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Golden Rule Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Golden Rule 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.

$157k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$18k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$233kEducation$81kInternational$31kHealth$29kPublic Benefit$22kRecreation & Sports$16kYouth Development$10kPhilanthropy$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k20 grants · $68k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $89k
$5,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$2.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Studio Two Three$18,000
Northeast Historic Film$15,000
Arcadia University$15,000
Hooves for Harmony Inc$11,000
US PIRG Education Fund$10,000
Friends of Urban Inc$10,000
The Visual Arts Center of Richmond$10,000
Fire Museum Presents$9,000
Belfast Area Child Care Services$8,000
ISSUE Project Room$7,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
Roulette Intermedium$5,000
Possibility Labs fiscal sponsor Raw$5,000
Art Omi$5,000
Survival International USA$5,000
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, $53k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 45% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 12%Hooves for Harmony Inc: $11k → 9%Hooves for Harmony Inc: $11k → 9%Hooves for Harmony Inc: $7k → 9%Hooves for Harmony Inc: $500 → 9%Belfast Area Child Care Services: $8k → 13%Belfast Area Child Care Services: $8k → 13%Belfast Area Child Care Services: $8k → 13%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

ME
WA
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 12% of Golden Rule Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 55% of the giving stays in ME; by stated purpose, 52%.

Golden Rule Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 6.3% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

74%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$334k · 20 repeat orgs$119k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +14% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

20 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
9

Total granted

$334k
$86k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+14%
+2%

Still filing today

80%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $33k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationInternationalHuman ServicesPublic BenefitCommunity 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

  • NH
    NORTHEAST HISTORIC FILM
    3× · 2022–2025 · $52k · revenue +78%
  • TV
    THE VISUAL ARTS CENTER OF RICHMOND
    3× · 2022–2025 · $30k · revenue +117%
  • BA
    Belfast Area Child Care Services Inc
    3× · 2022–2025 · $24k · revenue +28%

Funded once

  • GALLERY AFERRO
    one grant, 2022 · $17k · revenue +142%
  • PC
    Philadelphia City Rowing Inc
    one grant, 2022 · $16k · revenue +2%
  • TC
    The Center for Investigative Reporting formrly Foundation for National Progressgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $12k · revenue +27%
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
Berggruen Institute
Education
2
California Institute of Contemporary Art
—
3
The Neue Galerie New York
Arts & Culture
4
Kadist Collection Manager Inc
Arts & Culture
5
United Artist Collaborative
Arts & Culture
6
The Pierpont Morgan Library

The Morgan Library & Museum celebrates and shares the history and process of human creativity from antiquity to the present day through the preservation, study, and interpretation of a dynamic and growing collection.

Education
7
New Museum of Contemporary Art

A center for exhibitions, information, and documentation about living artists since 1977, which continues to be a place of experimentation and a hub of new art and new ideas.

Arts & Culture
8
Abc No Rio Inc

Abc no rio is an arts organization located in manhattans lower east side. it seeks to provide opportunities for artists and the community at large to share resources and ideas in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual support. since the…

—
9
Arts Letters and Numbers
Arts & Culture
10
Art Explorium
—
11
Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is a private, non-profit institution chartered by the State of New York Department of Education in 1929 to foster public awareness of modern and contemporary art. (Continued in Schedule O)

Arts & Culture
12
Artnoir Inc

ARTNOIR is a global collective and a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to celebrate and highlight the work of creatives of color from around the world while catalyzing cultural equity across the arts and culture industries.…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund Inc; the most unlike its peers is Poster 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.
05the grantee network

28 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. 28 of the 36 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/28
Grantees still filing
17/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTHEAST HISTORIC FILM: $52,000 · OtherNORTHEAST HISTORIC FILMGALLERY AFERRO: $16,750 · OtherGALLERY AFERROIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientPossibility Labs fiscal sponsor Raw: $10,000 · OtherPossibility Labs fiscal sponsor RawMaine Youth Alliance dba The Game L: $10,000 · OtherMaine Youth Alliance dba The Game LPhiladelphia City Rowing Inc: $16,000 · OtherPhiladelphia City Rowing Inc+7 more: $21,667 · Other+7 moreSTUDIO TWO THREE: $35,000 · Arts & CultureSTUDIO TWO THREEISSUE PROJECT ROOM INC: $22,500 · Arts & CultureISSUE PROJECT ROOM INCROULETTE INTERMEDIUM INC: $14,500 · Arts & CultureROULETTE INTERMEDIUM INCFire Museum Presents: $14,000 · Arts & CultureFire Museum PresentsInliquidcom Inc: $10,000 · Arts & CultureInliquidcom IncTIGER STRIKES ASTEROID INC: $6,750 · Arts & CultureTIGER STRIKES ASTEROID INCFIBER COLLEGE OF MAINE: $6,000 · Arts & CultureFIBER COLLEGE OF MAINE+2 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureTHE VISUAL ARTS CENTER OF RICHMOND: $30,000 · EducationTHE VISUAL ARTS…ARCADIA UNIVERSITY: $15,000 · EducationARCADIA UNIVERS…Temple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education: $10,000 · EducationTemple Universi…SWEET TREE ARTS: $3,000 · EducationMILLINOCKET MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $2,000 · EducationHooves for Harmony Inc: $29,167 · Human ServicesHooves for Ha…Belfast Area Child Care Services Inc: $24,000 · Human ServicesBelfast Area …ART OMI INC: $15,000 · InternationalSURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL (USA): $14,500 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $3,167 · InternationalTHE SHARING FOUNDATION: $3,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF URBAN INC: $30,000 · Community ImprovementThe Center for Investigative Reporting formrly Foundation for National Progress: $12,000 · Public BenefitUNITED STATES PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP EDUCATION FUND INC: $10,000 · Public Benefit
Other$141,417Arts & Culture$110,750Education$60,000Human Services$53,167International$35,667Community Improvement$30,000Public Benefit$22,000

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 budgetNORTHEAST HISTORIC FILM: $52,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetSTUDIO TWO THREE: $35,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetTHE VISUAL ARTS CENTER OF RICHMOND: $30,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF URBAN INC: $30,000 over 3y, 8.5% of budgetHooves for Harmony Inc: $29,167 over 3y, 14% of budgetBelfast Area Child Care Services Inc: $24,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetISSUE PROJECT ROOM INC: $22,500 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetPhiladelphia City Rowing Inc: $16,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetART OMI INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetARCADIA UNIVERSITY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL (USA): $14,500 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetROULETTE INTERMEDIUM INC: $14,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFire Museum Presents: $14,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetThe Center for Investigative Reporting formrly Foundation for National Progress: $12,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetInliquidcom Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetUNITED STATES PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP EDUCATION FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTIGER STRIKES ASTEROID INC: $6,750 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetASHOKAN CENTER INC: $4,667 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHIRD WAVE VOLUNTEERS INC: $3,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $3,167 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SHARING FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSWEET TREE ARTS: $3,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMILLINOCKET MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $2,000 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.

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.

Maine Community Found…Mediathe Foundation I…Morton-Kelly Charitab…Jewish Communal FundNational Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Paypal Charitable Giv…Vanguard Charitable E…Network for GoodAmerican Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Maine Community Foundation IncME14.2× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Mediathe Foundation Inc · Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust · Jewish Communal Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Network for Good · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Golden Rule Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Golden Rule 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%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Golden Rule Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Golden Rule 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 36 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 Golden Rule’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