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Van Aken Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Van Aken 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.

$61k
Granted FY2025still arriving
14
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$13k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Human Services$111kFood & Nutrition$97kArts & Culture$46kCivil Rights$36kEducation$35kHealth$32kInternational$26kHousing & Shelter$23kOther$0
02FY2025 · 14 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k13 grants · $48k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $13k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$833k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FAMILY SVC ASSOC OF BUCKS COUNTY$12,500
TRENTON AREA SOUP KITCHEN$7,500
PHILADELPHIA RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE$6,000
MERCER STREET FRIENDS$5,000
NATIONAL IMMIGRATION PROJECT$5,000
FAMILY SVC ASSOC OF BUCKS COUNTY$5,000
MIGHTY WRITERS$5,000
MUSICOPIA$5,000
BEYOND THE BARS$2,000
NATL GIRLS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT$2,000
ASAP$2,000
WELCOMING THE STRANGER$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,000
CODED BY KIDS$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, $29k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 21% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%FAMILY SERVICE ASSOC OF BUCKS COUNTY: $6k → 6%FAMILY SERVICE ASSOC OF BUCKS COUNTY: $3k → 6%FAMILY SERVICE ASSOC OF BUCKS COUNTY: $3k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $2k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $2k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $2k → 6%FAMILIES FORWARD PHILADELPHIA: $2k → 22%FAMILIES FORWARD PHILADELPHIA: $2k → 22%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $2k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $1k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $1k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $1k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $1k → 6%WELCOMING THE STRANGER: $1k → 6%NATIONALITIES SERVICE CENTER: $2k → 22%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
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA
MD
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$444k · 23 repeat orgs$25k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +73% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
13

Total granted

$444k
$24k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+73%
+26%

Still filing today

65%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k 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 ServicesInternationalEnvironmentArts & CultureFood & NutritionEducationOther
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

  • MI
    MUSICOPIA INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $42k · revenue +359%
  • Philabundance
    8× · 2017–2024 · $41k · revenue +101%
  • TASK Inc Trenton Area Soup Kitchen Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $38k · revenue +140%

Funded once

  • UR
    UNICEF-PUERTO RICO SUPPORT
    one grant, 2017 · $4k
  • UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue -21%
  • MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC
    one grant, 2022 · $3k · revenue +13%
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
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
2
Philadelphia Works Inc

Philadelphia works, inc. develops and manages smart workforce solutions that respond to business needs and increases economic opportunity for all philadelphia residents.

Employment
3
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

Pidc plans and implements economic development initiatives (see schedule o) which enhance the competitive environment, generate jobs and produce higher tax ratables throughout philadelphia.

Community Improvement
4
Partners in Food Solutions

Improve the food value chain in developing countries by mobilizing corporate volunteers to share knowledge and expertise with small and growing food processors.

International
5
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
6
Climate Breakthrough Inc

To launch breakthrough climate mitigation efforts by identifying, supporting, and unleashing innovative leaders with transformative strategies.

Human Services
7
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United way's mission is to end intergenerational poverty in our region by harnessing, leveraging and strategically investing the collective power of donors, advocates and volunteers, to help individuals and families break the cycle of…

Philanthropy
8
Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

Visit philadelphia is our name and our mission. as the region's official tourism marketing agency, we build greater philadelphia's image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

Community Improvement
9
Pact Inc

Pact is a nonprofit organization that builds evidence-based, data-driven, and community-led solutions for human development (continued in schedule o)

International
10
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

—
11
Devworks International

Devworks international is dedicated to a society where all people enjoy the freedom to pursue their own sustainable development. we contribute to this by strengthening the capacity of local organizations.

Human Services
12
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Philabundance; the most unlike its peers is Natural Resources Defense Council 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

23 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. 23 of the 37 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
19/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FAMILY SVC ASSOC OF BUCKS COUNTY: $60,000 · OtherFAMILY SVC ASSOC OF BUCKS COUNTYMERCER STREET FRIENDS: $44,500 · OtherMERCER STREET FRIENDSNATIONAL IMMIGRATION PROJECT: $35,500 · OtherNATIONAL IMMIGRATION PROJECTRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE PHILADELPHIA REGION: $31,000 · OtherRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE PHILADELPHIA REGIONKBFUS - WELLS INTERNATIONAL: $16,000 · OtherKBFUS - WELLS INTERNATIONALPHILA RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE: $15,000 · OtherPHILA RONALD MCDONALD HOUSENATL GIRLS COLLABORATIVE PROJECT: $11,500 · Other+11 more: $32,100 · Other+11 morePhilabundance: $41,000 · Food & NutritionPhilabundanceTASK Inc Trenton Area Soup Kitchen Inc: $38,000 · Food & NutritionTASK Inc Trenton Ar…MUSICOPIA INC: $42,000 · Arts & CultureMUSICOPIA I…BRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATRE CO INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureBRISTOL RIV…+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureMIGHTY WRITERS: $35,000 · EducationMIGHTY WR…CODED BY: $3,000 · EducationCODED BYFAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF BUCKS COUNTY: $12,000 · Human ServicesWELCOMING THE STRANGER INC: $11,000 · Human ServicesTRAVELERS AID SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA: $4,000 · Human ServicesNATIONALITIES SERVICE CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA: $2,000 · Human ServicesTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $12,000 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $3,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $3,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,500 · InternationalSolutions Project Inc: $3,500 · EnvironmentTREES FOR THE FUTURE INC: $3,500 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $2,000 · EnvironmentTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $1,500 · Environment
Other$245,600Food & Nutrition$79,000Arts & Culture$46,000Education$38,000Human Services$29,000International$20,500Environment$10,500

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 budgetMUSICOPIA INC: $42,000 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetPhilabundance: $41,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTASK Inc Trenton Area Soup Kitchen Inc: $38,000 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetMIGHTY WRITERS: $35,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE PHILADELPHIA REGION: $31,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF BUCKS COUNTY: $12,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWELCOMING THE STRANGER INC: $11,000 over 9y, 0.9% of budgetBEYOND THE BARS INC: $6,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPOWER INTERFAITH INC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTRAVELERS AID SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA: $4,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSolutions Project Inc: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTREES FOR THE FUTURE INC: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATRE CO INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCODED BY: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACHIEVEABILITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONALITIES SERVICE CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLAYHOUSE ARTISTS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% 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 MUSICOPIA INC ↗
  • Who funds Philabundance ↗
  • Who funds TASK Inc Trenton Area Soup Kitchen Inc ↗
  • Who funds MIGHTY WRITERS ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE PHILADELPHIA REGION ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF BUCKS COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC ↗
  • Who funds WELCOMING THE STRANGER INC ↗
  • Who funds BEYOND THE BARS INC ↗
  • Who funds POWER INTERFAITH INC ↗
  • Who funds TRAVELERS AID SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds Solutions Project Inc ↗
  • Who funds TREES FOR THE FUTURE INC ↗
  • Who funds BRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATRE CO INC ↗
  • Who funds CODED BY ↗
  • Who funds UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF ↗
  • Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
  • Who funds ACHIEVEABILITY ↗
  • Who funds WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONALITIES SERVICE CENTER OF PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ALLIANCE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION ↗
  • Who funds PLAYHOUSE ARTISTS ↗

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 Philadelphia Foun…Connelly FoundationThe William Penn Foun…The Patricia Kind Fam…Scattergood Behaviora…Henrietta Tower Wurts…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…The Blackbaud Giving …Charities Aid Foundat…American Online Givin…The Bank of America C…
The Philadelphia FoundationPA21.3× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · Connelly Foundation · The William Penn Foundation · The Patricia Kind Family Foundation · Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation · Henrietta Tower Wurts Memorial Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation 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 Van Aken Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Van Aken Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%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
    2get no government money at all
    4report 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.

    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 37 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 Van Aken 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