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Big Nova Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Big Nova 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.

$6.4M
Granted FY2025still arriving
57
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$800k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01FY2025 · 57 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k18 grants · $347k
  • $50k–250k24 grants · $2.7M
  • $250k+8 grants · $3.3M
$50,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$76M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL FL$800,000
NMDP FOUNDATION$500,000
CONSERVATION FLORIDA$356,448
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC$350,785
UNITY YOUTH ASSOCIATION INC$350,000
CHRISTIAN SHARING CENTER INC$342,865
RESCUE OUTREACH MISSION OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC FLORIDA$333,000
GRACE MEDICAL HOMES INC$250,000
SALT OUTREACH$235,000
CHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA$233,000
ONE PURSE INC$200,000
EASTER SEALS FLORIDA INC$200,000
SAMARITAN RESOURCE CENTER$160,000
FOUNDATION FOR FOSTER CHILDREN$150,610
Individual grant recipient$150,000
02The need
02

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 (FY24–25, $2.4M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER OF WEST VOLUSIA: $20k → 12%IDIGNITY INC: $1.0M → 13%SALT OUTREACH INC: $300k → 13%SALT OUTREACH: $235k → 13%HOPE HELPS: $15k → 11%LIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $50k → 13%CHRISTIAN HELP FOUNDATION INC: $60k → 11%CHRISTIAN HELP FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 11%CHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA: $233k → 13%CHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $60k → 13%CHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA: $10k → 13%LIFE CONCEPTS INC: $5k → 13%SAMARITAN RESOURCE CENTER: $160k → 13%FAINE HOUSE INC: $38k → 13%FAINE HOUSE INC: $10k → 13%FOUNDATION FOR FOSTER CHILDREN: $151k → 13%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.
03

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 8% of Big Nova Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 92% of the giving stays in FL; by stated purpose, 85%.

Big Nova Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

46%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.7M · 18 repeat orgs$5.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +35% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 30 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
16

Total granted

$4.7M
$1.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+35%
0%

Still filing today

78%
81%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 42% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.7M went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
Human ServicesHealthHousing & ShelterEducationPhilanthropyFood & NutritionOther
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

  • CF
    CONSERVATION FLORIDA INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $978k · revenue +220%
  • SO
    Salt Outreach Inc
    2× · 2024–2025 · $535k · revenue +35%
  • TC
    THE CHRISTIAN SHARING CENTER INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $353k · revenue +61%

Funded once

  • II
    IDIGNITY INC
    one grant, 2024 · $1.0M · revenue +10%
  • BC
    BLOOD CANCER UNITED INC
    one grant, 2024 · $250k · revenue -3%
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL FLORIDA INC
    one grant, 2024 · $250k · 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
Central Florida Commission On Homelessness Inc

The corporation is organized for the purpose of permanently reducing the number of homeless individuals and families in the central florida region.

—
2
Feeding South Florida Inc

Feeding south florida's mission is to end hunger in south florida by providing immediate access to nutritious food, leading hunger and poverty advocacy efforts, and transforming lives through innovative programming and education.

Food & Nutrition
3
Florida Dream Center Inc

Florida dream center inspires self-sufficiency by sharing faith through resources and restoring hope in communities.

Human Services
4
Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida Inc

The purpose of the organization is to transform the lives of homeless men, women, and children by providing crucial services to end their crisis of homelessness.

—
5
Taskforce Fore Ending Homelessness Inc

To get our neighbors experiencing homelessness off the street through proactive outreach and services and provide placement in a program that will help them get "home."

Human Services
6
Ability Housing Inc

The mission of ability housing is to build flourishing communities where everyone has a home. its vision is a society where housing is a right, not a privilege; and all individuals have safe, affordable housing in vibrant communities. it…

Health
7
Feeding Dreams Inc

The mission of Feeding Dreams to combat childhood hunger and malnutrition that affect one in five children in Florida. Through grants, fundraising efforts, and school partnerships, we delivered 2.5 million highly nutritious meals to…

Food & Nutrition
8
Hope South Florida Inc

We exist to be a hope-filled community, keeping families together, providing compassionate care, and guiding and equipping those we serve on a path to holistic life change.

Human Services
9
Lighthouse Ministries Inc

Lighthouse ministries, inc. is set apart by the spirit of god to communicate the gospel of jesus christ to meet the physical, emotional, and other needs of the poor and at-risk population.

Religion
10
Vincentian Cares Inc

To transform lives through love and service. the organization's target population is people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless, including veterans, individuals and families with low-income or living in poverty, many…

Human Services
11
Central Florida Childrens Home

To provide homes for disadvantaged children.

Human Services
12
St Francis House

Empowering families with chidren to achieve permanent and stable self-sufficiency by providing case management; nutritious meals; and educational, health and career resources; in a safe and secure environment.

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Christian Sharing Center Inc; the most unlike its peers is Blood Cancer United 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

51 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 51 of the 64 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
50/51
Grantees still filing
20/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $995,000 · OtherSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL FLO…UNITY YOUTH ASSOCIATION INC: $626,000 · OtherUNITY YOUTH ASSOCIATION INCTHE CHRISTIAN SHARING CENTER INC: $352,865 · OtherTHE CHRISTIAN SHARING CENTER INCRESCUE OUTREACH MISSION OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC FLORIDA: $333,000 · OtherRESCUE OUTREACH MISSION OF CENTRAL FLOR…DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF ORLANDO SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL INC: $170,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $150,000 · OtherCONDUCTIVE EDUCATION CENTER OF ORLANDO INC: $150,000 · Other+23 more: $847,828 · Other+23 moreIDIGNITY INC: $1,000,000 · Human ServicesIDIGNITY INCSalt Outreach Inc: $535,000 · Human ServicesSalt Outreach IncCHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $302,500 · Human ServicesCHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER …SAMARITAN RESOURCE CENTER INC: $160,000 · Human ServicesSAMARITAN RESOURCE CENTER…FOUNDATION FOR FOSTER CHILDREN INC: $150,610 · Human ServicesFOUNDATION FOR FOSTER CHI…+6 more: $207,760 · Human Services+6 moreBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $250,000 · HealthBLOOD CANCER U…PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $250,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENT…Grace Medical Home Inc: $250,000 · HealthGrace Medical …EASTER SEALS FLORIDA INC: $200,000 · HealthEASTER SEALS F…TOUCHED BY TYPE 1 INC: $138,000 · HealthTOUCHED BY TYP…CANNONBALL KIDS' CANCER FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · HealthCANNONBALL KID…Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida Inc: $85,382 · HealthRonald McDonal…+4 more: $60,000 · HealthCONSERVATION FLORIDA INC: $978,448 · EnvironmentCONSERVATI…NMDP FOUNDATION: $750,000 · PhilanthropyNMDP FOUND…4ROOTS FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Philanthropy4ROOTS FOU…AERAS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · PhilanthropyAERAS FOUN…+1 more: $10,000 · PhilanthropyHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF SEMINOLE CO & GREATER APOPKA FLORIDA INC: $350,785 · Housing & ShelterFLORIDA SUPERIOR PROPERTIES ECONOMI: $180,000 · Housing & ShelterFind Feed & Restore Inc: $75,000 · Housing & Shelter+2 more: $15,000 · Housing & ShelterONE PURSE: $450,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $25,000 · International
Other$3,624,693Human Services$2,355,870Health$1,333,382Environment$978,448Philanthropy$910,000Housing & Shelter$620,785International$475,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetIDIGNITY INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $995,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCONSERVATION FLORIDA INC: $978,448 over 2y, 17% of budgetNMDP FOUNDATION: $750,000 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetSalt Outreach Inc: $535,000 over 2y, 10% of budgetONE PURSE: $450,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetTHE CHRISTIAN SHARING CENTER INC: $352,865 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF SEMINOLE CO & GREATER APOPKA FLORIDA INC: $350,785 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetCHRISTIAN SERVICE CENTER FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $302,500 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetEASTER SEALS FLORIDA INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetDIOCESAN COUNCIL OF ORLANDO SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL INC: $170,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR FOSTER CHILDREN INC: $150,610 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetCONDUCTIVE EDUCATION CENTER OF ORLANDO INC: $150,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetTOUCHED BY TYPE 1 INC: $138,000 over 2y, 11% of budget4ROOTS FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetThe Mustard Seed of Central Florida Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetRonald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida Inc: $85,382 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetPICNIC PROJECT INC: $85,000 over 2y, 30% of budgetCentral Florida Zoological Society Inc: $83,476 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFind Feed & Restore Inc: $75,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetCHRISTIAN HELP FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $65,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetTHE ARBOR SCHOOL OF CENTRAL FLORIDA: $63,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetAERAS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHE FAINE HOUSE INC: $47,760 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK OF NORTHWEST NC INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHIPPING CHILDHOOD CANCER INC: $25,000 over 2y, 98% of budgetHeartland Haven Foundation Inc: $23,660 over 1y, 18% of budgetAUTOINFLAMMATORY ALLIANCE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 36% of budgetGoldsboro Front Porch Council Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetADULT LITERACY LEAGUE INC: $14,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetPEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetBite Me Cancer Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetORLANDO UNION RESCUE MISSION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE CONCEPTS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEED HUNGER NOW INC: $5,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetUNITED FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL FLORIDA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetPAGE 15 INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.0% 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.

Central Florida Found…Universal Orlando Fou…Adventist Health Syst…Magruder Chesley G Fd…Acahand FoundationThe Father's Table Fo…Orlando Health IncVictory Cup Initiativ…The Dr P Phillips Fou…The Chatlos Foundatio…Truist Foundation IncDuke Energy Foundation
Central Florida FoundationFL26× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Central Florida Foundation · Universal Orlando Foundation Inc · Adventist Health SystemSunbelt Inc · Magruder Chesley G Fdn Im · Acahand Foundation · The Father's Table Foundation · Orlando Health Inc · Victory Cup Initiative Inc · The Dr P Phillips Foundation · The Chatlos Foundation Inc · Truist Foundation Inc · Duke Energy 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 Big Nova Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Big Nova Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 130%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 5%
  • Idignity Inc: 6% of income from government
  • The Christian Sharing Center Inc: 5% of income from government
  • The Faine House Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
13get 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 · 0–15%
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 Big Nova Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Big Nova Foundation 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 64 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 Big Nova’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