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Louis Calder Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Louis Calder Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$6.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
35
Grants FY2024still arriving
18
States reached
$1.0M
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, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$43MHuman Services$2.1MYouth Development$890kRecreation & Sports$430kPhilanthropy$106kHealth$50kArts & Culture$28kPublic Safety & Disaster$25kOther$0
02FY2024 · 35 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $8k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $25k
  • $50k–250k20 grants · $2.6M
  • $250k+9 grants · $4.3M
$100,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$194M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHARTER FUND INC$1,000,000
ARRAY EDUCATION INC$750,000
INSTRUCTION PARTNERS$500,000
JEREMIAH PROGRAM$400,000
CAMBIAR EDUCATION$400,000
ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC$350,000
SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE$300,000
COLORADO SCHOOLS FUND$300,000
THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST$250,000
ROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC$200,000
SETON EDUCATION PARTNERS$200,000
UNIVERSITY CHARTER SCHOOL$200,000
KIPP NEW YORK INC$200,000
BUILDING RESPONSIBLE INTELLIGENT CREATIVE KIDS$200,000
STRIVE PREPARATORY SCHOOLS$195,000
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 (FY20–24, $2.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 22%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $600k → 22%SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $400k → 22%SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $300k → 22%SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $300k → 22%MERCY CENTER CORPORATION: $30k → 6%ROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $200k → 28%MERCY CENTER CORPORATION: $27k → 6%ROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $200k → 28%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
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
SD
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
NC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
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 18% of Louis Calder Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Louis Calder Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 16% 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.

91%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$42M · 94 repeat orgs$4.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +70% since the first grant, against +54% for those funded once.

94 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2024, 66 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

94
39

Total granted

$42M
$3.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+70%
+54%

Still filing today

91%
72%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $920k 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
EducationPhilanthropyYouth DevelopmentHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureOther
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

  • CF
    CHARTER FUND INC D/B/A CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH FUND
    5× · 2019–2024 · $4.0M · revenue +202%
  • SPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +59%
  • AF
    ACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC
    4× · 2019–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • TF
    THIRD FUTURE SCHOOLS
    one grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue +18%
  • EE
    EL EDUCATION INC
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue -24%
  • RP
    ROCKETSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS TEXAS
    one grant, 2022 · $150k
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
Mastery Charter High School

All students learn the academic and personal skills they need to be truly prepared for postsecondary success and able to pursue their dreams.

Education
2
The New American Academy Charter School

The new american academy charter school empowers learners and inspires leaders to make this a better world. through our collaborative teacher teams, mastery-based career ladder, and looping cycles, we offer personalized rigorous…

Education
3
Bronx Charter School for Excellence

Excellence community schools prepares young people in new york city and stamford to compete for admission to and succeed in top public, private and parochial high schools by cultivating their intellectual, artistic, social, emotional, and…

Education
4
Compass Charter School

Compass charter school is a safe and nurturing educational environment that honors the individuality of each learner. by engaging in a process of inquiry, our graduates will be equipped with the necessary skills to lead fulfilling personal…

Education
5
Public Prep Charter School Academies

Our mission is simple: we aim to guide children to realize their inherent greatness. from a very young age, we reinforce to our scholars that they are agents of change. we guide scholars to embody the values of scholarship, excellence,…

Education
6
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
7
Elite Public Schools

To ensure students reach their fullest potential through access to learning spaces that honor and celebrate students' rich cultural heritage and challenge them with rigorous and relevant learning experiences designed to make them active…

Education
8
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
9
Vista Charter Public Schools Inc

At vista, students master core subjects through the power of applying knowledge in a real-world context. in addition to rigorous academics, our schools focus on increased proficiency in crucial areas such as critical thinking, problem…

Education
10
Stamford Charter School for Excellence

The stamford charter school for excellence prepares young people in stamford, connecticut to compete for admission to and succeed in top public, private and parochial high schools by cultivating their intellectual, artistic, social,…

Education
11
Democracy Prep Public Schools

To educate responsible citizen scholars for success in the college of their choice and a life of active citizenship.

Arts & Culture
12
Sonoma Charter School

Sonoma charter school seeks to achieve academic excellence through engaged learning in a setting that involves students, teachers, and parents.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Allegiance Steam Academy Inc; the most unlike its peers is Nashville Classical Charter School. 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

126 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. 126 of the 142 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
38
Early backer (in before they grew)
123/126
Grantees still filing
103/126
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ARRAY EDUCATION INC: $1,750,000 · EducationARRAY EDUCATION INCACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC: $1,250,000 · EducationCAMBIAR EDUCATION: $1,200,000 · EducationKIPP NEW YORK INC: $1,200,000 · EducationKIPP FOUNDATION: $1,200,000 · EducationINSTRUCTION PARTNERS: $1,125,000 · EducationImpact Public Schools: $1,095,000 · EducationTNTP INC: $1,085,000 · EducationNEW SCHOOLS FOR ALABAMA: $1,050,000 · Education+81 more: $20,256,625 · Education+81 moreCHARTER FUND INC D/B/A CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH FUND: $4,050,000 · PhilanthropyCHARTER FUND …SETON EDUCATION PARTNERS: $900,000 · PhilanthropySETON EDUCATI…COLORADO SCHOOLS FUND: $300,000 · PhilanthropyPARTNERSHIP FOR INNER CITY EDUCATION DBA PARTNERSHIP SCHOOLS: $195,000 · Philanthropy+7 more: $210,050 · PhilanthropyREPUBLIC SCHOOLS INC: $925,000 · OtherREPUBLIC SCH…ACHIEVEMENT FIRST RHODE ISLAND: $750,000 · OtherACHIEVEMENT …ROCKY MOUNTAIN PREPARATORY SCHOOLS: $608,500 · OtherROCKY MOUNTA…OXFORD TEACHERS ACADEMY: $500,000 · OtherOXFORD TEACH…PARENTCHILD INC: $245,000 · OtherPERSISTENCE PREPARATORY ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL: $202,000 · OtherAVANCE INC: $200,000 · Other+24 more: $1,856,850 · Other+24 moreSPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $1,600,000 · Human ServicesROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $400,000 · Human Services+1 more: $57,000 · Human ServicesJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $1,200,000 · Housing & ShelterVocel Viewing our Children as Emerging Leaders: $200,000 · Youth DevelopmentBoys and Girls Club of Northeast Florida Inc: $165,000 · Youth DevelopmentPACE CENTER FOR GIRLSINC: $100,000 · Youth DevelopmentSavannah Youth Development Foundation Inc: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentFUGEES FAMILY INC: $255,000 · Recreation & SportsNORWALKSTAMFORD GRASSROOTS TENNIS & EDUCATION INC: $100,000 · Recreation & Sports
Education$31,211,625Philanthropy$5,655,050Other$5,287,350Human Services$2,057,000Housing & Shelter$1,200,000Youth Development$490,000Recreation & Sports$355,000

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 budgetCHARTER FUND INC D/B/A CHARTER SCHOOL GROWTH FUND: $4,050,000 over 5y, 0.8% of budgetARRAY EDUCATION INC: $1,750,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetSPRINGBOARD COLLABORATIVE: $1,600,000 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC: $1,250,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetCAMBIAR EDUCATION: $1,200,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetKIPP NEW YORK INC: $1,200,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetKIPP FOUNDATION: $1,200,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetJEREMIAH PROGRAM: $1,200,000 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetINSTRUCTION PARTNERS: $1,125,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetImpact Public Schools: $1,095,000 over 6y, 5.3% of budgetTNTP INC: $1,085,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetNEW SCHOOLS FOR ALABAMA: $1,050,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetSETON EDUCATION PARTNERS: $900,000 over 3y, 5.0% of budgetCLARKSDALE COLLEGIATE: $775,000 over 5y, 5.9% of budgetUniversity Charter School: $757,000 over 5y, 3.6% of budgetNASHVILLE CLASSICAL CHARTER SCHOOL: $735,000 over 6y, 3.0% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $700,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMONLIT INC: $700,000 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetTULSA HONOR ACADEMY INC: $655,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetREACH UNIVERSITY: $650,000 over 2y, 7.4% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN PREPARATORY SCHOOLS: $608,500 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetExcellent Schools New Mexico: $550,000 over 4y, 39% of budgetBELLWETHER EDUCATION PARTNERS INC: $500,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetThomas B Fordham Institute: $500,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetTHE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION: $500,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetGREATHEARTS AMERICA: $500,000 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetUNIVERSITY PREPARATORY SCHOOLS: $475,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetVISTA COLLEGE PREPARATORY INC: $450,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetIDEA Public Schools: $450,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBUILDING RESPONSIBLE INTELLIGENT CREATIVE KIDS: $450,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetBecoming Collegiate Academy Inc: $435,000 over 2y, 78% of budgetVALOR COLLEGIATE ACADEMIES: $430,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetVERTEX PARTNERSHIP ACADEMIES INC: $400,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetROOM TO GROW NATIONAL INC: $400,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetCLASSICAL CHARTER SCHOOLS: $368,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetREACH OUT AND READ INC: $350,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $309,975 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetALMA DEL MAR FOUNDATION INC: $307,000 over 3y, 5.8% of budgetETHOS CLASSICAL CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $300,000 over 3y, 32% of budgetDEKALB BRILLIANCE ACADEMY INC: $300,000 over 2y, 5.0% of budgetCOLORADO SCHOOLS FUND: $300,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetNEW SCHOOLS FOR BATON ROUGE: $300,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetKIPP ENC PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $277,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLIBERTAS SCHOOL OF MEMPHIS: $270,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetAtlas Preparatory School Inc: $255,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetFUGEES FAMILY INC: $255,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetTHIRD FUTURE SCHOOLS: $250,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetNAVIGATOR SCHOOLS: $250,000 over 3y, 0.9% 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.

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.

Charter Fund Inc D/B/…New Schools FundWalton Family Foundat…City FundGates FoundationDaniels Fund50can IncCarnegie Corporation …Robin Hood FoundationThe Robert D and Patr…Charles and Helen Sch…Rooted
Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth FundCO109.1× affinity54 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Charter Fund Inc D/B/A Charter School Growth Fund · New Schools Fund · Walton Family Foundation Inc · City Fund · Gates Foundation · Daniels Fund · 50can Inc · Carnegie Corporation of New York · Robin Hood Foundation · The Robert D and Patricia E Kern Family Foundation Inc · Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation · Rooted

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 Louis Calder Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Louis Calder Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • Mercy Center Corporation: 21% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Interfaith Neighbors Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Reach Out and Read Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Kipp Jacksonville Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Kipp Miami Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Center for Creative Education: 2% of income from government
  • Pace Center for Girlsinc: 2% of income from government
  • True North Classical Academy Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Achievement Network Ltd: 1% of income from government
  • Achievement First Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
55report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely 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 Louis Calder Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Louis Calder 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 142 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 Louis Calder’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