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Lucky Heart Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Lucky Heart Fund

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.

$68k
Granted FY2025still arriving
24
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Animals$102kHealth$48kEnvironment$30kHuman Services$27kArts & Culture$19kInternational$15kFood & Nutrition$12kPublic Safety & Disaster$12kOther$0
02FY2025 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k22 grants · $48k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$2,500
Median grant
10
States reached
$1.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
DAYS END FARM HORSE RESCUE INC$10,000
THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY A COLORADO NON-PROFIT$10,000
NY COMMUNITY FRIDGE CORP$2,500
FIDOS FOR FREEDOM INC$2,500
IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC$2,500
RAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY$2,500
OPERATION SMILE INC$2,500
CANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE$2,500
KEEPER OF THE WILD WILDLIFE RESCUE AND SANCTUARY$2,500
ECKHART TOLLE FOUNDATION$2,500
THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY$2,500
NATIONAL WOMENS SHELTER NETWORK INC$2,500
SMILE FARMS INC$2,500
LOWCOUNTRY MARINE MAMMAL NETWORK$2,500
HUMANE SOCIETY OF HARFORD COUNTY INC$2,500
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 (FY20–24, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 97% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CAMP KESEM NATIONAL: $3k → 14%CHARITY NAVIGATOR: $250 → 7%AMERICAN NATIONAL RED CROSS: $3k → 14%BBI HOLDINGS INC: $3k → 14%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF MARYLAND INC: $2k → 19%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

VT
WA
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
KS
NC
SC
DC
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

43%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$132k · 16 repeat orgs$172k to everyone else

16 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 12 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
62

Total granted

$132k
$142k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
+17%

Still filing today

100%
90%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 54% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsHealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureEnvironmentEducationOther
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

  • DE
    DAYS END FARM HORSE RESCUE INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $44k · revenue +61%
  • PT
    Parker Task Force for Human Services
    6× · 2019–2024 · $11k · revenue +78%
  • HU
    HELPING UP MISSION INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $8k · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • EI
    EARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INC
    one grant, 2023 · $10k · revenue -9%
  • ER
    EUNOIA RESCUE
    one grant, 2021 · $7k · revenue -81%
  • CA
    CHARLESTON AREA THERAPEUTIC RIDING INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $7k · revenue +26%
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
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The aspca's mission, as stated by founder henry bergh in 1866, is "to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the united states." the aspca was founded on the belief that animals are entitled to kind and…

Animals
2
Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

The primary mission of the humane society is to end animal cruelty, neglect and overpopulation in south carolina.

Animals
3
American Humane Association

Founded in 1877, american humane association, dba american humane society (american humane) is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals. our leadership programs are first to serve in promoting and nurturing the…

Animals
4
Dorchester Paws

Dorchester Paws strives to instill humane principles into society through the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Animals
5
Animal Wellness Action

To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. enacting good laws depends upon electing good lawmakers, and we remind voters which candidates care about and support animal issues.

Human Services
6
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
7
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
8
Animal Outlook Inc

Animal outlook is a national animal protection organization working to end the abuse of farmed animals using a variety of strategies, including investigations, legal advocacy, corporate and food system reform, and vegan outreach.

Animals
9
World Animal Protection

World animal protection is a global organization working to end factory farming and wildlife exploitation. we expose cruel systems, promote animal-friendly alternatives, and influence policy change. for over 75 years, we've been rewriting…

Animals
10
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
11
Sweet Farm Foundation

Sweet farm is the world's first nonprofit sanctuary to address the devastating impact that factory farming has on climate change from the perspective of animals, plants, and the planet. we must first understand how these pieces are…

Animals
12
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Maryland Zoological Society Inc; the most unlike its peers is Morgans Message Inc. 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

88 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. 88 of the 94 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
88/88
Grantees still filing
51/88
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DAYS END FARM HORSE RESCUE INC: $43,500 · AnimalsDAYS END FARM HORSE RESCUE INCTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $11,000 · AnimalsTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARYEUNOIA RESCUE: $7,000 · AnimalsEUNOIA RESCUETHE MARYLAND SPCA INC: $4,250 · AnimalsMARYLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC: $3,500 · AnimalsCHARLESTON ANIMAL SOCIETY: $3,500 · Animals+11 more: $21,000 · Animals+11 moreParker Task Force for Human Services: $10,500 · OtherParker Task Force for Human ServicesHELPING UP MISSION INC: $8,000 · OtherHELPING UP MISSION INCALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $7,000 · OtherALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INCEARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 · OtherEARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INCCHESAPEAKE BAY OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL INC: $6,500 · OtherCHESAPEAKE BAY OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL INCSMILE FARMS INC: $5,000 · Other+35 more: $67,250 · Other+35 moreCHARLESTON AREA THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC: $7,000 · HealthCHARLESTON…LOWCOUNTRY EQUINE-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY: $4,500 · HealthLOWCOUNTRY…Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Inc: $2,500 · HealthMyasthenia…MORGANS MESSAGE INC: $2,500 · HealthMORGANS ME…CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $2,500 · HealthCYSTIC FIB…CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2,500 · HealthCHILDREN'S…ALS THERAPY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · HealthALS THERAP…RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA INC: $2,500 · HealthRONALD MCD…AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION: $2,000 · HealthAMERICAN F…+1 more: $750 · HealthMiddleton Place Foundation: $8,000 · Arts & CultureGREATER RUXTON AREA FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 · Arts & CultureSTAMFORD HOUSE HISTORIC PRESERVATION FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF HILDENE INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureUNBRIDLED THOROUGHBRED FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Arts & CultureProject Liberty Ship Inc: $1,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $500 · Arts & CultureFRIENDS OF RAMANA'S GARDEN: $5,000 · Human ServicesCamp Kesem National: $2,500 · Human ServicesCANINE COMPANIONS FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesLOWCOUNTRY ORPHAN RELIEF: $2,500 · Human ServicesBBI HOLDINGS INC: $2,500 · Human ServicesAmerican National Red Cross & Its Constituent Chapters and Branches: $2,500 · Human ServicesRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF MARYLAND INC: $2,000 · Human Services+1 more: $250 · Human ServicesIRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC: $7,000 · EnvironmentTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $2,500 · EnvironmentFRISKY'S WILDLIFE AND PRIMATE SANCTUARY INC: $2,500 · EnvironmentWATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC: $2,500 · EnvironmentThe Kiawah Island Natural Habitat Conservancy Inc: $2,500 · EnvironmentRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $2,500 · EnvironmentSave The Children Federation Inc: $2,500 · InternationalWORLD VISION INC: $2,500 · InternationalWATER MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL: $2,500 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $2,500 · InternationalOPERATION SMILE INC: $2,500 · International
Animals$93,750Other$114,250Health$29,250Arts & Culture$21,500Human Services$19,750Environment$19,500International$12,500

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 budgetDAYS END FARM HORSE RESCUE INC: $43,500 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $11,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetParker Task Force for Human Services: $10,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetEARTHWATCH INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMiddleton Place Foundation: $8,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHELPING UP MISSION INC: $8,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALL HANDS AND HEARTS SMART RESPONSE INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEUNOIA RESCUE: $7,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetCHARLESTON AREA THERAPEUTIC RIDING INC: $7,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetIRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC: $7,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHESAPEAKE BAY OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL INC: $6,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER RUXTON AREA FOUNDATION INC: $6,000 over 6y, 2.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF RAMANA'S GARDEN: $5,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetSMILE FARMS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLOWCOUNTRY EQUINE-ASSISTED PSYCHOTHERAPY: $4,500 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetTHE MARYLAND SPCA INC: $4,250 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Jamie and Paige Malone Foundation: $3,500 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetMARYLAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLESTON ANIMAL SOCIETY: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBlink of an Eye - Integrative Center for Trauma Healing Advocacy and Transformat: $3,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetTHE MARYLAND FOOD BANK INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HUMANE SOCIETY OF HARFORD COUNTY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMyasthenia Gravis Foundation of America Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON HUMANE SOCIETY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMORGANS MESSAGE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAMOR HEALING KITCHEN INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetECKHART TOLLE FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLOBAL EMPOWERMENT MISSION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRISKY'S WILDLIFE AND PRIMATE SANCTUARY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetWORLD VISION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOne-Eighty Place: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIDOS FOR FREEDOM INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCamp Kesem National: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHALLIE HILL ANIMAL SANCTUARY F/K/A HALLIE HILL INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKIDS ON POINT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWATERKEEPER ALLIANCE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOME INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHARLESTON HOPE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCAMP HAPPY DAYS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALS THERAPY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Kiawah Island Natural Habitat Conservancy Inc: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetRAILS TO TRAILS CONSERVANCY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCommunities in Schools of South Carolina: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTEAM RUBICON INC: $2,500 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.

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.

Coastal Community Fou…The Joanna FoundationBaltimore Community F…T Rowe Price Program …The Mark Elliott Motl…Kuznik Charitable Fou…George R & Janet E De…Advanced Technology I…Kelly Family Foundati…Trident United WayDominion Energy Chari…France-Merrick Founda…
Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina IncSC32× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina Inc · The Joanna Foundation · Baltimore Community Foundation Inc · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc · The Mark Elliott Motley Foundation Inc · Kuznik Charitable Foundation · George R & Janet E Desko Charitable Foundation · Advanced Technology International · Kelly Family Foundation · Trident United Way · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · France-Merrick Foundation Inc

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 Lucky Heart Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lucky Heart Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 160%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
  • Moveable Feast Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • The Maryland Food Bank Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Black Women Build - Baltimore Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Als Therapy Development Foundation Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Helping Up Mission Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Maryland Zoological Society Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Commonwealth Zoological Corporation D/B/a Zoo New England: 2% of income from government
  • Global Empowerment Mission Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
16get no government money at all
17report 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.

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 94 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 Lucky Heart’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