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Elizabeth Calvin Bonner Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Elizabeth Calvin Bonner Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$26k
Granted FY2025still arriving
30
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$4k
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, FY2019 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$65kPhilanthropy$33kHealth$16kEducation$13kAnimals$12kHuman Services$10kFood & Nutrition$7kReligion$7kOther$0
02FY2025 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
4
States reached
$252k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MACCALLUM MORE MUSEUM AND GARDENS$4,000
PRESTWOOD FOUNDATION$3,000
RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON$2,000
FRIENDS OF HAMPTON PLANTATION$1,500
STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING$1,000
SAVE OUR HERITAGE$1,000
FRIENDS OF BUTLER MEMORIAL LIBRARY$1,000
TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE$1,000
FISHING CREEK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
Individual grant recipient$1,000
WATER MISSION$600
LOWCOUNTRY FOOD BANK$500
HARVEST FREE MEDICAL CLINIC$500
PET HELPERS$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 (FY19–25, $19k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%EPWORTH CHILDREN'S HOUSE: $300 → 16%CANINES FOR SERVICE: $500 → 12%CANINES FOR SERVICE: $500 → 12%CANINES FOR SERVICE: $500 → 12%CANINES FOR SERVICE: $500 → 12%STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING: $1k → 18%CANINES FOR SERVICE: $500 → 12%CANINES FOR SERVICE: $500 → 12%CANINES FOR SERVICE: $500 → 12%STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING: $1k → 18%STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING: $1k → 18%STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING: $1k → 18%STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING: $1k → 18%STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING: $600 → 18%STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC RIDING: $500 → 18%CAROLINA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $200 → 12%CAROLINA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $200 → 12%CAROLINA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $200 → 12%LANDMARKS FOR FAMILIES: $200 → 12%CAROLINA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $200 → 12%CAROLINA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $200 → 12%CAROLINA YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $200 → 12%RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $2k → 12%RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $2k → 12%RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $1k → 12%RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $1k → 12%RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $1k → 12%RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $400 → 12%RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $200 → 12%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$176k · 36 repeat orgs$5k to everyone else

36 repeat relationships: 27 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

36
5

Total granted

$176k
$3k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+55%
+96%

Still filing today

67%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureAnimalsCommunity ImprovementHealthRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • MM
    MacCallum More Museum & Gardens
    7× · 2019–2025 · $30k · revenue +88%
  • RC
    RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON
    7× · 2019–2025 · $8k · revenue +45%
  • CC
    COLLETON COUNTY HISTORICAL AND PRESERVATION SOCIETY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $6k · revenue +18% · 37% of their budget

Funded once

  • ST
    SAVE THE LIGHT INC
    one grant, 2019 · $2k · revenue -13%
  • SA
    SPIRE ART SERVICES
    one grant, 2024 · $1k
  • EC
    EPWORTH CHILDREN'S HOMEgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $300 · revenue +96%
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
Charleston Animal Society

Since its founding, our mission has always stayed the same: the prevention of cruelty to animals. in 1874, charleston animal society became the first animal organization in south carolina and one of the first in the nation and has never…

Animals
2
The South Carolina Historical Society

The schs mission is to expand, preserve, and make accessible our invaluable collection, and to encourage interest and pride in the rich history of our state.

Arts & Culture
3
Dorchester Paws

Dorchester Paws strives to instill humane principles into society through the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Animals
4
Fur Ever Home Cat Sanctuary

Provide loving care & home for approx 120 Feral Cats that are in danger out in streets/unadoptable. TNR projects for feral cat colonies around Horry County. Provide Vet & medication care for animals in-house.

Animals
5
Historic Charleston Foundation

The mission of historic charleston foundation is to advocate for a future for charleston that honors and protects its people, places, culture, and community.

—
6
Florence Area Humane Society

To provide veterinary care, vaccines, medicine, food and a nurturing environment to restore animals from abused and neglected situations to a healthy life.

Animals
7
Charleston Waterkeeper

Charleston waterkeeper's mission it to protect and restore charleston's waterways for our community and future generations. we do that through an effective mix of boots-on-the-water stewardship and data-driven advocacy designed to protect…

Environment
8
Center for Heirs' Property Preservation

(See Schedule O)

Crime & Legal
9
South Carolina Public Interest Foundation
Crime & Legal
10
The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation Inc

To protect and preserve buildings of architectural and historial significance in South Carolina.

Arts & Culture
11
The Charleston Museum

To educate Charleston area residents and visitors about the natural and cultural history of the South Carolina Lowcountry through collections, exhibitions, preservation, conservation, research and related programming.

Arts & Culture
12
The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc

The Preservation Society of Charleston is dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of Charleston's distinct character, quality of life and diverse neighborhoods.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Water Missions International; the most unlike its peers is Samaritan's Purse. 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

27 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. 27 of the 44 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
21/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PRESTWOOD FOUNDATION: $24,000 · OtherPRESTWOOD FOUNDATIONFRIENDS OF FORT MITCHELL AND KEYSVILLE DEPOTS INC: $12,500 · OtherFRIENDS OF FORT MITCHELL AND KEYSVILLE DEPOTS INCFRIENDS OF BUTLER MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $10,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF BUTLER MEMORIAL LIBRARYFISHING CREEK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $7,000 · OtherFISHING CREEK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHLOWCOUNTRY FOOD BANK INC: $4,200 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $3,800 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $3,800 · OtherFRIENDS OF HAMPTON PLANTATION: $3,500 · OtherWATER MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL: $3,600 · Other+16 more: $24,079 · Other+16 moreMacCallum More Museum & Gardens: $30,000 · Arts & CultureMacCallum More Museum & …COLLETON COUNTY HISTORICAL AND PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $5,500 · Arts & CultureCOLLETON COUNTY HISTORIC…CHARLESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $3,400 · Arts & CultureCHARLESTON SYMPHONY ORCH…+1 more: $850 · Arts & CultureRESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $7,600 · Human ServicesRESPITE CAR…STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC SERVICES INC: $6,100 · Human ServicesSTRIDES OF …Canines for Service Inc: $3,500 · Human ServicesCanines for…Landmarks for Families Inc: $1,400 · Human ServicesLandmarks f…+1 more: $300 · Human ServicesSave Our Heritage Inc: $7,000 · Community ImprovementSAVE THE LIGHT INC: $1,500 · Community ImprovementPET HELPERS INC: $3,500 · AnimalsTHE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $3,000 · AnimalsCAROLINA WILDLIFE CARE INC: $1,000 · Animals+1 more: $200 · AnimalsHARVEST FREE MEDICAL CLINIC: $3,600 · HealthCHARLESTON AREA THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC: $1,400 · HealthSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $2,500 · EducationA Father's Place: $1,900 · Education
Other$96,479Arts & Culture$39,750Human Services$18,900Community Improvement$8,500Animals$7,700Health$5,000Education$4,400

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 budgetMacCallum More Museum & Gardens: $30,000 over 7y, 4.3% of budgetRESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON: $7,600 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetSave Our Heritage Inc: $7,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetSTRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC SERVICES INC: $6,100 over 7y, 7.6% of budgetCOLLETON COUNTY HISTORICAL AND PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $5,500 over 6y, 37% of budgetLOWCOUNTRY FOOD BANK INC: $4,200 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHARVEST FREE MEDICAL CLINIC: $3,600 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetWATER MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL: $3,600 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPET HELPERS INC: $3,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCanines for Service Inc: $3,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetCHARLESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $3,400 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $3,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCharleston Horticultural Society: $2,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetJAMES ISLAND OUTREACH: $2,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetA Father's Place: $1,900 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSAVE THE LIGHT INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLandmarks for Families Inc: $1,400 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCONFEDERATE HOME AND COLLEGE: $1,400 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHARLESTON AREA THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC: $1,400 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetREIN AND SHINE REIN AND SHINE: $1,200 over 6y, 3.5% of budgetCharleston Bridge Club Inc: $1,100 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCAROLINA WILDLIFE CARE INC: $1,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCharleston County Parks Foundation Inc: $850 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetEPWORTH CHILDREN'S HOME: $300 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 MacCallum More Museum & Gardens ↗
  • Who funds RESPITE CARE OF CHARLESTON ↗
  • Who funds Save Our Heritage Inc ↗
  • Who funds STRIDES OF STRENGTH THERAPEUTIC SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds COLLETON COUNTY HISTORICAL AND PRESERVATION SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds LOWCOUNTRY FOOD BANK INC ↗
  • Who funds HARVEST FREE MEDICAL CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds WATER MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds PET HELPERS INC ↗
  • Who funds Canines for Service Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHARLESTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds THE TURTLE SURVIVAL ALLIANCE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Charleston Horticultural Society ↗
  • Who funds JAMES ISLAND OUTREACH ↗
  • Who funds A Father's Place ↗
  • Who funds SAVE THE LIGHT INC ↗
  • Who funds Landmarks for Families Inc ↗
  • Who funds CONFEDERATE HOME AND COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds CHARLESTON AREA THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC ↗
  • Who funds REIN AND SHINE REIN AND SHINE ↗
  • Who funds Charleston Bridge Club Inc ↗
  • Who funds CAROLINA WILDLIFE CARE INC ↗
  • Who funds Charleston County Parks Foundation Inc ↗

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.

Coastal Community Fou…The Joanna FoundationPost and Courier Foun…Dominion Energy Chari…Henry & Sylvia Yaschi…The Mark Elliott Motl…Central Carolina Comm…Kuznik Charitable Fou…John Winthrop Charita…The Bank of America C…Raymond James Charita…Network for Good
Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina IncSC29.4× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina Inc · The Joanna Foundation · Post and Courier Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation Inc · The Mark Elliott Motley Foundation Inc · Central Carolina Community Foundation · Kuznik Charitable Foundation · John Winthrop Charitable Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · 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 Elizabeth Calvin Bonner Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Elizabeth Calvin Bonner Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Elizabeth Calvin Bonner Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Elizabeth Calvin Bonner 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 44 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 Elizabeth Calvin Bonner’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