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Golf Course Superintendents Association of America

Gcsaa is dedicated to serving its members, advancing their profession and improving communities through the enjoyment, growth and vitality of the game of golf.

$396k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What you fund
01

What you funded, over time

By grantee IRS cause code (NTEE).

A cause breakdown isn’t shown here: 52% of GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA’s grantee dollars fall outside its nine largest cause areas, whether because the recipient carries no IRS cause code or because its cause sits in the long tail. A chart would be mostly one residual band and misrepresent the portfolio.

02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 7 grants below total $366,925 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $395,760 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $28,835 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 · FY2024

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $45k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $322k
$60,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$23M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GCSAA FOUNDATION$100,000
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY$82,479
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY$79,448
WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION$60,000
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY$19,998
WEE ONE FOUNDATION$15,000
GCSAA FOUNDATION$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 60% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%ARIZONA ALLIANCE FOR GOLF: $10k → 11%PHILADELPHIA ASSOCIATION OF GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS: $13k → 7%PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY: $32k → 16%CALIFORNIA TURFGRASS & LANDSCAPE FOUNDATION: $30k → 14%TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY: $20k → 17%TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $82k → 22%NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY: $13k → 23%UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: $38k → 14%WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION: $85k → 6%MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY: $20k → 16%AUBURN UNIVERSITY: $20k → 15%GCSAA FOUNDATION: $100k → 15%KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY: $16k → 20%UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: $50k → 10%OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY: $50k → 18%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $30k → 11%E4E RELIEF CO FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS: $20k → 10%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $26k → 19%WEE ONE FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: $58k → 8%VIRGINIA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION: $11k → 6%VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: $30k → 21%SOUTHERN NEVADA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION: $15k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: $13k → 11%TEXAS A & M UNIVERSITY AGRI LIFE RESEARCH: $30k → 22%WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION: $85k → 6%AUBURN UNIVERSITY: $12k → 15%ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE FOR GOLF: $60k → 15%OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY: $30k → 18%WEE ONE FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: $50k → 8%VIRGINIA TECH: $13k → 21%WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION: $85k → 6%GCSAA FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY: $30k → 18%WEE ONE FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: $79k → 8%WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION: $68k → 6%ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE FOR GOLF: $50k → 15%OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY: $20k → 18%WEE ONE FOUNDATION: $15k → 14%RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: $60k → 8%WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION: $60k → 6%GCSAA FOUNDATION: $50k → 15%WEE ONE FOUNDATION: $14k → 14%WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION: $60k → 6%ENVIRONMENTAL INSTITUTE FOR GOLF: $20k → 15%WEE ONE FOUNDATION: $12k → 14%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.

Which US states your grants reach

ME
WA
MT
ND
IL
WI
MI
OR
NV
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
HI
OK
AL
GA
TX
FL

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.

70%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.6M · 12 repeat orgs$689k to everyone else

12 repeat relationships — 4 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
37

Total granted

$1.6M
$587k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+15%
+29%

Still filing today

50%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 72% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $102k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationRecreation & SportsHealthCommunity ImprovementOther

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

  • GF
    GCSAA FOUNDATION
    6× · 2017–2024 · $360k · revenue +9%
  • Oregon State University Foundation
    3× · 2019–2022 · $110k · revenue +38%
  • WO
    WEE ONE FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $86k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • TU
    THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE
    one grant, 2023 · $96k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $38k · revenue +98%
  • PS
    PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $32k

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
South Carolina Golf Association

To preserve, promote, and serve the game of golf

2
International Association of Golf Administrators Inc

The association has been formed and exists for the purpose of promoting and conserving the best interests and the true spirit of the game of golf as embodied in its ancient and honorable traditions.

3
Golf Writers Association of America

To represent the interests of its members in obtaining news in the world of golf and improving their working conditions.

4
Florida Golf Course Superintendents Inc

The purpose of the association shall be to promote turf management as it pertains to the golf course superintendent and to unify the golf course superintendents of the state of Florida

5
Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents As

The carolinas gcsa is committed to providing its members the opportunity to excel professionally and enhance the game of golf through responsible turfgrass management.

Environment
6
Georgia State Golf Association

Promotion of game/rules of golf throughout the state of georgia

Recreation & Sports
7
Southern Nevada Golf Association

To support and promote the game of golf in southern nevada, our mission is to grow participation, provide excellent service, and demonstrate passion in the game of golf while upholding the integrity and traditions of the game.

8
Golf Association of Philadelphia Foundation
Recreation & Sports
9
Florida Golf Course Superintendents

The purpose of this association shall be to promote turf management as it pertains to the golf course superintendent.

10
Cactus & Pine Golf Course Superintendents Association

The organization is dedicated to enhancing the professional recognition of its members through education, leadership, collaboration, government relations and environmental stewardship.

Community Improvement
11
Arkansas State Golf Association

Support and promotion of amature golf

12
Carolinas Golf Association

The cga is a non-profit service organization that was formed in 1909 to conduct championships and tournaments for amateur golfers in north and south carolina, administer the usga handicap system in the carolinas, and support its membership…

Recreation & Sports

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Golf Course Superintendents Association of New Jersey and the most unlike its peers is Oregon State University Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

Your grantees are a median of 35 years old; the field is 16. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number22%4%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%15%10–20yr16%30%20–35yr13%22%35–55yr16%30%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value22%1%<5yr14%0%5–10yr19%25%10–20yr16%6%20–35yr13%31%35–55yr16%37%55yr+

The field is 22% startups (under 5 years old) — 4% of your grantees by number, and just 1% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 13% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/52
the rest of the field
13%
240,396/1,819,513

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.

04the grantee network

30 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. 30 of the 52 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/30
Grantees still filing
23/30
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

RUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITY — $247,794 · OtherRUTGERS THE STATE UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA — $149,459 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF FLORIDATHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE — $95,716 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEETEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY — $82,479 · OtherTEXAS A&M UNIVERSITYUniversity of Wisconsin Madison — $60,000 · OtherVIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE & STATE UNIVERSITY — $43,390 · Other+36 more — $526,345 · Other+36 moreGCSAA FOUNDATION — $359,616 · EducationGCSAA FOUNDATIONOregon State University Foundation — $110,000 · EducationOregon State University Fo…UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOUNDATION INC — $37,700 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOU…SOUTH NEVADA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT ASSOC — $23,000 · Education+1 more — $7,500 · EducationWORLD GOLF FOUNDATION INC — $442,500 · Recreation & SportsWORLD GOLF FOUNDATION …+1 more — $10,000 · Recreation & SportsWEE ONE FOUNDATION INC — $86,000 · HealthFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS — $20,000 · PhilanthropyVIRGINIA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION — $11,000 · Community Improvement
Other$1,205,183Education$537,816Recreation & Sports$452,500Health$86,000Philanthropy$20,000Community Improvement$11,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetWORLD GOLF FOUNDATION INC — $442,500 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetGCSAA FOUNDATION — $359,616 over 6y, 5.9% of budgetOregon State University Foundation — $110,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWEE ONE FOUNDATION INC — $86,000 over 6y, 7.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOUNDATION INC — $37,700 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS — $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHEART OF AMERICA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION — $20,000 over 2y, 9.1% of budgetPhiladelphia Asc of Golf Course Superintendents — $13,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetVIRGINIA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION — $11,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetIDAHO GCSA — $11,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetEastern Shore Association of Golf Course Superintendents Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetOREGON GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOC — $10,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetNORTH CENTRAL TURF GRASS ASSOC — $10,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetROCKY MTN GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION — $10,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetGOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY — $10,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetWESTERN WASHINGTON GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION — $10,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetMaine Golf Course Superintendents Association — $10,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetARIZONA ALLIANCE FOR GOLF — $10,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetGeorgia Golf Course Superintendents Association — $10,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetPEAKS & PRAIRIES GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOC — $7,500 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetNATIONAL GOLF COURSE OWNERS ASSOCIATION — $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCLEARVIEW LEGACY FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATION PRESERVATION & RESEARCH — $7,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBOCA GROVE GOLF & TENNIS CLUB INC — $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMICHIGAN GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION — $6,500 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetCALIFORNIA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION — $5,500 over 1y, 6.8% 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 WORLD GOLF FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds GCSAA FOUNDATION
  • Who funds Oregon State University Foundation
  • Who funds WEE ONE FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOUNDATION INC
  • Who funds SOUTH NEVADA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT ASSOC
  • Who funds FOUNDATION FOR THE CAROLINAS
  • Who funds HEART OF AMERICA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds Philadelphia Asc of Golf Course Superintendents
  • Who funds VIRGINIA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds IDAHO GCSA
  • Who funds Eastern Shore Association of Golf Course Superintendents Inc
  • Who funds OKLAHOMA GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENT ASSOCIATI
  • Who funds OREGON GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOC
  • Who funds Hawaii Golf Course SuperIntendents Association
  • Who funds NORTH CENTRAL TURF GRASS ASSOC
  • Who funds ROCKY MTN GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION
  • Who funds GOLF COURSE SUPERINTENDENTS ASSOCIATION OF NEW JERSEY

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 set of overlaps that mostly run through you, not between each other.

United States Golf AssociationNJ15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United States Golf Association

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 Golf Course Superintendents Association of America 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%1%3%6%10%your share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 0%
  • Oregon State University Foundation0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
2report 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 Golf Course Superintendents Association of America?

Find your warmest path to Golf Course Superintendents Association of America 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 52 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph