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Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County at a glance

· Private foundation

Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$214k
Granted FY2025still arriving
61
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Human Services$255kHealth$192kFood & Nutrition$140kArts & Culture$139kScience & Tech$132kEducation$99kHousing & Shelter$76kEnvironment$63kOther$0
02FY2025 · 61 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k60 grants · $204k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$2,600
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CATHOLIC CHARITIES FOOD BANK OF THE SOUTHERN TIER$10,000
DOWNTOWN ITHACA CHILDREN'S CENTER$9,000
CORNELL COOPERATIVE EXTENSION$7,500
AREA CONGREGATIONS TOGETHER INC$7,500
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF ENFIELD$7,500
YMCA OF ITHACA AND TOMPKINS COUNTY$7,500
WOMEN'S OPPORTUNITY CENTER$7,145
SCIENCENTER OF ITHACA$6,900
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY$6,750
THE LEARNING WEB$6,150
4-H PRIMITIVE PERSUITS OF CORNELL COOPERATIVE$6,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF TOMPKINS & CORTLAND COUNTIES$5,625
ITHACA NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES INC$5,250
FINGER LAKES REUSE INC$5,000
COMMUNITY SCIENCE INSTITUTE$5,000
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 (FY20–25, $114k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, 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%TRUMANSBURG AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM INC: $1k → 16%CAROLINE AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM INC: $5k → 16%ITHACA COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER: $15k → 16%ITHACA COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER: $10k → 16%DOWNTOWN ITHACA CHILDREN'S CENTER: $9k → 16%RACKER: $7k → 16%DOWNTOWN ITHACA CHILDREN'S CENTER: $6k → 16%GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER: $6k → 16%FRANZISKA RACKER CENTER: $5k → 16%ADVOCACY CENTER OF TOMPKINS COUNTY: $5k → 16%FINGER LAKES TOY LIBRARY: $5k → 16%ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES: $4k → 16%DOWNTOWN ITHACA CHILDREN'S CENTER: $4k → 16%LOVE LIVING AT HOME INC: $4k → 16%DOWNTOWN ITHACA CHILDREN'S CENTER: $4k → 16%LOVE LIVING AT HOME INC: $4k → 16%ITHACA COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER: $4k → 16%RACKER: $3k → 16%ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES: $3k → 16%ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES: $3k → 16%FINGER LAKES TOY LIBRARY: $2k → 16%LOVE LIVING AT HOME INC: $2k → 16%RACKER: $2k → 16%LOVE LIVING AT HOME INC: $1k → 16%ITHACA COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER: $1k → 16%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.

81%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.1M · 66 repeat orgs$261k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +26% since the first grant, against +2% for those funded once.

66 repeat relationships: 43 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

66
72

Total granted

$1.1M
$206k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+2%

Still filing today

80%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 75% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $55k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHealthHuman ServicesEnvironmentFood & NutritionOther
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

  • PR
    PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $62k · revenue +50%
  • TC
    THE CHILD DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $54k · revenue +85%
  • IN
    ITHACA NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $48k · revenue +79%

Funded once

  • CA
    CIVIL ADVOCACY PROGRAM
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
  • SC
    Southside Community Center Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue +75%
  • TW
    THE WILLIAM GEORGE AGENCY FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $9k · revenue +32%
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
Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster sustainable economic growth through service to our members, strategic advocacy, workforce development, destination marketing, and quality of life investments. Our vision is an inclusive…

—
2
Go Ithaca

Provide transportation benefits, discounts and resources to developers, employers and individuals communting to and from Tompkins County to support people in commuting and getting around town in a reliable, sustainable and healthly way.

Community Improvement
3
Tompkins Community Action Inc

Tompkins community action, inc. (tcaction) "believes an active community can produce powerful change". located in upstate new york's finger lakes region, tcaction has served the community for over 55 years, implementing programs that…

Education
4
Lyons Public Library

Provide library materials and services to residents of lyons, ny and the surrounding area.

Education
5
Utica Public Library

With over a century of service to the greater utica area, the library remains dedicated to providing information and learning experiences throughout our diverse community.

—
6
Suny Cortland Child Care Center Inc

The suny cortland child care center is dedicated to providing affordable child care for the children of the college's employees and students, which meets the highest nationally recognized standards. qualified staff provide an educational…

Human Services
7
Saratoga Arts Inc

Saratoga arts was established to enrich the region by cultivating a vibrant arts community and by ensuring that the arts are accessible to all.

Arts & Culture
8
Center for the Arts of Homer Inc

Providing cultural and educational programs to the homer, new york community. to enhance the quality of life for the people of the central new york community that preserves and enriches local culture and provides stewardship for a…

Arts & Culture
9
Cortland County Child Development - Day Care Program Inc

To provide daycare and child development services to residents of Cortland County

Human Services
10
Catskill Public Library

A public library with locations in catskill and palenville, new york providing reference materials and various on-line services.

—
11
State University College At Oneonta Childrens Center Inc

Licensed daycare faciltiy. serving suny oneonta employees, students and the surrounding communities.

—
12
The Children's Ctr At Suny Morrisville State College Inc

The center's mission is to provide quality childcare services to the morrisville state college campus and the local community in a safe and nurturing environment which promotes the social, emotional, physical, language and cognitive…

Unclassified
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Mason James Owens 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

89 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. 89 of the 156 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)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
87/89
Grantees still filing
57/89
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION: $61,750 · OtherPALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTIONSCIENCENTER OF ITHACA: $45,000 · OtherSCIENCENTER OF ITHACANUTRITION FOR THE ELDERLY IN TOMPKINS COUNTY INC: $40,479 · OtherTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ITHACA AND TOMPKINS COUNTY: $35,325 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIES: $27,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF TOMPKINS COUNTY INC: $42,100 · OtherUNITED WAY OF TOMPKINS COUNTY INC+97 more: $524,229 · Other+97 moreTHE CHILD DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL INC: $54,250 · EducationTHE CHILD …GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY GO INC: $25,450 · EducationGOLDEN OPP…FREE SCIENCE INC: $8,658 · EducationFREE SCIEN…NEW ROOTS CHARTER SCHOOL: $8,000 · EducationNEW ROOTS …TOMPKINS LEARNING PARTNERS INC: $7,500 · EducationTOMPKINS L…FAMILY READING PARTNERSHIP: $7,050 · EducationFAMILY REA…Lansing Community Library: $6,500 · Education+5 more: $7,557 · Education+5 moreCAYUGA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $35,000 · HealthCAYUGA ME…FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF ITHACA INC: $29,337 · HealthFAMILY & …UNITY HOUSE OF CAYUGA COUNTY INC: $11,700 · HealthUNITY HOU…THE WILLIAM GEORGE AGENCY FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $9,000 · HealthTHE WILLI…NAMI-FINGERLAKESINC: $8,780 · HealthNAMI-FING…ITHACA HEALTH ALLIANCE INC: $8,150 · HealthITHACA HE…GROTON COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE CENTER INC: $5,000 · Health+4 more: $9,978 · Health+4 moreITHACA COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER INC: $29,250 · Human ServicesITHACA CO…DROP-IN CENTER INC: $23,300 · Human ServicesDROP-IN C…FRANZISKA RACKER CENTERS INC: $17,056 · Human ServicesFRANZISKA…LOVE LIVING AT HOME INC: $11,218 · Human ServicesLOVE LIVI…ITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES INC: $9,543 · Human ServicesITHACA WE…FINGER LAKES TOY LIBRARY INC: $6,500 · Human ServicesFINGER LA…GREATER ITHACA ACTIVITIES CENTER INC: $6,000 · Human ServicesCAROLINE ASP INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesTHE ADVOCACY CENTER OF TOMPKINS COUNTY: $5,000 · Human Services+1 more: $1,000 · Human ServicesSTATE THEATRE OF ITHACA INC: $23,000 · Arts & CultureKitchen Theatre Company Inc: $11,600 · Arts & CultureThe Ithaca Voice Inc: $10,198 · Arts & CultureWHARTON STUDIO MUSEUM: $7,741 · Arts & CultureITHACA COMMUNITY RADIO INC: $7,000 · Arts & CultureCayuga Chamber Orchestra Inc: $6,000 · Arts & CultureDOROTHY COTTON JUBILEE SINGERS INC: $5,660 · Arts & CultureCommunity Unity Music EducationProg: $5,000 · Arts & CultureCommunity School of Music and Arts Inc: $5,000 · Arts & CultureCENTER FOR THE ARTS AT ITHACA INC: $5,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $4,614 · Arts & CultureITHACA NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES INC: $48,250 · Housing & ShelterSECOND WIND COTTAGES INC: $7,527 · Housing & ShelterAREA CONGREGATIONS TOGETHER INC: $7,500 · Housing & ShelterFINGER LAKES REUSE INC: $31,000 · EnvironmentCOMMUNITY SCIENCE INSTITUTE INC: $9,565 · EnvironmentIthaca Childrens Garden Inc: $9,530 · EnvironmentThe Finger Lakes Land Trust Inc: $4,000 · Environment
Other$775,883Education$124,965Health$116,945Human Services$113,867Arts & Culture$90,813Housing & Shelter$63,277Environment$54,095

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 budgetPALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTION: $61,750 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetTHE CHILD DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL INC: $54,250 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetITHACA NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES INC: $48,250 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF TOMPKINS COUNTY INC: $42,100 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetNUTRITION FOR THE ELDERLY IN TOMPKINS COUNTY INC: $40,479 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetTHE YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF ITHACA AND TOMPKINS COUNTY: $35,325 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetCAYUGA MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetFINGER LAKES REUSE INC: $31,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF ITHACA INC: $29,337 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetITHACA COMMUNITY CHILDCARE CENTER INC: $29,250 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetGOLDEN OPPORTUNITY GO INC: $25,450 over 5y, 7.0% of budgetDROP-IN CENTER INC: $23,300 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetSTATE THEATRE OF ITHACA INC: $23,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetBROOKTONDALE COMMUNITY CENTER: $19,405 over 4y, 6.7% of budgetDISPLACED HOMEMAKERS CENTER OF TC INC: $17,925 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetFRANZISKA RACKER CENTERS INC: $17,056 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICARE & PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICES OF TOMPKINS COUNTY INC: $17,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetBOYCE THOMPSON INSTITUTE FOR PLANT RESEARCH INC: $16,560 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHALLENGE INDUSTRIES INC: $15,750 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTOMPKINS COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $14,739 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS NEW YORK INC: $13,443 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLoaves and Fishes of Tompkins County Inc: $12,803 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetITHACA COMMUNITY RECOVERY: $12,160 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetUNITY HOUSE OF CAYUGA COUNTY INC: $11,700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF TOMPKINS & CORTLAND COUNTIES: $11,625 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetKitchen Theatre Company Inc: $11,600 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetLOVE LIVING AT HOME INC: $11,218 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF STEWART PARK INC: $10,500 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetThe Ithaca Voice Inc: $10,198 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetGroundswell Center for Local Food and Farming Inc: $9,866 over 3y, 2.5% of budgetCENTER FOR TRANSFORMATIVE ACTION: $9,700 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY SCIENCE INSTITUTE INC: $9,565 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetITHACA WELCOMES REFUGEES INC: $9,543 over 3y, 2.0% of budgetIthaca Childrens Garden Inc: $9,530 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTOMPKINS COUNTY SPCA: $9,240 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE WILLIAM GEORGE AGENCY FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $9,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LEARNING WEB INC: $8,870 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNAMI-FINGERLAKESINC: $8,780 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetFREE SCIENCE INC: $8,658 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetHistoric Ithaca Inc: $8,500 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetITHACA HEALTH ALLIANCE INC: $8,150 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetNEW ROOTS CHARTER SCHOOL: $8,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLANSING LUNCHBOX INC: $8,000 over 2y, 57% of budgetWHARTON STUDIO MUSEUM: $7,741 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetSECOND WIND COTTAGES INC: $7,527 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetAREA CONGREGATIONS TOGETHER INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTOMPKINS LEARNING PARTNERS INC: $7,500 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetFAMILY READING PARTNERSHIP: $7,050 over 4y, 1.3% 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.

Community Foundation …Park Foundation IncUnited Way of Tompkin…Triad Foundation IncJM McDonald Foundatio…Tompkins Charitable G…Norathco FoundationCity Federation of Wo…Social Service League…Brooks Family Foundat…Foundation for Jewish…Maguire Foundation Inc
Community Foundation of Tompkins County IncNY161.8× affinity77 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of Tompkins County Inc · Park Foundation Inc · United Way of Tompkins County Inc · Triad Foundation Inc · JM McDonald Foundation Inc · Tompkins Charitable Gift Fund Inc · Norathco Foundation · City Federation of Women's Organizations Inc · Social Service League of Ithaca Inc · Brooks Family Foundation · Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies Inc · Maguire Foundation Inc

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 Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 30%
  • Area Congregations Together Inc: 30% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
45report 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 Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County?

Find your warmest path to Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County 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 156 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 Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County’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