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Child's Play at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Child's Play

CHILD'S PLAY seeks to improve the lives of children and teens in pediatric hospitals and other child welfare facilities through the kindness and generosity of the gamer community and the power of play.

$2.9M
Granted FY2025still arriving
102
Grants FY2025still arriving
38
States reached
$210k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Health$12MInternational$2.6MEducation$381kHuman Services$317kArts & Culture$252kYouth Development$235kPublic Safety & Disaster$126kScience & Tech$67kOther$0
02FY2025 · 102 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 102 grants below total $1,831,308, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,922,378 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,091,070 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 · FY2025

  • Under $10k52 grants · $303k
  • $10k–50k43 grants · $563k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $965k
$9,921
Median grant
38
States reached
$16M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SEATTLE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$209,700
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$181,600
CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL COLORADO FOUNDATION$176,525
RILEY CHEER GUILD INC$140,000
INTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION AT PRIMARY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$90,000
THE NEMOURS FOUNDATION$89,040
NORTHSHORE UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM FOUNDATION$77,700
INTEGRIS HEALTH FOUNDATION INC$45,158
ANN & ROBERT H LURIE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF CHICAGO FOUNDATION$43,600
SANTA ROSA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION DBA CHRISTUS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATIO$34,738
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER$26,250
MEDICAL UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL AUTHORITY$18,666
OU MEDICINE INC DBA THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL$17,454
NEWARK BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER$16,460
ST VINCENT HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC$10,970
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 (FY17–21, $239k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 71% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Boys Town National Research Hospital: $26k → 12%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF SCRANTON: $25k → 13%THE UPSTATE FOUNDATION INC: $62k → 14%Ronald McDonald House of Scranton: $25k → 13%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE - CINCINNATI: $16k → 16%Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati: $16k → 16%RYTHER CHILD CENTER: $6k → 9%GAME TO GROW: $38k → 9%GAME TO GROW: $24k → 9%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

AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $391k on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 4 regions. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$188k · 48% · 9 grants

Stated purpose: GAMING AND TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AND PROGRAMS

North America (Canada and Mexico)$113k · 29% · 12 grants

Stated purpose: GAMING AND TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AND PROGRAMS

Sub-Saharan Africa$79k · 20% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: GAMING AND TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AND PROGRAMS

East Asia and the Pacific$11k · 3% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: GAMING AND TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT AND PROGRAMS

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$16M · 164 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.

164 repeat relationships: 88 still active in FY2025, 76 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

164
94

Total granted

$16M
$1.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+37%

Still filing today

88%
82%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $128k 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
HealthEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesArts & CultureCrime & LegalOther
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

  • TB
    THE BUNGIE FOUNDATION
    2× · 2019–2020 · $2.5M · revenue ×38 · 43% of their budget
  • GC
    GAMECHANGER CHARITY
    3× · 2017–2019 · $710k · revenue +87%
  • TN
    THE NEMOURS FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2025 · $466k · revenue +75%

Funded once

  • LI
    LONG ISLAND JEWISH MEDICAL CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $159k · revenue +35%
  • CC
    Carilion Clinic Foundationgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $82k · revenue +114%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $72k · revenue +37%
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
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
2
Children's Health Care

We champion the health needs of children and families. we are committed to improving children's health by providing the highest-quality, family centered care, advanced through research and education.

Health
3
Methodist Healthcare-Memphis Hospitals

Methodist le bonheur healthcare, in partnership with its medical staffs, will collaborate with patients and their families to be the leader in providing high quality, cost-effective patient-and family-centered care. services will be…

Health
4
Rush Copley Medical Center

To improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.

Health
5
Johns Hopkins Health System Corporation

Johns hopkins health system corporation provides centralized management of a multi-hospital healthcare system. it is a key component of johns hopkins medicine, a collaboration with the johns hopkins university school of medicine.

Health
6
Ucsf Health Community Hospitals Fka Saint Francis Memorial Hospital

Ucsf health community hospital's mission statement is caring, healing, teaching, and discovering.

Health
7
Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Specialists Pllc

The Mission of Hartford HealthCare Medical Group Specialists, PLLC is to put the patients first, provide coordinated quality care and value, exceed the expectations of patients, providers, staff and the community that it serves.

Health
8
Indiana University Health North Hospital Inc

Lead the transformation of healthcare through quality, innovation & education, and make Indiana one of the nation's healthiest states.

Health
9
Methodist Medical Center

Methodist Medical Center provides quality healthcare, in alignment with Covenant Health's mission to serve the community by improving the quality of life through better health regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

Health
10
University of Minnesota Physicians

University of minnesota physicians serves as the integrated group practice for the university of minnesota medical school full-time faculty to provide the highest quality healthcare to patients and their families.university of minnesota…

Health
11
Pediatric Physician Services Inc

The corporation is organized for charitable, educational and scientific purposes, and to provide healthcare services of pediatric specialty physicians and other personnel to the patients of johns hopkins all children's hospital and…

—
12
Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return

Mass general brigham incorporated is developing an integrated health care delivery system throughout the region that offers patients a continuum of coordinated, high-quality care.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Children's Health Care Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Ingenium 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

247 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. 247 of the 270 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.

6
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
24
Early backer (in before they grew)
239/247
Grantees still filing
186/247
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GAMECHANGER CHARITY: $710,000 · HealthGAMECHANGER CHARITYChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $651,677 · HealthChildren's Hospital Colorado FoundationTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $465,662 · HealthChildren's Hospital Los Angeles: $370,220 · Health+125 more: $8,456,906 · Health+125 moreTHE BUNGIE FOUNDATION: $2,510,000 · PhilanthropyTHE BUNGIE FOUNDATI…RADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO: $277,476 · PhilanthropyRADY CHILDREN'S HOS…KALISPELL REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $150,624 · Philanthropy+4 more: $98,729 · PhilanthropySeattle Children's Foundation: $379,150 · OtherSeattle Children'…ST ELIZABETH SETON CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION LTD: $245,300 · OtherST ELIZABETH SETO…DELL CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $201,970 · OtherDELL CHILDREN'S F…REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $158,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UN…UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY: $150,005 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF KEN…SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (DBA LUMA GUILD): $150,000 · OtherSEATTLE CHILDREN'…CHILDRENS HEALTHCARE OF ATLANTA INC: $134,500 · OtherELIZABETH SETON PEDIATRIC CENTER: $131,900 · OtherTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL VOLUNTEERS: $98,000 · OtherChild Life Disaster Relief Inc: $126,100 · Other+28 more: $976,882 · Other+28 moreUniversity of Maryland Medical System Foundation Inc: $74,900 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATION: $72,305 · EducationUniversity of Kentucky Research Foundation: $67,090 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI FOUNDATION: $63,950 · EducationSTATE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA FOUNDATION: $38,500 · EducationUniversity of Chicago: $33,500 · EducationUNC HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $29,500 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION: $27,864 · EducationWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES: $20,000 · Education+7 more: $99,000 · EducationRANDOM ACTS INC: $228,860 · Arts & CultureMISAMEACH INC: $60,000 · Arts & CultureINGENIUM INC: $23,639 · Arts & CultureYOUNG AUDIENCES OF INDIANA INC: $20,200 · Arts & CultureGAMERS OUTREACH FOUNDATION INC: $234,700 · Youth DevelopmentGAME TO GROW: $62,220 · Human ServicesTHE UPSTATE FOUNDATION INC: $61,567 · Human ServicesRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF SCRANTON INC: $50,400 · Human ServicesRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF GREATER CINCINNATI INC: $32,600 · Human ServicesFather Flanagan's Boys' Home: $25,954 · Human Services
Health$10,654,465Philanthropy$3,036,829Other$2,751,807Education$526,609Arts & Culture$332,699Youth Development$234,700Human Services$232,741

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE BUNGIE FOUNDATION: $2,510,000 over 2y, 43% of budgetGAMECHANGER CHARITY: $710,000 over 3y, 24% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $651,677 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $465,662 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSeattle Children's Foundation: $379,150 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetChildren's Hospital Los Angeles: $370,220 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetINTEGRIS Health Foundation Inc: $300,173 over 6y, 1.1% of budgetRADY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION SAN DIEGO: $277,476 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetRILEY CHEER GUILD INC: $267,000 over 8y, 5.9% of budgetST ELIZABETH SETON CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION LTD: $245,300 over 2y, 15% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $238,100 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $238,063 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetGAMERS OUTREACH FOUNDATION INC: $234,700 over 2y, 27% of budgetRANDOM ACTS INC: $228,860 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetCONNECTICUT CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION INC: $227,235 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS ALL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INC: $227,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INC: $212,270 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Nebraska Medical Center: $203,644 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDELL CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $201,970 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetATRIUM HEALTH FOUNDATION: $199,815 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $197,738 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBLUE BIRD AUXILIARY: $195,463 over 4y, 23% of budgetAdventHealth Foundation Inc: $178,840 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetYALE NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL: $169,420 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFairview Health Services: $169,125 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVanderbilt University Medical Center: $162,077 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLONG ISLAND JEWISH MEDICAL CENTER: $158,510 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAnn & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago Foundation: $155,630 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetKALISPELL REGIONAL HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION: $150,624 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetSEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (DBA LUMA GUILD): $150,000 over 3y, 26% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $147,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado: $135,112 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetELIZABETH SETON PEDIATRIC CENTER: $131,900 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL & RESEARCH CNTR FNDN: $128,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetChild Life Disaster Relief Inc: $126,100 over 3y, 68% of budgetNORTHWELL HEALTH FOUNDATION: $123,439 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION: $123,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetINTERMOUNTAIN HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC: $118,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER: $114,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF MICHIGAN FOUNDATION: $109,000 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetMARY BRIDGE CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $102,760 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetST LOUIS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $101,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetChildren's Hospital of the King's Daughters: $101,101 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL VOLUNTEERS: $98,000 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S HEALTH CARE FOUNDATION: $95,300 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER OF AKRON: $94,377 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSt Joseph's Hospital Inc: $92,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJOE DIMAGGIO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $89,760 over 4y, 0.3% 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.

Gamers Outreach Found…American Cancer Socie…Joy In Childhood Foun…Ronald McDonald House…Driven Brands Charita…Will Rogers Motion Pi…Lamb Weston Charitabl…The Children's Hospit…Hyundai Hope on WheelsCystic Fibrosis Found…Encourage Kids Founda…The Toy Foundation Inc
Gamers Outreach Foundation IncMI61.1× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Gamers Outreach Foundation Inc · American Cancer Society Inc · Joy In Childhood Foundation Inc · Ronald McDonald House Global · Driven Brands Charitable Foundation · Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation · Lamb Weston Charitable Foundation · The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia · Hyundai Hope on Wheels · Cystic Fibrosis Foundation · Encourage Kids Foundation · The Toy 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 Child's Play funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Child's Play. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 200%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • Children's Inn at Nih Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Connecticut Children's Medical Center: 5% of income from government
  • The University of Vermont Medical Center: 1% of income from government
  • The Nemours Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Yale New Haven Hospital: 0% of income from government
  • University of Maryland Medical System Corporation: 0% of income from government
  • Baystate Health Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • The Johns Hopkins Hospital: 0% of income from government
  • Randall Childrens Hospital Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • St Joseph's Hospital Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Shriners Hospitals for Children: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
20get no government money at all
23report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 Child's Play?

Find your warmest path to Child's Play 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 270 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Child's Play’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