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Lillis Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lillis Foundation

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.

$372k
Granted FY2024still arriving
101
Grants FY2024still arriving
23
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$1.4MHuman Services$272kHealth$71kPhilanthropy$50kRecreation & Sports$47kAnimals$41kFood & Nutrition$34kHousing & Shelter$30kOther$0
02FY2024 · 101 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k93 grants · $282k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $90k
$2,500
Median grant
23
States reached
$5.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HANDS OF THE CARPENTER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR$15,000
COLORADO WOMEN'S EDUCATION FOUNDATION$15,000
EDUCATION THROUGH MUSIC COLORADO$10,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF PUEBLO$10,000
DENVER ASSET BUILDING COALITION$10,000
CLOTHES TO KIDS OF DENVER$10,000
WELLSPRING COMMUNITY$10,000
FRIENDS FOUNDATION DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING$9,000
LAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN$9,000
STETSON UNIVERSITY$8,000
COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES$8,000
WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY$8,000
REGIS UNIVERSITY$8,000
BELMONT UNIVERSITY$8,000
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 (FY19–24, $212k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 43% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 9%THE CHILDREN'S VILLAGE: $10k → 10%WOUNDED VETERANS RELIEF FUND: $3k → 11%OLIVER PATCH PROJECT: $2k → 15%A PRECIOUS CHILD: $5k → 5%EARLY CONNECTIONS LEARNING CENTERS: $20k → 9%SENIORS' RESOURCE CENTER: $15k → 12%THE CHILDREN'S VILLAGE: $10k → 10%A PRECIOUS CHILD: $5k → 5%BESSIE'S HOPE: $7k → 12%CANOPY VILLAGE YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $2k → 10%BESSIE'S HOPE: $2k → 12%THE CHILDREN'S VILLAGE: $2k → 10%WELLSPRING COMMUNITY: $10k → 3%TRI-LAKES CARES: $11k → 9%WELLSPRING COMMUNITY: $8k → 3%WELLSPRING COMMUNITY: $2k → 3%TRI-LAKES CARES: $5k → 9%WELLSPRING COMMUNITY: $2k → 3%TRI LAKES CARES: $5k → 9%BENEFITS IN ACTION: $10k → 7%HANDS OF THE CARPENTER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR: $15k → 7%HANDS OF THE CARPENTER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR: $15k → 7%HANDS OF THE CARPENTER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR: $2k → 7%FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS: $2k → 8%HANDS OF THE CARPENTER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR: $1k → 7%HANDS OF THE CARPENTER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR: $1k → 7%HANDS OF THE CARPENTER AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR: $1k → 7%CLOTHES TO KIDS OF DENVER: $10k → 12%A LITTLE HELP: $8k → 12%A LITTLE HELP: $5k → 12%A LITTLE HELP: $5k → 12%A LITTLE HELP: $5k → 12%A LITTLE HELP: $5k → 12%RAY OF HOPE CANCER FOUNDATION: $2k → 12%A WISH OF A LIFETIME: $1k → 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

WA
ID
MT
MN
NY
MA
OR
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
WV
AZ
KS
TN
NC
DC
OK
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 Lillis Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 65% of the giving stays in CO; by stated purpose, 61%.

Lillis Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 3.9% directed abroad (not shown)
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.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 100 repeat orgs$400k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +36% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

100 repeat relationships: 60 still active in FY2024, 40 since wound down; 17 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

100
70

Total granted

$1.5M
$320k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+36%
+23%

Still filing today

40%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 78% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $80k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthFood & NutritionAnimalsHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • SA
    SparkHope Automotive
    4× · 2021–2024 · $35k · revenue +81%
  • KF
    KIDS FIRST HEALTH CARE
    2× · 2022–2023 · $29k · revenue +42%
  • LC
    LAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN
    4× · 2021–2024 · $29k · revenue +173%

Funded once

  • CR
    CASTLE ROCK PARKS AND TRAILS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $30k · revenue -87%
  • CS
    COLORADO SPRINGS CHILD NURSERY CENTERS INC
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue +21%
  • TV
    THE VALLEY SENIOR CENTER
    one grant, 2019 · $15k
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
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
2
Colorado Legal Services

To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.

Crime & Legal
3
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
4
Columbia College

Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.

Education
5
Denver Hybrid College

To support college students in innovative, affordable paths to in-demand careers and financial freedom.

Education
6
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
7
Colorado Center On Law and Policy

Colorado center on law and policy is an antipoverty organization advancing the rights of every coloradan.

Crime & Legal
8
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
9
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
10
Goodwill Industries of Denver

Goodwill's mission is to provide education, career development, and employment opportunities to help coloradans in need achieve self-sufficiency, dignity, and hope through the power of work.

—
11
Banner -University Medical Group

Assist banner health complete its mission to make health care easier so life can be better by providing integrated & coordinated care & population health management.

Health
12
Aia Colorado

AIA Colorado,is the voice of the architecture profession in Colorado. Through advocacy, leadership development, education and resources for architects, the organization supports architecture professionals in designing a better world where…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Denver Dumb Friends League; the most unlike its peers is Golf 4 the Disabled. 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

77 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. 77 of the 190 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
77/77
Grantees still filing
56/77
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY: $75,500 · OtherCOLORADO STATE UNIVERSITYUNIVERSITY OF WYOMING: $64,400 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER: $51,500 · OtherCOLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES: $46,000 · Other+130 more: $1,050,426 · Other+130 moreREGIS UNIVERSITY: $39,500 · EducationREGIS UNIVERSITYLAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN: $29,000 · EducationLAGUNA COLLEGE O…BAYLOR UNIVERSITY: $24,500 · EducationBAYLOR UNIVERSIT…Belmont University: $24,000 · EducationBelmont Universi…UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SO…THE COLORADO COLLEGE: $19,000 · EducationTHE COLORADO COL…UNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $18,067 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF DE…THE UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND: $18,000 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY O…STETSON UNIVERSITY INC: $15,000 · EducationDOANE UNIVERSITY: $13,000 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton University: $12,654 · EducationCreighton University: $10,500 · EducationDENVER ASSET BUILDING COALITION: $10,000 · Education+9 more: $37,000 · Education+9 moreSparkHope Automotive: $34,750 · Human ServicesSparkHope Au…A LITTLE HELP: $27,500 · Human ServicesA LITTLE HEL…CANOPY VILLAGE INC: $23,500 · Human ServicesCANOPY VILLA…WELLSPRING COMMUNITY: $22,400 · Human ServicesWELLSPRING C…TRI-LAKES CARES: $21,000 · Human ServicesTRI-LAKES CA…CLOTHES TO KIDS OF DENVER INC: $20,500 · Human ServicesCLOTHES TO K…COLORADO SPRINGS CHILD NURSERY CENTERS INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesCOLORADO SPR…SENIORS' RESOURCE CENTER INC: $15,000 · Human ServicesSENIORS' RES…BENEFITS IN ACTION: $10,000 · Human ServicesA PRECIOUS CHILD INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesBessies Hope: $9,000 · Human Services+6 more: $11,000 · Human ServicesKIDS FIRST HEALTH CARE: $29,000 · HealthChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $12,250 · HealthAGING RESOURCES OF DOUGLAS COUNTY: $12,000 · HealthBRENT ELEY FOUNDATION: $7,000 · HealthVISITING ANCILLARY SERVICES INC: $5,000 · HealthTHE BLUE BENCH: $3,500 · Health+2 more: $3,250 · HealthTHE INDEPENDENT CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $50,000 · PhilanthropyCompass Montessori Education Foundation: $4,500 · PhilanthropyCASTLE ROCK PARKS AND TRAILS FOUNDATION: $30,000 · Recreation & SportsSECOR: $10,000 · Food & NutritionMEALS ON WHEELS FOR FORT COLLINS COLORADO INC: $7,500 · Food & NutritionNOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $5,000 · Food & NutritionFOOD BANK OF THE ROCKIES: $4,000 · Food & NutritionBackpack Society: $1,000 · Food & NutritionWEDONTWASTE INC: $1,000 · Food & Nutrition
Other$1,287,826Education$290,221Human Services$224,650Health$72,000Philanthropy$54,500Recreation & Sports$30,000Food & Nutrition$28,500

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 budgetTHE INDEPENDENT CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetREGIS UNIVERSITY: $39,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSparkHope Automotive: $34,750 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetCASTLE ROCK PARKS AND TRAILS FOUNDATION: $30,000 over 1y, 7.2% of budgetKIDS FIRST HEALTH CARE: $29,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetLAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN: $29,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetA LITTLE HELP: $27,500 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetBAYLOR UNIVERSITY: $24,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetBelmont University: $24,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCANOPY VILLAGE INC: $23,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetWELLSPRING COMMUNITY: $22,400 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCOLORADO WOMEN'S EDUCATION FOUNDATI: $21,250 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetTRI-LAKES CARES: $21,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCLOTHES TO KIDS OF DENVER INC: $20,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO SPRINGS CHILD NURSERY CENTERS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE COLORADO COLLEGE: $19,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $18,067 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND: $18,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSTETSON UNIVERSITY INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSENIORS' RESOURCE CENTER INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDOANE UNIVERSITY: $13,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $12,654 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetChildren's Hospital Colorado Foundation: $12,250 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCASTLE ROCK SENIOR CENTER INC: $12,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetAGING RESOURCES OF DOUGLAS COUNTY: $12,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetCreighton University: $10,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCOURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetSECOR: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF PUEBLO INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetDENVER ASSET BUILDING COALITION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetA PRECIOUS CHILD INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBessies Hope: $9,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetDENVER DUMB FRIENDS LEAGUE: $8,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetColorado Christian University: $8,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEBRASKA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: $8,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS FOR FORT COLLINS COLORADO INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBRENT ELEY FOUNDATION: $7,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOMES FOR OUR TROOPS INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVASSAR COLLEGE: $5,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVISITING ANCILLARY SERVICES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNOURISH MEALS ON WHEELS: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetIMPACT ON EDUCATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCompass Montessori Education Foundation: $4,500 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetCOLORADO PET PANTRY: $4,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetLONGMONT MEALS ON WHEELS INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPAWS FOR PURPLE HEARTS: $4,000 over 3y, 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 THE INDEPENDENT CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ↗
  • Who funds REGIS UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds SparkHope Automotive ↗
  • Who funds CASTLE ROCK PARKS AND TRAILS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds KIDS FIRST HEALTH CARE ↗
  • Who funds LAGUNA COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN ↗
  • Who funds A LITTLE HELP ↗
  • Who funds BAYLOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Belmont University ↗
  • Who funds CANOPY VILLAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds WELLSPRING COMMUNITY ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO WOMEN'S EDUCATION FOUNDATI ↗
  • Who funds TRI-LAKES CARES ↗
  • Who funds CLOTHES TO KIDS OF DENVER INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds COLORADO SPRINGS CHILD NURSERY CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE COLORADO COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DENVER ↗
  • Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND ↗

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.

Colorado Gives Founda…The Denver FoundationAnschutz Family Found…Mile High United Way …Rose Community Founda…El Pomar FoundationThe Janus Henderson F…The Colorado Health F…Xcel Energy FoundationNextfifty InitiativeDaniels FundWestern Union Foundat…
Colorado Gives FoundationCO61.5× affinity36 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Colorado Gives Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Anschutz Family Foundation · Mile High United Way Inc · Rose Community Foundation · El Pomar Foundation · The Janus Henderson Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation · Xcel Energy Foundation · Nextfifty Initiative · Daniels Fund · Western Union 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 Lillis Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lillis Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
  • University of New Haven: 2% of income from government
  • Stetson University Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Oliver Patch Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
24report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
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 190 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Lillis’ 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