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J Michael Gearon Jr Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

J Michael Gearon Jr Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$833k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$2.2MHealth$1.6MArts & Culture$200kSocial Science$125kReligion$61kEnvironment$50kCommunity Improvement$4kCrime & Legal$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $3k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $200k
  • $250k+1 grant · $833k
$200,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$5.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
The Lovett School$833,333
Cure Childhood Cancer$200,000
Alive 2 Love International Church Inc$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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%THE CABOT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $55k → 10%SWEET GRASS COMMUNITY FOU: $2k → 10%KAUAI PHILIPINE CULTURAL CENTER: $20k → 9%HAWAII LAND TRUST: $50k → 9%AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: $50k → 14%MELLICK FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 19%HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: $200k → 16%Saint Barthelemy Medical Equipment Foundation Inc: $25k → 7%Messengers of Hope Inc: $3k → 6%Peachtree Presbyterian Church: $50k → 13%CURE CHILDHOOD CANCER: $300k → 14%BVKID: $3k → 12%Princeton University: $200k → 11%WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY: $20k → 12%The Cabot Performing Arts Center: $50k → 10%Sweet Grass Community Foundation: $2k → 10%Kauai Philippine Cultural Center: $10k → 9%AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: $50k → 14%Cure Childhood Cancer: $300k → 14%BVKID: $3k → 12%Princeton Parent Fund: $10k → 11%WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY: $20k → 12%THE CABOT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $50k → 10%American Enterprise Institute: $25k → 14%Cure Childhood Cancer: $200k → 14%Kauai All Girls Rodeo Assn: $1k → 9%The Lovett School: $833k → 13%Cure Childhood Cancer: $200k → 14%THE LOVETT SCHOOL: $160k → 13%CURE CHILDHOOD CANCER: $200k → 14%Breakthrough Atlanta: $80k → 13%Cure Childhood Cancer: $100k → 14%Breakthrough Atlanta: $80k → 13%CURE CHILDHOOD CANCER: $100k → 14%Lovett School: $50k → 13%Cure Childhood Cancer: $100k → 14%The Penny and Billy Pebbles Financial Aid Endowment Fund: $10k → 13%CURE CHILDHOOD CANCER: $75k → 14%Posse Foundation: $100k → 13%Emory Health Against Human Trafficking: $2k → 14%Posse Foundation: $100k → 13%Paideia School: $50k → 14%THE POSSE FOUNDATION: $100k → 13%Paideia School: $50k → 14%THE POSSE FOUNDATION: $75k → 13%THE POSSE FOUNDATION: $25k → 13%Natl Black College Alumni Hll of Fam Fdn: $5k → 13%GEORGIA INNOCENCE PROJECT: $3k → 13%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

MT
MA
NJ
RI
CO
VA
NC
DC
HI
AL
GA
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.6M · 15 repeat orgs$595k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
17

Total granted

$3.6M
$595k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+8%

Still filing today

60%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationHealthArts & CultureSocial ScienceEnvironmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • Cure Childhood Cancer Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +108%
  • TL
    THE LOVETT SCHOOL INC
    3× · 2017–2025 · $1.0M · revenue +60%
  • TP
    THE POSSE FOUNDATION INC
    5× · 2017–2022 · $400k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • HP
    HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $200k · revenue +14%
  • The Trustees of Princeton University
    one grant, 2018 · $200k · revenue +8%
  • PP
    Peachtree Presbyterian Church
    one grant, 2023 · $50k
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
Boston Architectural College

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

—
2
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
3
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
4
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
5
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
6
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Wpi transforms lives, turns knowledge into action to confront global challenges, and revolutionizes stem through distinctive and inclusive education, projects and research. (http://www.wpi.edu/about/mission.html)

—
7
Atlantic University Inc

Provide post-secondary education of excellence.

Education
8
Golden Gate University

Golden gate university prepares individuals to lead and serve by providing high quality, practice-based educational programs in law, taxation, business and related professions - as a nonprofit institution - in an innovative and challenging…

Education
9
Long Island University

To provide excellence and access in private higher education to those who seek to expand their knowledge and prepare themselves for meaningful, educated lives and for service to their communities and the world.

—
10
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
11
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
12
Gettysburg College

Gettysburg college is a residential, undergraduate college of the liberal arts and sciences.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Lovett School Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Mellick Foundation Inc. 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

18 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. 18 of the 33 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE LOVETT SCHOOL INC: $1,043,333 · EducationTHE LOVETT SCHOOL INCTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 · EducationTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INCHIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: $200,000 · EducationHIGH POINT UNIVERSITYThe Trustees of Princeton University: $200,000 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton UniversityBREAKTHROUGH ATLANTA: $160,000 · EducationBREAKTHROUGH ATLANTA+2 more: $45,000 · EducationCure Childhood Cancer Inc: $1,575,000 · HealthCure Childhood Cancer Inc+1 more: $25,000 · HealthTHE PAIDEIA SCHOOL INC: $100,000 · OtherPeachtree Presbyterian Church: $50,000 · OtherFundacion TV Azteca: $15,000 · OtherALIVE2LOVE: $10,000 · OtherPrinceton Parent Fund: $10,000 · OtherThe Penny and Billy Pebbles Financial Aid Endowment Fund: $10,000 · OtherALIVE2LOVE INTERNATIONAL CHURCH: $8,000 · Other+12 more: $24,700 · OtherCABOT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $155,000 · Arts & CultureKAUAI PHILIPPINE CULTURAL CENTER: $30,000 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $125,000 · Social ScienceHAWAIIAN ISLANDS LAND TRUST: $50,000 · EnvironmentTHE MELLICK FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Philanthropy
Education$2,048,333Health$1,600,000Other$227,700Arts & Culture$185,000Social Science$125,000Environment$50,000Philanthropy$10,000

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 budgetCure Childhood Cancer Inc: $1,575,000 over 9y, 3.7% of budgetTHE LOVETT SCHOOL INC: $1,043,333 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE POSSE FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetHIGH POINT UNIVERSITY: $200,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $200,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCABOT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $155,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetAMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $125,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PAIDEIA SCHOOL INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHAWAIIAN ISLANDS LAND TRUST: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetWashington and Lee University: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKAUAI PHILIPPINE CULTURAL CENTER: $30,000 over 2y, 69% of budgetSAINT BARTHELEMY MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 7.6% of budgetTHE MELLICK FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 9.8% of budgetWHOLLY WOMEN INC: $3,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetGEORGIA INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSWEET GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,000 over 2y, 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 Cure Childhood Cancer Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE LOVETT SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE POSSE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds The Trustees of Princeton University ↗
  • Who funds BREAKTHROUGH ATLANTA ↗
  • Who funds CABOT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH ↗
  • Who funds THE PAIDEIA SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds HAWAIIAN ISLANDS LAND TRUST ↗
  • Who funds Washington and Lee University ↗
  • Who funds KAUAI PHILIPPINE CULTURAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds SAINT BARTHELEMY MEDICAL EQUIPMENT FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MELLICK FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BVKID ↗
  • Who funds WHOLLY WOMEN INC ↗
  • Who funds GEORGIA INNOCENCE PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds SWEET GRASS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗

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.

Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA6.8× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 J Michael Gearon Jr Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from J Michael Gearon Jr Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • Cabot Performing Arts Center Inc: 3% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
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.

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 33 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on J Michael Gearon Jr’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