Skip to content
Hickory Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Hickory 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.

$2.7M
Granted FY2024still arriving
53
Grants FY2024still arriving
15
States reached
$350k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$3.6MEducation$3.5MCivil Rights$1.5MHealth$1.3MPublic Benefit$843kEnvironment$435kSocial Science$270kPhilanthropy$215kOther$0
02FY2024 · 53 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k12 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k29 grants · $569k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $1.4M
  • $250k+2 grants · $600k
$19,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$43M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FOUNDATION FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY$350,000
THE WITHERSPOON INSTITUTE$250,000
THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY$225,000
CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND$200,000
AMERICAN PRINCIPLES PROJECT FOUNDATION$200,000
ST LUKE'S CHAMBER ENSEMBLE INC$200,000
THE LIFE FLIGHT FOUNDATION$200,000
THE FOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL REVIEW INC$150,000
BRIGHTER CHOICE FOUNDATION$100,000
ENCOUNTER FOR CULTURE & EDUCATION INC(ENCOUNTER BOOKS)$75,000
INSTITUTE FOR FREE SPEECH$50,000
BROOKLIN BOTANIC GARDEN$50,000
BALLOTPEDIA$35,000
FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES$35,000
CAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER$35,000
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 (FY20–24, $50k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SPENCE CHAPIN: $10k → 17%SPENCE CHAPIN: $10k → 17%SPENCE CHAPIN: $10k → 17%SPENCE CHAPIN: $10k → 17%SPENCE CHAPIN: $10k → 17%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
ID
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA
MO
VA
AZ
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$11M · 65 repeat orgs$1.2M to everyone else

65 repeat relationships: 48 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

65
15

Total granted

$11M
$831k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+74%

Still filing today

82%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $398k 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
Arts & CultureEducationPublic BenefitEnvironmentHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • TG
    THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY
    4× · 2021–2024 · $885k · revenue +30%
  • FF
    FOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL REVIEW
    5× · 2020–2024 · $840k · revenue +27%
  • TC
    THE CHILDRENS SCHOLARSHIP FUND
    4× · 2020–2024 · $625k · revenue +15%

Funded once

  • WM
    WORLD MONUMENTS FUND INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $500k · revenue +215%
  • AP
    American Principles Projectgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +45%
  • BB
    BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $30k · revenue +74%
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
Foreign Policy Research Institute

The foreign policy research institute (frpi) is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the united states. we educate…

International
2
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
3
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
4
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
5
The Roosevelt Institute

To create a nation where everyone enjoys a fair share of our collective prosperity.

Education
6
The American Assembly

A national non partisan public policy forum to illuminate issues of public policy.

—
7
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
8
Peter G Peterson Institute for International Economics

The peterson institute for international economics (piie) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in the global economy through expert analysis and practical…

Social Science
9
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
10
Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Research Center generates a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and…

Social Science
11
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
12
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Foundation for Government Accountability Inc; the most unlike its peers is West Amwell Fire Company. 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

65 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 65 of the 85 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
64/65
Grantees still filing
50/65
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Witherspoon Institute Inc: $1,100,000 · EducationWitherspoon Institute IncTHE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY: $885,000 · EducationTHE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERI…THE CHILDRENS SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $625,000 · EducationTHE CHILDRENS SCHOLARSHIP FUNDThe New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations: $600,000 · EducationThe New York Public Library Astor Len…SPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $415,000 · EducationSPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATIONAmerican Principles Project Foundation: $300,000 · EducationAmerican Principles Project Foundatio…+4 more: $153,000 · EducationHOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERY: $635,000 · OtherHOSPITAL FOR SPECIAL SURGERYTHE FEDERALIST SOCIETY FOR LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY STUDIES: $450,000 · OtherTHE FEDERALIST SOCIETY FOR LAW…ENCOUNTER FOR CULTURE & EDUCATION INC(ENCOUNTER BOOKS): $400,000 · OtherENCOUNTER FOR CULTURE & EDUCAT…READ TO LEAD INC: $150,000 · OtherBROOKLIN BOTANIC GARDEN: $150,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $125,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF CZECH GREENWAYS INC: $140,000 · OtherLandmark Legal Foundation: $120,000 · Other+34 more: $1,076,100 · Other+34 moreFOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL REVIEW: $840,000 · Arts & CultureFOUNDATION FOR CULTU…WORLD MONUMENTS FUND INC: $500,000 · Arts & CultureWORLD MONUMENTS FUND…ST LUKES CHAMBER ENSEMBLE INC: $204,500 · Arts & CultureST LUKES CHAMBER ENS…PARENTS TELEVISION COUNCIL INC: $200,000 · Arts & CulturePARENTS TELEVISION C…MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $125,000 · Arts & CultureMEDIA RESEARCH CENTE…New York Historical Society: $100,000 · Arts & Culture+9 more: $221,000 · Arts & Culture+9 moreFOUNDATION FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY INC: $350,000 · Public BenefitFOUNDATIO…INSTITUTE FOR FREE SPEECH: $250,000 · Public BenefitINSTITUTE…BARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $155,000 · Public BenefitBARRY GOL…LUCY BURNS INSTITUTE INC: $130,000 · Public BenefitLUCY BURN…MANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH INC: $120,000 · Public BenefitMANHATTAN…MACKINAC CENTER: $48,000 · Public BenefitBRIGHTER CHOICE FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 · PhilanthropyCAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER: $195,000 · PhilanthropyPacific Research Institute For Public Policy: $95,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $20,000 · PhilanthropyLifeFlight Foundation: $465,000 · HealthCURE CHILDHOOD CANCER ASSOCIATION: $75,000 · HealthNEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC: $40,000 · HealthLAMBERTVILLE-NEW HOPE AMBULANCE & RESCUE SQUAD INC: $37,000 · HealthAmerican Principles Project: $100,000 · Civil RightsNew York Civil Rights Coalition Inc: $99,000 · Civil RightsGoodman Institute for Public Policy Research: $75,000 · Civil RightsActon Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty: $30,000 · Civil Rights
Education$4,078,000Other$3,246,100Arts & Culture$2,190,500Public Benefit$1,053,000Philanthropy$710,000Health$617,000Civil Rights$304,000

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 budgetWitherspoon Institute Inc: $1,100,000 over 5y, 8.9% of budgetTHE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY: $885,000 over 4y, 4.5% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL REVIEW: $840,000 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetTHE CHILDRENS SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $625,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetThe New York Public Library Astor Lenox and Tilden Foundations: $600,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD MONUMENTS FUND INC: $500,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetLifeFlight Foundation: $465,000 over 4y, 6.5% of budgetTHE FEDERALIST SOCIETY FOR LAW AND PUBLIC POLICY STUDIES: $450,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetSPECIAL OPERATIONS WARRIOR FOUNDATION: $415,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetBRIGHTER CHOICE FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 over 4y, 100% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY INC: $350,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetAmerican Principles Project Foundation: $300,000 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR FREE SPEECH: $250,000 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetST LUKES CHAMBER ENSEMBLE INC: $204,500 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetPARENTS TELEVISION COUNCIL INC: $200,000 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetCAPITAL RESEARCH CENTER: $195,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetBARRY GOLDWATER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $155,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetREAD TO LEAD INC: $150,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF CZECH GREENWAYS INC: $140,000 over 5y, 74% of budgetLUCY BURNS INSTITUTE INC: $130,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $125,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetLandmark Legal Foundation: $120,000 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetMANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH INC: $120,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Principles Project: $100,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetNew York Historical Society: $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNew York Civil Rights Coalition Inc: $99,000 over 5y, 28% of budgetPacific Research Institute For Public Policy: $95,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetTHE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES: $95,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetGoodman Institute for Public Policy Research: $75,000 over 3y, 4.4% of budgetCURE CHILDHOOD CANCER ASSOCIATION: $75,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetBrooklin Volunteer Fire Company: $60,000 over 5y, 13% of budgetCENTER FOR INDEPENDENT THOUGHT: $60,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetSPENCE-CHAPIN SERVICES TO FAMILIES AND CHILDREN: $50,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetIsland Institute: $50,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetFRIEND MEMORIAL PUBLIC LIBRARY: $48,000 over 5y, 6.2% of budgetMACKINAC CENTER: $48,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CLAREMONT INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF STATESMANSHIP & POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: $45,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetFREE TO CHOOSE NETWORK INC: $45,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetPENINSULA AMBULANCE CORPS: $45,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetNATIONAL REVIEW INSTITUTE: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetNEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN FUND INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLAMBERTVILLE-NEW HOPE AMBULANCE & RESCUE SQUAD INC: $37,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetTHE MOUNT VERNON LADIES' ASSOCIATION OF THE UNION: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN CORPORATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSCHOOL CHOICE WISCONSIN INC: $30,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetActon Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty: $30,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Coast Heritage Trust: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFriends of Acadia: $25,000 over 5y, 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.

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.

Donors Trust IncBradley Impact Fund I…The Lynde and Harry B…Sarah Scaife Foundati…The Armstrong Foundat…The Searle Freedom Tr…Thomas W Smith Founda…John William Pope Fou…Triad Foundation IncCharles Koch Foundati…Diana Davis Spencer F…The Legett Foundation
Donors Trust IncVA30.1× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donors Trust Inc · Bradley Impact Fund Inc · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated · The Armstrong Foundation · The Searle Freedom Trust · Thomas W Smith Foundation Inc · John William Pope Foundation · Triad Foundation Inc · Charles Koch Foundation · Diana Davis Spencer Foundation Inc · The Legett 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 Hickory Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Hickory Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%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
    5get no government money at all
    10report 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 Hickory Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Hickory 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 85 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 Hickory’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