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Charlotte Cushman Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Charlotte Cushman Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$46k
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$4k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$365kHealth$8kPhilanthropy$4kHuman Services$4kCivil Rights$3kEmployment$3kFood & Nutrition$3kCrime & Legal$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$3,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$279k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
EgoPo Classic Theater$3,500
Lantern Theatre Company$3,500
Philadelphia Young Playwrights$3,250
Shakespeare in Clark Park$3,000
Plays and Players$3,000
Quintessence Theatre Group$3,000
The Producer Hub Inc$3,000
Inis Nua Theatre Company$3,000
Bearded Ladies Cabaret$3,000
Bristol Riverside Theatre$2,500
1812 Productions$2,500
People's Light$2,000
Theatre Horizon$2,000
Theatre Ariel$2,000
Wilma Theatre Company$2,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 20%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 91% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Theater Horizon: $3k → 7%Pig Iron Theater Co: $4k → 22%The Producer Hub Inc: $3k → 17%Pig Iron Theatre Co: $3k → 22%Fractured Atlas: $6k → 17%Pig Iron Theater Co: $3k → 22%Fractured Atlas: $6k → 17%Fractured Atlas: $4k → 17%Play Penn: $3k → 22%Play Penn: $3k → 22%Tiny Dynamite: $3k → 22%Interact Theater Company: $4k → 22%Inis Nua Theatre Company: $3k → 22%Interact Theater Company: $3k → 22%Plays and Players: $3k → 22%EgoPo Classic Theater: $4k → 22%Theatre Horizon: $3k → 22%EgoPo Classic Theater: $3k → 22%Shakespeare in Clark Park: $3k → 22%Shakespeare in Clark Park: $3k → 22%Shakespeare in Clark Park: $3k → 22%Shakespeare in Clark Park: $3k → 22%Shakespeare in Clark Park: $3k → 22%Quintessence Theatre Group: $3k → 22%Shakespeare in Clark Park: $3k → 22%Quintessence Theatre Group: $3k → 22%EgoPo Classic Theater: $3k → 22%EgoPo Classic Theater: $3k → 22%EgoPo Classic Theater: $3k → 22%Philadelphia Artist Collective: $3k → 22%Philadelphia Artist Collective: $3k → 22%Culture Trust of Gtr Phila: $5k → 22%Lantern Theater: $4k → 22%Wilma: $4k → 22%Philadelphia Young Playwrights: $3k → 22%Bearded Ladies Cabaret: $3k → 22%Lantern Theater: $3k → 22%Philadelphia Theatre CO: $3k → 22%Wilma Theatre Company: $3k → 22%Lantern Theater: $3k → 22%Philadelphia Theatre Co: $3k → 22%Wilma: $3k → 22%Culture Trust of Gtr Phila: $3k → 22%Arden: $3k → 22%Arden Theater Co: $3k → 22%Philadelphia Theatre Co: $3k → 22%Inis Nua Theater Co: $3k → 22%Arden Theater Co: $3k → 22%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 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.
$355k · 37 repeat orgs$45k to everyone else

37 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2024, 24 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

37
21

Total granted

$355k
$31k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+40%

Still filing today

49%
19%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $13k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationOther
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

  • FRACTURED ATLAS INC
    4× · 2017–2021 · $18k · revenue +71%
  • 1P
    1812 PRODUCTIONS INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $16k · revenue +37%
  • QT
    QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $16k · revenue +241%

Funded once

  • PI
    Pig Iron Theatre Co
    one grant, 2022 · $3k
  • IH
    Irish Heritage Theater
    one grant, 2019 · $3k
  • NH
    Neighborhood House Arts Program
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
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
Haven Arts Theatre

We are a theatre company. We provide opportunities for local theatre artists and high quality productions for the public.

Arts & Culture
2
The Center for International Theatre Development
Arts & Culture
3
P & J Theater Works
Arts & Culture
4
The Russian Arts Theatre and Studio

Develop recognition of international theater

Arts & Culture
5
Uprising Theater
Arts & Culture
6
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Inc
—
7
One Light Theatre Co
Arts & Culture
8
Unlabeled Theatre Company
Arts & Culture
9
Theo Ubique Theatre

The mission of theo ubique theater company is to engage actors and audiences in an intimate and honest conversation with great theatrical works, including musicals, reviews, and dramas.in a cabatet setting with food service available.

Arts & Culture
10
The Inkwell Theater Inc
Arts & Culture
11
Relic Theatre Company

Theatrical productions using Philadelphia motif

Arts & Culture
12
Actors Company of Natick

The Actors Company of Natick ACON creates theatre with purpose. At ACON, we celebrate artists and challenge community perspectives through equitable, professional and accessible productions.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lantern Theater Company; the most unlike its peers is Shakespeare in Clark Park. 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

25 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. 25 of the 63 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
14/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SHAKESPEARE IN CLARK PARK: $20,500 · Arts & CultureSHAKESPEARE IN CLARK PARKTHEATRE PHILADELPHIA: $20,000 · Arts & CultureTHEATRE PHILADELPHIAFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $17,950 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED ATLAS INC1812 PRODUCTIONS INC: $15,500 · Arts & Culture1812 PRODUCTIONS INCQUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC: $15,500 · Arts & CultureQUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INCTHEATRE HORIZON INC: $14,500 · Arts & CultureTHEATRE HORIZON INCPLAYPENN INC: $11,000 · Arts & CulturePLAYPENN INCTHEATRE EXILE COMPANY: $10,500 · Arts & CultureTINY DYNAMITE INC: $10,500 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA ARTISTS COLLECTIVE INCORPORATED: $9,420 · Arts & CultureAZUKA THEATRE COLLECTIVE: $9,000 · Arts & CultureBRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATRE CO INC: $8,200 · Arts & CultureINIS NUA THEATRE COMPANY: $7,500 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $28,100 · Arts & Culture+9 moreEgoPo Classic Theater: $21,100 · OtherEgoPo Classic TheaterInteract Theater Company: $13,500 · OtherInteract Theater CompanyLantern Theater: $12,000 · OtherLantern TheaterPhiladelphia Theatre Co: $10,500 · OtherPhiladelphia Theatre CoCulture Trust of Gtr Phila: $8,750 · OtherArden Theater Co: $8,500 · OtherSimpatico Theatre Project: $7,500 · OtherWilma Theatre Company: $7,500 · OtherInis Nua Theater Co: $7,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $7,000 · Other11th Hour Theatre Co: $7,000 · OtherPig Iron Theater Co: $6,500 · OtherWilma: $6,500 · Other+27 more: $60,200 · Other+27 moreTHE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS: $17,500 · Education
Arts & Culture$198,170Other$184,050Education$17,500

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

25%50%75%100%$10k$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSHAKESPEARE IN CLARK PARK: $20,500 over 7y, 4.2% of budgetTHEATRE PHILADELPHIA: $20,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $17,950 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS: $17,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budget1812 PRODUCTIONS INC: $15,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetQUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC: $15,500 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetTHEATRE HORIZON INC: $14,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetPLAYPENN INC: $11,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetTHEATRE EXILE COMPANY: $10,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTINY DYNAMITE INC: $10,500 over 5y, 2.2% of budgetPHILADELPHIA ARTISTS COLLECTIVE INCORPORATED: $9,420 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetAZUKA THEATRE COLLECTIVE: $9,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetBRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATRE CO INC: $8,200 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetINIS NUA THEATRE COMPANY: $7,500 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetTHE PEOPLE'S LIGHT & THEATRE COMPANY: $5,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLANTERN THEATER COMPANY: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPLAYS AND PLAYERS: $4,500 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS: $3,250 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetBEARDED LADIES CABARET: $3,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTheatre Ariel: $2,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetJOURNEY ARTS: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLONGFELLOW CHORUS: $100 over 1y, 14% 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 SHAKESPEARE IN CLARK PARK ↗
  • Who funds THEATRE PHILADELPHIA ↗
  • Who funds FRACTURED ATLAS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS ↗
  • Who funds 1812 PRODUCTIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds QUINTESSENCE THEATRE GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds THEATRE HORIZON INC ↗
  • Who funds PLAYPENN INC ↗
  • Who funds THEATRE EXILE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds TINY DYNAMITE INC ↗
  • Who funds PHILADELPHIA ARTISTS COLLECTIVE INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds AZUKA THEATRE COLLECTIVE ↗
  • Who funds BRISTOL RIVERSIDE THEATRE CO INC ↗
  • Who funds INIS NUA THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds IDIOPATHIC RIDICULOPATHY CONSORTIUM ↗
  • Who funds THE PEOPLE'S LIGHT & THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds LANTERN THEATER COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds PLAYS AND PLAYERS ↗
  • Who funds PHILADELPHIA YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS ↗
  • Who funds BEARDED LADIES CABARET ↗

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.

Wyncote FoundationThe William Penn Foun…The Philadelphia Cult…Independence Foundati…The Lida FoundationThe Philadelphia Foun…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…The Shubert Foundatio…The Sylvia W and Rand…Henrietta Tower Wurts…June & Steve Wolfson …Lindback Cr & Mf Foun…
Wyncote FoundationPA45× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Wyncote Foundation · The William Penn Foundation · The Philadelphia Cultural Fund Inc · Independence Foundation · The Lida Foundation · The Philadelphia Foundation · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · The Shubert Foundation Inc · The Sylvia W and Randle M Kauders Foundation Inc · Henrietta Tower Wurts Memorial Foundation · June & Steve Wolfson Family Foundation · Lindback Cr & Mf Foundation Tw Main

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 Charlotte Cushman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Charlotte Cushman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2025
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report 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 Charlotte Cushman Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Charlotte Cushman 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 63 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 Charlotte Cushman’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