Pennsylvania · Private foundation
Lightening the Load
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.
- $610k
- Granted FY2024(still arriving)
- 13
- Grants FY2024
- 14
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 0%
- First-time grantees FY2023
- Median grant, FY2024
- $25,000
- Largest grant, FY2024
- $200,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 10 to 15
- FY2019 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2024
- 4
- Total assets, FY2024
- $11M
- Applications
- Preselected organizations only
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 0% of the organizations Lightening the Load funded were first-time grantees, receiving 0% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024still arriving | 13 | $610k | 8% |
| FY2023 | 14 | $630k | 0% |
| FY2022 | 15 | $615k | 40% |
| FY2021 | 13 | $547k | 8% |
| FY2020 | 11 | $552k | 27% |
| FY2019 | 10 | $554k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2019 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | $1,171,667 | 6 | 0% |
| Philabundance | $530,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Community Volunteers in Medicine | $395,000 | 6 | 1% |
| The Philadelphia Education Fund | $347,500 | 6 | 2% |
| Travis Manion Foundation | $297,500 | 6 | 1% |
| Melmark Inc | $150,000 | 6 | 0% |
| West Chester Area Senior Center | $60,000 | 6 | 2% |
| Ccsa Foundation | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere Inc | $40,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Medecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc | $40,000 | 3 | 0% |
Show all 17 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | $1,171,667 | 6 | 0% |
| Philabundance | $530,000 | 6 | 0% |
| Community Volunteers in Medicine | $395,000 | 6 | 1% |
| The Philadelphia Education Fund | $347,500 | 6 | 2% |
| Travis Manion Foundation | $297,500 | 6 | 1% |
| Melmark Inc | $150,000 | 6 | 0% |
| West Chester Area Senior Center | $60,000 | 6 | 2% |
| Ccsa Foundation | $50,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere Inc | $40,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Medecins Sans Frontieres USA Inc | $40,000 | 3 | 0% |
| St James School | $30,000 | 5 | n/a |
| Friends Association for the Care and Pro | $20,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Smile Train Inc | $20,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Mib Agents Inc | $15,000 | 3 | 0% |
| Family Service Association of Bucks County | $10,000 | 2 | 0% |
| Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Bread For The World Inc | $10,000 | 1 | 0% |
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 4 recipients with no EIN on record ($310k), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Each grantee by its size and the share of its budget Lightening the Load supplied at peak.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · The Leo and Peggy Pierce Family Foundation Inc · The Gordon Charter Foundation · W W Smith Charitable Trust · Connelly Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Lightening the Load?
Find your warmest path to Lightening the Load 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.
About Lightening the Load
- How much does Lightening the Load give?
- Lightening the Load reported 13 grants totaling $610,000 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 10 and 15 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2023.
- What does Lightening the Load fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2024, its largest causes are Health (50%), Food & Nutrition (15%), Human Services (12%).
- Who are Lightening the Load's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2019 to FY2024: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia ($1.2M), Philabundance ($530k), Community Volunteers in Medicine ($395k).
- Does Lightening the Load fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 0% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Lightening the Load accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and does not take unsolicited requests. Check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Lightening the Load?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Philadelphia Foundation, The Leo and Peggy Pierce Family Foundation Inc, The Gordon Charter Foundation.
- Where is Lightening the Load based?
- Lightening the Load is based in PA.
Play a game based on Lightening the Load’s filings →