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Cowan Slavin Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Cowan Slavin Foundation Inc

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.

$167k
Granted FY2025still arriving
11
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$25k
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, FY2018 to 2025.

Youth Development$208kArts & Culture$132kInternational$55kHealth$52kCrime & Legal$43kHuman Services$25kEducation$24kEmployment$23kOther$0
02FY2025 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $159k
$15,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$5.0M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SHADES OF PINK FOUNDATION$25,000
WATERSIDE WORKSHOP$25,000
CUMBE CENTER FOR AFRICAN AND DIASPORA DANCE$20,000
LIFE CONNECTIONS OF THE CAROLINAS$15,000
SOARING UNLIMITED$15,000
FEEDING CHARLOTTE$15,000
UNDISCOVERED WORKS$12,000
CAROLINA BREAST FRIENDS$12,000
CHARLOTTE CENTER FOR THE LITERARY ARTS$10,000
COMMUNITIES FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE$10,000
WOMENS CANCER RESOURCE CENTER$7,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $23k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 33% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%SOARING UNLIMITED: $15k → 9%Soaring Unlimited: $8k → 16%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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$424k · 14 repeat orgs$166k to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
13

Total granted

$424k
$94k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+77%

Still filing today

71%
31%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 57% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $72k 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
Arts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHealthPhilanthropyCrime & LegalEmploymentOther
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

  • WW
    WATERSIDE WORKSHOPS
    8× · 2018–2025 · $95k · revenue +70%
  • NW
    NY WRITERS COALITION INC
    5× · 2018–2024 · $43k · revenue +15%
  • LC
    Life Connections of the Carolinas Inc
    3× · 2018–2025 · $33k · revenue +41%

Funded once

  • EK
    Extreme Kids and Crew Brooklyn
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • CC
    CUMBE CENTER
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • LC
    LIFE CONNECTIONS INC
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
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
Resonance Center for Women Inc

Resonance Center for Women, Inc. promotes and supports the well-being and self-sufficiency of women and their families involved with the criminal justice system.

Human Services
2
Womens Resource Center of Greensboro Inc

To promote the self-reliance of women by assessing needs, providing services, and acting as a gateway to community resources; to seek solutions for unmet needs by providing strategic leadership through collaboration and partnerships within…

Human Services
3
Restorative Transitions Inc

Re-entry Program in Durham NC

Crime & Legal
4
Grace Collective

Grace Collective is a nonprofit that offers hope and opportunity for lasting change to women survivors of poverty and exploitation. We do this by fostering a community of grace and holistic care where women learn job and life skills that…

Employment
5
Promise Resource Network Inc

Through the wisdom of lived recovery experience, we ignite social change, inspire hope and serve as a catalyst for personal greatness.

Health
6
Dress for Success Charlotte

A womens advancement center, the mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to thrive in work and in life. Programs and…

Human Services
7
The Center for Community Transitions

CCT strengthens our community by helping people with criminal records find a healthier and more productive way of living. Our work provides employment and transition services: supports alternatives to incarceration: and restores and…

—
8
Casting for Recovery

The mission of Casting for Recovery (CfR) is to empower women in treatment or recovery from breast cancer, through oncology-informed retreats that connect women to each other and nature using the therapeutic sport of fly fishing - all at…

Health
9
The WorkWell Partnership

The WorkWell Partnership operates a four-week job training program consisting of training and counseling, with qualified trainers, mentors, and advocates helping to prepare formerly incarcerated citizens for employment that can be…

Education
10
Recovery Career Services

Recovery Career Services exists to support individuals in recovery from substance use and those impacted by the criminal justice system in obtaining and maintaining employment. The organization provides career coaching, job readiness…

Human Services
11
We Lift You Up

Encourage cancer survivors to seek the support and camaraderie of other cancer survivors, so that they can find their strength, purpose and passion through our empowering, life-skill building activities.

Human Services
12
Charlotte Maxwell Clinic

To provide San Francisco Bay Area low-income women with cancer the opportunity for improved health outcomes and quality of life by providing free access to compassionate, integrative care and wrap-around support.

Unclassified
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Girls Write Now Inc; the most unlike its peers is Feeding Charlotte 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

19 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. 19 of the 32 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/19
Grantees still filing
16/19
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNDISCOVERED WORKS INC: $29,500 · OtherUNDISCOVERED WORKS INCSOARING UNLIMITED HAITI: $25,000 · OtherSOARING UNLIMITED HAITIIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientWomens Cancer Resource Center: $15,000 · OtherWomens Cancer Resource CenterCHARLOTTE CENTER FOR THE LITERARY ARTS: $10,000 · OtherExtreme Kids and Crew Brooklyn: $10,000 · OtherCUMBE CENTER: $10,000 · OtherLIFE CONNECTIONS INC: $10,000 · OtherZabs Place: $22,500 · OtherZabs PlaceGIRLS WRITE NOW INC: $16,000 · OtherGIRLS WRITE NOW INCFeeding Charlotte Inc: $15,000 · OtherFeeding Charlotte IncCommunities for Healing & Justice: $10,000 · Other+9 more: $58,650 · Other+9 moreWATERSIDE WORKSHOPS: $95,000 · Arts & CultureWATERSIDE WORKSHOPSNY WRITERS COALITION INC: $42,500 · Arts & CultureNY WRITERS COALITION INCCUMBE CENTER FOR AFRICAN AND DIASPORA DANCE INC: $27,500 · Arts & CultureCUMBE CENTER FOR AFRICAN AND DIA…+1 more: $5,000 · Arts & CultureExtreme Kids and Crew Inc: $30,000 · Youth DevelopmentExtreme Ki…CATROCK VENTURES INC: $26,000 · Youth DevelopmentCATROCK VE…SHADES OF PINK FOUNDATION: $25,000 · HealthCarolina Breast Friends Inc: $12,000 · HealthLife Connections of the Carolinas Inc: $32,500 · PhilanthropyROOT & REBOUND: $25,000 · Crime & LegalSOARING UNLIMITED DBA CENTRE DE SANTE SOARING PISTER: $22,500 · Human Services
Other$246,650Arts & Culture$170,000Youth Development$56,000Health$37,000Philanthropy$32,500Crime & Legal$25,000Human Services$22,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWATERSIDE WORKSHOPS: $95,000 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetNY WRITERS COALITION INC: $42,500 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetLife Connections of the Carolinas Inc: $32,500 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetExtreme Kids and Crew Inc: $30,000 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetCUMBE CENTER FOR AFRICAN AND DIASPORA DANCE INC: $27,500 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCATROCK VENTURES INC: $26,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetROOT & REBOUND: $25,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetSOARING UNLIMITED DBA CENTRE DE SANTE SOARING PISTER: $22,500 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetZabs Place: $22,500 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetGIRLS WRITE NOW INC: $16,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetWomens Cancer Resource Center: $15,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCarolina Breast Friends Inc: $12,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCommunities for Healing & Justice: $10,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR AFRICAN MEDICINE AND EDUC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSALINE AREA SOCIAL SERVICE INC: $7,500 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetSYNOD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHARLOTTE BALLET: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

The Hyde and Watson F…Foundation for the Ca…Silicon Valley Commun…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…The Blackbaud Giving …Jpmorgan Chase Founda…American Endowment Fo…American Online Givin…The Bank of America C…Network for Good
The Hyde and Watson FoundationNJ15.1× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Hyde and Watson Foundation · Foundation for the Carolinas · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Network for Good

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%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
    0get no government money at all
    5report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Cowan Slavin Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Cowan Slavin Foundation Inc 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 32 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 Cowan Slavin’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