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Make a Difference Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Make a Difference Foundation

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.

$159k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Religion$925kHealth$913kEducation$655kPhilanthropy$512kPublic Benefit$80kYouth Development$55kCivil Rights$50kRecreation & Sports$21kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k4 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $47k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $100k
$10,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$481k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
KAPPA ALPHA ORDER EDUCATIONAL FOUND$100,000
LATINO ACTION FOUNDATION$25,000
THE WILSON RESEARCH FOUNDATION$12,000
FRIENDS OF CHILDRENS HOSPITAL$10,000
ST DOMINIC HEALTH SERVICES FOUNDAT$5,000
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN DAY SCHOOL$4,000
YOUNG LIFE URBAN MS 18$2,500
FRENCH CAMP ACADEMY$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 (FY18–25, $38k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%LATINO ACTION FOUNDATION: $25k → 14%HOSPICE MINISTRIES: $10k → 11%SUNNYBROOK CHILDREN'S HOME: $3k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES INC: $300 → 23%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

MT
IA
OH
PA
MD
TN
NC
SC
OK
MS
AL
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.9M · 16 repeat orgs$328k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +9% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
34

Total granted

$2.9M
$195k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+9%
0%

Still filing today

50%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 16% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $133k 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
EducationHealthHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsReligionArts & 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

  • YL
    YOUNG LIFE
    2× · 2022–2024 · $47k · revenue +18%
  • TW
    THE WILSON RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    4× · 2022–2025 · $42k · revenue +9%
  • TR
    THE REDEEMERS SCHOOL
    2× · 2022–2023 · $20k · revenue +84%

Funded once

  • LA
    LATINO ACTION FUND
    one grant, 2024 · $25k
  • SD
    ST DOMINIC HEALTH SERV FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • TU
    THE UMMC FUND
    one grant, 2021 · $25k
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
Methodist Foundation of Mississippi Inc

The foundation exists to cultivate and administer current and deferred gifts for the benefit of ms united methodist related institutions, agencies, local churches, and other ministries for charitable purposes and support and to educate…

Religion
2
Mission Mississippi

To encourage and demonstrate grace in the body of christ across racial lines, so that communities throughout mississippi can see practical evidence of the gospel message.

Civil Rights
3
Health Care Foundation of North Ms

Health care foundation of north mississippi is operated exclusively for the purpose of raising, receiving, and administering funds (for medical, scientific, educational and charitable purposes), to assist hospital and non-profit…

Health
4
Christian Healthcare Ministries Inc

To glorify god, show christian love, and experience god's presence as christians share each other's medical bills.

Religion
5
United Church of Christ Homes Inc

In the spirit of christ's love, the ministry of united church of christ homes is to provide care and service to elders through acts of love and compassion.

Human Services
6
Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation

We, at ch, humbly join together to bring christ's healing mission and the mission of mercy of the catholic church expressed in catholic health care to our communities.

—
7
The Methodist Hospital Foundation

Mission: this organization is part of the methodist hospital, doing business as houston methodist hospital, whose mission is: to provide high quality, cost-effective health care that delivers the best value to the people we serve in a…

Health
8
North Mississippi Medical Clinics Inc

North mississippi medical clinics, inc. (clinics) owns and operates 34 primary care and internal medicine clinics, all primarily within north mississippi and northwest alabama. clinics is part of the north mississippi health services…

Health
9
Mississippi Methodist Hospital Rehabilitation Center Inc

In response to the love of god, the methodist rehabilitation center, is dedicated to the restoration and enhancement of the lives of those we serve. we are committed to excellence and leadership in the delivery of comprehensive…

Health
10
North Mississippi Medical Center Inc

North mississippi medical center (nmmc) is a 650-bed regional referral center in tupelo, ms. nmmc serves more than 700,000 people in 24 counties in north mississippi, northwest alabama and portions of tennessee. nmmc is the largest…

Health
11
Methodist Children's Home

Methodist children's home equips children, youth, and families to flourish by offering hope through christian-centered relationships, services, and support.

Human Services
12
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital Foundation

In partnership with donors and volunteers, le bonheur children's hospital foundation promotes philanthropic investment to support le bonheur children's hospital's mission of providing high qualitypatient care, research and advocacy.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish Foundation of Mississippi Chartered; the most unlike its peers is Latino Action Foundation 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

28 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. 28 of the 58 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
28/28
Grantees still filing
12/28
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HIGHLANDS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $721,000 · OtherHIGHLANDS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHTHE WILSON FOUNDATION: $500,100 · OtherTHE WILSON FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF MS MEDICAL CENTER: $400,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MS MEDICAL CENTERUMC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $400,000 · OtherUMC CHILDREN'S HOSPITALKAPPA ALPHA ORDER EDUCATIONAL FOUND: $100,000 · OtherFIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $100,000 · Other+33 more: $250,200 · Other+33 moreBelhaven University: $505,000 · EducationBelhaven UniversityMISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $80,000 · EducationMISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR…THE WILSON RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $42,300 · EducationTHE WILSON RESEARCH FO…+2 more: $20,500 · EducationYOUNG LIFE: $47,000 · Youth DevelopmentLATINO ACTION FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesHOSPICE MINISTRIES INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesSUNNYBROOK CHILDREN'S HOME INC: $2,500 · Human Services+1 more: $300 · Human ServicesCENTURY CLUB CHARITIES INC: $18,550 · Recreation & SportsCHILDRENS ONCOLOGY CAMP FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $450 · Recreation & SportsFRIENDS OF CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INC: $12,000 · HealthHELPHOPELIVE INC: $2,500 · HealthHYDROCEPHALUS ASSOCIATION: $1,250 · Health+1 more: $100 · HealthWHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyCREATE FOUNDATION: $1,300 · Philanthropy
Other$2,471,300Education$647,800Youth Development$47,000Human Services$37,800Recreation & Sports$24,000Health$15,850Philanthropy$11,300

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 budgetBelhaven University: $505,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetMISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $80,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $47,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE WILSON RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $42,300 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetLATINO ACTION FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetTHE REDEEMERS SCHOOL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCENTURY CLUB CHARITIES INC: $18,550 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetWHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHOSPICE MINISTRIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE HENRY CEMETERY: $8,500 over 3y, 2.3% of budgetSt Dominic Health Services Foundation Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDRENS ONCOLOGY CAMP FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetWE WILL GO: $2,800 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetALPINE THEATRE PROJECT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSUNNYBROOK CHILDREN'S HOME INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHELPHOPELIVE INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFOUR CORNERS MINISTRIESINC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH FOUNDATION INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCREATE FOUNDATION: $1,300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHYDROCEPHALUS ASSOCIATION: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDAYSTAR COUNSELING MINISTRIES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMISSION FIRST INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFRENCH CAMP ACADEMY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGLACIER NATIONAL PARK CONSERVANCY: $450 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBIG MOUNTAIN FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION: $200 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION OF MISSISSIPPI CHARTERED: $100 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.

  • Who funds Belhaven University ↗
  • Who funds MISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds THE WILSON RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LATINO ACTION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds THE REDEEMERS SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds CENTURY CLUB CHARITIES INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL INC ↗
  • Who funds WHITEFISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds THE HENRY CEMETERY ↗
  • Who funds St Dominic Health Services Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds CHILDRENS ONCOLOGY CAMP FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds WE WILL GO ↗
  • Who funds ALPINE THEATRE PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds SUNNYBROOK CHILDREN'S HOME INC ↗
  • Who funds HELPHOPELIVE 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …Van Devender Family F…Ergon Foundation IncFeild Co-Operative As…Sam E & Burnice C Wit…Selby and Richard McR…Christian Community F…The Gertrude C Ford F…The Pruet FoundationRaymond James Charita…Telos Foundation IncWalker Foundation
Community Foundation for MississippiMS38.4× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Mississippi · Van Devender Family Foundation William Van Devender Trustee · Ergon Foundation Inc · Feild Co-Operative Association · Sam E & Burnice C Wittel Foundation · Selby and Richard McRae Foundation · Christian Community Foundation of Memphis · The Gertrude C Ford Foundation Inc · The Pruet Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Telos Foundation Inc · Walker 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 Make a Difference Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Make a Difference Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%3%6%10%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
    2get no government money at all
    7report 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.

    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 58 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 Make a Difference’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