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Finger Lakes Area Community Endowment

The FINGER LAKES AREA COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT ("community endowment") was organized to raise funds from private and public sources for area philanthropic purposes and to allocate and distribute funds to charitable organizations that qualify as exempt under the law, section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1986 (or the corresponding…

$5.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
63
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$1.1M
Largest
01What it funds
0198% 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$3.8MReligion$2.5MPhilanthropy$2.4MEducation$2.3MHealth$2.1MCommunity Improvement$1.3MRecreation & Sports$686kHousing & Shelter$558kOther$0
02FY2024 · 63 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 63 grants below total $2,993,797, the rows itemized in this filing. The $5,331,474 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $2,337,677 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 $10k15 grants · $94k
  • $10k–50k38 grants · $601k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $849k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.5M
$10,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$20M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FINGER LAKES CULTURAL & NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM$1,101,373
THE GREATER CANANDAIGUA CIVIC CENTER$349,316
CANANDAIGUA COMFORT CARE AGENCY - LIGHT HILL$245,000
THE ANDES AMAZON CONSERVANCY$150,000
FORT HILL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER$111,000
UNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER AND THE FINGER LAKES$105,081
IRON SCULP & FUNC METALSMITHING$87,520
ST MARY'S CHURCH ACCOUNT$50,000
ST MARY'S SCHOOL ACCOUNT$50,000
WXXI PUBLIC BROADCASTING$50,000
ASBURY FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH$46,551
STAR LIFTS USA INC$43,675
HONEOYE-RICHMOND HISTORICAL SOCIETY$36,963
CRAIG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION$30,000
GREATER ROCHESTER ENTERPRISE FOUNDATION$27,500
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 (FY18–24, $1.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%SARAH'S GUEST HOUSE INC: $23k → 14%FRIENDSHIP HOUSE OF MIDDLESEX INC: $10k → 15%SARAH'S GUEST HOUSE INC: $5k → 14%REACH ADVOCACY INC: $272k → 14%REACH ADVOCACY INC: $125k → 14%REACH ADVOCACY INC: $42k → 14%CHILD AND FAMILY RESOURCES INC: $5k → 15%BRIGHTSTAR COMMUNITY INC: $46k → 14%FLYING SQUIRREL COMMUNITY CENTER: $15k → 14%BRIGHTSTAR COMMUNITY INC: $12k → 14%ABILITY PARTNERS FOUNDATION: $17k → 10%ABILITY PARTNERS FOUNDATION - HAPPINESS HOUSE: $14k → 10%FAMILY COUNSELING SERVICE OF THE FINGER LAKES INC: $12k → 10%ABILITY PARTNERS FOUNDATION - HAPPINESS HOUSE: $11k → 10%HAPPINESS HOUSE ABILITY PARTNERS: $7k → 10%ABILITY PARTNERS FOUNDATION - HAPPINESS HOUSE: $6k → 10%SAFE HARBORS OF THE FINGER LAKES INC: $5k → 10%HAPPINESS HOUSE ABILITY PARTNERS: $5k → 10%SAFE HARBORS OF THE FINGER LAKES INC: $5k → 10%HOUSE OF MERCY: $61k → 14%IBERO-AMERICAN ACTION LEAGUE INC: $25k → 14%HOUSE OF MERCY: $12k → 14%HOUSE OF MERCY: $7k → 14%HOUSE OF MERCY: $7k → 14%ISAIAH HOUSE INC: $204k → 14%YMCA OF GREATER ROCHESTER: $43k → 14%YMCA OF GREATER ROCHESTER: $23k → 14%FRIENDS OF ONTARIO ARC FOUNDATION INC: $11k → 10%ONYA - ONTARIOYATES FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: $10k → 10%YMCA OF GREATER ROCHESTER: $6k → 14%LIFESPAN: $5k → 14%FRIENDS OF ONTARIO ARC FOUNDATION INC: $6k → 10%FRIENDS OF ONTARIO ARC FOUNDATION 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

NH
WA
MN
IL
NY
MA
IA
IN
PA
CA
CO
VA
AZ
NC
DC
FL
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.
$15M · 84 repeat orgs$2.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +20% for those funded once.

84 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2024, 48 since wound down; 16 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

84
101

Total granted

$15M
$2.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+20%

Still filing today

63%
45%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $192k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationInternationalHealthCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • FL
    FINGER LAKES AREA COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT
    4× · 2020–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +13%
  • CC
    Canandaigua Comfort Care Home Inc
    6× · 2017–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +55% · 87% of their budget
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER INC
    6× · 2017–2024 · $855k · revenue +20%

Funded once

  • DO
    DIOCESE OF ROCHESTER
    one grant, 2023 · $250k
  • IH
    Isaiah House Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $204k · revenue -28% · 38% of their budget
  • RP
    RUSTON PAVING COMPANY INC
    one grant, 2018 · $113k
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
Rochester General Health System

Rochester general health system, provides patient care, senior housing, laboratory services, and community outreach to residents and other clients in monroe county, new york and several surrounding counties.

Health
2
Rochester General College of Health Careers

The rochester general college of health careers is dedicated to preparing adult learners with the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to pursue health careers, advanced education, and lifelong learning.

Education
3
One Roc Inc

The company's mission is to create new jobs, increase regional wealth, raise regional gdp and enhance opportunity; to invest in a world-class economic development ecosystem where incumbent businesses are thriving, new firms are locating,…

Community Improvement
4
F F Thompson Health System Inc

Thompson Health is dedicated to providing an integrated health care system, comprised of affiliated health-related corporations, to continuously improve the health of the residents and communities of the Finger Lakes and the surrounding…

—
5
Oswego Health Inc

The mission of Oswego Health, Inc. is to provide accessible quality care and improve the health of residents in our community.

Health
6
Rochester Public Library

To engage the community in life-long learning for all through equal access to information, technology, gathering spaces and expert staff.

Education
7
Rochester Historical Society

The purpose of the Rochester Historical Society is to seek out, collect, preserve and restore those materials, records, and artifacts which relate to the history of Rochester.

—
8
Rochester Contemporary Art Center Inc

To create dialogue and build community through contemporary art exhibitions and related programs

Arts & Culture
9
Rochester Downtown Alliance

To create, enhance, and promote a downtown experience that is welcoming, fun, and livable.

—
10
Hearing and Speech Center of Rochester Inc

To preserve the uniquely human right to enjoy communication for life by helping children and adults achieve dreams through innovative, caring speech and hearing services.

Health
11
Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster sustainable economic growth through service to our members, strategic advocacy, workforce development, destination marketing, and quality of life investments. Our vision is an inclusive…

—
12
Adirondack North Country Association Inc

Support regional economic development in new york's 14 northernmost counties

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Partnership for Ontario County Inc; the most unlike its peers is Seneca Falls Performing Arts Center. 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

117 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. 117 of the 204 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.

12
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
29
Early backer (in before they grew)
113/117
Grantees still filing
77/117
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FRIENDS OF THE NAPLES LIBRARY INC: $889,056 · OtherFRIENDS OF THE NAPLES LIBRARY INCUNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER INC: $854,705 · OtherUNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER INCST MARYS CHURCH SOCIETY INC: $600,000 · OtherST MARYS CHURCH SOCIETY INCASBURY FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH OF ROCHESTER: $391,481 · OtherFIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH: $359,620 · OtherFINGER LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $310,207 · OtherAndes-Amazon Conservancy: $351,000 · Other+129 more: $4,370,513 · Other+129 moreFORT HILL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $1,176,956 · Arts & CultureFORT HILL PERFORMING A…FINGER LAKES CULTURAL & NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM: $1,111,373 · Arts & CultureFINGER LAKES CULTURAL …The David Hochstein Memorial Music School Inc: $129,500 · Arts & CultureROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER: $128,344 · Arts & CultureWXXI PUBLIC BROADCASTING COUNCIL: $124,344 · Arts & Culture+18 more: $772,834 · Arts & Culture+18 moreCanandaigua Comfort Care Home Inc: $1,331,300 · HealthCanandaigu…NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $90,250 · HealthNATIONAL M…+6 more: $139,043 · Health+6 moreFINGER LAKES AREA COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT: $1,340,981 · PhilanthropyFINGER LA…ROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · PhilanthropyCANDID: $50,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $52,250 · PhilanthropyREACH Advocacy Inc: $438,399 · Human ServicesIsaiah House Inc: $204,000 · Human ServicesHOUSE OF MERCY INC: $86,863 · Human ServicesYMCA OF GREATER ROCHESTER (4368): $70,800 · Human ServicesABILITY PARTNERS FOUNDATION: $59,150 · Human ServicesBrightstar Community Inc: $57,530 · Human Services+9 more: $137,029 · Human ServicesUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $595,488 · EducationHAMLIN ROBINSON SCHOOL: $134,574 · EducationSPOT-CANANDAIGUA INC: $88,000 · EducationBUDDING READERS INC: $58,054 · EducationFriends of The Constellation Brands - Marvin Sands Performing Arts CenterInc: $35,500 · EducationCornell University: $35,000 · Education+6 more: $58,488 · EducationThe Greater Canandaigua Civic Center Inc: $576,210 · Recreation & Sports
Other$8,126,582Arts & Culture$3,443,351Health$1,560,593Philanthropy$1,493,231Human Services$1,053,771Education$1,005,104Recreation & Sports$576,210

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetFINGER LAKES AREA COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT: $1,340,981 over 4y, 13% of budgetCanandaigua Comfort Care Home Inc: $1,331,300 over 6y, 87% of budgetFORT HILL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $1,176,956 over 6y, 61% of budgetFINGER LAKES CULTURAL & NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM: $1,111,373 over 2y, 90% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER INC: $854,705 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: $595,488 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetThe Greater Canandaigua Civic Center Inc: $576,210 over 7y, 36% of budgetREACH Advocacy Inc: $438,399 over 3y, 26% of budgetAndes-Amazon Conservancy: $351,000 over 2y, 62% of budgetFINGER LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $310,207 over 6y, 17% of budgetF F THOMPSON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $245,525 over 7y, 1.7% of budgetIsaiah House Inc: $204,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetSONNENBERG GARDENS AND MANSION- STATE HISTORIC PARK: $145,891 over 4y, 11% of budgetHAMLIN ROBINSON SCHOOL: $134,574 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetThe David Hochstein Memorial Music School Inc: $129,500 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER: $128,344 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetWXXI PUBLIC BROADCASTING COUNCIL: $124,344 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetGeorge M Ewing Canandaigua Forum: $110,527 over 4y, 14% of budgetLITTLE LAKES COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC: $110,000 over 5y, 41% of budgetSt Peter's Community Arts Academy Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 36% of budgetGEORGE EASTMAN MUSEUM: $96,928 over 6y, 0.4% of budgetSPOT-CANANDAIGUA INC: $88,000 over 3y, 36% of budgetHOUSE OF MERCY INC: $86,863 over 4y, 5.2% of budgetTHE NEW YORK STATE WINE AND CULINARY CENTER INC: $72,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetYMCA OF GREATER ROCHESTER (4368): $70,800 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAPPLE HILL CENTER FOR CHAMBER MUSIC INC: $70,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetROCHESTER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA INC: $66,300 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetGARTH FAGAN DANCE INC: $63,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetPROJECT HOPE - THE PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetABILITY PARTNERS FOUNDATION: $59,150 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetBrightstar Community Inc: $57,530 over 2y, 56% of budgetFOODLINK INC: $57,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPARTNERSHIP FOR ONTARIO COUNTY INC: $50,078 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetCANDID: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc: $47,650 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF BRISTOL VALLEY PLAYHOUSE: $46,105 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetGREATER ROCHESTER ENTERPRISE FOUNDATION INC: $42,500 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetCraig Hospital Foundation: $40,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFriends of The Constellation Brands - Marvin Sands Performing Arts CenterInc: $35,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCornell University: $35,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $33,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GENEVA INC: $32,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetTHE HARLEY SCHOOL: $31,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPEGASUS EARLY MUSIC: $30,313 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetGREATER ROCHESTER ENTERPRISE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetGENESEE VALLEY ROTARY CAMP: $30,000 over 1y, 73% of budgetSARAH'S GUEST HOUSE INC: $27,500 over 2y, 3.4% 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 FINGER LAKES AREA COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT ↗
  • Who funds Canandaigua Comfort Care Home Inc ↗
  • Who funds FORT HILL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds FINGER LAKES CULTURAL & NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GREATER ROCHESTER INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER ↗
  • Who funds The Greater Canandaigua Civic Center Inc ↗
  • Who funds REACH Advocacy Inc ↗
  • Who funds Andes-Amazon Conservancy ↗
  • Who funds FINGER LAKES COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds F F THOMPSON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Isaiah House Inc ↗
  • Who funds SONNENBERG GARDENS AND MANSION- STATE HISTORIC PARK ↗
  • Who funds HAMLIN ROBINSON SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds The David Hochstein Memorial Music School Inc ↗
  • Who funds ROCHESTER MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds WXXI PUBLIC BROADCASTING COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds George M Ewing Canandaigua Forum ↗
  • Who funds LITTLE LAKES COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds St Peter's Community Arts Academy Inc ↗
  • Who funds GEORGE EASTMAN MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds SPOT-CANANDAIGUA INC ↗
  • Who funds HOUSE OF MERCY 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.

Rochester Area Community FoundationNY75.2× affinity51 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Rochester Area Community Foundation · Max and Marian Farash Charitable Foundation · United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes Inc · Esl Charitable Foundation · Greater Rochester Health Foundation · Rochester Area Community Foundation Depository Inc · William & Sheila Konar Foundation · JM McDonald Foundation Inc · Paychex Charitable Foundation Inc · Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation · The Sands Family Foundation Inc · Seneca Foods 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 Finger Lakes Area Community Endowment funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Finger Lakes Area Community Endowment. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 25%
  • Grow Food Northampton Inc: 25% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
27report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 Finger Lakes Area Community Endowment?

Find your warmest path to Finger Lakes Area Community Endowment 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 204 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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