Skip to content
Plinth
Foundation DossiersAlso receives grants — funding profile →
Plinth

· Public charity

Firespring Foundation

Improve the world by empowering non profits to leverage their mission to do more good by promoting and supporting Giving Day events across North America using Givesource donation platform and to promote local non profits through local public awareness events

$3.7M
Granted FY2021
35
Grants FY2021
1
States reached
$121k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02Your fieldRead
03Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
0181% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2025.

Human Services$309kEducation$224kHousing & Shelter$169kPhilanthropy$164kHealth$153kAnimals$132kFood & Nutrition$121kCrime & Legal$50kOther$0
02FY2021 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 35 grants below total $1,497,560 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $3,726,372 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $2,228,812 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2021

  • $10k–50k25 grants · $770k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $728k
$33,468
Median grant
1
States reached
$57k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Food Bank of Lincoln$120,727
Phelps County Community Foundation$89,535
Peoples City Mission$80,397
Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach$76,432
Plus X Foundation$74,617
Friendship Home$65,750
Lincoln Christian School$63,648
Catholic Social Services - Lincoln$54,098
Clinic with a Heart$52,318
Center for People in Need$50,264
CEDARS$49,815
Community Action Partnership of Lancaster$42,581
Lincoln Children's Zoo$41,570
Lincoln Literacy$40,527
Youth for Christ Campus Life$40,421
02Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Lincoln Animal Ambassadors

To address the root causes of animal homelessness in lincoln, nebraska and surrounding communites.

Animals
2
Lincoln County Community Development Corporation

To promote, facilitate and develop or co-develop affordable housing in lincoln county, nebraska.

Philanthropy
3
Lincoln University Aka Lincoln College

Lincoln college uniquely empowers students to realize their full potential

Education
4
Lincoln County Humane Societyinc

The lincoln county humane society is dedicated to the prevention of cruelty and abuse to animals, birds and wildlife. we strive to maintain a no-kill facility and a place of safety.

Animals
5
Lutheran Family Services of Ne Inc

Lutheran family services of nebraska, inc.'s (lfs) mission is to express god's love for all people by providing quality human care services that build and strengthen individual, family and community life. our vision is saftey, hope and…

Human Services
6
Lincoln Central Neighborhood Family Center

To provide programs for the residents in the lincoln/central school area.

Community Improvement
7
Educare of Lincoln Inc

To help young children thrive socially, emotionally and academically through high-quality early childhood education, and in partnership with their families and the community.

Education
8
Lincoln Christian School Foundation Short Tax Year Ended 5/31/2025

To provide supplementary support of lincoln christian school's programs and facilites.

Education
9
Central Lincoln County Ambulance Service Inc

Providing advanced life service level support for nine local communities in lincoln county including damariscotta, newcastle, bremen, bristol, south bristol, nobleboro, jefferson and edgecomb

Health
10
Lincoln County Casa

The organization advocates, promotes, and supports court-appointed volunteer advocacy for abused and neglected children, striving to secure a permanent and safe home for each child.

Crime & Legal
11
The Christ Lutheran Foundation

Organized for charitable, religious, and educational purposes; the foundation is organized and shall be operated exclusively for the benefit of christ lincoln church in lincoln, nebraska (a nebraska non-profit religious corporation).

—
12
Food Bank of Lincoln Foundation

The foundation is dedicated to the development and implementation of the food bank, an organization exempt under code section 501(c)(3).

Food & Nutrition

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Friendship Home of Lincoln Inc and the most unlike its peers is Nebraska Wrestling Training Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyChild Abuse Advocacy Servic…Faith-Based Senior LivingFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Faith-Based Homeless Servic…Community Literacy TutoringCommunity FoundationsCharter and Independent Sch…Domestic Violence and Sexua…Animal Rescue and ShelterPregnancy Support CentersFood Pantries and AssistanceCommunity Hospital SystemsYouth Sports ProgramsEnvironmental Advocacy and …
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 33 years old; the field is 25. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number15%0%<5yr10%0%5–10yr19%9%10–20yr15%46%20–35yr17%23%35–55yr24%23%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value15%0%<5yr10%0%5–10yr19%6%10–20yr15%41%20–35yr17%31%35–55yr24%23%55yr+

The field is 15% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 8% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/25
the rest of the field
8%
1,067/14,087

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

03the grantee network

25 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 25 of the 35 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
19/25
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

Plus X Foundation — $74,617 · OtherPlus X FoundationLINCOLN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION — $63,648 · OtherLINCOLN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATIONCatholic Social Services - Lincoln — $54,098 · OtherCatholic Social Services - LincolnCEDARS — $49,815 · OtherCEDARSCommunity Action Partnership of Lancaster — $42,581 · OtherCommunity Action Partnership of LancasterYouth for Christ Campus Life — $40,421 · OtherPlanned Parenthood — $38,816 · OtherLUTHERAN EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $33,468 · OtherVOICES OF HOPE OF LINCOLN INC — $26,702 · OtherPEOPLE'S CITY MISSION — $80,397 · OtherPEOPLE'S CITY MISSIONCENTER FOR PEOPLE IN NEED — $50,264 · OtherCENTER FOR PEOPLE IN NEEDTHE FOUNDATION FOR LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOOLS — $29,522 · Other+8 more — $184,247 · Other+8 moreMATT TALBOT KITCHEN & OUTREACH — $76,432 · Human ServicesMATT TALBOT KI…FRIENDSHIP HOME OF LINCOLN INC — $65,750 · Human ServicesFRIENDSHIP HOM…FOSTER CARE CLOSET — $29,567 · Human ServicesFOSTER CARE CL…CHRISTIAN HERITAGE CHILDREN'S HOME — $26,267 · Human ServicesCHRISTIAN HERI…LINCOLN CHILDREN'S ZOO — $41,570 · AnimalsLINCOLN C…THE CAT HOUSE — $32,725 · AnimalsTHE CAT H…CAPITAL HUMANE SOCIETY — $30,084 · AnimalsCAPITAL H…HEARTS UNITED FOR ANIMALS — $27,435 · AnimalsHEARTS UN…FOOD BANK OF LINCOLN INC — $120,727 · Food & NutritionFOOD BANK…LINCOLN LITERACY COUNCIL — $40,527 · EducationUNION COLLEGE — $29,321 · EducationParkview Christian School — $27,580 · EducationCLINIC WITH A HEART INC — $52,318 · HealthPREGNANCY CENTER INC — $39,126 · HealthPHELPS COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC — $89,535 · Philanthropy
Other$768,596Human Services$198,016Animals$131,814Food & Nutrition$120,727Education$97,428Health$91,444Philanthropy$89,535

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetFOOD BANK OF LINCOLN INC — $120,727 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPHELPS COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC — $89,535 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetPEOPLE'S CITY MISSION — $80,397 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMATT TALBOT KITCHEN & OUTREACH — $76,432 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetFRIENDSHIP HOME OF LINCOLN INC — $65,750 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetLINCOLN CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ASSOCIATION — $63,648 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCLINIC WITH A HEART INC — $52,318 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetCENTER FOR PEOPLE IN NEED — $50,264 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLINCOLN CHILDREN'S ZOO — $41,570 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLINCOLN LITERACY COUNCIL — $40,527 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetPREGNANCY CENTER INC — $39,126 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetLUTHERAN EDUCATION FOUNDATION — $33,468 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetTHE CAT HOUSE — $32,725 over 1y, 10% of budgetCAPITAL HUMANE SOCIETY — $30,084 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFOSTER CARE CLOSET — $29,567 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetTHE FOUNDATION FOR LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOOLS — $29,522 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetUNION COLLEGE — $29,321 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetParkview Christian School — $27,580 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHEARTS UNITED FOR ANIMALS — $27,435 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetVOICES OF HOPE OF LINCOLN INC — $26,702 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetCHRISTIAN HERITAGE CHILDREN'S HOME — $26,267 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNebraska Wrestling Training Center — $24,522 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetLINCOLNLANCASTER COUNTY CHILD ADVOCACY CENTER — $23,746 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTabitha Inc — $22,572 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetABENDMUSIK AT FIRST-PLYMOUTH INC — $22,437 over 1y, 13% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Lincoln Community Fou…Assurity Life Foundat…Bettenhausen Family F…Jc & Jessie Seacrest …Abel FoundationRogers FoundationUnited Way of Lincoln…Cooper FoundationSpreetail FoundationThe Hampton Family Fo…Kinder Porter Scott F…D F Dillon Foundation
Lincoln Community Foundation IncNE46× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lincoln Community Foundation Inc · Assurity Life Foundation · Bettenhausen Family Foundation · Jc & Jessie Seacrest Family Fndtn First Nebraska Trust Co Trustee · Abel Foundation · Rogers Foundation · United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County · Cooper Foundation · Spreetail Foundation · The Hampton Family Foundation · Kinder Porter Scott Family Foundation · D F Dillon Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

03Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Firespring Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Firespring 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 35 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $3.3M of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2021, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

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