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Zg Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Zg Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$972k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$2.8MFood & Nutrition$470kInternational$200kHealth$30kPhilanthropy$241Other$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $87k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $635k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$75,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$25M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION$250,000
OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST$200,000
CLEANING COOKING ALLIANCE$175,000
PROJECT DRAWDOWN$125,000
ECOTRUST$75,000
PROTECT OUR WINTERS$60,000
WOMEN'S EARTH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK$45,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
EARTHECO INTERNATIONAL$17,000
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 95% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ECOTRUST: $90k → 11%ONE STEP CLOSER THERAPUETIC RIDING: $30k → 8%WOMEN'S EARTH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK: $45k → 8%PROJECT DRAWDOWN: $125k → 10%SOUND FUTURE: $25k → 10%OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST: $200k → 17%EARTHECO INTERNATIONAL: $17k → 14%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $60k → 12%ELEVATE ENERGY: $50k → 14%ECOTRUST: $75k → 11%ONE STEP CLOSER: $10k → 8%WOMEN'S EARTH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK: $35k → 8%PROJECT DRAWDOWN: $125k → 10%SOUND FUTURE: $25k → 10%OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST: $200k → 17%FOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION: $250k → 14%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $50k → 12%ECOTRUST: $75k → 11%WOMEN'S EARTH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK: $35k → 8%PROJECT DRAWDOWN: $125k → 10%OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST: $200k → 17%UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION: $200k → 14%PROTECT OUR WINNERS: $28k → 12%ECOTRUST: $50k → 11%WOMEN'S EARTH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK: $25k → 8%PROJECT DRAWDOWN: $50k → 10%OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST: $110k → 17%NATURA BOLIVIA FOUNDATION: $100k → 14%PROTECT OUR WINTERS: $25k → 12%SCHWAB CHARITABLE: $241 → 10%FOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION: $250k → 14%CLEANING COOKING ALLIANCE: $175k → 14%NATURA BOLIVIA FOUNDATION: $75k → 14%FOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION: $250k → 14%CLEANING COOKING ALLIANCE: $175k → 14%NATURA BOLIVIA FOUNDATION: $53k → 14%FOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION: $75k → 14%CLEANING COOKING ALLIANCE: $120k → 14%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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 9 repeat orgs$307k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against -23% for those funded once.

9 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
4

Total granted

$3.3M
$290k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
-23%

Still filing today

67%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $17k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentInternationalEducationHealthArts & CultureOther
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

  • OS
    OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST INC
    4× · 2021–2024 · $710k · revenue +65%
  • PD
    PROJECT DRAWDOWN
    4× · 2021–2024 · $425k · revenue +34%
  • E
    EcoTrust
    4× · 2021–2024 · $290k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $200k · revenue -28%
  • EE
    Elevate Energygraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +60%
  • OS
    ONE STEP CLOSER THERAPEUTIC HORSEMANSHIP INC
    one grant, 2022 · $30k · revenue -23%
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
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
2
Environment Now
—
3
International Council On Environmental Economics and Development Union
Human Services
4
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
5
Foundation for Climate Restoration Inc
Environment
6
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
7
One Earth Philanthropy

One Earth's mission is to empower everyone, everywhere, with the knowledge, inspiration, and opportunity to heal the Earth and reclaim our future.

Environment
8
The Nature Institute
—
9
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
10
Global Envirotech Initiative
Philanthropy
11
Greentrust Alliance
Environment
12
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Open Space Institute Land Trust Inc; the most unlike its peers is EcoTrust. 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

11 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. 11 of the 15 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)
11/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION: $825,000 · EnvironmentFOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATIONOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST INC: $710,000 · EnvironmentOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST INCPROTECT OUR WINTERS: $163,340 · EnvironmentPROTECT OUR WINTERS+1 more: $50,000 · EnvironmentCLEANING COOKING ALLIANCE: $470,000 · OtherCLEANING COOKING ALLIANCEEcoTrust: $290,000 · OtherEcoTrustWOMEN'S EARTH CLIMATE ACTION NETWORK: $140,000 · OtherWOMEN'S EARTH CLIMATE ACTION N…Individual grant recipient: $50,000 · Other+1 more: $10,000 · OtherNATURA BOLIVIA FOUNDATION: $228,000 · InternationalNATURA BOLIVI…UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · InternationalUNITED NATION…PROJECT DRAWDOWN: $425,000 · EducationPROJECT DRAWD…ONE STEP CLOSER THERAPEUTIC HORSEMANSHIP INC: $30,000 · HealthEARTHECHO INTERNATIONAL INC: $17,000 · Arts & CultureDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $241 · Philanthropy
Environment$1,748,340Other$960,000International$428,000Education$425,000Health$30,000Arts & Culture$17,000Philanthropy$241

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 budgetFOREST TRENDS ASSOCIATION: $825,000 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE LAND TRUST INC: $710,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetPROJECT DRAWDOWN: $425,000 over 4y, 3.4% of budgetEcoTrust: $290,000 over 4y, 11% of budgetNATURA BOLIVIA FOUNDATION: $228,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetUNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPROTECT OUR WINTERS: $163,340 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetElevate Energy: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetONE STEP CLOSER THERAPEUTIC HORSEMANSHIP INC: $30,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetEARTHECHO INTERNATIONAL INC: $17,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $241 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.

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.

American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
American Online Giving Foundation IncDE6.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Zg Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Zg Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–75%
    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 Zg Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Zg Foundation 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 15 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Zg’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