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Martha & Spencer Love Fdtn at a glance

· Private foundation

Martha & Spencer Love Fdtn

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.

$131k
Granted FY2025still arriving
12
Grants FY2025still arriving
7
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Environment$260kEducation$257kYouth Development$82kFood & Nutrition$68kHuman Services$66kCrime & Legal$65kInternational$60kArts & Culture$55kOther$0
02FY2025 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $16k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $115k
$10,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$2.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATIONAL$15,000
PROPUBLICA$13,000
SOUTHERN COALITION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE$12,000
FWDUS EDUCATION FUND INC$10,000
CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING INC$10,000
WINTER WALK INC$10,000
GREAT BAY STEWARDS INC$10,000
NEW HAMPSHIRE HUNGER SOLUTIONS INC$10,000
HEALING JUSTICE$10,000
GENERATION WE INC$8,000
NOURISH UP$8,000
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 (FY20–25, $89k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 38% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PORT CHESTER CARVER CENTER: $20k → 9%GATHER INC: $10k → 5%OYSTER RIVER WOMENADE: $10k → 9%CHARLOTTE FAMILY HOUSING INC: $10k → 10%GATHER INC: $5k → 5%5 STEPS TO FIVE INC: $10k → 9%SANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES: $11k → 17%NOURISH UP: $8k → 10%THE RELATIVES INC: $5k → 10%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

NH
IL
NY
MA
SD
VA
MD
NC
SC
DC
GA
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.

59%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$692k · 18 repeat orgs$480k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +38% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

18 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

18
35

Total granted

$692k
$424k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+38%
+17%

Still filing today

78%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 57% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $56k 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
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureEnvironmentPhilanthropyInternationalOther
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

  • SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER
    7× · 2018–2025 · $105k · revenue +24%
  • NORTH CAROLINA CONSERVATION NETWORK
    4× · 2019–2023 · $57k · revenue +161%
  • TC
    THE CARTER CENTER INC
    3× · 2017–2021 · $45k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NC SCHOOL OF THE
    one grant, 2021 · $35k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
  • PC
    PORT CHESTER CARVER CENTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue +64%
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
North Carolina Biotechnology Center

The north carolina biotechnology center aids the biotechnology-related efforts of researchers, businesses, state and federal governments, and other agencies primarily through awards of grants and loans related to specific programs and…

Science & Tech
2
Food Bank of Central & Eastern Nc Inc

Nourish people. build solutions. empower communities. no one goes hungry.

Food & Nutrition
3
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
4
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
5
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
6
New York Restoration Project

New york restoration project ("nyrp") believes that nature is a fundamental right of every new yorker. nyrp works collaboratively with residents in communities across the five boroughs to renovate gardens, restore parks, plant trees,…

Environment
7
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

United way's mission is to end intergenerational poverty in our region by harnessing, leveraging and strategically investing the collective power of donors, advocates and volunteers, to help individuals and families break the cycle of…

Philanthropy
8
United States Endowment for Forestry

The endowment works collaboratively with partners in the public and private sectors to advance systemic, transformative, and sustainable change for the health and vitality of the nation's working forests and forest reliant communities.

Environment
9
Charlotte Center City Partners

Charlotte center city partners (cccp) boldly envisions and activates strategies and actions that will assure charlotte center city is a welcoming and equitable, economically vibrant, culturally rich and beloved place for all.

—
10
Nashville Food Project Inc

The nashville food project brings people together to grow, cook, and share nourishing food, with the goals of cultivating community and alleviating hunger in our city.

Food & Nutrition
11
Natural Areas Conservancy Inc

The natural areas conservancy champions urban natural areas in new york city and across the nation through innovative research, partnerships, and advocacy. we increase the health and resilience of urban forests and wetlands, catalyze…

Environment
12
Eastern National

Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.

Recreation & Sports
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sanctuary for Families Inc; the most unlike its peers is Charlotte Film Society. 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

44 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. 44 of the 59 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
44/44
Grantees still filing
23/44
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $105,000 · OtherSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTERBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA MECKLENBURG COUNTY COUNCIL: $66,666 · OtherBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA MECKLENBURG COUNTY COUNCILUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL: $60,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOLUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATIONAL: $50,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA EDUCATIONALHEALING JUSTICE: $50,000 · OtherHEALING JUSTICEUNIVERSITY OF NC SCHOOL OF THE: $35,000 · Other+25 more: $295,500 · Other+25 moreYEAR UP INC: $35,000 · EducationYEAR UP INCUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $30,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY O…Augustine Literacy Project - Charlotte: $27,000 · EducationAugustine Li…Nest Academy Inc: $15,000 · EducationNest Academy…PINE RIDGE GIRLS SCHOOL INC: $15,000 · EducationPINE RIDGE G…FWDUS EDUCATION FUND INC: $10,000 · EducationFWDUS EDUCAT…NORTH CAROLINA CONSERVATION NETWORK: $57,000 · EnvironmentNORTH CAROLI…FRIENDS OF RYE NATURE CENTER: $30,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF R…THE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 · EnvironmentTHE EVERGLAD…GREAT BAY STEWARDS INC: $10,000 · EnvironmentGREAT BAY ST…NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $10,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL PAR…PORT CHESTER CARVER CENTER INC: $20,000 · Human ServicesGather: $15,000 · Human ServicesSANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES INC: $11,000 · Human ServicesOYSTER RIVER WOMENADE: $10,000 · Human ServicesCharlotte Family Housing: $10,000 · Human Services5 Steps to Five: $10,000 · Human ServicesNourish Up: $8,000 · Human ServicesTHE RELATIVES INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $45,000 · InternationalSEEDS OF PEACE INC: $15,000 · InternationalPRO PUBLICA INC: $28,000 · Arts & CultureYouth Orchestras of Charlotte: $10,000 · Arts & CultureCHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURAL AND SERVICE CENTER INC: $8,000 · Arts & CultureCharlotte Film Society: $5,000 · Arts & CultureTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS INC: $4,000 · Arts & CultureSOUTHERN COALITION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: $32,000 · Crime & LegalGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $15,000 · Crime & Legal
Other$662,166Education$132,000Environment$127,000Human Services$89,000International$60,000Arts & Culture$55,000Crime & Legal$47,000

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 budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $105,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA MECKLENBURG COUNTY COUNCIL: $66,666 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA CONSERVATION NETWORK: $57,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $45,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetYEAR UP INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN COALITION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: $32,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF RYE NATURE CENTER: $30,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetPRO PUBLICA INC: $28,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAugustine Literacy Project - Charlotte: $27,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE EVERGLADES FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNEW HAMPSHIRE HUNGER SOLUTIONS INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetPORT CHESTER CARVER CENTER INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFUND FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION: $18,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEEDS OF PEACE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNest Academy Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCHARLOTTE RESCUE MISSION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPINE RIDGE GIRLS SCHOOL INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetRYE FREE READING ROOM: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMANNA FOOD BANK INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGather: $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES INC: $11,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDING WESTCHESTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEACOAST FAMILY PROMISE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetGREAT BAY STEWARDS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMARCH ON MARYLAND: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWest Blvd Ministry Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetWINTER WALK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetYouth Orchestras of Charlotte: $10,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetCharlotte Family Housing: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARCHBOLD EXPEDITIONS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget5 Steps to Five: $10,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetCHARLOTTE MECKLENBURG AFRO-AMERICAN CULTURAL AND SERVICE CENTER INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetNourish Up: $8,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEVOLUTIONARY AQUATICS: $5,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetTHE RELATIVES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCharlotte Film Society: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS INC: $4,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Foundation for the Ca…The Presbyterian Hosp…Duke Energy FoundationUnited Way of Greater…New Hampshire Charita…A Caring Community IncAlbemarle FoundationThe Winston-Salem Fou…Truist Foundation IncThe Bank of America C…Synchrony FoundationThe San Francisco Fou…
Foundation for the CarolinasNC26.2× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Foundation for the Carolinas · The Presbyterian Hospital · Duke Energy Foundation · United Way of Greater Charlotte Inc · New Hampshire Charitable Foundation · A Caring Community Inc · Albemarle Foundation · The Winston-Salem Foundation · Truist Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Synchrony Foundation · The San Francisco 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 Martha & Spencer Love Fdtn funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Martha & Spencer Love Fdtn. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Archbold Expeditions Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Year Up Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
14report 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 Martha & Spencer Love Fdtn?

Find your warmest path to Martha & Spencer Love Fdtn 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 59 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 Martha & Spencer Love Fdtn’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