A data-driven analysis of Ford Foundation grant outflows, pass-through funding networks, and governance conflicts drawn entirely from public IRS filings.
Entity: The Ford Foundation (EIN 13-1684331)Filing type: 990-PF (private foundation)Generated: —Source: IRS TEOS XML bulk data
Executive Summary
What This Report Shows
This report extracts every Schedule I grant row from Ford Foundation's public IRS 990-PF filings and from the filings of key pass-through entities that Ford funds. All figures are drawn directly from IRS XML. No legal conclusions are asserted.
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Ford Grants Documented
From IRS 990-PF Schedule I XML
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Grant Rows Extracted
Unique Schedule I recipient entries
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Unique Grantees
Distinct recipient organizations
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Pass-Through Total
To Arabella, Tides, RPA, Blue Meridian
Key Findings
Documented Issues
Each finding is sourced to specific IRS filings or public government records. Severity reflects potential legal, governance, or public-interest significance.
Governance
Board & Officer Interlocks
Ford Foundation trustees and officers who simultaneously hold governance or leadership roles at Ford grantee organizations. Sourced from IRS 990 Part VII disclosures and Ford's own trustee biographies.
Network Analysis
Pass-Through & Fiscal Sponsor Flows
Ford routes substantial sums through fiscal sponsors and pooled re-granting vehicles. The ultimate recipients of these funds are not disclosed in Ford's own 990-PF. This section traces what those intermediaries report in their own Schedule I filings.
Annual Trend
Ford Grants by Tax Year
Total documented Schedule I grant outflows from Ford Foundation's 990-PF filings, by tax year.
Grantee Analysis
Top Recipients by Documented Amount
All grantees identified from Ford Foundation Schedule I rows, ranked by total documented cash grants. Pass-through fiscal sponsors are flagged.
Evidence Appendix
All Documented Grant Rows
Every Schedule I row extracted from Ford Foundation and pass-through entity IRS filings. Searchable by grantee, EIN, year, amount, or purpose.
Year
Filer
Recipient
EIN
City
Amount
Purpose
Methodology & Limitations
How This Report Was Built
Source: IRS TEOS XML bulk data downloads — all available years (2017 onward). Individual XML 990-PF and 990 filings for Ford Foundation and key pass-through entities.
Scope: Schedule I grant rows only. This report does not cover Schedule B (donor disclosure), program-related investments (PRIs), or mission-related investments (MRIs).
Pass-through limitation: When Ford grants to a fiscal sponsor (Arabella, Tides, RPA), the ultimate sub-grantees do not appear in Ford's 990-PF. This report attempts to trace sub-grants by examining the fiscal sponsors' own Schedule I filings — but timing differences mean not all sub-grants will be attributable.
Governance interlocks: Sourced from IRS 990 Part VII officer/trustee disclosures and publicly available organizational bios. No inference of legal wrongdoing is made.
No legal conclusions: This report documents what IRS filings show. It does not assert control, coordination, or legal violations by any organization or individual.
Coverage gaps: IRS XML bulk data is available from 2017; earlier filings (pre-2017) are not included. Some filings may have been submitted in non-XML format and are not captured.