Ohio · Nonprofit
FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS
FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS (Ohio) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $146,471 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($53,453). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $263k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $146k
- Net assets
- $485k
What Friends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks does
Mission
To enhance public use and enjoyment of franklin county metro area parks, seek out public support, and advocate for the parks for current and future generations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Friends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks partnered with the metro parks in support of the tree and bench program. The tree and bench program supports the parks by placing trees and benches in the parks. Donations are received by groups and individuals which allow them to place trees and benches in honor of loved ones for all to enjoy.
$26,674 spentof which $26,674 as grants14% of program spendingFriends of the columbus and franklin co metro parks hosted community events to bring the metro parks to the community in a new way by encouraging central ohio residents to experience the parks and educate them on the importance of the parks. These events helped to introduce new people to our metro parks through fun, interactive events and created ways for the community to appreciate and advocate for the metro parks. Events included yappy hour, scioto festival, blendon woodstock, and the winter hike series. Friends of the metroparks also provides a passport program to encourage the residents to visit all of the parks franklin county offers and facilitates donations to provide for various park improvements.
$83,402 spentof which $57,253 as grants44% of program spendingThe Friends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks supports the metro parks by assisting with various operational expenses such as personnel cost support and financial support of park enhancement programs.
$67,340 spentof which $66,890 as grants36% of program spendingFriends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks partnered with organizations to provide additional programming to groups whose goals aligned with Friends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks' mission of making the metro parks accessible to more people. The Friends of Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks also facilitates various donations for additional improvements to the parks, including providing flowers for the butterfly garden, purchasing plaques for the memorial brick program, and other park improvements.
$12,059 spentof which $12,059 as grants6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $189,475.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $205k to $294k (+43%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
99% of FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $10k → $9k.
5 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 70% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
98% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 51% · 2020 99% · 2021 76% · 2022 55% · 2023 77% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
50% of FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 44% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
70% of FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $45k that is directly attributable, 96% of it comes from funders outside Ohio, across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $102k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS?
- FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS (Ohio) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $146,471 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($53,453). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 70% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $146,471 in grants to FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $53,453 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FRIENDS OF COLUMBUS AND FRANKLIN COUNTY METRO PARKS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 9 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing