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C D Light Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

C D Light Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$350
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its 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, FY2022 to 2024.

Education$3kHealth$1kInternational$352Human Services$338Philanthropy$250Youth Development$250Civil Rights$50
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$104
Median grant
5
States reached
$70k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY$350
PAN-MASS CHALLENGE$250
PROVIDENCE DAY SCHOOL$228
Individual grant recipient$104
AMER FOUNDATION SUICIDE PREVENTION$78
BEST BUDDIES$77
24FOUNDATIONORG$52
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY22–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 29% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PAN-MASS CHALLENGE: $250 → 7%EMASSBIGSCOM: $338 → 16%AMER FOUNDATION SUICIDE PREVENTION: $78 → 17%LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY: $350 → 14%THE IRONMAN FOUNDATION: $250 → 13%BEST BUDDIES: $77 → 15%THE ECHO FOUNDATION: $50 → 10%BRIDGE TO TURKIY: $175 → 13%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING GIVING: $250 → 17%PROVIDENCE DAY SCHOOL: $3k → 10%LUPUS RESEARCHORG: $104 → 17%PROVIDENCE DAY SCHOOL: $228 → 10%AFRICA SCHOOL: $100 → 17%ABILITY EXPERIENCE: $150 → 10%WAYFINDERS: $250 → 10%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 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
International Biomedical Research Alliance

Our mission is to invest in and accelerate the development of the most promising future leaders in biomedical research with global impact.

Health
2
Breakthrough Energy Foundation

Working with our world-class network of innovators, business and industry leaders, and policy experts, we accelerate the innovation of climate technologies at every stage - from discovery to development to deployment.

Public Benefit
3
Arc Research Institute

Our mission is to accelerate scientific progress, understand the root causes of disease, and narrow the gap between discoveries and impact on patients.

Health
4
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation Inc

The mission of the breast cancer research foundation, inc. is to prevent and cure breast cancer by advancing the world's most promising research.

Public Safety & Disaster
5
Institute for Protein Innovation Inc

The institute for protein innovation is advancing protein science to accelerate research and improve human health.

Health
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
7
MRIGlobal

To improve the lives of people through innovative scientific and engineering research.

Science & Tech
8
Vanderbilt University

See Disclosure Above.

Education
9
The Bridgespan Group Inc

Bridgespan's mission is to build a better world by strengthening the ability of mission-driven organizations and philanthropists to achieve breakthrough results in addressing society's most important challenges and opportunities.

Community Improvement
10
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc

The mission of dfci is to provide expert, compassionate, and equitable care to children, adults, and their families, while advancing the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of cancer and related diseases. we train new…

Health
11
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
12
Inclusive Development International

Inclusive Development International supports communities around the world to defend their rights and resources in the face of harmful corporate activities and internationally financed development projects, and we advocate for a more just…

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Pan-Massachusetts Challenge 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

9 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. 9 of the 15 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/9
Grantees still filing
4/9
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PROVIDENCE DAY SCHOOL INC: $3,428 · EducationPROVIDENCE DAY SCHOOL INCEMASSBIGSCOM: $338 · OtherEMASSBIGSCOMMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING GIVING: $250 · OtherMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING …PAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $250 · OtherPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLEN…THE ABILITY EXPERIENCE: $150 · OtherTHE ABILITY EXPERIENCEIndividual grant recipient: $104 · OtherIndividual grant recipien…AFRICA SCHOOL: $100 · OtherAFRICA SCHOOLAMER FOUNDATION SUICIDE PREVENTION: $78 · OtherAMER FOUNDATION SUICIDE P…24FOUNDATIONORG: $52 · OtherBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $350 · HealthTHE IRONMAN FOUNDATION INC: $250 · PhilanthropyR Bruce Irons Camp Fund: $250 · Youth DevelopmentBRIDGE TO TURKIYE: $175 · Public Safety & DisasterBest Buddies International Inc: $77 · InternationalEcho Foundation: $50 · Civil Rights
Education$3,428Other$1,322Health$350Philanthropy$250Youth Development$250Public Safety & Disaster$175International$77Civil Rights$50

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 budgetPROVIDENCE DAY SCHOOL INC: $3,428 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE IRONMAN FOUNDATION INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetR Bruce Irons Camp Fund: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE TO TURKIYE: $175 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ABILITY EXPERIENCE: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBest Buddies International Inc: $77 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEcho Foundation: $50 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.

Equitable Foundation …Foundation for the Ca…National Philanthropi…Charities Aid Foundat…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Equitable Foundation IncNY13.3× affinity4 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Equitable Foundation Inc · Foundation for the Carolinas · National Philanthropic Trust · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 C D Light Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from C D Light Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
1report 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.

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 15 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on C D Light’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