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Ellason Downs Perpetual Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Ellason Downs Perpetual Charitable Trust

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.

$390k
Granted FY2025still arriving
50
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$37k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Education$406kReligion$343kArts & Culture$327kHealth$225kEnvironment$215kAnimals$56kPublic Safety & Disaster$56kPhilanthropy$56kOther$0
02FY2025 · 50 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k42 grants · $242k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $148k
$5,850
Median grant
10
States reached
$7.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN DELAWARE$36,700
CHRIST CHURCH-RECTOR'S DISCRT FUND$32,551
UNIVERSITY OF PA CLASS OF 1929$16,700
CHURCH FARM SCHOOL$15,850
UNIVERSITY OF PA ALUMNI SOCIETY OF DELAW$11,707
DELAWARE CENTER FOR HORTICULTURE INC$11,700
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF DELAWARE$11,700
GERMANTOWN FRIENDS SCHOOL$10,850
PILOT SCHOOL INC$5,850
YMCA OF DELAWARE$5,850
ST ANTHONY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION$5,850
DFRC INC$5,850
Individual grant recipient$5,850
LIMEN HOUSE INC$5,850
INGLESIDE HOMES INC$5,850
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 (FY21–25, $85k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%INGLESIDE HOMES INC: $6k → 10%INGLESIDE HOMES INC: $6k → 10%INGLESIDE HOMES INC: $6k → 10%INGLESIDE HOMES INC: $5k → 10%INGLESIDE HOMES INC: $5k → 10%YMCA OF DELAWARE: $6k → 10%YMCA OF DELAWARE: $6k → 10%YMCA OF DELAWARE: $6k → 10%YMCA OF DELAWARE: $5k → 10%YMCA OF DELAWARE: $5k → 10%DFRC INC: $6k → 10%DFRC INC: $6k → 10%DFRC INC: $6k → 10%DFRC INC: $5k → 10%DFRC INC: $5k → 10%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

ME
WI
NY
PA
NJ
VA
MD
DE
AR
TN
NC
DC
OK
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 55 repeat orgs$160k to everyone else

55 repeat relationships: 48 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

55
17

Total granted

$1.7M
$154k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
+130%

Still filing today

65%
12%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

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

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

’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEnvironmentHealthEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyOther
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

  • BR
    BRANDYWINE RED CLAY ALLIANCE
    5× · 2021–2025 · $45k · revenue +140%
  • WHYY INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $34k · revenue +8%
  • IH
    INGLESIDE HOMES INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $28k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • ED
    EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF DE
    one grant, 2023 · $32k
  • CC
    CHRIST CHURCH CHRISTIANA HUNDRED
    one grant, 2022 · $31k
  • ED
    EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF DELAWARE
    one grant, 2021 · $20k
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
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
2
Delaware Museum of Nature and Science Inc

The museum is an educational corporation formed to ignite a life-long passion for exploring, discovering, and valuing nature and science.

—
3
Delaware State University

Delaware state university is a public, comprehensive, 1890 land-grant institution that offers access and opportunity to diverse populations from delaware, the nation, and the world. (continued on schedule o.)building on its heritage as a…

Education
4
Delaware Agricultural Museum Association

The organization's mission is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret the history and technology of delaware and the delmarva peninsula's farm life/culture and to offer public education programs and services related to aspects of the…

—
5
Wilmington University Inc

Wilmington university is committed to excellence in teaching, relevancy of the curriculum, and individual attention to students. as an institution with admissions policies that provide access for all, it offers opportunity for higher…

Education
6
Delaware Bioscience Association Inc

To promote and strengthen the bioscience industry in the state of delaware.

Community Improvement
7
DePauw University

Depauw university develops leaders the world needs through an uncommon commitment to the liberal arts. depauw's diverse and inclusive learning and living experience, distinctive in its rigorous intellectual engagement and its global and…

Education
8
Delaware River Waterfront Corporation

Drwc's mission is to maintain and promote the use and development of the city of philadelphia's waterfront. this task is of vital importance to the city and one which the city would otherwise be rquired to perform absent the drwc.

Community Improvement
9
Medical Society of Delaware

To guide, serve and support delaware physicians, promoting the practice and profession of medicine to enhance the health of our communities.

—
10
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
11
Delaware County Historical Society

Acquire and preserve property and information of historic value and/or interest concerning delaware county, pennsylvania. the society also operates a research library and museum.

Arts & Culture
12
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Delaware Community Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is American Lung Association. 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

42 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. 42 of the 75 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
41/42
Grantees still filing
25/42
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN DELAWARE: $73,064 · OtherTHE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN DELAWARECHRIST CHURCH-RECTOR'S DISCRT FUND: $65,940 · OtherCHRIST CHURCH-RECTOR'S DISCRT FUNDCHRIST CHURCH: $62,165 · OtherCHRIST CHURCHGERMANTOWN FRIENDS SCHOOL: $53,187 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF DELAWARE INC: $50,691 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF PA CLASS OF 1929: $50,126 · OtherDIOCESAN COUNCIL INC: $41,050 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF PA ALUMNI SOCIETY OF DELAW: $40,816 · Other+39 more: $692,540 · Other+39 moreWHYY INC: $34,317 · Arts & CultureWHYY INCDELAWARE SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC: $33,226 · Arts & CultureDELAWARE SYMPHO…HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE: $28,187 · Arts & CultureHISTORICAL SOCI…Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art: $28,187 · Arts & CultureBrandywine Cons…THE MUSIC SCHOOL OF DELAWARE INC: $28,187 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSIC SCHOO…DELAWARE ART MUSEUM INC: $28,187 · Arts & CultureDELAWARE ART MU…PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $28,187 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA OR…GRAND OPERA HOUSE INC: $28,187 · Arts & CultureGRAND OPERA HOU…Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation Inc: $23,147 · Arts & CultureEleutherian Mil…+1 more: $5,040 · Arts & CultureBRANDYWINE RED CLAY ALLIANCE: $44,841 · EnvironmentDELAWARE CENTER FOR HORTICULTURE INC: $34,037 · EnvironmentNatural Lands Trust Inc: $28,187 · EnvironmentDELAWARE NATURE SOCIETY INC: $28,187 · EnvironmentDucks Unlimited Inc: $17,662 · EnvironmentChurch Farm School: $78,187 · EducationHAMPTON UNIVERSITY: $28,187 · EducationRIDER UNIVERSITY: $17,662 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $15,485 · EducationAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $29,277 · HealthRUMFORD HOSPITAL: $28,187 · HealthST FRANCIS HOSPITAL INC: $28,187 · HealthAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION: $17,662 · HealthINGLESIDE HOMES INC: $28,187 · Human ServicesDFRC INC: $28,187 · Human ServicesYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF DELAWARE: $28,170 · Human ServicesUNITED WAY OF DELAWARE: $28,187 · PhilanthropyDELAWARE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $28,187 · Philanthropy
Other$1,129,579Arts & Culture$264,852Environment$152,914Education$139,521Health$103,313Human Services$84,544Philanthropy$56,374

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 budgetChurch Farm School: $78,187 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF DELAWARE INC: $50,691 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBRANDYWINE RED CLAY ALLIANCE: $44,841 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetWHYY INC: $34,317 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE CENTER FOR HORTICULTURE INC: $34,037 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetDELAWARE WILD LANDS INC: $33,673 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetDELAWARE SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC: $33,226 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC: $29,277 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetOLD BRANDYWINE VILLAGE INC: $28,187 over 5y, 21% of budgetINGLESIDE HOMES INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNatural Lands Trust Inc: $28,187 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetHISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE: $28,187 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PILOT SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $28,187 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBrandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE NATURE SOCIETY INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetST ANTHONY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONINC: $28,187 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetTHE MUSIC SCHOOL OF DELAWARE INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetRUMFORD HOSPITAL: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetST FRANCIS HOSPITAL INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLIMEN HOUSE INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetHAMPTON UNIVERSITY: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetDFRC INC: $28,187 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF DELAWARE: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHarding University Inc: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE ART MUSEUM INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCRANSTON HEIGHTS FIRE COMPANY: $28,187 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $28,187 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE SAFETY COUNCIL INC: $28,187 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetGRAND OPERA HOUSE INC: $28,187 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF DELAWARE: $28,170 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation Inc: $23,147 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $17,662 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetRIDER UNIVERSITY: $17,662 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN LUNG ASSOCIATION: $17,662 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMOVING FOR MELANOMA OF DELAWARE INC: $16,655 over 3y, 87% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $15,485 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD AFFAIRS COUNCILS OF AMERICA: $6,130 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetThe Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum Inc: $5,040 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 Church Farm School ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF DELAWARE INC ↗
  • Who funds BRANDYWINE RED CLAY ALLIANCE ↗
  • Who funds WHYY INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE CENTER FOR HORTICULTURE INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE WILD LANDS INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds OLD BRANDYWINE VILLAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds INGLESIDE HOMES INC ↗
  • Who funds Natural Lands Trust Inc ↗
  • Who funds HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE ↗
  • Who funds THE PILOT SCHOOL INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE NATURE SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds ST ANTHONY EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONINC ↗
  • Who funds THE MUSIC SCHOOL OF DELAWARE INC ↗
  • Who funds RUMFORD HOSPITAL ↗
  • Who funds ST FRANCIS HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds LIMEN HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds HAMPTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE INC ↗
  • Who funds DFRC INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF DELAWARE ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Harding University 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.

Delaware Community Fo…Crestlea Foundation I…Longwood Foundation I…Welfare Foundation IncUnited Way of DelawareNor' Easter Foundatio…Ederic Foundation IncLaffey-McHugh Foundat…Marmot FoundationChichester Dupont Fou…Wsfs Cares FoundationJpmorgan Chase Founda…
Delaware Community Foundation IncDE49.2× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Delaware Community Foundation Inc · Crestlea Foundation Inc · Longwood Foundation Inc · Welfare Foundation Inc · United Way of Delaware · Nor' Easter Foundation Inc · Ederic Foundation Inc · Laffey-McHugh Foundation · Marmot Foundation · Chichester Dupont Foundation Inc · Wsfs Cares Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation

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 Ellason Downs Perpetual Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ellason Downs Perpetual Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Old Brandywine Village Inc: 76% of income from government
  • Delaware Academy of Medicine Inc: 75% of income from government
  • United Way of Delaware: 58% of income from government
  • Limen House Inc: 38% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware Inc: 33% of income from government
  • Delaware Safety Council Inc: 31% of income from government
  • University of Delaware: 30% of income from government
  • Historical Society of Delaware: 18% of income from government
  • Delaware Nature Society Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Delaware Community Foundation Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Delaware Symphony Association Inc: 11% of income from government
  • The Music School of Delaware Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Delaware Art Museum Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Grand Opera House Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Dfrc Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Delaware Center for Horticulture Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Ingleside Homes Inc: 2% of income from government
  • St Francis Hospital Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Rider University: 1% of income from government
  • The Pilot School Incorporated: 1% of income from government
  • Young Men's Christian Association of Delaware: 1% of income from government
  • Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
3rely 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 75 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 Ellason Downs Perpetual’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