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Five Below Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Five Below Foundation

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.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
28
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$727kHealth$549kYouth Development$465kHuman Services$220kHousing & Shelter$90kRecreation & Sports$90kArts & Culture$75kFood & Nutrition$55kOther$0
02FY2025 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $33k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $305k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $435k
  • $250k+1 grant · $300k
$25,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$3.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
READING PARTNERS$300,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF AMERICA$150,000
MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA$100,000
EAGLES AUTISM CHALLENGE$75,000
GIRLS ON THE RUN$60,000
THE MALCOLM JENKINS FOUNDATION$50,000
CRADLES TO CRAYONS$25,000
THE CHILDRENS HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION$25,000
UNLOCKE THE LIGHT FOUNDATION$25,000
ELUNA$25,000
CH PENNSYLVANIA UNDER 21$25,000
PHILABUNDANCE$25,000
THE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA$25,000
PHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL$25,000
THE FISHING SCHOOL$20,000
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 (FY22–25, $100k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 50% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%OPERATION WARM: $20k → 10%SUNRISE DAY CAMPS ASSOCIATION INC: $20k → 6%THE FISHING SCHOOL: $20k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%SUNRISE DAY CAMPS ASSOCIATION INC: $10k → 6%THE FISHING SCHOOL INC: $10k → 14%JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTERS OF CHICAGO: $10k → 14%STJOHN OF GOD COMMUNITY SERVICES: $250 → 8%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

IL
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA
DE
AZ
NC
DC
LA
GA
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.

77%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 22 repeat orgs$552k to everyone else

22 repeat relationships: 13 still active in FY2025, 9 since wound down; 15 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
14

Total granted

$1.9M
$178k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+6%
+10%

Still filing today

73%
71%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 65% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $374k 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
HealthHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsEducationYouth DevelopmentCrime & LegalOther
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

  • RP
    READING PARTNERS
    4× · 2021–2025 · $670k · revenue +1%
  • BG
    BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA
    3× · 2023–2025 · $205k · revenue +35%
  • TC
    THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2025 · $125k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • TREVOR PROJECT INC
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +2%
  • BR
    BABE RUTH LEAGUE INC
    one grant, 2024 · $25k · revenue 0%
  • CH
    COVENANT HOUSE PENNSYLVANIA UNDER 21
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
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
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The children's hospital of philadelphia, the oldest hospital in the united states dedicated exclusively to pediatrics, strives to be the world leader in the advancement of health care for children by integrating excellent patient care,…

Health
2
Children First Pa

Summary

Human Services
3
Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

Visit philadelphia is our name and our mission. as the region's official tourism marketing agency, we build greater philadelphia's image, drive visitation and boost the economy.

Community Improvement
4
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc

Rockefeller philanthropy advisors aims to accelerate philanthropy in pursuit of a just world

Philanthropy
5
The Children's Cancer Cause Inc

The mission of children's cancer cause is to champion policies and programs that improve the lives of children with cancer and survivors.

Health
6
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
7
Children's Hospital Corporation

Provider of pediatric healthcare, education, research & community service

Health
8
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation

The elizabeth glaser pediatric aids foundation (egpaf) is a proven leader in the fight against pediatric hiv/aids and has reached over 33 million pregnant women with services to prevent transmission of hiv to their babies. to date, egpaf…

Health
9
Foundations Inc

Foundations is dedicated to improving the quality of education for our nation's most vulnerable children by strengthening the skills of educators through professional learning. foundations, inc. is a not-for-profit educational service…

—
10
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United way's mission is to end intergenerational poverty in our region by harnessing, leveraging and strategically investing the collective power of donors, advocates and volunteers, to help individuals and families break the cycle of…

Philanthropy
11
Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation

Pidc plans and implements economic development initiatives (see schedule o) which enhance the competitive environment, generate jobs and produce higher tax ratables throughout philadelphia.

Community Improvement
12
Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative

The mission of philadelphia youth sports collaborative (pysc) is to dramatically enhance the capacity of youth-serving organizations in philadelphia to provide high quality, sports-based youth development programs to children in every…

Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of America; the most unlike its peers is American Humane 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

41 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. 41 of the 52 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
41/41
Grantees still filing
20/41
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

READING PARTNERS: $670,000 · EducationREADING PARTNERS+1 more: $5,000 · EducationGIRLS ON THE RUN: $120,000 · OtherGIRLS ON THE RUNMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $100,000 · OtherMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICAOPERATION WARM: $100,000 · OtherOPERATION WARMIndividual grant recipient: $75,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientUNLOCKE THE LIGHT FOUNDATION: $40,000 · OtherCENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $65,000 · OtherCENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATIONPhilabundance: $55,000 · OtherPhilabundanceTREVOR PROJECT INC: $50,000 · OtherTREVOR PROJECT INCPHILADELPHIA PARKS ALLIANCE INC: $50,000 · OtherPHILADELPHIA PARKS ALLIANCE INC+17 more: $201,000 · Other+17 moreTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $125,000 · HealthTHE CHILDREN'S HO…EAGLES AUTISM CHALLENGE INC: $75,000 · HealthEAGLES AUTISM CHA…ELUNA FORMERLY THE MOYER FOUNDATION: $50,000 · HealthELUNA FORMERLY TH…The Marty Lyons Foundation Inc: $50,000 · HealthThe Marty Lyons F…BREAKTHROUGH T1D: $35,000 · HealthBREAKTHROUGH T1DTRANSPLANT FOUNDATION: $20,000 · HealthTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Health+3 more: $13,500 · HealthBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $205,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRL…THE MALCOLM JENKINS FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentTHE MALCOLM…The Fishing School Inc: $30,000 · Human ServicesSUNRISE DAY CAMPS ASSOCIATION INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $20,000 · Human ServicesOperation Warm Inc: $20,000 · Human Services+1 more: $250 · Human ServicesPHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL INC: $35,000 · Recreation & SportsBABE RUTH LEAGUE INC: $25,000 · Recreation & SportsLEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD INC: $15,000 · Recreation & SportsTHE FIRST TEE OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA INC: $5,000 · Recreation & SportsPlease Touch Museum: $65,000 · Arts & CultureMUTYA PHILIPPINE DANCE COMPANY INC: $5,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$675,000Other$856,000Health$388,500Youth Development$255,000Human Services$125,250Recreation & Sports$80,000Arts & Culture$70,000

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 budgetREADING PARTNERS: $670,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $205,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $125,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEAGLES AUTISM CHALLENGE INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetPlease Touch Museum: $65,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetCENTER CITY DISTRICT FOUNDATION: $65,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetPhilabundance: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetELUNA FORMERLY THE MOYER FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Marty Lyons Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetPHILADELPHIA PARKS ALLIANCE INC: $50,000 over 2y, 4.1% of budgetPHILADELPHIA YOUTH BASKETBALL INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetBREAKTHROUGH T1D: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetThe Fishing School Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetSUNRISE DAY CAMPS ASSOCIATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE FUND FOR THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBABE RUTH LEAGUE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCRADLES TO CRAYONS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCH PENNSYLVANIA UNDER - 21: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetJewish Community Centers of Chicago: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTRANSPLANT FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetOperation Warm Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN HUMANE ASSOCIATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BREATHING ROOM FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCHICAGO CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GREATER NEW ORLEANS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNRF FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMUTYA PHILIPPINE DANCE COMPANY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetTHE FIRST TEE OF GREATER PHILADELPHIA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSINGING CITY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetSupport Center for Child Advocates: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCITY YEAR INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSt John of God Community Services: $250 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.

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 Philadelphia Foun…United Way of Greater…Connelly FoundationIndependence Blue Cro…The Tuttleman Foundat…Future Standard Found…Philadelphia City Fun…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…The Pfizer Foundation…The William Penn Foun…Nfl Foundation IncThe Blackbaud Giving …
The Philadelphia FoundationPA20.6× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey · Connelly Foundation · Independence Blue Cross Foundation · The Tuttleman Foundation · Future Standard Foundation · Philadelphia City Fund Inc · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The William Penn Foundation · Nfl Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund

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 Five Below Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Five Below Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • City Year Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Cradles to Crayons Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Nemours Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Babe Ruth League Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
11report 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 Five Below Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Five Below 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 52 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 Five Below’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