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Lightspark Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

Lightspark 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.

$413k
Granted FY2025still arriving
41
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$99k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Food & Nutrition$559kArts & Culture$217kPublic Benefit$175kCivil Rights$140kYouth Development$122kCommunity Improvement$87kCrime & Legal$62kHuman Services$59kOther$0
02FY2025 · 41 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k27 grants · $95k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $170k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $149k
$5,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$6.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
IMPACT GUILD$99,018
Individual grant recipient$50,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB$31,000
CHICANOS POR LA CAUSA INC$25,000
UTAH DONOR COLLABORATIVE$15,000
Individual grant recipient$15,000
SALT LAKE CITY CORP YOUTHCITY$13,500
URBAN RURAL ACTION$10,000
UTAH INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM PROJECT$10,000
INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE$10,000
SOUNDS SUPPORT FOUNDATION$10,000
IMMIGRANT LEGAL SERVICES$10,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$10,000
WOMEN OF THE WORLD$10,000
EQUALITY UTAH$6,500
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:

Its human-services grants (FY23–25, $73k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 41% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%CHICANOS POR LA CAUSA INC: $25k → 11%CACHE REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CONNECTION: $5k → 12%Contentment Foundation: $5k → 7%IMMIGRANT LEGAL SERVICES: $10k → 8%Immigrant Legal Services: $3k → 8%Immigrant Legal Services: $3k → 8%COMUNIDADES UNIDAS: $5k → 8%Comunidades Unidas: $3k → 8%The Road Home: $5k → 8%The Road Home: $5k → 8%THE ROAD HOME: $5k → 8%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

IL
NY
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
MO
VA
AZ
NC
DC
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.

56%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$931k · 34 repeat orgs$728k to everyone else

34 repeat relationships: 31 still active in FY2025, 3 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

34
47

Total granted

$931k
$643k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+8%
+105%

Still filing today

62%
17%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $86k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureCivil RightsCrime & LegalInternationalEnvironmentOther
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

  • IG
    IMPACT GUILD INC
    3× · 2023–2025 · $149k · revenue +866% · 25% of their budget
  • WS
    WASTELESS SOLUTIONS INC
    3× · 2023–2025 · $30k · revenue +52%
  • TO
    The Other Side Academy
    2× · 2023–2025 · $30k · revenue +40%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $128k
  • D
    DIVERSION
    one grant, 2021 · $92k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $61k
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
Utah Humanities Council

Utah Humanities collaborates with libraries, museums, historical societies, schools, colleges, and cultural and civic groups; provides capacity-building opportunities for volunteers and professionals in the cultural sector; presents…

Arts & Culture
2
Utah Leads

Utah Leads set out to understand what makes our information ecosystem in Utah unique, who is influencing policy formation in Utah, how that influence works in practice through multiple channels and across channels, and what policy…

—
3
The Center for Economic Opportunity and Belonging

Our mission is to engage with communities and catalyze private, public, and philanthropic partnerships to remedy opportunity gaps in economic opportunity, education, health, and housing in Utah.

Community Improvement
4
Utah Health Policy Project

To advance sustainable health care solutions for underserved utahns through better access, education, and public policy.

Health
5
Utah Foundation

Utah foundation's mission is to produce objective, thorough and well- reasoned research and analysis that promotes the effective use of public resources, a thriving economy, a well-prepared workforce and a high quality of life for utahns.…

Public Benefit
6
Clean Slate Utah

To help people clear their criminal records and access opportunities. we will do this by: 1) spreading the word about utah's clean slate law to individuals with records, so they are aware of the law and its positive impact on their lives;…

Crime & Legal
7
Envision Utah

Envision Utah is a nonpartisan public-private partnership that engages people to create and sustain communities that are beautiful, prosperous, healthy, and neighborly for current and future residents.

Community Improvement
8
Utah Donor Collaborative Foundation

Utah Donor Collaborative Foundation educates and empowers diverse communities by supporting innovative programs that foster civic participation and voter access. We strive to inspire all voters, including the local youth population, rural…

Civil Rights
9
Utahns for Responsive Government Dba Better Boundaries

Utahns for a Responsive Government, DBA Better Boundaries mission is to create an independent redistricting process that utilizes voter-centric standards. We use education, advocacy, policy, and the justice system to reach our goal of…

—
10
Utah Dispute Resolution

Utah Dispute Resolution exists to provide residents of Utah with quality mediation services, information and training in dispute resolution, and the means to successfully, informally and cooperatively resolve disputes.

Crime & Legal
11
Lightspark Foundation
Civil Rights
12
Utah World Trade Center

World trade center utah accelerates growth for utah companies through our global networks, programs, and services.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Utah Children; the most unlike its peers is Immigrant Legal Services. 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

37 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. 37 of the 91 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
37/37
Grantees still filing
20/37
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE: $172,288 · OtherINTERNATIONAL RESCUEIndividual grant recipient: $127,545 · OtherIndividual grant recipientDIVERSION: $92,168 · OtherDIVERSIONIndividual grant recipient: $90,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $60,750 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUB: $56,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $52,500 · Other+64 more: $592,947 · Other+64 moreIMPACT GUILD INC: $149,018 · Arts & CultureIMPACT GUIL…Salt Lake Academy of Music: $14,000 · Arts & CultureSalt Lake A…+2 more: $10,000 · Arts & Culture+2 moreCHICANOS POR LA CAUSA INC CPLC: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE ROAD HOME: $15,000 · Human ServicesImmigrant Legal Services: $15,000 · Human ServicesComunidades Unidas: $7,500 · Human ServicesCONTENTMENT FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Human ServicesCACHE REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT CONNECTION: $5,000 · Human ServicesFOCUS FOR DEMOCRACY FUND: $25,000 · Civil RightsVeterans for All Voters: $20,000 · Civil RightsEQUALITY UTAH: $10,000 · Civil RightsUtah Children: $3,000 · Civil RightsThe Other Side Academy: $30,000 · Crime & LegalAND JUSTICE FOR ALL: $6,000 · Crime & LegalCritical Resistance: $6,000 · Crime & LegalWomen of the World: $25,048 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INC: $14,000 · InternationalWASTELESS SOLUTIONS INC: $30,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$1,244,198Arts & Culture$173,018Human Services$72,500Civil Rights$58,000Crime & Legal$42,000International$39,048Food & Nutrition$30,000

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 budgetIMPACT GUILD INC: $149,018 over 3y, 25% of budgetWASTELESS SOLUTIONS INC: $30,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetThe Other Side Academy: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWomen of the World: $25,048 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetCHICANOS POR LA CAUSA INC CPLC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CREATIVE COALITION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetFOCUS FOR DEMOCRACY FUND: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INC: $20,834 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetVeterans for All Voters: $20,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetO2 UTAH FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 3y, 3.9% of budgetTHE ROAD HOME: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUTAH INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM PROJECT: $15,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetImmigrant Legal Services: $15,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $14,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSalt Lake Academy of Music: $14,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetYoung Women's Christian Association of Utah: $11,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetWasatch Homeless Health Care: $10,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUrban Rural Action: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetComunidades Unidas: $7,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF UTAH: $7,500 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSPY HOP PRODUCTIONS: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetHEALTHY ENVIRONMENT ALLIANCE OF UTAH: $6,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetUTAH FOOD BANK: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAND JUSTICE FOR ALL: $6,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCritical Resistance: $6,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetEN GARDE ARTS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCONTENTMENT FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetOTV Open Television Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCACHE REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT CONNECTION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWASATCH COMMUNITY GARDENS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWESTMINSTER UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLUMBUS HOUSE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMUNITY INITIATIVES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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 IMPACT GUILD INC ↗
  • Who funds WASTELESS SOLUTIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds The Other Side Academy ↗
  • Who funds Women of the World ↗
  • Who funds CHICANOS POR LA CAUSA INC CPLC ↗
  • Who funds THE CREATIVE COALITION ↗
  • Who funds FOCUS FOR DEMOCRACY FUND ↗
  • Who funds UTAH CLEAN ENERGY ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds Veterans for All Voters ↗
  • Who funds O2 UTAH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ROAD HOME ↗
  • Who funds UTAH INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Immigrant Legal Services ↗
  • Who funds Utah Donor Collaborative ↗
  • Who funds International Rescue Committee INC ↗
  • Who funds Salt Lake Academy of Music ↗
  • Who funds Young Women's Christian Association of Utah ↗
  • Who funds Wasatch Homeless Health Care ↗
  • Who funds SOUND SUPPORT 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.

Sorenson Legacy Found…The Community Foundat…George S and Dolores …McCarthey Family Foun…Larry H Miller and Ga…Dominion Energy Chari…Hemingway FoundationLawrence & Janet Dee …Kanter Family Foundat…Willard L Eccles Char…Intermountain Communi…David Kelby Johnson M…
Sorenson Legacy FoundationUT31.6× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sorenson Legacy Foundation · The Community Foundation of Utah · George S and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation · McCarthey Family Foundation · Larry H Miller and Gail Miller Family Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Hemingway Foundation · Lawrence & Janet Dee Foundation · Kanter Family Foundation · Willard L Eccles Charitable Foundation · Intermountain Community Care Foundation Inc · David Kelby Johnson Memorial 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 Lightspark Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lightspark Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 100%
  • Columbus House Inc: 100% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 Lightspark Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Lightspark Foundation 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 91 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 Lightspark’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