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Lena Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Lena Foundation

LENA FOUNDATION's mission is to transform children's futures through early talk technology and data-driven programs.

$499k
Granted FY2023
15
Grants FY2023
6
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2023.

Education$1.8MHuman Services$654kFood & Nutrition$553kYouth Development$310kCommunity Improvement$227kPublic Benefit$100kHealth$100kSocial Science$80kOther$0
02FY2023 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 15 grants below total $481,455, the rows itemized in this filing. The $499,047 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $17,592 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k2 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $238k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $230k
$20,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$9.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BIRMINGHAM TALKS$149,946
INSTITUTE FOR CHILD SUCCESS$80,000
WHEDCO$44,600
ACELERO LEARNING$32,768
GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT$30,000
LITTLE EINSTEIN'S ACADEMY$22,246
CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER$22,235
SAN JOSE PUBLIC LIBRARY$20,000
GUNNISON-HINSDALE EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL$19,439
DENVER'S EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL$13,241
ARAPAHOE EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL$12,492
EARLY CHILDHOOD PARTNERS$11,003
EPISCOPAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES$10,000
EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL OF YUMA$7,406
NEW DEAL DESIGN LLC$6,079
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 (FY19–23, $748k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%FOR OAK CLIFF: $27k → 14%EPISCOPAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $10k → 14%RAISING READERS IN STORY COUNTY: $12k → 17%BIRMINGHAM TALKS: $159k → 16%EARLY CHILDHOOD PARTNERS: $11k → 7%EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL OF YUMA: $7k → 13%YMCA OF CENTRAL OHIO: $10k → 15%THE CENTERS FOR FAMILIES AND CHILDREN: $32k → 17%SHEPPARD PRATT FAMILY SERVICES: $20k → 8%MARYLAND FAMILY NETWORK: $48k → 19%CHILDREN & FAMILIES FIRST: $10k → 10%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $30k → 17%EPISCOPAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $10k → 14%BIRMINGHAM TALKS: $150k → 16%THE CENTERS FOR FAMILIES & CHILDREN: $10k → 17%MARYLAND FAMILY NETWORK: $17k → 19%GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT: $19k → 17%EPISCOPAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES: $10k → 14%BIRMINGHAM TALKS: $112k → 16%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER: $22k → 12%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DENVER: $21k → 12%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

AK
ID
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
NE
MO
KY
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
LA
MS
AL
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 13% of Lena Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Lena Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

50%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.0M · 16 repeat orgs$2.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +21% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2023, 11 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
71

Total granted

$2.0M
$1.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+21%

Still filing today

63%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 47% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $257k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
EducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyHealthYouth DevelopmentPublic BenefitOther
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

  • SM
    SMALL MAGIC
    3× · 2020–2023 · $421k · revenue +370% · 32% of their budget
  • BRILLIANT DETROIT
    3× · 2019–2021 · $227k · revenue +101%
  • NC
    NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILIES LEARNING INC
    3× · 2019–2021 · $191k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • BT
    BIRMINGHAM TALKS
    one grant, 2019 · $62k
  • GC
    GUILFORD COUNTY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN INC
    one grant, 2017 · $59k · revenue +12%
  • SC
    STUDER COMMUNITY INSTITUTE INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $59k · revenue +34%
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
Educare Dc

Educare dc's mission is to eliminate the opportunity gap for young children living in poverty and give them the skills necessary for success in kindergarten and beyond. we work at the intersection of practice, policy, and research to…

Human Services
2
Start Early

Start early advances quality early learning for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to help close the opportunity gap.

—
3
Partnership for Children of Cumberland County Inc

The partnership's mission is to be the driving force to engage partners to achieve lasting positive outcomes for all children, beginning at birth.

Education
4
South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness Board of Trustees

Per south carolina code section 59-152-30: "the goals for south carolina first steps to school readiness are to: (1) provide parents with access to the support they might seek and want to strengthen their families and to promote the…

Education
5
Community Partnership for Child Development

Cpcd's programs are based on the comprehensive head start model and are child and family-focused. cpcd adopts a two-generation approach that focuses on creating opportunities for, and addressing the needs of, both vulnerable young children…

Education
6
Durham's Partnership for Children

To ensure every child in durham enters school ready to succeed, we lead community strategies for children birth to 5, and their families that promote healthy development and learning and echance access to high quality care.

Education
7
The Learning Collaborative

The Learning Collaborative's mission is to instill children with curiosity, confidence, and a love of learning while embracing and strengthening their families. This is accomplished through tuition-free, high-quality Preschool and Pre-K…

Education
8
Early Years Inc

Early years leads efforts to strengthen accessible and affordable quality early care and education by providing support for families, communities and the workforce. early years 's primary purpose is to provide services, research and…

—
9
Community Services for Children Inc

Csc prepares young children and their families to succeed in learning and life through innovative, comprehensive, leading edge services.

Education
10
The Campbell Institute

Children's institute's mission is to leverage research, practice, policy, and advocacy to shift systems toward justice for families so that all of oregon's children, prenatal to grade 5, have access to opportunity.

Unclassified
11
Children's Council of San Francisco

By advocating for quality early care and education, empowering families with information and financial support, and building the capabilities of educators, Children's Council of San Francisco ensures that every child in San Francisco has…

Human Services
12
North Carolina Partnership for Children Inc

The north carolina partnership for children (ncpc) is the lead organization and backbone of the smart start network, setting statewide vision, policy, and funding priorities. while local partnerships translate the statewide vision into…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative; the most unlike its peers is North Central Texas Council of Governments 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.
05the grantee network

66 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. 66 of the 100 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
66/66
Grantees still filing
50/66
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CITY OF HARTFORD: $259,939 · OtherCITY OF HARTFORDVIRGINIA BEACH CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $257,315 · OtherVIRGINIA BEACH CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLSUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: $77,750 · Other+53 more: $1,272,026 · Other+53 moreNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILIES LEARNING INC: $191,109 · EducationNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILI…ARAPAHOE COUNTY EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL INC: $147,312 · EducationARAPAHOE COUNTY EARLY CHIL…GUILFORD COUNTY PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN INC: $59,350 · EducationGUILFORD COUNTY PARTNERSHI…TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $59,350 · EducationTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY…APPLETREE INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION INNOVATION: $54,612 · EducationAPPLETREE INSTITUTE FOR ED…TURN THE PAGE KC INC: $50,000 · EducationDENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION: $49,850 · EducationVIRGINIA BEACH GROWSMART FOUNDATION: $40,000 · EducationPHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $40,000 · EducationPIKES PEAK LIBRARY DISTRICT FOUNDATION INC: $35,000 · EducationLITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF CENTRAL CONNECTICUT INC: $35,000 · EducationADELPHI UNIVERSITY: $33,000 · Education+11 more: $153,664 · Education+11 moreSMALL MAGIC: $420,716 · Human ServicesSMALL MAGICMARYLAND FAMILY NETWORK INC: $65,703 · Human ServicesMARYLAND FAMILY NETW…GRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC: $49,088 · Human ServicesGRAND STREET SETTLEM…CATHOLIC CHARITIES & COMMUNITY SERV OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER: $43,539 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES &…The Centers for Families and Children: $41,400 · Human ServicesThe Centers for Fami…EPISCOPAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesFOR OAK CLIFF: $26,900 · Human Services+6 more: $70,759 · Human Services+6 moreBRILLIANT DETROIT: $226,967 · Youth DevelopmentSEEDING SUCCESS: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentINSTITUTE FOR CHILD SUCCESS INC: $80,000 · Social ScienceSTUDER COMMUNITY INSTITUTE INC: $59,350 · Community ImprovementTEAM UP: $31,400 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF NORTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO: $10,000 · PhilanthropyMILE HIGH UNITED WAY INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyTIDES FOUNDATION: $7,375 · Philanthropy
Other$1,867,030Education$948,247Human Services$748,105Youth Development$276,967Social Science$80,000Community Improvement$59,350Philanthropy$58,775

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 budgetSMALL MAGIC: $420,716 over 3y, 32% of budgetBRILLIANT DETROIT: $226,967 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILIES LEARNING INC: $191,109 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetARAPAHOE COUNTY EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL INC: $147,312 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR CHILD SUCCESS INC: $80,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetMARYLAND FAMILY NETWORK INC: $65,703 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSTUDER COMMUNITY INSTITUTE INC: $59,350 over 1y, 8.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $59,350 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTERS FOR FAMILY DEVELOPMENT INC: $59,350 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAPPLETREE INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION INNOVATION: $54,612 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTURN THE PAGE KC INC: $50,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetSEEDING SUCCESS: $50,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetDENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION: $49,850 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetGRAND STREET SETTLEMENT INC: $49,088 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWOMEN'S HOUSING & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $44,600 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES & COMMUNITY SERV OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER: $43,539 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetThe Centers for Families and Children: $41,400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetCollaborative Support Services Inc: $38,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetADELPHI UNIVERSITY: $33,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREAD-ALOUD DELAWARE INC: $31,900 over 1y, 7.3% of budgetTEAM UP: $31,400 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetEPISCOPAL CHILDREN'S SERVICES INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HEAD START ASSOCIATION: $28,511 over 1y, 42% of budgetEaster Seals Serving DC MD VA Inc: $28,206 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTH SIDE LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT CENTER: $27,500 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSALUS UNIVERSITY: $26,400 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNew Legacy Charter School: $25,100 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetWASHINGTON COUNTY OPPORTUNITIES INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEarly Childhood Partnership of Adams Cou: $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetNEXT DOOR FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAMILY SERVICES INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND COMMUNITY ACTION COMMITTEE: $18,562 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBATESVILLE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $15,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetDENVER EARLY CHILDHOOD COUNCIL: $13,241 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRAISING READERS IN STORY COUNTY: $12,350 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetEL NIDO FAMILY CENTERS: $12,350 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEARLY CHILDHOOD PARTNERS INC: $11,003 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCHILDCARING INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIRST: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPARENTS AND CHILDREN TOGETHER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF NORTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG MENS CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL OHIO: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPRESCHOOL PROMISE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSPARTANBURG COUNTY FIRST STEPS TO SCHOOL READINESS PARTNERSHIP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetIdaho Association for the Education of Young Children: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPOLK COUNTY SCHOOL READINESS COALITION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRICHLAND COUNTY FIRST STEPS TO SCHOOL READINESS PARTNERSHIP: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% 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.

Temple Hoyne Buell Fo…Early Milestones Colo…The Colorado Health F…Caring for Colorado F…Cities for Financial …Colorado Gives Founda…Mile High United Way …Results for AmericaWK Kellogg FoundationRose Community Founda…National Council on A…Gary Philanthropy
Temple Hoyne Buell FoundationCO24.2× affinity10 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation · Early Milestones Colorado · The Colorado Health Foundation · Caring for Colorado Foundation · Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund Inc · Colorado Gives Foundation · Mile High United Way Inc · Results for America · WK Kellogg Foundation · Rose Community Foundation · National Council on Aging Inc · Gary Philanthropy

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 45%
  • Children and Families First: 87% of income from government
  • Maryland Family Network Inc: 66% of income from government
  • Hopes Community Action Partnership: 47% of income from government
  • Read-Aloud Delaware Inc: 45% of income from government
  • Episcopal Children's Services Inc: 42% of income from government
  • Garrett County Maryland Community Action Committee: 32% of income from government
  • Easter Seals Serving Dc Md Va Inc: 29% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
26report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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.

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 100 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 e-file return for fiscal year 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $522k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Lena’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