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Challenge Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Challenge Fund

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.

$256k
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$40k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$653kEnvironment$376kFood & Nutrition$220kInternational$200kHealth$129kEducation$112kCrime & Legal$91kCivil Rights$89kOther$0
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$20,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$4.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CAPEL HILL FOUNDATION HILL$40,000
RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ASSOCIATION$27,000
REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION$25,000
THE HAVEN$21,250
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION$21,250
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE$20,000
UKRAINE CRISIS RELIEF FUND$20,000
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION INC$20,000
PROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM$15,000
RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN$15,000
EVERYCAT HEALTH FOUNDATION INC$10,625
INDEPENDENT ANIMAL RESCUE INC$10,625
HOPE RENOVATIONS$10,000
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.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $54k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 35% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%BRONXWORKS: $10k → 28%Atlanta Mission: $3k → 13%THE HAVEN AT FIRST AND MARKET INC: $20k → 8%THE HAVEN AT FIRST AND MARKET INC: $10k → 8%ReadyKids: $5k → 8%DIAPER BANK OF NORTH CAROLINA: $2k → 11%Innocence Project Inc: $4k → 17%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

WA
NY
MA
OR
NJ
CT
RI
CA
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
AL
GA
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.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 27 repeat orgs$566k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

27 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

27
51

Total granted

$1.7M
$407k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+28%

Still filing today

85%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 38% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $160k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsEnvironmentInternationalHuman ServicesHealthEducationOther
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

  • FO
    Foodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc
    6× · 2017–2024 · $116k · revenue +76%
  • EARTHJUSTICE
    4× · 2017–2024 · $87k · revenue +82%
  • FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC
    6× · 2017–2022 · $75k · revenue +86%

Funded once

  • LF
    LYNDA FAIRLY CARPINTERIA ARTS CENTER
    one grant, 2018 · $35k
  • EC
    EDC CHARITABLE TRUST
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
  • CA
    CARPINTERIA ARTS CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $25k · revenue +13%
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
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
2
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
3
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
4
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
5
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
6
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
7
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
8
Waterorg

Water.org's goal is to bring safe water and sanitation to the world through access to small, affordable loans.

International
9
North Carolina Conservation Network

The north carolina conservation network supports, trains, and coordinates diverse groups and directly advocates to achieve equitable and sustainable solutions for our environment.

Environment
10
Center for Arms Control and

A nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to enhancing international peace and security in the 21st century, thereby retaining its focus on nuclear weapons but expanding to include other present emerging security threats.

International
11
Wildlife Conservation Network Inc

Connect conservationists and supporters, deploy resources to the field, provide conservationists with tools and support they need to succeed.

Animals
12
American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation Inc

The aclu of north carolina dares to create a more perfect union - beyond one person, party, or side. our mission is to realize this promise of the united states and north carolina constitutions for all and expand the reach of their…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Atlanta Union Mission Corporation; the most unlike its peers is Hillsborough Community Media. 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

77 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. 77 of the 86 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
75/77
Grantees still filing
51/77
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ART: $568,075 · OtherSANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF ARTCLUB NOVA: $66,000 · OtherCLUB NOVAHOPE RENOVATIONS SPENCER: $60,000 · OtherENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE CENTER: $45,000 · Other+47 more: $453,071 · Other+47 moreRAINFOREST TRUST: $155,000 · InternationalRAINFOREST TRUSTDIRECT RELIEF: $70,500 · InternationalDIRECT RELIEFInternational Rescue Committee INC: $39,000 · InternationalInternational Re…MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $28,500 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FR…Save The Children Federation Inc: $25,000 · InternationalSave The Childre…+2 more: $6,200 · InternationalFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $115,500 · Food & NutritionFoodbank o…FOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $74,500 · Food & NutritionFOOD BANK …RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ASSOCIATION: $27,000 · Food & NutritionRHODE ISLA…+1 more: $2,500 · Food & NutritionEARTHJUSTICE: $86,575 · EnvironmentCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $25,000 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 · EnvironmentAPPALACHIAN VOICES: $10,000 · EnvironmentTRIANGLE LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $7,575 · Environment+2 more: $5,000 · EnvironmentEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $86,500 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $31,250 · Civil RightsCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $10,000 · Civil RightsNATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: $4,700 · Civil Rights+1 more: $4,000 · Civil RightsWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $45,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 · EducationPROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM: $15,000 · EducationRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $15,000 · Education10000 DEGREES: $10,000 · Education+1 more: $2,000 · EducationCANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA: $35,000 · HealthCLUB NOVA COMMUNITY INC: $35,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $20,000 · HealthPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $15,000 · HealthPLANNED PARENTHOOD CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST: $10,000 · HealthCHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC: $5,000 · Health
Other$1,192,146International$324,200Food & Nutrition$219,500Environment$159,150Civil Rights$136,450Education$127,000Health$120,000

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 budgetRAINFOREST TRUST: $155,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetFoodbank of Santa Barbara County Inc: $115,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $86,575 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $86,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF CENTRAL & EASTERN NC INC: $74,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $70,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHOPE RENOVATIONS SPENCER: $60,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE CENTER: $45,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $39,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCANCER FOUNDATION OF SANTA BARBARA: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCLUB NOVA COMMUNITY INC: $35,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $31,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HAVEN AT FIRST AND MARKET INC: $30,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $28,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK ASSOCIATION: $27,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCARPINTERIA ARTS CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL COUNCIL: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HAVEN: $21,250 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAmerican Bird Conservancy: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROVIDENCE ATHENAEUM: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetRHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAFE HAVEN FOR CATS: $13,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTHE WOMEN'S CENTER INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetFAMILIES MOVING FORWARD: $11,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetEVERYCAT HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $10,625 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetIndependent Animal Rescue Inc: $10,625 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNorth Carolina Adapted Sports Incorporated: $10,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetBRONXWORKS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget10000 DEGREES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAPPALACHIAN VOICES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD CALIFORNIA CENTRAL COAST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGIVEDIRECTLY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY PARKS FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTER-FAITH COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL SERVICE INC: $8,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTRIANGLE LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $7,575 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTERNATIONAL SNOW LEOPARD TRUST: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHARLOTTESVILLE FREE CLINIC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIG LIFE FOUNDATION USA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE OCEAN CLEANUP FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBENNETT'S VILLAGE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 13% 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.

Grace Jones Richardso…Triangle Community Fo…United Way of the Gre…North Carolina Commun…Duke Energy FoundationCharlottesville Area …Caplin FoundationZ Smith Reynolds Foun…Foundation for the Ca…Strowd Roses IncThe Genan FoundationFm Kirby Foundation I…
Grace Jones Richardson Testamentary Trust C/O Piedmont Trust CoNC42.1× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Grace Jones Richardson Testamentary Trust C/O Piedmont Trust Co · Triangle Community Foundation Inc · United Way of the Greater Triangle Inc · North Carolina Community Foundation · Duke Energy Foundation · Charlottesville Area Community Foundation · Caplin Foundation · Z Smith Reynolds Foundation Inc · Foundation for the Carolinas · Strowd Roses Inc · The Genan Foundation · Fm Kirby 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 Challenge Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Challenge Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Thread Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
20report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 86 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 Challenge’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