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Bearded Lady Productions at a glance

· Private foundation

Bearded Lady Productions

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.

$27k
Granted FY2025still arriving
25
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$3k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2025.

Human Services$14kHealth$12kCivil Rights$8kFood & Nutrition$8kHousing & Shelter$7kEducation$5kYouth Development$4kCrime & Legal$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$800
Median grant
2
States reached
$3k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$3,300
Youth OUTright$2,450
WNCAP$2,000
Tzedek Social Justice Fund$2,000
Beloved Asheville$2,000
Loving Food Resources$1,800
Arms Around ASD$1,000
Jewish Family Services$1,000
Haywood County Pride$1,000
Tranzmission$900
Hendersonville Pride$850
Open Hearts Art Center$850
Pisgah Legal Services$800
SUNRISE COMMUNITY FOR RECOVERY$800
SeekHealing$800
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 (FY23–25, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Tranzmission: $2k → 12%Tranzmission: $900 → 12%Jewish Family Services of WNC: $890 → 12%Tranzmission: $750 → 12%Jewish Family Services of WNC: $520 → 12%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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$55k · 18 repeat orgs$11k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
10

Total granted

$55k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+18%

Still filing today

83%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 76% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
HealthCivil RightsHousing & ShelterAnimalsHuman ServicesPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BA
    BELOVED ASHEVILLE
    3× · 2023–2025 · $7k · revenue +799%
  • LF
    Loving Food Resources Inc
    3× · 2023–2025 · $5k · revenue +42%
  • AA
    ARMS AROUND ASD
    3× · 2023–2025 · $4k · revenue +66%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2024 · $800
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $700
  • SC
    SUNRISE COMMUNITY FOR RECOVERY AND WELLNESS INC
    one grant, 2024 · $600 · revenue 0%
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
All Souls Counseling Center

All Souls Counseling Centers (ASCC) mission is to serve as a leading nonprofit provider and community partner for quality mental health counseling, outreach, and education with a focus on those who are underinsured and uninsured in Western…

Health
2
North Carolina Aids Action Network

The NCAAN improves the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS and affected communities through outreach and public education, policy advocacy and community-building to increase visibility and mutual support of people living with HIV/AIDS…

Health
3
Jewish Family Services of Greater Charlotte Inc

Jewish Family Services of Greater Charlotte Inc. strengthens and empowers individuals and families through professional counseling, programs and services inspired by Jewish values.

Human Services
4
Racial Justice Coalition of Asheville Inc

The Racial Justice Coalition includes representatives of organizations in Asheville-Buncombe County with racial justice in our missions. We come together in commitment to racial equity and to advocate for the rights of people of color.

Civil Rights
5
Carolinas Care Partnership

To seek justice through health and housing.

Health
6
Nami - Charlotte Pka Alliance for the Mentally Ill

Guided by the experiences of those living with mental health conditions and rooted in equity, NAMI Charlotte provides advocacy, education, support and connections to resources so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness…

—
7
Blue Ridge Pride Center Inc

To foster an informed, engaged and supportive LGBTQIA2S+ community through intersectional belonging, equity, liberation, and joy work under our 4 pillars: advocate, celebrate, educate, and serve.

Human Services
8
North Carolina Empowerment Organization
Civil Rights
9
Counseling Center of Highlands

The Counseling Center strives to strengthen families and individuals by providing access to quality mental health services regardless of financial ability.

Health
10
The Lgbtq Center of Durham Inc

To create a community where all LGBTQ+ lived experiences are affirmed, supported, and celebrated.

Human Services
11
The Alliance of Aids Services-Carolina

To assess, assure and evaluate comprehensive support for people living with hiv/aids associated conditions, their caregivers and communities at large. to promote compassionate, nonjudgemental care, prevention, education.

Health
12
Western North Carolina Aids Project Inc

To provide equitable access to care, reduce harm from HIV, Hepatitis C, and drug use.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rainbow Railroad Usa Inc; the most unlike its peers is Tzedek Social Justice Fund. 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
16/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $5,665 · OtherIndividual grant recipientLoving Food Resources Inc: $5,190 · OtherLoving Food Resources IncWNCAP: $4,220 · OtherWNCAPPISGAH LEGAL SERVICES: $2,700 · OtherPISGAH LEGAL SERVICESOPEN HEARTS ART CENTER INC: $2,590 · OtherOPEN HEARTS ART CENTER INCAsheville Poverty Initiative: $2,350 · OtherAsheville Poverty Initiative+15 more: $10,419 · Other+15 moreBELOVED ASHEVILLE: $6,625 · Housing & ShelterBELOVED ASH…HOMEWARD BOUND OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $367 · Housing & ShelterYOUTH OUTRIGHT WNC INC: $4,400 · Civil RightsYOUTH OUTR…TREVOR PROJECT INC: $800 · Civil RightsTREVOR PRO…EQUALITY NC: $500 · Civil RightsEQUALITY N…Campaign For Southern Equality: $400 · Civil RightsCampaign F…SeekHealing: $1,900 · HealthSeekHeali…Our Voice Inc: $1,890 · HealthOur Voice…Cornbread & Roses Community Counseling Inc: $1,125 · HealthCornbread…SUNRISE COMMUNITY FOR RECOVERY AND WELLNESS INC: $600 · HealthSUNRISE C…TRANZMISSION INC: $3,985 · Human ServicesTRANZMISS…JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF WNC INC: $1,410 · Human ServicesJEWISH FA…ARMS AROUND ASD: $4,275 · AnimalsBrother Wolf Animal Rescue Inc: $500 · AnimalsTzedek Social Justice Fund: $3,950 · PhilanthropyRAINBOW RAILROAD USA INC: $200 · Philanthropy
Other$33,134Housing & Shelter$6,992Civil Rights$6,100Health$5,515Human Services$5,395Animals$4,775Philanthropy$4,150

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBELOVED ASHEVILLE: $6,625 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLoving Food Resources Inc: $5,190 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetYOUTH OUTRIGHT WNC INC: $4,400 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetARMS AROUND ASD: $4,275 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetTRANZMISSION INC: $3,985 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTzedek Social Justice Fund: $3,950 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPISGAH LEGAL SERVICES: $2,700 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetOPEN HEARTS ART CENTER INC: $2,590 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAsheville Poverty Initiative: $2,350 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetSeekHealing: $1,900 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetOur Voice Inc: $1,890 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF WNC INC: $1,410 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCornbread & Roses Community Counseling Inc: $1,125 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMountain Child Advocacy Center Inc: $600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSUNRISE COMMUNITY FOR RECOVERY AND WELLNESS INC: $600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAMI Western Carolina Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCampaign For Southern Equality: $400 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMEWARD BOUND OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA INC: $367 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRAINBOW RAILROAD USA INC: $200 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.

Dogwood Health TrustThe Community Foundat…Wnc Bridge FoundationThe Morton and Barbar…Manna Food Bank IncLaughing Gull Foundat…The Cannon Foundation…North Carolina Commun…Tides FoundationPaypal Charitable Giv…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…
Dogwood Health TrustNC31.9× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Dogwood Health Trust · The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina Inc · Wnc Bridge Foundation · The Morton and Barbara Mandel Family Foundation · Manna Food Bank Inc · Laughing Gull Foundation · The Cannon Foundation Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · Tides Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving 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 Bearded Lady Productions funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Bearded Lady Productions. 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%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report 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.

    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 Bearded Lady Productions’ 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