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Lions Clubs International Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Lions Clubs International Foundation

To empower Lions Clubs, volunteers, and partners to improve health and well-being, strengthen communities, and support those in need through humanitarian services and grants that impact lives globally, and encourage peace and international understanding.

$37M
Granted FY2025still arriving
139
Grants FY2025still arriving
42
States reached
$1.9M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2025.

Recreation & Sports$23MHealth$17MPublic Safety & Disaster$6.2MFood & Nutrition$3.2MInternational$2.9MCommunity Improvement$1.9MHuman Services$1.2MEducation$1.0MOther$0
02FY2025 · 139 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 139 grants below total $5,738,251, the rows itemized in this filing. The $36,869,007 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $31,130,756 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 · FY2025

  • Under $10k25 grants · $174k
  • $10k–50k91 grants · $1.5M
  • $50k–250k22 grants · $2.2M
  • $250k+1 grant · $1.9M
$15,000
Median grant
42
States reached
$449M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Special Olympics$1,916,000
NA Lions Quest Community Partnership Grants$225,000
District 34 A$150,000
Multiple District 34$150,000
District 19 N$107,114
Multiple District 33$100,000
Multiple District 31$100,000
District 11 A2$100,000
District 5M 2$100,000
District 12 L$100,000
District 34 C$100,000
Multiple District 35$100,000
Multiple District 4$100,000
District 12 L$99,500
District 24 C$93,729
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 (FY18–25, $685k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%District 35-N: $20k → 13%Leader Dogs for the Blind: $12k → 8%Blessings In A Backpack Inc: $8k → 15%District 35 N: $10k → 13%District 35 N: $100k → 15%Blessings in a Backpack: $10k → 15%District 35 N: $9k → 13%District 35 N: $8k → 15%District 35 N: $150k → 15%Lions Foundation of District 35N Inc: $15k → 15%District 35-N: $10k → 15%District 35 N: $190k → 15%District 35 N: $125k → 15%District 35 N: $10k → 15%District 35 N: $10k → 15%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
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $29M on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 9 regions. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

East Asia and the Pacific$10M · 35% · 328 grants

Stated purpose: Equip Fire Brigade with Firefighting Gear · Purchase Thermal Imaging Cameras for Fire Brigade · Donate Food Supplies to the Needy

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$4.8M · 17% · 94 grants

Stated purpose: Provide Mobility Equipment for New Autism Center · Equip Center for Disabled · Renovate Garden for Palazzolo Institute Nursing Home

South America$4.3M · 15% · 88 grants

Stated purpose: Flood Relief · Food & Basic Need Items for Refugees · Diabetes Campaign in Fonseca, La Guajira

South Asia$3.5M · 12% · 71 grants

Stated purpose: Flood Relief · Equip Lions Women's Vocational Training Center · Equip Lions Charitable Eye Hospital in Chittagong

Sub-Saharan Africa$2.2M · 8% · 30 grants

Stated purpose: Flood Relief Niger · Flood Relief · Cyclone Relief Madagascar

Russia and Neighboring States$2.0M · 7% · 7 grants

Stated purpose: Internally Displaced Persons Relief - Stoves · Lions Quest Program

North America (Canada and Mexico)$1.3M · 4% · 37 grants

Stated purpose: Wildfire Relief · Construct National Dog Guide Training School (local match) · DGE Humanitarian Causes 2025

Middle East and North Africa$517k · 2% · 7 grants

Stated purpose: WASH Initiative in Gaza · Furnish Homes for Gaza's Children in Bethlehem · DGE Humanitarian Causes 2025

Central America and the Caribbean$364k · 1% · 13 grants

Stated purpose: AAOT and Special Olympics Caribbean 2024 · Bevelling Machine for Lions Eye Clinic · Equipment for Children's Hospital

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
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 9% of Lions Clubs International Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Lions Clubs International Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 2.5% 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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$48M · 204 repeat orgs$10M to everyone else

204 repeat relationships: 93 still active in FY2025, 111 since wound down; 20 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

204
89

Total granted

$48M
$9.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+9%

Still filing today

30%
25%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $706k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
PhilanthropyHealthCommunity ImprovementInternationalRecreation & SportsHuman ServicesOther
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

  • SO
    SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $16M · revenue +44%
  • TC
    Texas Children's Hospital
    4× · 2020–2024 · $3.6M · revenue +69%
  • RT
    RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS ENDOWMENT FUND INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $900k · revenue +34%

Funded once

  • TG
    The GAVI Campaign
    one grant, 2017 · $2.5M
  • WF
    World Food Program USA
    one grant, 2024 · $1.0M
  • TC
    THE CARTER CENTER INC
    one grant, 2020 · $856k · revenue +25%
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
International Association of Lions Club Lititz Lions and Leos Club

Non-profit community service group.

—
2
International Association of Lions

Raising Money to Help Community

—
3
International Association of Lions Club

Volunteers serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, primarily focus on helping to aid the blind and visually impaired.

—
4
International Association of Lions Clubs

The primary exempt purpose of the Lions Club is to promote the civic, cultural, social, and moral welfare of the community and to encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward. While its…

—
5
International Association of Lions Clubs

Grants

—
6
International Association of Lions Clubs

To foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing services thru community involvement.

—
7
International Association of Lions Clubs

Support benevolent programs of Lions Club International.

Health
8
International Association of Lions 538 Hampshire

Health, Civic and Health Services

Philanthropy
9
International Association of Lions Dist 14K Emmaus Lions Club

To create and foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation.

—
10
Lions International Boise Bench

Civic activities & donations

—
11
International Association of Lions 5154 Kalida

Provide voluntary services

—
12
Lions International of Missouri Multiple District 26

Eye and auditory services;to empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote understanding through lions clubs.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is International Association of Lions; the most unlike its peers is Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation. 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

110 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. 110 of the 313 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.

54
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
89/110
Grantees still filing
50/110
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

The GAVI Campaign: $2,500,000 · OtherThe GAVI CampaignMultiple District 51: $1,250,185 · OtherLIONS INTERNATIONAL MD-2: $1,136,919 · Other+177 more: $27,002,794 · Other+177 moreSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $15,937,717 · Recreation & SportsSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC+1 more: $271,774 · Recreation & SportsTexas Children's Hospital: $3,565,000 · HealthTexas Chil…RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS ENDOWMENT FUND INC: $900,000 · HealthRESEARCH T…LOUISIANA LIONS EYE FOUNDATION: $363,985 · HealthLOUISIANA …PARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $244,068 · Health+1 more: $40,799 · HealthTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $855,540 · InternationalSURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC: $250,000 · InternationalREMOTE AREA MEDICAL: $250,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $250,000 · InternationalLions Foundation of District 35-N Inc: $674,973 · Human ServicesLions Clubs International Foundation: $225,000 · PhilanthropyLIONS 65549 DISTRICT 2 E2: $157,866 · PhilanthropyPANHANDLE OF TEXAS LIONS FOUNDATION: $100,000 · PhilanthropyLIONS MULTIPLE DISTRICT 39 INC: $74,535 · PhilanthropyINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OF LIONS CLUBS: $251,288 · Community ImprovementLIONS CHARITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA INC: $136,200 · Community ImprovementDISTRICT 4-L3 OF MULTIPLE DISTRICT4 CALIFORNIA LIONS CLUBS: $50,100 · Community ImprovementLIONS OF ILLINOIS DISTRICT 1-BK: $49,925 · Community Improvement
Other$31,889,898Recreation & Sports$16,209,491Health$5,113,852International$1,605,540Human Services$674,973Philanthropy$557,401Community Improvement$487,513

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS INC: $15,937,717 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetTexas Children's Hospital: $3,565,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLIONS INTERNATIONAL MD-2: $1,136,919 over 3y, 66% of budgetMULTIPLE DISTRICT NO 33 LIONS CLUBS INT: $1,008,113 over 9y, 77% of budgetRESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS ENDOWMENT FUND INC: $900,000 over 4y, 4.6% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $855,540 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetLions Foundation of District 35-N Inc: $674,973 over 6y, 74% of budgetLions Clubs of New York State & Bermuda Lions Clubs International Inc: $459,177 over 4y, 54% of budgetCOUNCIL OF GOVERNORS - DISTRICT 30 LIONS OF MISSISSIPPI: $446,529 over 6y, 25% of budgetLIONS INTERNATIONAL FLORIDA MULTIPLE DISTRICT 35 INC: $432,885 over 4y, 73% of budgetMULTIPLE DISTRICT 5M INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS INC: $402,080 over 4y, 56% of budgetLIONS CLUBS- MD-31 - N C LIONS: $379,580 over 4y, 73% of budgetLOUISIANA LIONS EYE FOUNDATION: $363,985 over 6y, 28% of budgetInternational Association of Lions Clubs 4C6 District: $345,866 over 6y, 68% of budgetLions International Multiple District 2-S5: $337,403 over 4y, 71% of budgetLIONS INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 5M-2: $313,478 over 6y, 61% of budgetTHE MIRACLE LEAGUE OF COASTAL ALABAMA INC: $271,774 over 4y, 75% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS 25B DISTRICT: $270,000 over 3y, 39% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OF LIONS CLUBS: $251,288 over 5y, 63% of budgetSURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC: $250,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetREMOTE AREA MEDICAL: $250,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $250,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIONS OF MI MULTIPLEDIS 11 INC: $246,641 over 2y, 63% of budgetPARTNERS IN HEALTH A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $244,068 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLions International 1-H District: $242,132 over 3y, 64% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUB MD34: $240,000 over 3y, 77% of budgetLions Clubs International Foundation: $225,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDISTRICT 4 - C5 OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS: $215,518 over 3y, 89% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS: $206,634 over 7y, 54% of budgetInternational Association of Lions Clubs Dist 33S: $190,428 over 3y, 40% of budgetThe International Association of Lions Clubs: $175,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLIONS 65549 DISTRICT 2 E2: $157,866 over 3y, 75% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS: $141,077 over 3y, 59% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS: $140,500 over 2y, 58% of budgetLIONS CHARITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHEASTERN VIRGINIA INC: $136,200 over 2y, 48% of budgetLIONS INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 4L2: $133,235 over 3y, 39% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS 65572 4 A1 District: $127,348 over 4y, 30% of budgetLIONS CLUB DISTRICT 4-L6: $125,000 over 2y, 28% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUB: $124,326 over 4y, 50% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS STATE ORGANIZATION: $121,500 over 2y, 21% of budgetLIONS CLUB INTERNATIONAL LEXINGTON LIONS CLUB INC: $120,723 over 6y, 17% of budgetLIONS OF ILLINOIS DISTRICT 1: $112,029 over 1y, 40% of budgetDISTRICT 2-T1 OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS: $111,500 over 3y, 17% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS: $110,726 over 4y, 23% of budgetLIONS INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 2S-4: $110,707 over 4y, 43% of budgetInternational Association of Lions Clubs: $103,489 over 4y, 76% of budgetLOUISIANA LIONS MULTIPLE DISTRICT 8: $100,000 over 1y, 90% of budgetPANHANDLE OF TEXAS LIONS FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 52% 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 SPECIAL OLYMPICS INC ↗
  • Who funds Texas Children's Hospital ↗
  • Who funds LIONS INTERNATIONAL MD-2 ↗
  • Who funds MULTIPLE DISTRICT NO 33 LIONS CLUBS INT ↗
  • Who funds RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS ENDOWMENT FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CARTER CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Lions Foundation of District 35-N Inc ↗
  • Who funds District 37 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS CLUBS ↗
  • Who funds Lions Clubs of New York State & Bermuda Lions Clubs International Inc ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS - DISTRICT 30 LIONS OF MISSISSIPPI ↗
  • Who funds LIONS INTERNATIONAL FLORIDA MULTIPLE DISTRICT 35 INC ↗
  • Who funds MULTIPLE DISTRICT 5M INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS INC ↗
  • Who funds LIONS CLUBS- MD-31 - N C LIONS ↗
  • Who funds LOUISIANA LIONS EYE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds International Association of Lions Clubs 4C6 District ↗
  • Who funds Lions International Multiple District 2-S5 ↗
  • Who funds LIONS INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 5M-2 ↗
  • Who funds THE MIRACLE LEAGUE OF COASTAL ALABAMA INC ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LIONS 25B DISTRICT ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS OF LIONS CLUBS ↗
  • Who funds SURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds REMOTE AREA MEDICAL ↗
  • Who funds WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC ↗
  • Who funds LIONS OF MI MULTIPLEDIS 11 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

The International Ass…Amazonsmile Foundation
The International Association of Lions ClubsIL29.9× affinity12 shared granteesties to 0 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The International Association of Lions Clubs · Amazonsmile 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 Lions Clubs International Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lions Clubs International Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Lions Clubs International Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Lions Clubs International 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 313 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Lions Clubs International’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