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Good Words Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Good Words Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$945k
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$2.7MPublic Benefit$1.4MEducation$658kReligion$432kHealth$421kScience & Tech$335kPhilanthropy$265kCivil Rights$40kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $95k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $835k
$25,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEBRASKA JOURNALISM TRUST$150,000
THE 19TH NEWS$125,000
CAPITAL B NEWS INC$125,000
CIVIC NEWS COMPANY$100,000
SPOTLIGHT PA$100,000
MADRID EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION$75,000
GEORGETOWN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$60,000
UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA$50,000
RESOLVE PHILLY$50,000
AMALGAMATED FOUNDATION$25,000
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION INC$20,000
NETWORK FOR GOOD$10,000
ACTBLUE CIVICS INC$10,000
WOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS$10,000
EDMUND BURKE SCHOOL$10,000
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 (FY19–22, $25k) land where the poverty rate runs at 19%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%DC DIAPER BANK: $5k → 14%CHIPS: $10k → 20%CHIPS: $10k → 20%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

MN
NY
MA
OR
IA
PA
NJ
CA
NE
VA
DC
TX
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.2M · 30 repeat orgs$968k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +37% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

30 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2024, 21 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

30
33

Total granted

$5.2M
$738k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+19%

Still filing today

70%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 75% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $230k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureCivil RightsInternationalAnimalsPublic BenefitOther
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

  • PRO PUBLICA INC
    5× · 2019–2023 · $1.0M · revenue +64%
  • T1
    THE 19TH NEWS
    5× · 2020–2024 · $500k · revenue +77%
  • CIVIC NEWS COMPANY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $500k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • SP
    SPOTLIGHT PA GENERAL ACCOUNT
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • INSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT NEWSgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +101%
  • VV
    VET VOICE FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $75k · revenue +232%
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
City Report Inc

CITY REPORT, INC. serves the people of New York through independent journalism that answers their information needs and holds the powerful to account.

Arts & Culture
2
America's Newspapers

Providing research, education and practical information all aimed at optimizing newspapers' business operations, deepening their community engagement and enhancing the quality of their journalism.

Employment
3
J Street

To organize pro-israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy americans to promote us policies that embody our deeply held jewish and democratic values and that help secure the state of israel as a democratic homeland for the jewish people.

International
4
Public Media Nj Inc

To bring quality public television programs and resources to communities throughout new jersey and its tri-state neighbors. its content, both on-air and online, aims to reflect the diverse

Arts & Culture
5
National Public Radio Inc

National public radio, inc. ("npr") works collaboratively with member public radio station licensees ("member stations") to create a more informed public, one that is challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of…

Arts & Culture
6
The Associated Press Foundation for Journalism Inc

The foundation's mission is to produce, support and promote high-quality journalism focused on underserved issue and focus areas in order to educate and inform the public and ensure widespread, ongoing public access to educational,…

Arts & Culture
7
Allbritton Journalism Institute

Allbritton journalism institute aims to train a new generation of non-partisan political reporters from diverse backgrounds to produce high-quality, fact-based journalism.

Education
8
Duke Student Publishing Company Inc

The organization's mission is to be the first and best source of independent news analysis about the duke community and to develop outstanding student leaders through journalism.

Education
9
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
10
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
11
States Newsroom

States newsroom is the nation's largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, with reporting from every capital. every newsroom is led by a veteran local journalist with deep knowledge of the state's political history and media…

Arts & Culture
12
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Inc

International consortium of investigative journalists, inc.'s (icij) mission is to show people how the world really works through stories that rock the world; forcing positive change.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Media Impact Funders Inc; the most unlike its peers is Big Stone Camp for Christ. 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

55 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. 55 of the 76 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/55
Grantees still filing
37/55
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PRO PUBLICA INC: $1,000,000 · Arts & CulturePRO PUBLICA INCTHE 19TH NEWS: $500,000 · Arts & CultureTHE 19TH NEWSCAPITAL B NEWS INC: $425,000 · Arts & CultureCAPITAL B NEWS INC+5 more: $102,012 · Arts & CultureFIFTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $335,000 · OtherFIFTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $300,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIALENFEST INSTITUTE: $300,000 · OtherLENFEST INSTITUTEUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: $105,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKASPOTLIGHT PA GENERAL ACCOUNT: $100,000 · OtherSPOTLIGHT PA GENERAL ACCOUNTGEORGETOWN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $85,000 · OtherMADRID EDUCATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Other+34 more: $537,114 · Other+34 moreCIVIC NEWS COMPANY: $500,000 · EducationCIVIC NEWS COMPA…SPOTLIGHT PA: $100,000 · EducationSPOTLIGHT PARESOLVE PHILADELPHIA INC: $100,000 · EducationRESOLVE PHILADEL…INSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT NEWS: $100,000 · EducationINSTITUTE FOR NO…+11 more: $133,148 · Education+11 moreTHE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: $507,500 · Public BenefitTHE CENTER FOR…NEBRASKA JOURNALISM TRUST: $300,000 · Public BenefitNEBRASKA JOURN…HENRY J KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: $156,000 · PhilanthropyAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $75,000 · PhilanthropyNEBRASKA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $75,000 · PhilanthropyBROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $70,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $20,000 · PhilanthropyCLUB OF MADRID FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 · Civil RightsTREVOR PROJECT INC: $100,000 · Civil RightsVET VOICE FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 · Civil RightsCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC: $20,000 · Civil RightsTHE HONORABLE TINA BROZMAN FDTN INC: $82,000 · Health
Arts & Culture$2,027,012Other$1,837,114Education$933,148Public Benefit$807,500Philanthropy$396,000Civil Rights$345,000Health$82,000

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 budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $1,000,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: $507,500 over 5y, 2.6% of budgetTHE 19TH NEWS: $500,000 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetCIVIC NEWS COMPANY: $500,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetCAPITAL B NEWS INC: $425,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetNEBRASKA JOURNALISM TRUST: $300,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetHENRY J KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION: $156,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCLUB OF MADRID FOUNDATION INC: $150,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetTREVOR PROJECT INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSPOTLIGHT PA: $100,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetRESOLVE PHILADELPHIA INC: $100,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR NONPROFIT NEWS: $100,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTHE HONORABLE TINA BROZMAN FDTN INC: $82,000 over 5y, 1.1% of budgetAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $75,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVET VOICE FOUNDATION INC: $75,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetNEBRASKA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetBROOKLYN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $70,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetWISH4LIFE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetAMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $35,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetEDMUND BURKE SCHOOL INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetChrist House: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetThe King's College: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY HELP IN PARK SLOPE INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetDOW JONES NEWS FUND INC: $20,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetUNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION OF JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES OF NEW YORK INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHANGE FOR KIDS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCAMP HARBOR VIEW FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWOLF TRAP FOUNDATION FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACTBLUE CIVICS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNETWORK FOR GOOD: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGETOWN MINISTRY CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF AFGHANISTAN: $10,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetLIGHT OF THE WORLD CHARITIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetGIRLS WRITE NOW INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFordham University: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGING VIRGINIA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetSUMMER SEARCH: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPTA OF PS 32: $6,557 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetPS 39 PARENT ASSOCIATION INC: $5,570 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetTHE SATO PROJECT: $5,150 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $5,012 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWildlife Conservation Society: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $5,000 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 Ford FoundationInstitute for Nonprof…Park Foundation IncThe Miami Foundation …The Lenfest Institute…The Nathan Cummings F…Silicon Valley Commun…John S and James L Kn…The Lazard Charitable…The Rockefeller Found…John D and Catherine …Greater Washington Co…
The Ford FoundationNY16.9× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ford Foundation · Institute for Nonprofit News · Park Foundation Inc · The Miami Foundation Inc · The Lenfest Institute for Journalism Special Asset Fund of Tpf · The Nathan Cummings Foundation Inc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · John S and James L Knight Foundation · The Lazard Charitable Foundation · The Rockefeller Foundation · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Greater Washington Community 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 Good Words Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Good Words Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Camp Harbor View Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get 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
⤢ 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 Good Words Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Good Words 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 76 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Good Words’ 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