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Lucky Star Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Lucky Star 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.

$28k
Granted FY2021
3
Grants FY2021
2
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0187% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Arts & Culture$97kHealth$32kPhilanthropy$6kScience & Tech$5kPublic Benefit$5kRecreation & Sports$500Other$0
02FY2021 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $20k
$10,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$10,000
PALM ARTS$10,000
TELLURIDE AIDS BENEFITS$7,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–21) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 23% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%EPIPHANY PRODUCTIONS SONIC DANCE THEATER: $5k → 10%MOTHERS2MOTHERS: $8k → 14%RIVER ARTS: $1k → 9%FRACTURED ATLAS: $5k → 17%CALM AIR VISIBILITY: $10k → 16%WE ARE FOUNDATION: $25k → 10%MICHAEL D PALM THEATER: $10k → 7%GEORGE B STORER FOUNDATION: $1k → 5%EPIPHANY PRODUCTIONS SONIC DANCE THEATER: $5k → 10%FRACTURED ATLAS: $3k → 17%CALM AIR VISIBILITY: $10k → 16%PALM ARTS: $10k → 7%CALM AIR VISIBILITY: $10k → 16%PALM ARTS: $10k → 7%PALM ARTS: $10k → 7%PALM ARTS: $10k → 7%TELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT: $10k → 7%TELLURIDE AIDS BENEFITS: $8k → 7%TELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT: $7k → 7%MOUNTAIN FILM IN TELLURIDE: $5k → 7%TELLURIDE FIRE FESTIVAL: $5k → 7%MOUNTAIN FILM IN TELLURIDE: $5k → 7%MOUNTAIN FILM IN TELLURIDE: $5k → 7%TELLURIDE THEATRE: $5k → 7%TELLURIDE THEATRE: $5k → 7%TELLURIDE CHAMBER MUSIC ASSOCIATION: $3k → 7%PINHEAD INSTITUTE: $3k → 7%PINHEAD INSTITUTE: $3k → 7%TELLURIDE SKI AND SNOWBOARD: $500 → 7%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.
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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$142k · 8 repeat orgs$58k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +66% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2021, 5 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
9

Total granted

$142k
$58k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+66%
+3%

Still filing today

63%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21
EducationHealthArts & CulturePublic BenefitYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyOther
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

  • PA
    PALM ARTS INC
    4× · 2018–2021 · $40k · revenue +3%
  • TA
    TELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT INC
    3× · 2018–2021 · $24k · revenue +66%
  • TR
    TELLURIDE REPERTORY THEATRE COMPANY
    2× · 2018–2019 · $10k · revenue +103%

Funded once

  • WA
    WE ARE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • MD
    MICHAEL D PALM THEATER
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
  • MU
    MOTHERS2MOTHERS UNITED STATES INC
    one grant, 2019 · $8k · revenue +3%
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 Telluride Institute Inc

The telluride institute is an innovative non-profit organization that fosters the transition to a sustainable world. we work with communities, business, and the public sector to create and advance real solutions that support the health of…

Social Science
2
The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico
—
3
Tigerlion Arts
Arts & Culture
4
Telluride Council for the Arts and Human Dba Telluride Arts

Telluride arts vitalizes the region by advancing the appreciation and participation in the arts through three main program areas: providing resources for regional artists; connecting diverse audiences with dynamic and broard local arts…

—
5
Theatre Artibus

Artibus is dedicated to strengthening community through the experience of live performance. We are a hub in Denver for intimate, original performances that explore important social themes and for building community through shared space,…

—
6
Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre
Arts & Culture
7
Entrada Institute Inc

Entrada serves as an arts and educational center to promote public understanding and appreciation of the high desert colorado plateau.

Arts & Culture
8
The National Film Preserve Ltd

The Telluride Film Festival is an international educational arts event educating while celebrating through the art of film. It conducts an annual film festival in Telluride Colorado. See Schedule O for more details as to the programs and…

Arts & Culture
9
Undiscovered Earth

Support creatives to live work thrive.

Community Improvement
10
Boulder Ballet

Boulder ballet creates engaging dance performances and educational initiatives that enrich human connections through the transformative power of the arts.

Arts & Culture
11
Think Global Arts Foundation
International
12
Wind River Valley Artist Guild
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Palm Arts Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Pinhead Institute. 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

10 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. 10 of the 17 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
8/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $30,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientWE ARE FOUNDATION: $25,000 · OtherWE ARE FOUNDATIONMOUNTAIN FILM IN TELLURIDE: $15,000 · OtherMOUNTAIN FILM IN TELLURIDEEPIPHANY PRODUCTIONS SONIC DANCE THEATER: $10,000 · OtherEPIPHANY PRODUCTIONS SONIC DANCE THEATERMICHAEL D PALM THEATER: $10,000 · OtherMICHAEL D PALM THEATER+3 more: $2,500 · OtherPALM ARTS INC: $40,000 · EducationPALM ARTS INCTELLURIDE CHAMBER MUSIC: $3,000 · EducationTELLURIDE CHAMBER MUSICTELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT INC: $24,445 · HealthTELLURIDE AIDS BEN…MOTHERS2MOTHERS UNITED STATES INC: $7,500 · HealthMOTHERS2MOTHERS UN…TELLURIDE REPERTORY THEATRE COMPANY: $10,000 · Arts & CultureTELLURIDE …FRACTURED ATLAS INC: $8,050 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED …ROCKY MOUNTAIN ARTS: $5,000 · Public BenefitFund for Change: $5,000 · PhilanthropyThe Pinhead Institute: $5,000 · Youth Development
Other$92,500Education$43,000Health$31,945Arts & Culture$18,050Public Benefit$5,000Philanthropy$5,000Youth Development$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetPALM ARTS INC: $40,000 over 4y, 3.1% of budgetTELLURIDE AIDS BENEFIT INC: $24,445 over 3y, 3.5% of budgetTELLURIDE REPERTORY THEATRE COMPANY: $10,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $8,050 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMOTHERS2MOTHERS UNITED STATES INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROCKY MOUNTAIN ARTS: $5,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetThe Pinhead Institute: $5,000 over 2y, 0.6% 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.

Just For Kids Foundat…Community Foundation …Telluride FoundationThe Thomas Phillips a…Gs Donor Advised Phil…National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Just For Kids Foundation IncCO15.8× affinity5 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Just For Kids Foundation Inc · Community Foundation of the Gunnison Valley · Telluride Foundation · The Thomas Phillips and Jane Moore Johnson Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Lucky Star Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Lucky Star Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 Lucky Star Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Lucky Star 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 17 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2021, the most recent year this funder made grants.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Lucky Star’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