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Cellarius Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Cellarius 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.

$785k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$402k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Education$2.8MReligion$1.1MCommunity Improvement$462kInternational$112kCivil Rights$95kYouth Development$53kHousing & Shelter$25kHuman Services$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $25k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+2 grants · $702k
$15,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GRACE COLLEGE$401,622
GRACE FELLOWSHIP$300,000
THE COMPASS ACADEMY$50,000
BRIGHTSTART LEARNING$15,000
CAMP CARL$10,102
GRACE FELLOWSHIP$5,000
PAY IT FORWARD MOTORS$3,500
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 (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 97% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%WORLD TEAM: $21k → 6%BIBLEPROJECT: $25k → 12%WATERSTONE: $450k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $512k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $350k → 9%CAMP CARL: $10k → 12%BRIGHTSTART LEARNING: $20k → 13%INTERNATIONAL FRIENDSHIPS INC: $11k → 15%YOUNG AMERICA'S FOUNDATION: $50k → 6%THE BIBLE PROJECT: $20k → 12%GRACE COLLEGE: $500k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $300k → 9%BRIGHTSTART LEARNING: $20k → 13%YOUNG AMERICAN'S FOUNDATION: $15k → 6%GRACE COLLEGE: $402k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $162k → 9%BRIGHTSTART LEARNING: $15k → 13%VISTA VILLAGE: $25k → 15%YOUNG AMERICAN'S FOUNDATION: $15k → 6%GRACE COLLEGE: $355k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $156k → 9%BRIGHTSTART LEARNING: $10k → 13%YOUNG AMERICAN'S FOUNDATION: $15k → 6%GRACE COLLEGE: $267k → 11%THE COMPASS ACADEMY: $75k → 9%BRIGHTSTART LEARNING: $8k → 13%LOWER LIGHTS MINISTRIES: $10k → 15%GRACE COLLEGE: $150k → 11%THE COMPASS ACADEMY: $50k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $120k → 11%THE COMPASS ACADEMY: $40k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $50k → 11%THE COMPASS ACADEMY: $25k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $20k → 11%THE COMPASS ACADEMY: $25k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $20k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $14k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $20k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $14k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $20k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $13k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $20k → 11%GRACE FELLOWSHIP: $10k → 9%GRACE COLLEGE: $20k → 11%GRACE COLLEGE: $15k → 11%GRACE COLLEGE: $12k → 11%GRACE COLLEGE: $10k → 11%GRACE COLLEGE: $9k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

OR
IN
OH
PA
CO
MO
VA
AZ
FL
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.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.2M · 10 repeat orgs$522k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +92% since the first grant, against +54% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
8

Total granted

$4.2M
$509k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+92%
+54%

Still filing today

70%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
ReligionEducationYouth DevelopmentInternationalHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • GS
    Grace Schools
    8× · 2018–2025 · $2.5M · revenue +92%
  • TC
    THE COMPASS ACADEMY
    5× · 2021–2025 · $235k · revenue +191%
  • YA
    Young America's Foundation
    2× · 2020–2023 · $95k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • W
    WATERSTONE
    one grant, 2020 · $450k
  • VV
    VISTA VILLAGE INC
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue -63%
  • MF
    MIO Frontiers
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +11%
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
Coalition for Christian Outreach

The cco (coalition for christian outreach) is an interdenominational campus ministry organization with a mission of "transforming college students to transform the world." the cco is supported primarily through donor contributions and…

—
2
Central Christian College of the Bible

Central christian college of the bible (central) exists to develop servant-leaders for the church. as a traditional undergraduate bible college of the restoration movement, central equips faithful men and women for leadership ministry.

Education
3
Biglife International Inc

Biglife international inc. empowers believers worldwide to reach and disciple their own people for jesus christ.

Recreation & Sports
4
Criswell College

The mission of criswell college is to provide ministerial and professional higher education for men and women preparing to serve as christian leaders throughout society, while maintaining an institutional commitment to biblical inerrancy.

Education
5
Georgia Tech Christian Campus Fellowship

Through weekly bible studies, small group environments and accountability groups, weekend retreats and mission trips, students are encouraged and challenged to grow their faith in jesus christ.

—
6
Josiah Venture

To equip young leaders throughout Central and Eastern Europe to fulfill Christ's commission through the local church.

Religion
7
Summit Ministries Inc

Summit ministries is an educational christian ministry with the purpose of equipping tomorrow's servant leaders to analyze competing worldviews and champion the christian faith, inspiring each one to love god with all his heart, soul,…

—
8
Union University

Union university provides christ-centered education that promotes excellence and character development in service to church and society.

Education
9
InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA

In response to God's love, grace, and truth, the purpose (mission) of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is to establish and advance at colleges and universities witnessing communities of students and faculty who follow Jesus as Savior…

Religion
10
Friendship Christian School Inc

To provide an excellent education in a christian environment.

Education
11
Visionsynergy

Our mission is to accelerate the great commission by equipping leaders, developing networks, and catalyzing collaboration toward spiritual breakthroughs among the least reached peoples and places of the world.

International
12
Christianity Today International

Christianity Today is a global community inspired by evangelical conviction to advance the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God. Our mission is to elevate the storytellers and sages of the global church.

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Young Life; the most unlike its peers is The Compass Academy. 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

12 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. 12 of the 20 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/12
Grantees still filing
10/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Grace Schools: $2,526,422 · EducationGrace SchoolsTHE COMPASS ACADEMY: $235,000 · EducationTHE COMPASS ACADEMYGRACE FELLOWSHIP: $1,028,410 · OtherGRACE FELLOWSHIPWATERSTONE: $450,000 · OtherWATERSTONEYoung America's Foundation: $95,000 · OtherYoung America's Foundation+7 more: $68,035 · OtherBIBLEPROJECT: $80,000 · ReligionInternational Friendships Inc: $14,600 · ReligionCAMP CARL LTD: $10,102 · ReligionMIO Frontiers: $10,000 · ReligionBRIGHT START LEARNING INC: $78,430 · InternationalYOUNG LIFE: $52,500 · Youth DevelopmentFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $3,000 · Youth DevelopmentVISTA VILLAGE INC: $25,000 · Housing & Shelter
Education$2,761,422Other$1,641,445Religion$114,702International$78,430Youth Development$55,500Housing & Shelter$25,000

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 budgetGrace Schools: $2,526,422 over 8y, 9.7% of budgetTHE COMPASS ACADEMY: $235,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $95,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBIBLEPROJECT: $80,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetBRIGHT START LEARNING INC: $78,430 over 5y, 7.5% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $52,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetVISTA VILLAGE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetInternational Friendships Inc: $14,600 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCAMP CARL LTD: $10,102 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLOWER LIGHT MINISTRIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $3,000 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.

  • Who funds Grace Schools ↗
  • Who funds THE COMPASS ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds Young America's Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BIBLEPROJECT ↗
  • Who funds BRIGHT START LEARNING INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds VISTA VILLAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds International Friendships Inc ↗
  • Who funds CAMP CARL LTD ↗
  • Who funds MIO Frontiers ↗
  • Who funds LOWER LIGHT MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES ↗

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.

Natl Christian Charit…Columbus FoundationDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Natl Christian Charitable Fdn IncGA13.1× affinity9 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Columbus Foundation · 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 Cellarius Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cellarius Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    2report 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 20 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 Cellarius’ 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