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Harper Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Harper Family Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$141k
Granted FY2024still arriving
10
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Education$309kCommunity Improvement$187kRecreation & Sports$153kCrime & Legal$85kYouth Development$73kPhilanthropy$70kHuman Services$53kArts & Culture$48kOther$0
02FY2024 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $28k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $113k
$15,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OPENING DOORS BATON ROUGE$30,027
FRIENDS OF CROWVILLE$20,000
STREETSIDE LIBRARY$20,000
TENSAS ACADEMY$15,000
ST MICHAEL SPECIAL SCHOOL$15,000
GOAT IN THE ROAD PRODUCTIONS$13,000
LIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP$9,002
LA CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS$7,500
NEW ORLEANS WOMEN & CHILDREN'S SHEL$7,500
THE THENSTED CENTER$4,000
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 (FY17–24, $49k) land where the poverty rate runs at 25%, against an area that typically sits at 19%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 19%THE THENSTED CENTER: $6k → 28%THE THENSTED CENTER: $5k → 28%THE THENSTED CENTER: $5k → 28%KINGSLEY HOUSE: $5k → 23%THE THENSTED CENTER: $4k → 28%THENSTED CENTER: $3k → 28%THENSTED CENTER: $2k → 28%RAINTREE CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVIC: $5k → 23%RAINTREE CHILDREN & FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 23%HARRY TOMPSON CENTER: $11k → 23%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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$946k · 23 repeat orgs$184k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +12% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
22

Total granted

$946k
$184k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
+8%

Still filing today

52%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
EducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementHealthCrime & LegalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • LO
    LIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP
    7× · 2017–2024 · $143k · revenue +351%
  • FO
    FRIENDS OF CROWVILLE
    3× · 2021–2024 · $70k · revenue +3%
  • LC
    LOUISIANA CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
    8× · 2017–2024 · $60k · revenue +75%

Funded once

  • SM
    SHEPHERD'S MARKET FOOD PANTRY
    one grant, 2018 · $30k
  • NO
    NEW ORLEANS POLICE & JUSTICE FOUNDA
    one grant, 2018 · $25k
  • SK
    ST KATHERINE DREXEL PREPARATORY
    one grant, 2021 · $16k
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
Louisiana Organization for Refugees and Immigrants
International
2
New Orleans Architecture Foundation

The new orleans architecture foundation supports and collaborates with aia new orleans on education and advocacy activities that enhance public appreciation of architecture and design as vital community assets that enrich the quality of…

Arts & Culture
3
Laura Center for Creole Heritage
Arts & Culture
4
Nola Business Alliance

Charged by the city of new orleans with leading the economic recovery and development of orleans parish. the organization's focus is to grow the job base and secure private investment for orleans parish by attracting corporations for…

Community Improvement
5
Lede New Orleans Inc

Lede New Orleans is a community media hub that trains emerging Black and Brown storytellers,produces community-centered journalism, and creates trusted spaces for civic dialogue.Founded in 2020, Lede works to advance information equity in…

Education
6
Educare New Orleans

Educare new orleans was organized to develop, build, and operate a high quality early education school, within the mixed income columbia parc community, on the site of the former st. bernard public housing development.

Education
7
New Orleans Youth Alliance

Guided by our community and grounded in racial equity intersectional equity and youth leadership New Orleans Youth Alliance fosters youth-centered policies and cultivates a system of high-quality well-resourced youth development…

—
8
Arts Council of Central Louisiana

Promotion of the arts within the Central Louisiana community parishes

Arts & Culture
9
Louisiana Nursing Home Association Inc

Providing leadership in long term care policy and advocacy on behalf of louisianas nursing facilities and assisted living communities.

—
10
Louisiana Alpha House Scholarship Foundation
Philanthropy
11
Heroes of New Orleans

Heroes of New Orleans is a grassroot 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to inspiring and empowering youth and families. Our mission is to elevate underprivileged youth and families who face poverty or its risks, through a…

Youth Development
12
New Orleans Educational Telecommunications Consortium

Delivery of higher educational services to the public.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Louisiana Center for Children's Rights; the most unlike its peers is Baptist Community Ministries. 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

25 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. 25 of the 45 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/25
Grantees still filing
16/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

OPENING DOORS BATON ROUGE: $169,027 · OtherOPENING DOORS BATON ROUGEOPENING DOORS: $64,814 · OtherOPENING DOORSST MICHAEL SPECIAL SCHOOL: $45,000 · OtherST MICHAEL SPECIAL SCHOOLTHE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS: $44,456 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANSSHEPHERD'S MARKET FOOD PANTRY: $30,000 · OtherCROWVILLE SCHOOL: $30,000 · OtherNEW ORLEANS POLICE & JUSTICE FOUNDA: $25,000 · OtherST GEORGES EPISCOPAL SCHOOL: $23,500 · OtherGOAT IN THE ROAD PRODUCTIONS: $23,000 · Other+19 more: $130,427 · Other+19 moreLIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP: $143,472 · EducationLIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMPSTREETSIDE LIBRARY: $70,000 · EducationSTREETSIDE LIBRARYTENSAS ACADEMY: $45,000 · EducationTENSAS ACADEMYUniversity of New Orleans Foundation: $16,000 · EducationUniversity of New Orleans Fo…+4 more: $8,792 · EducationFRIENDS OF CROWVILLE: $70,000 · PhilanthropyLOUISIANA CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $60,000 · Crime & LegalYOUTH RUN NOLA INC: $57,532 · Youth DevelopmentTHENSTED CENTER: $24,634 · Human ServicesTHE HARRY TOMPSON CENTER INC: $11,000 · Human ServicesRAINTREE SERVICES INC: $8,000 · Human ServicesCLOVER NOLA INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesDOORWAY TO LOUISIANA INC: $15,000 · Community ImprovementTHE IDEA VILLAGE INC: $10,000 · Community Improvement
Other$585,224Education$283,264Philanthropy$70,000Crime & Legal$60,000Youth Development$57,532Human Services$48,634Community Improvement$25,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP: $143,472 over 7y, 6.1% of budgetSTREETSIDE LIBRARY: $70,000 over 3y, 95% of budgetFRIENDS OF CROWVILLE: $70,000 over 3y, 21% of budgetLOUISIANA CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: $60,000 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetYOUTH RUN NOLA INC: $57,532 over 4y, 7.3% of budgetTENSAS ACADEMY: $45,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetTHENSTED CENTER: $24,634 over 6y, 2.8% of budgetGOAT IN THE ROAD PRODUCTIONS: $23,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetUniversity of New Orleans Foundation: $16,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetDOORWAY TO LOUISIANA INC: $15,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetNEW ORLEANS WOMEN & CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetTHE HARRY TOMPSON CENTER INC: $11,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTHE IDEA VILLAGE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY SAILING NEW ORLEANS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetRAINTREE SERVICES INC: $8,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetFund 17: $7,500 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetLEGACY DONOR FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetGOOD SHEPHERD NATIVITY MISSION SCHOOL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCLOVER NOLA INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetClover House Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT LAZARUS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBRIARFIELD ACADEMY INC: $792 over 1y, 0.1% 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 LIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP ↗
  • Who funds STREETSIDE LIBRARY ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF CROWVILLE ↗
  • Who funds LOUISIANA CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S RIGHTS ↗
  • Who funds YOUTH RUN NOLA INC ↗
  • Who funds TENSAS ACADEMY ↗
  • Who funds THENSTED CENTER ↗
  • Who funds GOAT IN THE ROAD PRODUCTIONS ↗
  • Who funds University of New Orleans Foundation ↗
  • Who funds DOORWAY TO LOUISIANA INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW ORLEANS WOMEN & CHILDREN'S SHELTER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HARRY TOMPSON CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds THE IDEA VILLAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY SAILING NEW ORLEANS ↗
  • Who funds RAINTREE SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds Fund 17 ↗
  • Who funds LEGACY DONOR FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GOOD SHEPHERD NATIVITY MISSION SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds CLOVER NOLA INC ↗
  • Who funds Clover House Inc ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT LAZARUS ↗

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 Greater New Orlea…Baptist Community Min…Gustaf Westfeldt McIl…The Gpoa FoundationShell USA Company Fou…Ella West Freeman Fou…Eugenie & Joseph Jone…Goldring Family Found…Mitchiner-Gittinger F…Louise H Moffett Fami…The Usdin-Weil Founda…Keller Family Foundat…
The Greater New Orleans FoundationLA34.8× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Greater New Orleans Foundation · Baptist Community Ministries · Gustaf Westfeldt McIlhenny Family Founda · The Gpoa Foundation · Shell USA Company Foundation · Ella West Freeman Foundation · Eugenie & Joseph Jones Family Foundation · Goldring Family Foundation · Mitchiner-Gittinger Family Found · Louise H Moffett Family Foundation · The Usdin-Weil Foundation · Keller Family 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 Harper Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Harper Family Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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
    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 Harper Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Harper Family 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 45 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 Harper Family’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