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They Were Here First Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

They Were Here First Inc

Its FY2022 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$5k
Granted FY2022
14
Grants FY2022
7
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0177% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2022.

Animals$2kEnvironment$225Other$0
02FY2022 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$100
Median grant
7
States reached
$90k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$3,000
Individual grant recipient$250
BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY$250
HEART & SOUL ANIMAL SANCTUARY$200
AUDUBON SOCIETY$100
DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE$100
MISSION WOLF$100
WORLD WILDLIFE FUND$100
Individual grant recipient$100
WET MOUNTAIN ANIMAL WELFARE$100
NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION$100
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$75
ASPCA$50
HUMANE SOCIETY$50
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 (FY21–22) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 92% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%DUNDEE MEMORIAL PARK: $100 → 12%AUDUBON SOCIETY: $100 → 17%HEART & SOUL ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $200 → 12%DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE: $150 → 14%BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $250 → 9%HUMANE SOCIETY: $50 → 9%WET MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE: $3k → 11%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $75 → 7%DUNDEE MEMORIAL PARK: $100 → 12%ASPCA: $200 → 17%HEART & SOUL ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $200 → 12%DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE: $100 → 14%BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $250 → 9%HUMANE SOCIETY: $10 → 9%WET MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE: $3k → 11%THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $50 → 7%ASPCA: $50 → 17%PAWSITIVE REACTION: $250 → 11%PAWSITIVE REACTION: $250 → 11%MISSION WOLF: $100 → 11%WET MOUNTAIN ANIMAL WELFARE: $100 → 11%MISSION WOLF: $100 → 11%WET MOUNTAIN ANIMAL WELFARE: $100 → 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.
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.
$9k · 11 repeat orgs$200 to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +37% since the first grant, against -4% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2022, 0 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
2

Total granted

$9k
$200

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
-4%

Still filing today

55%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $200 went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22
AnimalsEnvironmentOther
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

  • BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY
    2× · 2021–2022 · $500 · revenue +18%
  • TH
    THE HEART AND SOUL ANIMAL SANCTUARY
    2× · 2021–2022 · $400 · revenue +57%
  • DO
    Defenders of Wildlife
    2× · 2021–2022 · $250 · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC
    one grant, 2022 · $100 · revenue -4%
  • AS
    AUDUBON SOCIETY
    one grant, 2022 · $100
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
Wildlife Conservation Society

The wildlife conservation society (wcs) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature.

Animals
2
Denver Zoological Foundation

Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.

Animals
3
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
4
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
5
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
6
African Wildlife Foundation Inc

Awf's mission is to ensure wildlife and wild lands thrive in modern africa. we work to equip african governments, institutions, business, and communities with the tools, insights, and support they need to define, own, and realize a…

Animals
7
Humane World for Animals International

HUMANE WORLD FOR ANIMALS INTERNATIONAL, FKA HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL (HSI), works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, rescue and protect dogs and cats, improve farm animal welfare, protect wildlife, promote animal-free…

Animals
8
Northern Jaguar Project

The mission of the northern jaguar project is to preserve and recover the world's northermost population of the jaguar, its unique natural habitat, and native wildlife under its protection as a flagship, keystone, and umbrella species.

Animals
9
National Audubon Society Inc

We work towards a future where birds thrive across the americas because audubon is a powerful, diverse, and ever-growing force for conservation. (continued on schedule o).

Environment
10
Predator Defense

Protecting vital native predators & ending war on wildlife.

Animals
11
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
12
Animal Wellness Action

To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. enacting good laws depends upon electing good lawmakers, and we remind voters which candidates care about and support animal issues.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is World Wildlife Fund Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Heart and Soul Animal Sanctuary. 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

8 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. 8 of the 14 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/8
Grantees still filing
7/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $6,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient+5 more: $685 · Other+5 moreBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $500 · AnimalsBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SO…THE HEART AND SOUL ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $400 · AnimalsTHE HEART AND SOUL ANI…Defenders of Wildlife: $250 · AnimalsDefenders of WildlifeTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $250 · AnimalsTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY F…NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $200 · AnimalsNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDE…MISSION WOLF: $200 · AnimalsMISSION WOLFWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $100 · Environment
Other$7,185Animals$1,800Environment$100

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HEART AND SOUL ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDefenders of Wildlife: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMISSION WOLF: $200 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC: $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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization They Were Here First Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from They Were Here First Inc. 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%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 They Were Here First Inc?

    Find your warmest path to They Were Here First Inc 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 14 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on They Were Here First’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

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