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Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
47
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$128k
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.

Education$3.8MHuman Services$2.2MEnvironment$1.7MArts & Culture$1.6MHousing & Shelter$989kRecreation & Sports$950kAnimals$760kYouth Development$597kOther$0
02FY2025 · 47 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $528k
  • $50k–250k23 grants · $1.6M
$40,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$29M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Friends of Newark Free Library$127,980
Delaware Botanical Gardens$124,500
Historic Odessa Foundation$100,000
The Ministry of Caring Inc$75,000
University of Delaware$75,000
Food Bank$75,000
Delaware College Scholars$75,000
First State Squash$75,000
Aspira Academy$75,000
Faithful Friends$75,000
EasterSeals De Eastern Shore$75,000
Delaware Museum of Natural History$61,925
Tower Hill School$57,500
Newport Rowing Club$50,000
Salem County Humane Society$50,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY18–24, $680k) 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%Mary Campbell Center: $100k → 10%Mary Campbell Center: $100k → 10%Mary Campbell Center: $65k → 10%Mary Campbell Center: $50k → 10%Mary Campbell Center: $50k → 10%Latin America Community Center: $50k → 10%Delaware Hospice: $125k → 10%YMCA Delaware: $115k → 10%Kind to Kids Foundation: $25k → 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

NY
PA
NJ
VA
MD
DE
TN
NC
DC
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.
$15M · 63 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +32% for those funded once.

63 repeat relationships: 38 still active in FY2025, 25 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

63
15

Total granted

$15M
$880k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+32%

Still filing today

52%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $370k 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
EducationHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureAnimalsEnvironmentOther
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

  • FF
    FAITHFUL FRIENDS INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $775k · revenue +113%
  • FS
    First State Squash Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $650k · revenue +126% · 33% of their budget
  • DW
    DELAWARE WILD LANDS INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $515k · revenue +1%

Funded once

  • TB
    The Beaver Valley Conservatin Fund
    one grant, 2017 · $250k
  • YD
    YWCA DELAWARE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $115k · revenue +32%
  • ES
    EASTER SEALS DELAWARE & MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE INC
    one grant, 2021 · $75k · revenue +22%
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
First State Montessori Academy

The mission of the first state montessori academy is to create successful, contributing, life-long learners in a montessori public educational program for students in kindergarten through 8th grade.

Education
2
Early College School At Delaware State University

To provide highly motivated students with a curriculum that is integrated with the relevant curriculum at delaware state university such that all students graduate with one to two years of college credits, preparing them for completion of…

Education
3
Charter School of New Castle

A delaware charter school with a mission that acknowledges the learning differences of each individual child and nurtures the uniqueness of each family structure.

Education
4
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…

—
5
United Way of Delaware

The organization's mission is to maximize the community's resources to improve the quality of lives of all delawareans.

Philanthropy
6
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
7
Delaware County Christian School Society

Our mission is to educate students who will serve god and impact the world through biblical thought and action.

Education
8
Catholic Scholars of De
Unclassified
9
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…

—
10
Delaware Center for Justice

The delaware center for justice, inc. seeks to ensure an effective, efficient, and equitable system of justice in delaware through advocacy, direct services, research and public education.

Crime & Legal
11
Positive Outcomes Charter School

State of delaware chartered school. the school's mission is to provide opportunity for students at risk to learn in a safe, caring, and respectful environment, where individuality is valued and individual needs are addressed.

Education
12
Delaware State Education Association Inc

Advocate for the rights and interests of its members and outstanding public education for all students.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ywca Delaware Inc; the most unlike its peers is Salem County Humane Society. 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

48 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. 48 of the 88 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/48
Grantees still filing
34/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DELAWARE MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE INC: $874,558 · OtherDELAWARE MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE INCDelaware Botanical Gardens: $749,500 · OtherDelaware Botanical GardensTHE MINISTRY OF CARING INC: $675,000 · OtherTHE MINISTRY OF CARING INCDELAWARE WILD LANDS INC: $515,000 · OtherST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL AND NURSERY INC: $430,000 · OtherDelaware Boys and Girls Club: $400,000 · Other+61 more: $6,877,783 · Other+61 moreDELAWARE MILITARY ACADEMY: $800,000 · EducationDELAWARE MILI…TOWER HILL SCHOOL ASSOCIATION: $372,500 · EducationTOWER HILL SC…URBANPROMISE WILMINGTON INC: $237,250 · EducationURBANPROMISE …SAM'S KIDS FUND F/K/A THE DELAWARE KIDS FUND: $225,000 · EducationSAM'S KIDS FU…READING ASSIST INSTITUTE: $125,000 · EducationREADING ASSIS…+3 more: $150,000 · Education+3 moreFirst State Squash Inc: $650,000 · Youth DevelopmentDELAWARE COLLEGE SCHOLARS INC: $360,000 · Youth DevelopmentNEWPORT ROWING CLUB: $85,000 · Youth DevelopmentFAITHFUL FRIENDS INC: $775,000 · AnimalsDELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC: $50,000 · AnimalsHISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION: $428,759 · Arts & CultureDELAWARE THEATRE COMPANY: $225,000 · Arts & CultureDELAWARE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $44,000 · Arts & CultureTHE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER INC: $365,000 · Human ServicesYWCA DELAWARE INC: $115,112 · Human ServicesLATIN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $50,000 · Human ServicesKIND TO KIDS FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Human ServicesFOOD BANK OF DELAWARE INC: $450,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$10,521,841Education$1,909,750Youth Development$1,095,000Animals$825,000Arts & Culture$697,759Human Services$555,112Food & Nutrition$450,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDELAWARE MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE INC: $874,558 over 9y, 5.0% of budgetDELAWARE MILITARY ACADEMY: $800,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetFAITHFUL FRIENDS INC: $775,000 over 9y, 3.8% of budgetTHE MINISTRY OF CARING INC: $675,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetFirst State Squash Inc: $650,000 over 9y, 33% of budgetDELAWARE WILD LANDS INC: $515,000 over 6y, 7.1% of budgetFOOD BANK OF DELAWARE INC: $450,000 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL AND NURSERY INC: $430,000 over 8y, 4.3% of budgetHISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION: $428,759 over 7y, 6.1% of budgetTOWER HILL SCHOOL ASSOCIATION: $372,500 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetTHE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER INC: $365,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetDELAWARE COLLEGE SCHOLARS INC: $360,000 over 6y, 6.5% of budgetSunday Breakfast Mission: $332,500 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetWEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $295,998 over 7y, 1.5% of budgetDELAWARE CENTER FOR HORTICULTURE INC: $280,000 over 8y, 4.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $275,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFIRST COMMUNITY FOUNDATION F/K/A EASTSIDE COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER: $250,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetURBANPROMISE WILMINGTON INC: $237,250 over 9y, 4.2% of budgetSAM'S KIDS FUND F/K/A THE DELAWARE KIDS FUND: $225,000 over 9y, 27% of budgetLEADERSHIP DELAWARE INC: $225,000 over 5y, 16% of budgetDELAWARE THEATRE COMPANY: $225,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetAMISTAD MISSION INC: $155,000 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetTHE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL INC: $151,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE NEWARK FREE LIBRARY: $137,980 over 2y, 82% of budgetREADING ASSIST INSTITUTE: $125,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetYWCA DELAWARE INC: $115,112 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetALPHA SIGMA FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 5y, 37% of budgetTHE PILOT SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $95,705 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetSALEM COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY: $85,000 over 3y, 7.6% of budgetNEWPORT ROWING CLUB: $85,000 over 2y, 76% of budgetKALMAR NYCKEL FOUNDATION: $81,100 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetEASTER SEALS DELAWARE & MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHI PSI EDUCATIONAL TRUST INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCENTREVILLE LAYTON SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetST FRANCIS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetVISION TO LEARN: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING CORP: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetDELAWARE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC: $50,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetBRANDYWINE RED CLAY ALLIANCE: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetODYSSEY CHARTER SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLATIN AMERICAN COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetDELAWARE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $44,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF GREATER DELAWARE INC: $42,495 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF NEW CASTLE COUNTY: $30,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetKIND TO KIDS FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetNATIONAL DOWN SYNDROME SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 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.

  • Who funds DELAWARE MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE MILITARY ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds FAITHFUL FRIENDS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MINISTRY OF CARING INC ↗
  • Who funds First State Squash Inc ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE WILD LANDS INC ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF DELAWARE INC ↗
  • Who funds ST MICHAEL'S SCHOOL AND NURSERY INC ↗
  • Who funds HISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds TOWER HILL SCHOOL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds THE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE COLLEGE SCHOLARS INC ↗
  • Who funds Sunday Breakfast Mission ↗
  • Who funds WEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE CENTER FOR HORTICULTURE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ↗
  • Who funds FIRST COMMUNITY FOUNDATION F/K/A EASTSIDE COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTER ↗
  • Who funds URBANPROMISE WILMINGTON INC ↗
  • Who funds SAM'S KIDS FUND F/K/A THE DELAWARE KIDS FUND ↗
  • Who funds LEADERSHIP DELAWARE INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE THEATRE COMPANY ↗
  • Who funds AMISTAD MISSION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF THE NEWARK FREE LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds READING ASSIST INSTITUTE ↗

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…Longwood Foundation I…Crestlea Foundation I…Laffey-McHugh Foundat…Welfare Foundation IncChichester Dupont Fou…Marmot FoundationWsfs Cares FoundationUnited Way of DelawareIncyte Charitable Giv…Nor' Easter Foundatio…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…
Delaware Community Foundation IncDE70.2× affinity33 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Delaware Community Foundation Inc · Longwood Foundation Inc · Crestlea Foundation Inc · Laffey-McHugh Foundation · Welfare Foundation Inc · Chichester Dupont Foundation Inc · Marmot Foundation · Wsfs Cares Foundation · United Way of Delaware · Incyte Charitable Giving Foundation · Nor' Easter Foundation Inc · 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 Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 14%
  • Reading Assist Institute: 99% of income from government
  • Kind to Kids Foundation: 69% of income from government
  • Community Education Building Corp: 64% of income from government
  • Ywca Delaware Inc: 50% of income from government
  • St Michael's School and Nursery Inc: 48% of income from government
  • West End Neighborhood House Inc: 36% of income from government
  • Latin American Community Center Inc: 34% of income from government
  • The Ministry of Caring Inc: 30% of income from government
  • University of Delaware: 30% of income from government
  • Food Bank of Delaware Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Habitat for Humanity of New Castle County: 21% of income from government
  • Delaware College Scholars Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Delaware Zoological Society Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Faithful Friends Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Kalmar Nyckel Foundation: 14% of income from government
  • Delaware Children's Museum Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Delaware Theatre Company: 8% of income from government
  • First State Squash Inc: 7% of income from government
  • The Mary Campbell Center Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Delaware Center for Horticulture Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Delaware Military Academy: 3% of income from government
  • Leadership Delaware Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Odyssey Charter School: 2% of income from government
  • Delaware Museum of Nature and Science Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Delaware Hospice Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Pilot School Incorporated: 1% of income from government
  • Historic Odessa Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • The Independence School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Tower Hill School Association: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
5report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Ellice & Rosa McDonald 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 88 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 Ellice & Rosa McDonald’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