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· Public charity

The Thunderbirds

The purpose of THE THUNDERBIRDS shall be to publicize the city of phoenix, arizona, and the phoenix metropolitan area, by sponsoring athletic events and by providing financial assistance to amateur athletes and youth-oriented charities.

$13M
Granted FY2025still arriving
57
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$10M
Largest
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 2025.

Philanthropy$57MRecreation & Sports$18MYouth Development$4.2MEducation$1.7MHealth$1.1MEnvironment$1.1MHuman Services$923kFood & Nutrition$660kOther$0
02FY2025 · 57 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 57 grants below total $12,551,854, the rows itemized in this filing. The $12,894,047 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $342,193 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.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k17 grants · $123k
  • $10k–50k30 grants · $591k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $687k
  • $250k+4 grants · $11M
$15,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$78M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THUNDERBIRDS CHARITIES$10,026,308
THUNDERBIRDS FOUNDATION$497,000
CHANGE THE COURSE BEF$323,334
FIRST TEE OF PHOENIX (THE)$304,500
JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA$207,500
ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$160,000
PGA TOUR FIRST TEE FOUNDATION INC$100,000
PHOENIX PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION$92,394
AMERICAN JUNIOR GOLF FOUNDATION$70,000
WASTE NOT AZ$56,666
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE VALLEY$41,472
SPECIAL OLYMPICS OF ARIZONA$37,030
WEST VALLEY MAVERICKS FOUNDATION$33,000
USO ARIZONA$28,500
MVP FOUNDATION THE$28,000
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, $776k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HOMEAID AMERICA: $13k → 10%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $25k → 15%HUMAN IMPACT THE: $18k → 14%MILITARY WARRIORS SUPPORT FOUNDATION: $20k → 16%WASTE MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES CARE FUND: $100k → 16%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $20k → 15%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $20k → 15%BLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK: $9k → 15%VOS YMCA: $80k → 11%VOS YMCA: $55k → 11%VOS YMCA: $35k → 11%VALLEY OF THE SUN YMCA: $10k → 11%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 11%VOS YMCA: $10k → 11%ABILTY 360: $7k → 11%ABILTY 360: $7k → 11%ABILITY 360: $7k → 11%MIDWEST FOOD BANK AZ: $25k → 11%PHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES: $43k → 11%PHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES: $39k → 11%PHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES: $21k → 11%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL & NORTHERN AZ: $20k → 11%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL & NORTHERN AZ: $20k → 11%PHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES: $19k → 11%PHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES: $18k → 11%PHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES: $15k → 11%GENESIS ACADEMY: $14k → 11%GENESIS ACADEMY: $13k → 11%GENESIS ACADEMY: $10k → 11%GENESIS ACADEMY: $10k → 11%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL & NORTHERN AZ: $6k → 11%PHOENIX INDIAN CENTER: $50k → 11%HUSHABYE NURSERY: $10k → 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

ME
MN
NY
MA
OR
NV
OH
PA
CA
CO
MO
KY
VA
AZ
TN
NC
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$83M · 67 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

67 repeat relationships: 41 still active in FY2025, 26 since wound down; 14 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

67
71

Total granted

$83M
$1.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+19%

Still filing today

88%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $220k 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
HealthHuman ServicesPhilanthropyRecreation & SportsEducationPublic BenefitOther
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

  • TC
    THUNDERBIRDS CHARITIES
    9× · 2017–2025 · $64M · revenue +52% · 88% of their budget
  • TF
    THUNDERBIRD FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $3.8M · revenue +66% · 100% of their budget
  • AG
    ARIZONA GOLF AND LIFE SKILLS INC DBA FIRST TEE - PHOENIX
    9× · 2017–2025 · $2.4M · revenue +34% · 34% of their budget

Funded once

  • WE
    WM EMERGENCY EMPLOYEE SUPPORT FUND
    one grant, 2018 · $100k · revenue -2%
  • NF
    NABI FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $55k · revenue +31%
  • TH
    TREASURE HOUSE
    one grant, 2017 · $50k · revenue -29%
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
Lodestar Charitable Foundation

To perform the functions of, or to carry out the purposes of the arizona community foundation, an az nonprofit corporation, so long as the arizona community foundation, inc. remains a qualified organization.

—
2
Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Foundation

Bringing together diverse voices to advance health and healthcare in arizona.

Health
3
Arizona Grantmakers Forum

To encourage, assist, promote private philanthropy to increase the awareness, appreciation, effectiveness of private philanthropy by providing information, networking opportunities, technical assistance, related services to private…

—
4
Arizona Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Azaap is committed to improving the health of arizona children and supporting the pediatric professionals who care for them.

Health
5
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
6
Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce

Greater phoenix chamber of commerce (the chamber) catalyzes regional prosperity with forward-thinking public policy, intentional economic growth, and diverse, prepared talent.

—
7
Science Foundation Arizona

Science foundation arizona's mission is to diversify arizona's economy by investing in scientific and engineering research linked to industry needs and investing in education to create a work force with 21st centrury skills.

Philanthropy
8
Arizona Wins

Az wins is a coalition of organizations dedicated to achieving public policies that benefit working arizona families and advancing an inclusive, engaged, just and equitable state for all arizonans. in 2024 az wins substantially reduced its…

Civil Rights
9
Arizona Healthiest State Foundation
—
10
American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona

To assist member firms in achieving higher professional, ethical business and economic standards, enabling member firms to provide quality consulting and engineering services for their clients and the public.

—
11
Vitalyst Health Foundation

To connect, support and inform efforts to improve the health of individuals and communities in arizona.

Health
12
Greater Phoenix Leadership Inc

To improve the greater phoenix area and the state of arizona by bringing together talent, resources and leadership to create action on priority issues.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is ABILITY360 Inc; the most unlike its peers is Xander Schauffele Family Foundation. 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

139 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. 139 of the 161 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.

11
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
34
Early backer (in before they grew)
133/139
Grantees still filing
98/139
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THUNDERBIRDS CHARITIES: $64,316,241 · PhilanthropyTHUNDERBIRDS CHARITIESSUN ANGEL FOUNDATION: $2,698,000 · Philanthropy+19 more: $1,931,621 · PhilanthropyTHUNDERBIRD FOUNDATION: $3,847,750 · OtherTHUNDERBIRD …JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA INC: $941,848 · OtherJUNIOR GOLF …PHOENIX PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION: $565,281 · OtherPHOENIX PANH…+79 more: $4,000,522 · Other+79 moreARIZONA GOLF AND LIFE SKILLS INC DBA FIRST TEE - PHOENIX: $2,429,500 · Recreation & SportsAmerican Junior Golf Association Inc: $539,943 · Recreation & SportsSPECIAL OLYMPICS ARIZONA INC: $410,246 · Recreation & Sports+7 more: $236,956 · Recreation & SportsUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $1,082,300 · EducationBella Vista Foundation Inc: $54,367 · Education+7 more: $126,938 · EducationValley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $190,200 · Human ServicesRECREATION AND ATHLETICS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES: $160,731 · Human ServicesPHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES INC: $155,000 · Human ServicesTHE MICHAEL PHELPS FOUNDATION: $101,000 · Human ServicesWM EMERGENCY EMPLOYEE SUPPORT FUND: $100,000 · Human ServicesBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $74,000 · Human ServicesAmerican Indian Association of Tucson Inc: $50,000 · Human ServicesPHOENIX INDIAN CENTER INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesGENESIS PROGRAM INC: $46,000 · Human ServicesRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ARIZONA: $45,964 · Human Services+8 more: $154,500 · Human ServicesBONNEVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION: $786,252 · EnvironmentARIZONA RECYCLING COALITION DBA CIRCULAR ARIZONA: $206,249 · EnvironmentBanner Health Foundation: $250,000 · HealthPhoenix Children's Hospital Foundation: $83,500 · HealthPhoenix Children's Hospital: $77,500 · HealthVALLEYWISE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $70,000 · HealthTHE BOARD OF VISITORS: $62,527 · HealthBENEVOLENT HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $30,397 · HealthST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $27,500 · Health+12 more: $167,383 · Health
Philanthropy$68,945,862Other$9,355,401Recreation & Sports$3,616,645Education$1,263,605Human Services$1,127,395Environment$992,501Health$768,807

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 budgetTHUNDERBIRDS CHARITIES: $64,316,241 over 9y, 88% of budgetTHUNDERBIRD FOUNDATION: $3,847,750 over 9y, 100% of budgetSUN ANGEL FOUNDATION: $2,698,000 over 7y, 5.6% of budgetARIZONA GOLF AND LIFE SKILLS INC DBA FIRST TEE - PHOENIX: $2,429,500 over 9y, 34% of budgetARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $1,442,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetUniversity of Arizona Foundation: $1,082,300 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetJUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA INC: $941,848 over 5y, 13% of budgetBONNEVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION: $786,252 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetPHOENIX PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION: $565,281 over 9y, 90% of budgetAmerican Junior Golf Association Inc: $539,943 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS ARIZONA INC: $410,246 over 9y, 2.7% of budgetWaste Not Inc: $310,038 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF METROPOLITAN PHOENIX INC: $261,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBanner Health Foundation: $250,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetWEST VALLEY MAVERICKS FOUNDATION: $243,666 over 7y, 7.4% of budgetST MARY'S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE: $242,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetARIZONA RECYCLING COALITION DBA CIRCULAR ARIZONA: $206,249 over 5y, 86% of budgetOPERATION SHOWER: $205,000 over 9y, 3.0% of budgetSOCCER VILLAGE FOUNDATION: $200,054 over 8y, 24% of budgetValley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association: $190,200 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetHuman Services Campus Inc: $168,738 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetRECREATION AND ATHLETICS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES: $160,731 over 8y, 25% of budgetPHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES INC: $155,000 over 6y, 2.9% of budgetSolid Waste Association of North America: $149,583 over 4y, 64% of budgetPGA TOUR WIVES ASSOCIATION INC: $146,000 over 5y, 29% of budgetARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS FOUNDATIONINC: $110,500 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetTHE MICHAEL PHELPS FOUNDATION: $101,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetMVP FOUNDATION: $100,500 over 4y, 15% of budgetWM EMERGENCY EMPLOYEE SUPPORT FUND: $100,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetUMOM NEW DAY CENTERS INC: $90,862 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetPhoenix Children's Hospital Foundation: $83,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAZ IMPACT FOR GOOD: $80,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetTHE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION: $79,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFIGHTER COUNTRY FOUNDATION INC: $79,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetUNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC: $78,800 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPhoenix Children's Hospital: $77,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEXECUTIVE COUNCIL CHARITIES: $75,387 over 6y, 0.9% of budgetBLESSINGS IN A BACKPACK INC: $74,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetDIOCESAN COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL DIOCESE PHOENIX: $71,300 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetVALLEYWISE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetARIZONA GOLF FOUNDATION: $66,666 over 2y, 57% of budgetTHE BOARD OF VISITORS: $62,527 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE VALLEY INC: $57,472 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNABI FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetTREASURE HOUSE: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetAmerican Indian Association of Tucson Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 2.8% of budgetPHOENIX INDIAN CENTER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetGENESIS PROGRAM INC: $46,000 over 4y, 1.3% 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 THUNDERBIRDS CHARITIES ↗
  • Who funds THUNDERBIRD FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds SUN ANGEL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ARIZONA GOLF AND LIFE SKILLS INC DBA FIRST TEE - PHOENIX ↗
  • Who funds ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds University of Arizona Foundation ↗
  • Who funds JUNIOR GOLF ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA INC ↗
  • Who funds BONNEVILLE ENVIRONMENTAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PHOENIX PANHELLENIC ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds American Junior Golf Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS ARIZONA INC ↗
  • Who funds Waste Not Inc ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF METROPOLITAN PHOENIX INC ↗
  • Who funds Banner Health Foundation ↗
  • Who funds WEST VALLEY MAVERICKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ST MARY'S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds ARIZONA RECYCLING COALITION DBA CIRCULAR ARIZONA ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION SHOWER ↗
  • Who funds SOCCER VILLAGE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Valley of the Sun Young Men's Christian Association ↗
  • Who funds Human Services Campus Inc ↗
  • Who funds RECREATION AND ATHLETICS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ↗
  • Who funds PHOENIX SUNS CHARITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Solid Waste Association of North America ↗
  • Who funds PGA TOUR WIVES ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS FOUNDATIONINC ↗
  • Who funds THE MICHAEL PHELPS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MVP FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WM EMERGENCY EMPLOYEE SUPPORT FUND ↗
  • Who funds PGA TOUR FIRST TEE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UMOM NEW DAY CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation ↗
  • Who funds AZ IMPACT FOR GOOD ↗
  • Who funds THE MINNEAPOLIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FIGHTER COUNTRY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds Phoenix Children's Hospital ↗
  • Who funds EXECUTIVE COUNCIL CHARITIES ↗

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.

Arizona Community FoundationAZ64.5× affinity48 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Arizona Community Foundation · Thunderbirds Charities · Pga Tour Inc · Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust · The Foundation for Community and Health Advancement · BHHS Legacy Foundation · Fiesta Events Inc · Phoenix Suns Charities Inc · The Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation · Arizona Diamondbacks Foundationinc · American Express Foundation · Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust

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 Thunderbirds funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Thunderbirds. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Bonneville Environmental Foundation: 100% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Jackson Health Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
30report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 161 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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