDATION OF COLORADO INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetStar Valley Search and Rescue: $3,750 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $2,700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAlpine EMS Inc: $2,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetCYCLISTS 4 COMMUNITY: $2,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetBOULDER SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF BOULDER INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetE TOWN: $1,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKADIMA: $1,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetEQUAL REPRESENTATION OF MEDIA ADVOCACY C: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENWOOD WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER: $750 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Community Foundation …Colorado Gives Founda…The Denver FoundationAmg Charitable Gift F…Xcel Energy FoundationMadeleine H and Mande…Rose Community Founda…Louis P Singer Fund I…Emsa Fund IncMile High United Way …The Wolf Family Found…Collins Foundation
Community Foundation Boulder CountyCO35.5× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation Boulder County · Colorado Gives Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Madeleine H and Mandell L Berman Support Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · Louis P Singer Fund Inc · Emsa Fund Inc · Mile High United Way Inc · The Wolf Family Foundation · Collins 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 Taking Flight Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Taking Flight Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 Taking Flight Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Taking Flight 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 64 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 Taking Flight’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