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Blues for Kids at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Blues for Kids

Charitable trust - see statement on schedule o

$1.7M
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
—
States reached
$142k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Recreation & Sports$1.1MHealth$834kPhilanthropy$644kEducation$348kHuman Services$347kYouth Development$182kCommunity Improvement$70kPublic Safety & Disaster$60kOther$0
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 7 grants below total $409,693, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,705,152 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,295,459 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $68k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $342k
$50,000
Median grant
—
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED WAY OF GREATER ST LOUIS$142,193
BEST BUDDIES MISSOURI$50,000
NAVIGATE STL SCHOOLS$50,000
FRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER$50,000
OLLIE HINKLE HEART FOUNDATION$50,000
CHADS COALITION FOR MENTAL HEALTH$47,500
GIRLS ON THE RUN OF ST LOUIS$20,000
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.

US giving: 65% of grant dollars ($4.0M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 35% that went abroad ($2.2M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $177k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER: $50k → 11%FRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER: $50k → 11%FRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER: $8k → 11%THE LITTLE BIT FOUNDATION: $15k → 11%LITTLE BIT FOUNDATION: $15k → 11%LITTLE BIT FOUNDATION: $9k → 11%ST LOUIS GUNS N HOSES BOXING ASSOCIATION: $10k → 11%ST LOUIS GUNS N HOSES BOXING ASSOCIATION: $10k → 11%AMERICAN RED CROSS: $10k → 11%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.

Beyond the US: 35% of all-years giving ($2.2M)

1 country, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
OC$2.2M · 74 grants
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. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

54%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.1M · 21 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +29% since the first grant, against +12% for those funded once.

21 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

21
171

Total granted

$2.1M
$1.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+29%
+12%

Still filing today

90%
16%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $148k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Recreation & SportsHealthEducationHuman ServicesCivil RightsPhilanthropyOther
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

  • SL
    St Louis Blues Alumni Assn
    2× · 2021–2022 · $302k · revenue +66% · 34% of their budget
  • WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
    4× · 2020–2023 · $136k · revenue +16%
  • MA
    MISSOURI AMATEUR ICE HOCKEY
    4× · 2020–2023 · $134k · revenue +52% · 31% of their budget

Funded once

  • SL
    ST LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
    one grant, 2019 · $150k
  • SL
    ST LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $150k · revenue +401%
  • US
    URBAN SPROUTS CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER
    one grant, 2019 · $54k
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
St Louis Sports Commission Inc

Foster economic growth and improved quality of life in the st. louis area by producing events, enhancing its national and international image as a premier sports region, and increasing community awareness of the value of sports.

—
2
Mission St Louis

Mission: st. louis empowers individuals for social and economic growth through relationships and opportunity.

Community Improvement
3
St Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

To enhance the student-athletes' educational process through intercollegiate competitive activity encompassing the rules of fairness based on the highest standards of integrity and sportsmanlike conduct.

Recreation & Sports
4
St Louis Learning Disabilities Association

To provide children with hope, understanding, and compassion so they can reach their full potential.

Human Services
5
St Louis Community Foundation

To promote the possibilities of charitable giving, helping charitable citizens understand how they can effectively provide for the community they love and the causes they care deeply about.

Philanthropy
6
St Louis Sports Foundation Inc

Foster amateur sports competitions, opportunities for youth and adults to participate in sports, and a culture of sportsmanship so st. louisans lead healthier, happier lives.

Recreation & Sports
7
St Louis Youth Soccer Association

To provide soccer leagues to promote youth soccer in the st louis area

—
8
Go St Louis

Go st. louis, a local non-profit organization, encourages individuals and families in the st. louis region to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle year round. the organization accomplishes this through community collaborations, school…

Recreation & Sports
9
St Louis District Tennis Association

Provide recreational tennis and pickleball for adults and youth

—
10
Assistance League of St Louis

The organization volunteers invest in student success and support families in crisis.

Human Services
11
St Louis Prospects Hockey Club

Provide youth hockey players valuable life skills with training, competition and team building experiences. while promoting self esteem, physical healthy habits

Recreation & Sports
12
Behavioral Health Network of Greater St

Behavioral Health Network is a collaborative effort of providers working together to improve our community by leading behavioral health planning and coordination.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is St Louis Legacy Ice Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Rick Rush Art Alliance. 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

52 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. 52 of the 196 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)
51/52
Grantees still filing
35/52
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ST LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $150,000 · OtherST LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITALDUO DOGS INC: $84,405 · Other+165 more: $1,403,126 · Other+165 moreST LOUIS LEGACY ICE FOUNDATION: $333,700 · Recreation & SportsST LOUIS LEGACY IC…MISSOURI AMATEUR ICE HOCKEY: $134,166 · Recreation & SportsMISSOURI AMATEUR I…St Louis Blues Warriors Inc: $69,262 · Recreation & SportsSt Louis Blues War…GATEWAY ARCH PARK FOUNDATION: $37,500 · Recreation & SportsGATEWAY ARCH PARK …LIFT FOR LIFE ACADEMY INC: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsCHESTERFIELD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $25,000 · Recreation & Sports+2 more: $17,500 · Recreation & SportsUNITED WAY OF GREATER ST LOUIS INC: $530,909 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF GRE…ST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $42,500 · PhilanthropyST LOUIS PUBLIC S…THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $26,963 · PhilanthropySt Louis Blues Alumni Assn: $302,179 · EducationSt Louis Blues …WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $135,597 · EducationWASHINGTON UNIV…Navigate STL Schools: $50,000 · EducationNavigate STL Sc…FOLDS OF HONOR ST LOUIS: $25,411 · Education+2 more: $19,165 · EducationST LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $150,000 · HealthOLLIE HINKLE HEART FOUNDATION: $64,900 · HealthCHADS COALITION FOR MENTAL HEALTH: $47,500 · HealthHAVENHOUSE ST LOUIS: $21,633 · Health+2 more: $13,109 · HealthFRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER: $107,500 · Human ServicesTHE LITTLE BIT FOUNDATION: $38,979 · Human ServicesSt Louis Guns N Hoses Boxing Association: $20,203 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $10,030 · Human ServicesGIRLS ON THE RUN OF ST LOUIS: $80,000 · Youth DevelopmentJACKIE JOYNER KERSEE FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Youth Development
Other$1,637,531Recreation & Sports$647,128Philanthropy$600,372Education$532,352Health$297,142Human Services$176,712Youth Development$95,000

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 budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER ST LOUIS INC: $530,909 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetST LOUIS LEGACY ICE FOUNDATION: $333,700 over 2y, 34% of budgetSt Louis Blues Alumni Assn: $302,179 over 2y, 34% of budgetST LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $135,597 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMISSOURI AMATEUR ICE HOCKEY: $134,166 over 4y, 31% of budgetFRIENDS OF KIDS WITH CANCER: $107,500 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetDUO DOGS INC: $84,405 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN OF ST LOUIS: $80,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetSt Louis Blues Warriors Inc: $69,262 over 2y, 40% of budgetOLLIE HINKLE HEART FOUNDATION: $64,900 over 2y, 3.1% of budgetNavigate STL Schools: $50,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF ST LOUIS: $50,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBest Buddies International Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHADS COALITION FOR MENTAL HEALTH: $47,500 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetST LOUIS PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION: $42,500 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetURBAN LEAGUE OF METROPOLITAN ST LOUIS: $40,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LITTLE BIT FOUNDATION: $38,979 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetGATEWAY ARCH PARK FOUNDATION: $37,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetHEROES CARE INC: $37,046 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLIFT FOR LIFE ACADEMY INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Rick Rush Art Alliance: $29,789 over 1y, 19% of budgetLydia's House Inc: $28,062 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $26,963 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOLDS OF HONOR ST LOUIS: $25,411 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetCHESTERFIELD HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHAVENHOUSE ST LOUIS: $21,633 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetSt Louis Guns N Hoses Boxing Association: $20,203 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetRECREATION COUNCIL OF GREATER ST LOUIS: $20,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetST LOUIS HERO NETWORK: $18,011 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetSt Louis Police Foundation: $15,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetJACKIE JOYNER KERSEE FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetATHLETES FOR ANIMALS INC: $14,182 over 1y, 9.1% of budgetMaryville University - St Louis: $13,165 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS ASSOCIATION ST LOUIS REGIONAL CHAPTER: $12,640 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetOPERATION SHOWER: $12,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetPride St Louis Inc: $11,020 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetYOU CAN PLAY: $11,020 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $10,030 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKIRKWOOD YOUTH HOCKEY ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetMERAMEC HOCKEY CLUB: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetEarthDance: $9,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCARE AND COUNSELING INC: $8,523 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetProvident Inc: $8,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDISABLED ATHLETE SPORTS ASSOCIATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHE MAGIC HOUSE: $6,767 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIFEBRIDGE PARTNERSHIP: $6,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetStray Rescue of St Louis: $6,201 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

St Louis Community Fo…World Wide Technology…Employees Community F…St Louis Community Fo…United Way of Greater…Centene FoundationCommerce Bancshares F…Edward Jones Foundati…Moneta Group Charitab…Edward Jones Foundati…The Crawford Taylor F…Brown Dana Charitable…
St Louis Community Foundation IncMO45.5× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: St Louis Community Foundation Inc · World Wide Technology Foundation · Employees Community Fund of the Boeing Company · St Louis Community Foundation · United Way of Greater St Louis Inc · Centene Foundation · Commerce Bancshares Foundation · Edward Jones Foundation · Moneta Group Charitable Foundation · Edward Jones Foundation · The Crawford Taylor Foundation · Brown Dana Charitable Trust

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 Blues for Kids funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Blues for Kids. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 Blues for Kids?

Find your warmest path to Blues for Kids 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 196 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 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 Blues for Kids’ 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