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· Private foundation

Gardner Cowles III Charitable 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.

$35k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What you fund
0174% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY20172025.

Health$118kEducation$84kPhilanthropy$28kArts & Culture$17kFood & Nutrition$15kHuman Services$750Public Safety & Disaster$200Other$93k
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k11 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$2,500
Median grant
5
States reached
$444k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HEARTS OF THE HERD$10,000
BOWDOIN COLLEGE$5,000
THE ELLEN HERMANSON FOUNDATION$3,000
TRUSTEES OF TUFTS$3,000
BAY STREET THEATER$2,500
SOUTHAMPTON HOSP FOUNDATION$2,500
NAPLES THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER$2,250
HEART OF THE HAMPTONS$2,000
SAG HARBOR COMM FOOD PANTRY$2,000
TRINITY BY THE COVE$1,000
ST ANN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH$1,000
THE BRIDGEHAMPTON MUSEUM$500
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY19–21, $750) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 6%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 6%AVOW HOSPICE: $250 → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $250 → 10%AVOW HOSPICE: $250 → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$347k · 29 repeat orgs$9k to everyone else

29 repeat relationships — 11 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
4

Total granted

$347k
$6k

Still filing today

59%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k 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
EducationHealthArts & CultureFood & NutritionPublic Safety & DisasterPhilanthropyOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • BC
    Bowdoin College
    8× · 2017–2025 · $45k · revenue +94%
  • TS
    THE SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $30k · revenue +339%
  • TE
    THE ELLEN P HERMANSON FOUNDATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $28k · revenue +76%

Funded once

  • TU
    TUFTS UNIV COMMINGS SCHOOL
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $3k
  • UM
    UNIV MIAMI BASCOM PLAMER EYE INSTI
    one grant, 2019 · $200

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your 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
Saratoga Care Inc

To serve the people of the Saratoga region by providing them access to excellence in healthcare in a supportive and caring environment.

Health
2
Stony Brook Surgical Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
3
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
4
South Shore Hospital Inc

South shore hospital's primary exempt purpose is to provide health care services to the community including surgical, medical and other treatment of the sick and injured. south shore health system has an overarching mission for every…

Health
5
Stony Brook Ophthalmology University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
6
Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation Inc

Sarasota memorial healthcare foundation is the philanthropic partner that helps sarasota memorial health care system bring world-class care to our community.

Health
7
Peconic Public Broadcasting

Peconic Public Broadcasting is a public FM radio station located in Southampton, New York. The station services Long Island and coastal Connecticut and offers listeners both national and local programs.

8
Sylvester Manor Educational Farm Inc

To preserve, cultivate, and share historic sylvester manor.

Food & Nutrition
9
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
10
Albany General Hospital Foundation

The foundation's specific purpose is to solicit, receive, and maintain gifts of money and property, and to make decisions on the distributions of such money and property, to support albany general hospital and health svcs in the general…

Health
11
Saint Anselm College

Saint anselm is a catholic, benedictine college providing all of its students a distinctive liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career preparation. it does so in a learning community that encourages…

Education
12
Brighton Marine Inc

Brighton marine, inc. provides military and veteran families with comprehensive campus-based quality health care, as well as affordable and supportive housing for at-risk veterans and their families.

Health

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Southampton Hospital Foundation Inc and the most unlike its peers is The Ellen P Hermanson Foundation. 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

17 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 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 17 of the 34 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)
17/17
Grantees still filing
12/17
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

FIGHTING CHANCE INC — $85,000 · HealthFIGHTING CHANCE INCTHE SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC — $29,500 · HealthTHE SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION I…+1 more — $3,250 · HealthUC DAVIS FOUNDATION FXTAS RESEARCH — $25,000 · OtherUC DAVIS FOUNDATION FXTAS RES…HEARTS OF THE HERD — $15,000 · OtherHEARTS OF THE HERDMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CEN — $10,000 · OtherMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANC…PLANNED PARENTHOOD — $10,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOODTRINITY BY THE COVE — $6,000 · OtherTRINITY BY THE COVEST ANN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH — $6,000 · OtherST ANN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCHJOHN JERMAIN MEMORIAL LIBRARY — $4,000 · Other+11 more — $16,650 · Other+11 moreBowdoin College — $45,000 · EducationBowdoin CollegeSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC — $13,500 · EducationSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INCALLEN-CHASE FOUNDATION DBA EAGLEBROOK SCHOOL — $10,000 · EducationALLEN-CHASE FOUNDATION DBA…THE TAFT SCHOOL CORPORATION — $6,000 · EducationTHE TAFT SCHOOL CORPORATIO…SALISBURY SCHOOL INC — $6,000 · EducationSALISBURY SCHOOL INCLONGHOUSE RESERVE — $3,700 · EducationTHE ELLEN P HERMANSON FOUNDATION — $28,000 · PhilanthropyBAY STREET THEATRE FESTIVAL INC — $15,500 · Arts & CultureSCOA INC — $1,500 · Arts & CultureHEART OF THE HAMPTONS LTD — $10,000 · Food & NutritionSAG HARBOR COMM FOOD PANTRY INC — $5,000 · Food & NutritionAVOW Hospice Inc — $750 · Human ServicesSAG HARBOR FIRE DEPARTMENT INC — $200 · Public Safety & Disaster
Health$117,750Other$92,650Education$84,200Philanthropy$28,000Arts & Culture$17,000Food & Nutrition$15,000Human Services$750Public Safety & Disaster$200

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetFIGHTING CHANCE INC — $85,000 over 7y, 7.5% of budgetBowdoin College — $45,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC — $29,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ELLEN P HERMANSON FOUNDATION — $28,000 over 6y, 1.3% of budgetBAY STREET THEATRE FESTIVAL INC — $15,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSTONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC — $13,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF THE HAMPTONS LTD — $10,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetALLEN-CHASE FOUNDATION DBA EAGLEBROOK SCHOOL — $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TAFT SCHOOL CORPORATION — $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSALISBURY SCHOOL INC — $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSAG HARBOR COMM FOOD PANTRY INC — $5,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetJOHN JERMAIN MEMORIAL LIBRARY — $4,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLONGHOUSE RESERVE — $3,700 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNaples Therapeutic Riding Center Inc — $3,250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSCOA INC — $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAVOW Hospice Inc — $750 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSAG HARBOR FIRE DEPARTMENT INC — $200 over 2y, 0.0% 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.

  • Who funds FIGHTING CHANCE INC
  • Who funds Bowdoin College
  • Who funds THE SOUTHAMPTON HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds THE ELLEN P HERMANSON FOUNDATION
  • Who funds BAY STREET THEATRE FESTIVAL INC
  • Who funds STONY BROOK FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds HEART OF THE HAMPTONS LTD
  • Who funds ALLEN-CHASE FOUNDATION DBA EAGLEBROOK SCHOOL
  • Who funds THE TAFT SCHOOL CORPORATION
  • Who funds SALISBURY SCHOOL INC
  • Who funds SAG HARBOR COMM FOOD PANTRY INC
  • Who funds JOHN JERMAIN MEMORIAL LIBRARY
  • Who funds LONGHOUSE RESERVE
  • Who funds Naples Therapeutic Riding Center Inc
  • Who funds SCOA INC
  • Who funds AVOW Hospice Inc
  • Who funds SAG HARBOR FIRE DEPARTMENT INC

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.

Jaf FoundationNY13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Jaf Foundation · Yaffa Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Gardner Cowles III Charitable Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 40%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 0%
  • Avow Hospice Inc0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get 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 · 0–5%
typical government reliance, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Gardner Cowles III Charitable Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Gardner Cowles III Charitable 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 34 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph