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Gamber Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Gamber Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$281k
Granted FY2025still arriving
22
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Health$740kHuman Services$495kHousing & Shelter$391kYouth Development$259kEducation$130kCommunity Improvement$75kAnimals$48kArts & Culture$42kOther$0
02FY2025 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k9 grants · $51k
  • $10k–50k13 grants · $230k
$12,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$4.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SCHREIBER PEDIATRIC REHAB CENTER$30,000
UNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES$30,000
WATER STREET RESCUE MINISTRIES$26,000
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF LANCASTER$25,000
LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER$20,000
COMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP$15,000
THE LANCASTER SALVATION ARMY$15,000
THE GATE HOUSE$12,500
TABOR COMMUNITY SERVICESTENFOLD$12,000
FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES$12,000
LANCASTER AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$12,000
MILAGRO HOUSE$10,000
LANCASTER CLEFT PALATE CLINIC$10,000
EXCENTIA$9,500
AARON'S ACRES$7,500
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 (FY17–25, $492k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%LANCASTER DAY CARE CENTER: $15k → 9%LANCASTER DAY CARE CENTER: $15k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $8k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $6k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $6k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $6k → 9%WATER STREET RESCUE MISSION: $23k → 9%WATER STREET RESCUE MISSION: $20k → 9%WATER STREET RESCUE MISSION: $20k → 9%WATER STREET RESCUE MISSION: $17k → 9%KEYSTONE PET ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $8k → 9%KEYSTONE PET ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $8k → 9%KEYSTONE PET ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $8k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $8k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $7k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $7k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $7k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $7k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $5k → 9%AARON'S ACRES: $5k → 9%HOPE SERVED: $5k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $12k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $10k → 9%KEYSTONE PET ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $8k → 9%KEYSTONE PET ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $8k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $8k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $8k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $8k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $8k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $8k → 9%KEYSTONE PET ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $5k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $5k → 9%FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY MINISTRIES: $4k → 9%LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $20k → 9%LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $15k → 9%LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $15k → 9%LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $15k → 9%LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $15k → 9%LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $15k → 9%LANCASTER EARLY EDUCATION CENTER: $15k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $10k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $10k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $9k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $9k → 9%MILAGRO HOUSE: $9k → 9%THE LOFT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP: $5k → 9%VISION CORPS: $3k → 9%THE LOFT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP: $3k → 9%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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 35 repeat orgs$68k to everyone else

35 repeat relationships: 21 still active in FY2025, 14 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
14

Total granted

$2.3M
$63k

Still filing today

49%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
Human ServicesHealthPhilanthropyEmploymentOther
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

  • SC
    SCHREIBER CENTER FOR PEDIATRIC DEVELOPMENT
    9× · 2017–2025 · $219k · revenue +101%
  • UD
    UNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES
    5× · 2021–2025 · $135k · revenue +53%
  • LC
    LANCASTER CLEFT PALATE CLINIC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $123k · revenue +89%

Funded once

  • TL
    TRANSITIONAL LIVING CENTER
    one grant, 2021 · $12k
  • JM
    JOHN M CLARK 5TH 6TH
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
  • KB
    Kaitlyn Berwick 3rd 4th
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
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
Lawrence County Association for Responsible Care

To advocate for and provide quality services to people with developmental disabilities and ensure their health, safety and welfare while promoting personal choice and growth.

Human Services
2
The Arc of Lancaster County

Empowering people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (i/dd) and their families to lead full, satisfying, independent lives of their choice.

Health
3
Mainstay Life Services

Individuals with developmental disabilities will live within a community that sustains them and benefits from their participation. mainstay life services will be regarded as the region's provider of choice for individuals and families…

Housing & Shelter
4
The Arc of Centre County Pa Inc

The arc of centre county embodies and protects the human rights of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and practices person-centered planning which actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the…

—
5
Lifeworks Incorporated

Lifeworks provides education, jobs and homes for persons with developmental disabilities empowering them to lead meaningful lives within the community. our guiding principles ensure that lifeworks staff and volunteers strive to create and…

Human Services
6
Montessori Academy of Lancaster

Provide creative and stimulating intellectual, artistic, and developmental experiences for pre-school and grade school children.

—
7
Laradon Hall Society for Exceptional Children and Adults

To provide superior service to children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Human Services
8
Linwood Center Inc

Linwood creates the possibility of extraordinary lives for children and adults living with autism and related developmental disabilities by providing education, vocational training, residential support, and employment opportunities.

Education
9
Lifestream Inc

Lifestream, inc. (the organization") provides community-based services that support individuals in attaining greater independence, promising opportunities, and lives that are meaningful and fulfilling on their own terms.

Health
10
Barc Developmental Services Inc

To serve and advocate for people with intellectual disabilities and autism.

—
11
Chartiers Center

Chartiers believes each individual, regardless of economic status, has a right to achieve his/her highest potential and become a self-sufficient and full participating member of the community.

Human Services
12
Lutheran Care Center

To provide services and facilities for people whose capabilities and needs vary widely. lcc strives to make the lives of people more independent, healthful, meaningful and secure through development of innovative programs delivered with…

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Water Street Ministries; the most unlike its peers is Milagro House Inc. 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

20 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. 20 of the 50 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/20
Grantees still filing
15/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WATER STREET RESCUE MINISTRIES: $130,000 · OtherWATER STREET RESCUE MINISTRIESBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER INC: $120,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER INCUNITED DISABILITY SERVICES: $100,000 · OtherUNITED DISABILITY SERVICESTHE GATE HOUSE: $90,000 · OtherTHE GATE HOUSEBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF LANCASTER: $80,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF LANCASTEREXCENTIA: $78,000 · OtherEXCENTIASALVATION ARMY: $75,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMYCOMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIP: $75,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY ACTION PARTNERSHIPLANCASTER AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $72,000 · OtherLANCASTER AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INCTHE LANCASTER SALVATION ARMY: $65,000 · OtherTENFOLD: $48,000 · OtherTABOR COMMUNITY SERVICESTENFOLD: $48,000 · OtherYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $45,000 · Other+22 more: $250,000 · Other+22 moreSCHREIBER CENTER FOR PEDIATRIC DEVELOPMENT: $218,750 · HealthSCHREIBER CENTER FOR PEDIA…UNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES: $135,000 · HealthUNITED DISABILITIES SERVIC…LANCASTER CLEFT PALATE CLINIC: $123,000 · HealthLANCASTER CLEFT PALATE CLI…BRIDGES AT WORTHMORE INC: $57,050 · HealthBRIDGES AT WORTHMORE INCLANCASTER DAY CARE CENTER: $140,000 · Human ServicesLANCASTER DAY CARE CENTE…WATER STREET MINISTRIES: $80,000 · Human ServicesWATER STREET MINISTRIESMILAGRO HOUSE INC: $72,500 · Human ServicesMILAGRO HOUSE INCFRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $68,500 · Human ServicesFRIENDSHIP COMMUNITYAARON'S ACRES: $49,200 · Human ServicesAARON'S ACRESKEYSTONE PET-ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $48,000 · Human ServicesKEYSTONE PET-ENHANCED TH…THE LOFT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP: $17,000 · Human Services+2 more: $17,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHILDREN DESERVE A CHANCE FOUNDATION: $17,000 · PhilanthropyOCCUPATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $4,000 · Employment
Other$1,276,000Health$533,800Human Services$492,200Philanthropy$17,000Employment$4,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSCHREIBER CENTER FOR PEDIATRIC DEVELOPMENT: $218,750 over 9y, 0.5% of budgetLANCASTER DAY CARE CENTER: $140,000 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetUNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES: $135,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLANCASTER CLEFT PALATE CLINIC: $123,000 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER INC: $120,000 over 5y, 2.5% of budgetWATER STREET MINISTRIES: $80,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetMILAGRO HOUSE INC: $72,500 over 9y, 1.4% of budgetLANCASTER AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $72,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY: $68,500 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetBRIDGES AT WORTHMORE INC: $57,050 over 9y, 19% of budgetAARON'S ACRES: $49,200 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetKEYSTONE PET-ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES: $48,000 over 8y, 8.8% of budgetTENFOLD: $48,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetYOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER COUNTY: $45,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetMOM'S HOUSE INC OF LANCASTER: $25,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetTHE LOFT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP: $17,000 over 5y, 3.3% of budgetTHE CHILDREN DESERVE A CHANCE FOUNDATION: $17,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetVISIONCORPS: $12,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetOCCUPATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $4,000 over 2y, 0.2% 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 SCHREIBER CENTER FOR PEDIATRIC DEVELOPMENT ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER DAY CARE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds UNITED DISABILITIES SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER CLEFT PALATE CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF LANCASTER INC ↗
  • Who funds WATER STREET MINISTRIES ↗
  • Who funds MILAGRO HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds LANCASTER AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDSHIP COMMUNITY ↗
  • Who funds BRIDGES AT WORTHMORE INC ↗
  • Who funds AARON'S ACRES ↗
  • Who funds KEYSTONE PET-ENHANCED THERAPY SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds TENFOLD ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER COUNTY ↗
  • Who funds MOM'S HOUSE INC OF LANCASTER ↗
  • Who funds THE LOFT COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN DESERVE A CHANCE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds VISIONCORPS ↗
  • Who funds HOPE SERVED 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.

Lancaster County Comm…The Steinman Foundati…The Abigail L Longene…Willis and Elsie Shen…Clark Associates Char…Richard S & Ann B Bar…United Way of Lancast…Universal Leaf Founda…High FoundationKalas FoundationFerree FoundationAshland Foundation
Lancaster County Community FoundationPA40.3× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lancaster County Community Foundation · The Steinman Foundation · The Abigail L Longenecker Memorial Foundation · Willis and Elsie Shenk Foundation · Clark Associates Charitable Foundation · Richard S & Ann B Barshinger Family Fdn · United Way of Lancaster County · Universal Leaf Foundation · High Foundation · Kalas Foundation · Ferree Foundation · Ashland 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 Gamber Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Gamber Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    7report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Gamber Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Gamber 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 50 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 Gamber’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