· 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k2 grants · $13k
- $10k–50k6 grants · $130k
- $50k–250k5 grants · $468k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA | $200,000 |
| COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE | $75,000 |
| PHILABUNDANCE | $70,000 |
| TRAVIS MANION FOUNDATION | $62,500 |
| PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION FUND | $60,000 |
| WCU FOUNDATION | $45,000 |
| MELMARK | $25,000 |
| WEST CHESTER AREA SENIOR CENTER | $20,000 |
| CARE | $20,000 |
| FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR CARE OF CHILD | $10,000 |
| DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS | $10,000 |
| ST JAMES SCHOOL | $7,500 |
| MIB AGENTS | $5,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY19–24, $240k) land where the poverty rate runs at 6%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +52% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.
17 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- TCTHE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA6× · 2019–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +59%
Philabundance6× · 2019–2024 · $530k · revenue +83%- CVCOMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE6× · 2019–2024 · $395k · revenue +124%
Funded once
- CFCCSA FOUNDATIONone grant, 2019 · $50k · revenue +18%
- BABOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PHILADELPHIA INCgraduatedone grant, 2021 · $10k · revenue +51%
- BFBread For The World Incgraduatedone grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +31%
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.
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.
The trustees of the university of pennsylvania (the "university") sees itself as having a public service mission. in such regard, the university aims to provide a rich and diverse educational environment for its students; to pioneer…
Philhaven promotes hope, healing and wholeness through the provision of behavioral resources.
The chambersburg hospital is a regional non-profit health care organization committed to the improvement of the health and well-being of the people in southcentral pennsylvania.
(msh) saves lives and improves the health of the world's poorest (see schedule o) and most vulnerable people by closing the gap between knowledge and action in public health.
To heal. to teach. to empower. to amaze.
We champion the health needs of children and families. we are committed to improving children's health by providing the highest-quality, family centered care, advanced through research and education.
Website: https://towerhealth.org/locations/st-christophers-hospital- children stc opco, llc (st. christopher's hospital for children) provides a full range of high-quality healthcare services to all children and youth up to age 21 who seek…
Our mission at the university of chicago medicine is to provide superior health care through rigorous research, innovative education, and comprehensive care and healing. in partnership with our colleagues, we pursue life-changing…
Leadership in the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer through excellence, vision and cost effectiveness in patient care, outreach programs, research, and education.
Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…
Summary
How this is measured
16 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. 16 of the 21 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA ↗
- Who funds Philabundance ↗
- Who funds COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE ↗
- Who funds THE PHILADELPHIA EDUCATION FUND ↗
- Who funds Travis Manion Foundation ↗
- Who funds MELMARK INC ↗
- Who funds WEST CHESTER AREA SENIOR CENTER ↗
- Who funds CCSA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds COOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC ↗
- Who funds MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC ↗
- Who funds FRIENDS ASSOCIATION FOR THE CARE AND PRO ↗
- Who funds SMILE TRAIN INC ↗
- Who funds MIB AGENTS INC ↗
- Who funds FAMILY SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF BUCKS COUNTY ↗
- Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUBS OF PHILADELPHIA INC ↗
- Who funds Bread For The World Inc ↗
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
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Lightening the Load funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lightening the Load. Bigger dots raise more.
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.
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