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Erie County Community Foundation

The mission of the eccf is to provide for the enrichment of the quality of life in the erie county and sandusky, ohio community by developing a permanent endowment to assess and respond to changing community needs and by serving as a charitable mechanism for donors of all levels of charitable giving.

$2.8M
Granted FY2024still arriving
69
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$501k
Largest
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.

Arts & Culture$3.2MEducation$1.5MEnvironment$1.1MHealth$607kReligion$580kFood & Nutrition$549kCommunity Improvement$478kYouth Development$328kOther$0
02FY2024 · 69 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 69 grants below total $1,806,740, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,767,599 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $960,859 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 · FY2024

  • Under $10k22 grants · $166k
  • $10k–50k42 grants · $742k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $398k
  • $250k+1 grant · $501k
$11,574
Median grant
4
States reached
$45M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SANDUSKY EDUCATION FOUNDATION$500,600
SANDUSKY STATE THEATRE$242,456
SANDUSKY CITY SCHOOLS$53,696
OHGO$51,675
FIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$50,308
STEIN HOSPICE$40,310
BAPTIST GENERAL ASSOCIATION OF$40,000
ERIE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT$37,851
EDISON BIRTHPLACE ASSOCIATION$34,885
SANDUSKY CP MUSEUM$30,641
ZION EVANGELICAL LUTHERN CHURCH$29,919
HUMANE SOCIETY OF ERIE COUNTY$25,163
BGSU FIRELANDS$25,000
SANDUSKY CENTRAL CATHOLIC SCHOOLS$22,724
FATHERS HEART MINISTRIES$22,482
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 (FY20–24, $244k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 2% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%PROJECT NOELLE: $6k → 13%STEIN HOSPICE: $45k → 11%STEIN HOSPICE: $42k → 11%STEIN HOSPICE: $41k → 11%STEIN HOSPICE: $40k → 11%SERVING OUR SENIORS: $25k → 11%PARKVUE COMMUNITY: $17k → 11%MY FAITH LEARNING CENTER: $10k → 11%COMMUNITY ACTION COMMISSION: $10k → 11%ANTHONYS VILLA INC: $8k → 11%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.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.6M · 76 repeat orgs$1.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +63% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

76 repeat relationships: 50 still active in FY2024, 26 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

76
77

Total granted

$8.6M
$1.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+63%
+1%

Still filing today

57%
23%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $238k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationHealthYouth DevelopmentAnimalsOther
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

  • WR
    WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +49%
  • TG
    THE GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETY
    2× · 2022–2023 · $1.0M · revenue +39%
  • SS
    SANDUSKY STATE THEATRE INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $936k · revenue +224%

Funded once

  • SP
    ST PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH
    one grant, 2017 · $245k
  • MC
    MILAN CEMETERY ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2022 · $70k
  • EL
    EDISON LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
    one grant, 2017 · $51k
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
Empowering and Strengthening Ohio's People Inc

Empowering and strengthening ohio's people (esop) helps adults in all stages of life achieve and maintain financial wellness and housing stability.

Housing & Shelter
2
Hospice & Palliative Care of the Ohio Valley Inc

Helping individuals live with dignity through the final stage of life.

Human Services
3
Ohio Hills Health Services

Ohio hills health services is a non-profit health care operation, organized by communities in eastern ohio to promote healthy lifestyles and to provide preventative and comprehensive medical and dental care for area residents. the primary…

—
4
Erie Community Foundation

The erie community foundation works to improve the quality of life for all in our region by evaluating and addressing community issues, building permanent charitable endowments, and by promoting philanthropic and community leadership.

Philanthropy
5
Lake Erie Shores and Islands

To develop and implement a marketing plan to grow the region's tourism economy through promotion of the region and thereby increase visitor spending in the region.

Community Improvement
6
Orrville United Way Inc

The orrville united way improves lives by unitiing people and resources to advance the common good in orrville, dalton and marshallville in eastern wayne county ohio. our goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent future problems…

—
7
Ohio United Way

To strengthen the capacity of United Ways across Ohio and to advance the common good for Ohioans.

Philanthropy
8
Philanthropy Ohio

To lead and equip ohio philanthropy to be effective partners for change in our communities.

Philanthropy
9
Erie Homes for Children & Adults Inc

Erie homes for children and adults operates as a private, non-profit agency providing programs for individuals with intellectual and physical disabilities.

Health
10
Environment Erie

A non-profit organization dedicated to the protection, restoration, enhancement, and sustainable development of the lake erie watershed in pennsylvania.

—
11
Ohio Life Sciences Association

Align the life sciences ecosystem in the state of ohio, building collaborative partnerships, and advocating for policies and funding that will help to accelerate life science priorities and drive sustainable economic growth.

Community Improvement
12
Luther Home of Mercy Foundation Inc

Recognizing that we are all created in god's image, the luther home of mercy foundation board's mission is to support the programs and services of luther home of mercy. we are dedicated to helping individuals with intellectual and…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Erie County Community Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Downs On the Farm. 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

72 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 72 of the 170 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
26
Early backer (in before they grew)
71/72
Grantees still filing
51/72
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,000,000 · OtherTHE GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETYSANDUSKY CITY: $547,053 · OtherSANDUSKY CITYFIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $253,075 · OtherERIE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHARITABLE FUND: $249,208 · OtherST PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH: $244,777 · Other+134 more: $3,980,403 · Other+134 moreSANDUSKY STATE THEATRE INC: $935,835 · Arts & CultureSANDUSKY STAT…THE MUSEUM OF CAROUSEL ART & HISTORY: $84,329 · Arts & CultureTHE MUSEUM OF…OHIO HISTORY CONNECTION: $48,000 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $130,136 · Arts & Culture+6 moreWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY: $1,039,556 · EnvironmentWESTERN RES…+1 more: $12,500 · EnvironmentSANDUSKY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $566,847 · EducationSANDUSKY …Bowling Green State University Foundation Inc: $125,996 · EducationBowling G…The Sandusky Library and Follett House Museum Foundation: $74,242 · EducationThe Sandu…+5 more: $71,896 · Education+5 moreSTEIN HOSPICE SERVICE INC: $160,002 · Human ServicesHOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE INC: $85,371 · Human ServicesSERVING OUR SENIORS INC: $44,042 · Human ServicesUNITED CHURCH HOMES INC: $27,375 · Human Services+4 more: $33,399 · Human ServicesOH-GO: $257,744 · Public BenefitHUMANE SOCIETY OF ERIE COUNTY: $141,863 · AnimalsBACK TO THE WILD INC: $89,490 · Animals+1 more: $7,305 · Animals
Other$6,274,516Arts & Culture$1,198,300Environment$1,052,056Education$838,981Human Services$350,189Public Benefit$257,744Animals$238,658

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 budgetWESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY: $1,039,556 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetTHE GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $1,000,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetSANDUSKY STATE THEATRE INC: $935,835 over 7y, 7.4% of budgetSANDUSKY EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $566,847 over 6y, 37% of budgetOH-GO: $257,744 over 7y, 21% of budgetFIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: $253,075 over 7y, 7.7% of budgetERIE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHARITABLE FUND: $249,208 over 7y, 11% of budgetSTEIN HOSPICE SERVICE INC: $160,002 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF ERIE COUNTY: $141,863 over 6y, 5.8% of budgetBowling Green State University Foundation Inc: $125,996 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF NORTH CENTRAL OHIO: $100,950 over 7y, 0.2% of budgetFIRELANDS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $93,719 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHEAST OHIO: $91,768 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetBACK TO THE WILD INC: $89,490 over 6y, 3.6% of budgetEDISON BIRTHPLACE ASSOCIATION: $86,016 over 5y, 28% of budgetHOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE INC: $85,371 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MUSEUM OF CAROUSEL ART & HISTORY: $84,329 over 6y, 15% of budgetCARE & SHARE INC OF ERIE COUNTY: $83,426 over 5y, 11% of budgetFAMILY HEALTH SERVICES OF ERIE COUNTY: $80,464 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCANCER SERVICES FKA CANCER SERVICES OF ERIE COUNTY: $75,838 over 5y, 8.8% of budgetThe Sandusky Library and Follett House Museum Foundation: $74,242 over 6y, 25% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHEAST OHIO EDUCATION COALITION: $73,095 over 2y, 32% of budgetSAFE HARBOUR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER INC: $66,590 over 4y, 5.3% of budgetERIE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $64,093 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetOHIO HISTORY CONNECTION: $48,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetSERVING OUR SENIORS INC: $44,042 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetCAMPBELL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CENTER: $37,778 over 4y, 9.5% of budgetMILAN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC: $35,970 over 2y, 9.7% of budgetKINSHIP INCORPORATED: $35,500 over 3y, 7.0% of budgetOBERLIN CENTER FOR THE ARTS: $35,000 over 3y, 5.1% of budgetABILITY WORKS INC: $34,291 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY YOUTH MENTORING: $30,570 over 3y, 8.6% of budgetSANDUSKY AREA MARITIME ASSOCIATION: $29,021 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetSANDUSKY ARTISANS COOPERATIVE: $27,500 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetUNITED CHURCH HOMES INC: $27,375 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMain Street Vermilion Inc: $26,947 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetBAYSHORE COUNSELING SERVICES INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetOhioGuidestone: $24,018 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVermilion School Athletic Booster: $20,000 over 1y, 9.6% of budgetTHE ROAD TO HOPE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetOHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFLAT ROCK HOMES INC: $16,500 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetCLEVELAND MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOPEN DOORS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetERIE COUNTY COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATE: $14,479 over 2y, 3.6% of budgetERIE SHORE NETWORK INC: $13,000 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetBELLEVUE SOCIETY FOR THE ARTS INC: $12,645 over 2y, 21% of budgetLAKE ERIE FOUNDATION: $12,500 over 2y, 2.2% 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 WESTERN RESERVE LAND CONSERVANCY ↗
  • Who funds THE GREAT LAKES HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds SANDUSKY STATE THEATRE INC ↗
  • Who funds SANDUSKY EDUCATION FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds OH-GO ↗
  • Who funds FIRELANDS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ↗
  • Who funds ERIE COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CHARITABLE FUND ↗
  • Who funds STEIN HOSPICE SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds HUMANE SOCIETY OF ERIE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds Bowling Green State University Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF NORTH CENTRAL OHIO ↗
  • Who funds FIRELANDS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHEAST OHIO ↗
  • Who funds BACK TO THE WILD INC ↗
  • Who funds EDISON BIRTHPLACE ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE OF THE WESTERN RESERVE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MUSEUM OF CAROUSEL ART & HISTORY ↗
  • Who funds CARE & SHARE INC OF ERIE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY HEALTH SERVICES OF ERIE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds CANCER SERVICES FKA CANCER SERVICES OF ERIE COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds The Sandusky Library and Follett House Museum Foundation ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF NORTHEAST OHIO EDUCATION COALITION ↗
  • Who funds MILAN CEMETERY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds SAFE HARBOUR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER INC ↗
  • Who funds ERIE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗

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 Mylander Fdn-2001OH90.6× affinity41 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Mylander Fdn-2001 · The Michelle Wightman-Karrie Wieber Charitable Foundation · Sidney Frohman Foundation · Randolph J and Estelle M Dorn Foundation · The Wm M & a Cafaro Family Foundation · The Cleveland Foundation · The Twenty First Century Foundation · The Nord Family Foundation · The Albert G & Olive H Schlink Foundation · Community Foundation of Lorain County · Sam S Stein and Rose Stein Foundation · Oneohio Recovery 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 Erie County Community Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Erie County Community 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
    26report 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.

    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 170 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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