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The Wayne and Marilyn Nelson Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Wayne and Marilyn Nelson 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.

$114k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

Education$2.1MReligion$725kHealth$104kAnimals$16kInternational$7kHuman Services$2kArts & Culture$1kPublic Benefit$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $14k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$9,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$5.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Calvary Baptist Church & Day School$100,000
Saint Andrew's Chapel Inc$9,000
Marshall County Humane Society$3,000
Ecclesia Cell Church$2,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Mayo Clinic: $100k → 9%Hemopet: $1k → 10%Ecclesia Cell Church: $2k → 12%National Multiple Sclerosis Society: $795 → 17%Insight for Living Ministries: $500 → 5%House of Glory Church: $5k → 15%Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land: $5k → 14%Saint Andrew's Chapel Inc: $36k → 11%COLLIE HEALTH FOUNDATION: $1k → 12%ORLANDO MUSEUM OF ART: $1k → 13%Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit: $10k → 8%Hillsdale College: $700k → 14%Hospice at home: $1k → 15%Saint Lawrence Seminary: $36k → 9%Calvary Baptist Church: $150k → 15%CALVARY DAY SCHOOL: $50k → 16%Marshall County Humane Society: $3k → 10%First Baptist Church of Elkhart: $20k → 13%Greenville College: $100k → 12%MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE: $10k → 14%THE LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE: $1k → 7%Saint Andrew's Chapel Inc: $36k → 11%Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit: $10k → 8%Hillsdale College: $400k → 14%Calvary Baptist Church: $115k → 15%Calvary Day School: $50k → 16%Marshall County Humane Society: $3k → 10%Moody Bible Institute of Chicago: $5k → 14%Saint Andrew's Chapel Inc: $27k → 11%Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit: $5k → 8%Hillsdale College: $300k → 14%Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church: $2k → 15%Calvary Baptist Church & Day School: $100k → 15%Marshall County Humane Society: $3k → 10%Moody Bible Institute of Chicago: $5k → 14%Saint Andrew's Chapel Inc: $9k → 11%Hillsdale College: $269k → 14%Calvary Baptist Church: $100k → 15%Marshall County Humane Society: $2k → 10%Moody Bible Institute: $5k → 14%Hillsdale College: $100k → 14%ANDREWS UNIVERSITY: $32k → 15%Calvary Baptist Church: $6k → 15%Marshall County Humane Society Incorporated: $2k → 10%First Baptist Church Sweetwater: $28k → 11%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $100k → 14%MARSHALL COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $1k → 10%United People in Christ Inc: $2k → 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

MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
IN
CA
VA
DE
NC
SC
DC
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.

68%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$656k · 7 repeat orgs$306k to everyone else

7 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
25

Total granted

$656k
$204k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-2%
0%

Still filing today

29%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 11% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $102k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsEducationHealthArts & CultureInternationalOther
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

  • CB
    CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH
    4× · 2021–2024 · $371k
  • SA
    SAINT ANDREWS CHAPEL INC
    4× · 2021–2025 · $108k
  • CD
    CALVARY DAY SCHOOL
    2× · 2019–2020 · $100k

Funded once

  • GC
    Greenville College
    one grant, 2022 · $100k · revenue -50%
  • AU
    ANDREWS UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2020 · $32k · revenue +16%
  • FB
    FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH SWEETWATER
    one grant, 2019 · $28k
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
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
2
University of Maryland Dermatologists Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
3
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
4
Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Mitchell hamline school of law is an independent law school that advances its mission through a combination of legal education, public service, and community engagement. it is dedicated to preparing students to practice law, while also…

Education
5
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
6
Arizona Christian University

Arizona christian university provides a biblically-integrated, liberal arts education equipping graduates to serve the lord jesus christ in all aspects of life, as leaders of influence and excellence.

Education
7
University of Maryland Oncology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Health
8
Harvey Mudd College

HMC seeks to educate engineers, scientists, and mathematicians well versed in all of these areas and in the humanities, social sciences and the arts so that they may assume leadership in their fields with a clear understanding of the…

Education
9
University of Maryland Anesthesiology Associates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

—
10
Mount Marty University

Mount marty university, an academic community in the catholic benedictine liberal arts tradition, prepares students for a contemporary world of work, service to the human community, and personal growth. the institution is a private,…

Education
11
Loyola University

Loyola University New Orleans, a Jesuit and Catholic institution of higher education, welcomes students of diverse backgrounds and prepares them to lead meaningful lives with and for others; to pursue truth, wisdom, and virtue; and to work…

Education
12
University of Maryland Neurosurgeryassociates Pa

Under the medical service plan of the university of maryland school of medicine, medical services are rendered by the members of the faculty on behalf of the school of medicine in connection with their duties to provide clinical…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hospice at Home Inc; the most unlike its peers is Toller Rescue 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

16 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. 16 of the 38 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/16
Grantees still filing
7/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $1,869,000 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEGEGreenville College: $100,000 · Education+3 more: $57,500 · EducationCALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH: $371,338 · OtherCALVARY BAPTIST CHURCHSAINT ANDREWS CHAPEL INC: $108,000 · OtherSAINT ANDREWS CHAPEL INCCalvary Baptist Church & Day School: $100,000 · OtherCalvary Baptist Church & Day S…CALVARY DAY SCHOOL: $100,000 · OtherCALVARY DAY SCHOOLPROVINCE OF ST JOSEPH OF THE CAPUCHIN ORDER: $36,650 · OtherFIRST BAPTIST CHURCH SWEETWATER: $28,000 · Other+17 more: $61,950 · Other+17 moreMAYO CLINIC: $100,000 · Health+2 more: $1,795 · HealthMarshall County Humane Society Inc: $14,570 · AnimalsHEMOPET: $1,000 · Animals+2 more: $400 · AnimalsFRANCISCAN FOUNDATION FOR THE HOLY LAND: $5,000 · InternationalORLANDO MUSEUM OF ART INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureLeadership Institute: $1,000 · Public Benefit
Education$2,026,500Other$805,938Health$101,795Animals$15,970International$5,000Arts & Culture$1,000Public Benefit$1,000

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 budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $1,869,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetMAYO CLINIC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGreenville College: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetANDREWS UNIVERSITY: $32,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Moody Bible Institute of Chicago: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMarshall County Humane Society Inc: $14,570 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetFRANCISCAN FOUNDATION FOR THE HOLY LAND: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED PEOPLE IN CHRIST INC: $2,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetORLANDO MUSEUM OF ART INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHospice at Home Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEMOPET: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Institute: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $795 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Chicago: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN BRITTANY RESCUE INC: $300 over 2y, 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.

  • Who funds HILLSDALE COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds MAYO CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds Greenville College ↗
  • Who funds ANDREWS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds Marshall County Humane Society Inc ↗
  • Who funds FRANCISCAN FOUNDATION FOR THE HOLY LAND ↗
  • Who funds UNITED PEOPLE IN CHRIST INC ↗
  • Who funds ORLANDO MUSEUM OF ART INC ↗
  • Who funds Hospice at Home Inc ↗
  • Who funds HEMOPET ↗
  • Who funds Leadership Institute ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds University of Chicago ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN BRITTANY RESCUE INC ↗
  • Who funds Toller Rescue 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The US Charitable Gif…Renaissance Charitabl…Natl Christian Charit…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…Raymond James Charita…Vanguard Charitable E…The Blackbaud Giving …The Bank of America C…Fidelity Investments …National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…
The US Charitable Gift TrustMA10.5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The US Charitable Gift Trust · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

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 Wayne and Marilyn Nelson Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Wayne and Marilyn Nelson 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Orlando Museum of Art Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
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 Wayne and Marilyn Nelson Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Wayne and Marilyn Nelson 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 38 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 Wayne and Marilyn Nelson’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