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Happy Difference Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Happy Difference 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.

$280k
Granted FY2024still arriving
39
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$63k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$245kReligion$208kEducation$152kHuman Services$138kHousing & Shelter$130kCommunity Improvement$115kFood & Nutrition$102kPhilanthropy$80kOther$0
02FY2024 · 39 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k31 grants · $64k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $154k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $63k
$2,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM$62,500
FOOD BANK OF DELAWARE$25,000
WEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE$25,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF DELAWARE$25,000
MINISTRY OF CARING$25,000
COMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING$25,000
LEWES PUBLIC LIBRARY$17,225
THE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL$11,500
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST$9,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$7,500
CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM$6,000
ACTION FOR DELAWARE'S CHILDREN$5,000
GRAND OPERA HOUSE$2,500
THE PILOT SCHOOL$2,500
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY$2,500
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 (FY20–24, $76k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 6%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 6%CANINE PARTNERS FOR LIFE: $2k → 6%BEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN: $3k → 10%THE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER: $3k → 10%BEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN: $3k → 10%THE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER: $3k → 10%BEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN: $2k → 10%BEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN: $2k → 10%BEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN: $2k → 10%THE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER: $1k → 10%THE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER: $1k → 10%THE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER: $1k → 10%CHILD INC: $1k → 10%CHILD INC: $1k → 10%CHILD INC: $1k → 10%CHILD INC: $1k → 10%CHILD INC: $500 → 10%CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $10k → 10%CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $10k → 10%CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $9k → 10%CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $9k → 10%CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $9k → 10%DFRC: $1k → 10%DFRC: $1k → 10%DFRC: $500 → 10%DFRC: $500 → 10%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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.2M · 46 repeat orgs$53k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +31% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

46 repeat relationships: 36 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

46
15

Total granted

$1.2M
$27k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+31%
+4%

Still filing today

59%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $26k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureEducationFood & NutritionEnvironmentOther
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

  • WE
    WEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $115k · revenue +23%
  • AH
    American Heart Association Inc
    4× · 2020–2023 · $110k · revenue +53%
  • FB
    FOOD BANK OF DELAWARE INC
    4× · 2020–2024 · $92k · revenue +31%

Funded once

  • AA
    ASPIRA ACADEMY
    one grant, 2023 · $10k
  • DN
    DELAWARE NATURE SOCIETY INC
    one grant, 2021 · $3k · revenue -44%
  • TS
    THE SALVATION ARMY
    one grant, 2023 · $2k
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
Delaware Museum of Nature and Science Inc

The museum is an educational corporation formed to ignite a life-long passion for exploring, discovering, and valuing nature and science.

—
2
Delaware Center for Justice

The delaware center for justice, inc. seeks to ensure an effective, efficient, and equitable system of justice in delaware through advocacy, direct services, research and public education.

Crime & Legal
3
Delaware County Foundation

Strengthening the community by connecting people through charitable giving

Philanthropy
4
Delaware Advancement Corporation

To aggressively promote investment in muncie-delaware county which will result in the creation and retention of quality job opportunities and enhance the quality of life in our community.

—
5
Delaware Prosperity Partnership Inc

To lead the state of delaware's economic development efforts.

Community Improvement
6
Medical Society of Delaware

To guide, serve and support delaware physicians, promoting the practice and profession of medicine to enhance the health of our communities.

—
7
Delaware Center for Health Innovation Inc

The organization develops, facilitates, and oversees the implementation of collaborative efforts aimed at transforming the delivery of health care services in delaware.

—
8
Children's Advocacy Center of Delaware

To reduce the devastating long-term effects that child abuse has on children, their families and society through immediate, coordinated, child focused services, education, and advocacy.

Human Services
9
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
10
Friends of the Delaware Canal Inc

The friends of the delaware canal is an independent, non-profit organization working to restore, preserve, and improve the delaware canal and its surroundings.

Environment
11
Delaware Community Foundation Inc

Our mission is to strengthen delaware by maximizing community-based philanthropy.

Philanthropy
12
The Arc of Delaware Inc

The arc of delaware promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and actively supports full inclusion and participation in the community through advocacy and services to individuals and…

Housing & Shelter
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Child Inc; the most unlike its peers is Community Education Building Corp. 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

39 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. 39 of the 64 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/39
Grantees still filing
29/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONGREGATION BETH SHALOM INC: $187,500 · OtherCONGREGATION BETH SHALOM INCWEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $115,000 · OtherWEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INCREACH RIVERSIDE DEVELOP CORP: $100,000 · OtherREACH RIVERSIDE DEVELOP CORPJEWISH FEDERATION OF DELAWARE INC: $80,000 · OtherJEWISH FEDERATION OF DELAWARE INCTHE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL INC: $52,500 · OtherTHE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL INCAMERICAN RED CROSS: $47,500 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSSTHE MINISTRY OF CARING INC: $40,000 · Other+31 more: $178,250 · Other+31 moreAmerican Heart Association Inc: $110,000 · HealthAmerican Heart Asso…THE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $80,000 · HealthTHE NEMOURS FOUNDAT…BEEBE MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $11,000 · HealthLA RED HEALTH CENTER INC: $10,000 · HealthEASTER SEALS DELAWARE & MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE INC: $7,500 · Health+2 more: $5,000 · HealthFOOD BANK OF DELAWARE INC: $92,000 · Food & NutritionMeals on Wheels Delaware Inc: $5,000 · Food & NutritionCHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $47,000 · Human ServicesBEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN INC: $11,500 · Human ServicesTHE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER INC: $8,000 · Human ServicesCHILD INC: $4,500 · Human ServicesDFRC INC: $3,000 · Human Services+1 more: $2,000 · Human ServicesLEWES PUBLIC LIBRARY INC: $20,725 · EducationTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $10,000 · EducationCAPE HENLOPEN EDUCATIONAL FUND: $8,000 · EducationSANFORD SCHOOL: $3,500 · Education+1 more: $1,000 · EducationCOMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING CORP: $25,000 · PhilanthropyGRAND OPERA HOUSE INC: $17,500 · Arts & CultureDELAWARE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $1,000 · Arts & CultureREHOBOTH ART LEAGUE INC: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$800,750Health$223,500Food & Nutrition$97,000Human Services$76,000Education$43,225Philanthropy$25,000Arts & Culture$20,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $115,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetAmerican Heart Association Inc: $110,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetFOOD BANK OF DELAWARE INC: $92,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE NEMOURS FOUNDATION: $80,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF DELAWARE INC: $80,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetTHE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL INC: $52,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $47,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE MINISTRY OF CARING INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING CORP: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLEWES PUBLIC LIBRARY INC: $20,725 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetGRAND OPERA HOUSE INC: $17,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM INC: $16,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetBEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN INC: $11,500 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetBEEBE MEDICAL FOUNDATION: $11,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFAITHFUL FRIENDS INC: $10,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetLA RED HEALTH CENTER INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE HENLOPEN EDUCATIONAL FUND: $8,000 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetTHE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER INC: $8,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetEASTER SEALS DELAWARE & MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PILOT SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetMeals on Wheels Delaware Inc: $5,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCHILD INC: $4,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ANDREW MCDONOUGH B FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSANFORD SCHOOL: $3,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDFRC INC: $3,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetDELAWARE NATURE SOCIETY INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCANINE PARTNERS FOR LIFE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER INC: $1,750 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetDELAWARE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREHOBOTH ART LEAGUE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHALLENGE PROGRAM INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBlood Bank of Delmarva Inc: $1,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE PUBLIC MEDIA CORPORATION: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDELAWARE CHILDREN'S THEATRE LTD: $500 over 1y, 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 WEST END NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds American Heart Association Inc ↗
  • Who funds FOOD BANK OF DELAWARE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE NEMOURS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FEDERATION OF DELAWARE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE INDEPENDENCE SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST ↗
  • Who funds THE MINISTRY OF CARING INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING CORP ↗
  • Who funds LEWES PUBLIC LIBRARY INC ↗
  • Who funds GRAND OPERA HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM INC ↗
  • Who funds ACTION FOR DELAWARE'S CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds BEAU BIDEN FOUNDATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN INC ↗
  • Who funds BEEBE MEDICAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds FAITHFUL FRIENDS INC ↗
  • Who funds LA RED HEALTH CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ADMINISTRATORS OF THE TULANE EDUCATIONAL FUND ↗
  • Who funds CAPE HENLOPEN EDUCATIONAL FUND ↗
  • Who funds THE MARY CAMPBELL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds EASTER SEALS DELAWARE & MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE INC ↗
  • Who funds THE PILOT SCHOOL INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds VETERINARY COMPARATIVE ONCOLOGY RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ↗
  • Who funds Meals on Wheels Delaware Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHILD 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.

Delaware Community Fo…Longwood Foundation I…Welfare Foundation IncWsfs Cares FoundationLaffey-McHugh Foundat…United Way of DelawareCrestlea Foundation I…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…Chichester Dupont Fou…Ellice & Rosa McDonal…The Carl M Freeman Fo…The Diane and Harry L…
Delaware Community Foundation IncDE59.1× affinity27 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Delaware Community Foundation Inc · Longwood Foundation Inc · Welfare Foundation Inc · Wsfs Cares Foundation · Laffey-McHugh Foundation · United Way of Delaware · Crestlea Foundation Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · Chichester Dupont Foundation Inc · Ellice & Rosa McDonald Foundation · The Carl M Freeman Foundation Inc · The Diane and Harry Levin 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 Happy Difference Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Happy Difference Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
  • Children and Families First: 87% of income from government
  • Child Inc: 71% of income from government
  • Community Education Building Corp: 64% of income from government
  • La Red Health Center Inc: 51% of income from government
  • Christiana Care Health System Inc: 43% of income from government
  • West End Neighborhood House Inc: 36% of income from government
  • Challenge Program Inc: 36% of income from government
  • The Ministry of Caring Inc: 30% of income from government
  • University of Delaware: 30% of income from government
  • Lewes Public Library Inc: 27% of income from government
  • Food Bank of Delaware Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Faithful Friends Inc: 15% of income from government
  • Delaware Nature Society Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Delaware Children's Museum Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Delaware Public Media Corporation: 11% of income from government
  • Rehoboth Art League Inc: 8% of income from government
  • The Mary Campbell Center Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Jewish Federation of Delaware Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Grand Opera House Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Dfrc Inc: 5% of income from government
  • Cape Henlopen Educational Fund: 3% of income from government
  • Beebe Medical Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • The Pilot School Incorporated: 1% of income from government
  • The Nemours Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • The Independence School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Sanford School: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
4rely 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 Happy Difference Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Happy Difference 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 64 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 Happy Difference’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