Skip to content
McCarthy Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

McCarthy Family 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.

$55k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$30k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Animals$119kHealth$54kReligion$40kHuman Services$25kHousing & Shelter$18kPhilanthropy$15kPublic Safety & Disaster$10kEducation$3kOther$0
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $50k
$20,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$739k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WAYSIDE WAIFS$30,000
ON A MISSION KC$20,000
TUNNEL TO TOWERS$5,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 82% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%PHEASANTS FOREVER: $5k → 14%Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation: $550 → 7%TUNNEL TO TOWERS: $5k → 11%WAR HORSES FOR VETERANS: $5k → 5%ALWAYS & FUREVER ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $3k → 7%Humane Society of Greater Kansas City: $6k → 16%ANDREW R TERMINI FOUNDATION INC: $2k → 8%VARIETY KC: $20k → 15%Great Plains SPCA: $15k → 5%HUMAN SOCIETY: $3k → 16%Andrew R Termini Foundation Inc: $2k → 8%Harris Park: $15k → 15%GREAT PLAINS SPCA: $3k → 5%HUMANE SOCIETY OF GREATER KANSAS CITY: $3k → 16%VETERANS COMMUNITY PROJECT: $10k → 15%PRAIRIE PAWS: $3k → 5%VETERANS COMMUNITY PROJECT: $8k → 15%Variety Children's Charity: $8k → 5%Truman Heartland Community Foundation: $15k → 15%ST THOMAS AQUINAS: $10k → 5%WAYSIDE WAIFS: $30k → 15%ST THOMAS AQUINAS: $5k → 5%WAYSIDE WAIFS: $25k → 15%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF NORTHEAST KANSAS: $3k → 5%WAYSIDE WAIFS: $5k → 15%WAYSIDE WAIFS: $5k → 15%Wayside Waifs: $5k → 15%WAYSIDE WAIFS: $5k → 15%Catholic Charties: $25k → 15%AVILA STUDENT RELIEF FUND: $3k → 15%CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $10k → 15%MIDWEST ANIMAL RESCUE: $3k → 15%Rose Brooks Center: $10k → 15%ROSE BROOKS CENTER: $5k → 15%WELCOME HOUSE KC: $10k → 15%WELCOME HOUSE KC: $10k → 15%CHILDREN'S MERCY HOSPITAL: $5k → 15%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.

66%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$222k · 9 repeat orgs$115k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 7 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
15

Total granted

$222k
$110k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+26%
+43%

Still filing today

67%
33%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
AnimalsHealthPublic BenefitEducationOther
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

  • WW
    WAYSIDE WAIFS INC
    6× · 2019–2025 · $75k · revenue +6%
  • WH
    Welcome House Inc
    2× · 2021–2022 · $20k · revenue +45%
  • VETERANS COMMUNITY PROJECT
    2× · 2023–2024 · $18k · revenue +69%

Funded once

  • CC
    Catholic Charties
    one grant, 2019 · $25k
  • VK
    VARIETY KC
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2019 · $15k
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
Kansas City Pet Project

Leading the way in creating a compassionate, safe community for pets and people through progressive lifesaving programs and services, community resources, and educational opportunities.

Animals
2
Washington Humane Society

The washington humane society protects animals, supports families, and advocates for positive change to create a world where all animals can thrive. we enrich the humanity of our communities by promoting compassion and encouraging people…

Animals
3
Animal Care Sanctuary

Animal care sanctuary's lifesaving mission as a no kill organization envisions a community that promotes turning compassion into action for companion animals by: 1.) adopting healthy pet companions into loving homes. 2.) promoting the…

Animals
4
Spay & Neuter Kansas City D/B/a Pet Resource Center of Kansas City

To decrease pet homelessness, increase pet retention and improve the quality of life for pets through education and supportive services for families in need.

Animals
5
Shelter From the Storm Animal Rescue Inc

Reduce the euthanasia rate of healthy and adoptable animals and improve the lives of companion animals by finding permanent homes for animals in need, providing support to communities who do not have access to humane organizations,…

—
6
Pets for Patriots Inc

The organization's mission is to transform the lives of veterans by helping them save an at risk shelter dog or cat, and to end all animal homelessness in the us and enrich the lives of men and women who serve, and have served our country.…

Animals
7
Catholic Charities of Kansas City - St Joseph Inc

Helping people move to a better life through hope-filled care, services, and advocacy; calling all those of goodwill to join us

Human Services
8
Noah's Animal House Foundation

To remove the "no pets allowed" sign on the doors of domestic violence shelters. women should not have to choose between leaving their abuser and leaving their pets behind to be abused.

Animals
9
Humane Pennsylvania

Humane pennsylvania empowers the people in our communities to increase their capacity to care for animals so that all animals are healthy, safe, and treated humanely.

Animals
10
Pets for Vets Inc

Pets for Vets enriches the lives of veterans by creating a life-changing Super Bond with expertly selected and trained shelter or rescue pets. It provides ongoing expert support to ensure a reciprocal and thriving partnership at no cost to…

Public Benefit
11
Humane Society of Southwest Missouri

The humane society of southwest missouri is one of the largest open admission, no kill shelters in southwest missouri. it is dedicated to helping sick, injured and abandoned dogs and cats find their forever homes. for over 60 years the…

Animals
12
The Humane Society for Seattleking County

Seattle humane promotes the human-animal bond by saving and serving pets in need, regardless of age, ability, circumstance or geography.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas Inc; the most unlike its peers is War Horses for Veterans 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

14 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. 14 of the 26 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
11/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ON A MISSION KC: $50,000 · OtherON A MISSION KCCatholic Charties: $25,000 · OtherCatholic ChartiesVARIETY KC: $20,000 · OtherVARIETY KCIndividual grant recipient: $15,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientROSE BROOKS CENTER INC: $15,000 · OtherROSE BROOKS CENTER INCST THOMAS AQUINAS: $15,000 · OtherST THOMAS AQUINASCATHOLIC CHARITIES: $10,000 · OtherCATHOLIC CHARITIESVariety Children's Charity: $7,500 · Other+7 more: $19,550 · Other+7 moreWAYSIDE WAIFS INC: $75,000 · AnimalsWAYSIDE WAIFS INCGREAT PLAINS SPCA: $18,289 · AnimalsGREAT PLAINS SPCAHUMANE SOCIETY OF GREATER KC: $8,500 · AnimalsHUMANE SOCIETY OF GREATER KC+1 more: $3,000 · AnimalsWelcome House Inc: $20,000 · HealthWelcome Ho…WAR HORSES FOR VETERANS INC: $5,000 · HealthWAR HORSES…The Children's Mercy Hospital: $5,000 · HealthThe Childr…Andrew R Termini Foundation Inc: $3,000 · HealthAndrew R T…VETERANS COMMUNITY PROJECT: $17,500 · Public BenefitTRUMAN HEARTLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · PhilanthropySTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Education
Other$177,050Animals$104,789Health$33,000Public Benefit$17,500Philanthropy$15,000Education$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWAYSIDE WAIFS INC: $75,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetWelcome House Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGREAT PLAINS SPCA: $18,289 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetVETERANS COMMUNITY PROJECT: $17,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetROSE BROOKS CENTER INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTRUMAN HEARTLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHUMANE SOCIETY OF GREATER KC: $8,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWAR HORSES FOR VETERANS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Children's Mercy Hospital: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF NORTHEAST KANSAS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetALEXS LEMONADE STAND FOUNDATION: $550 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.

Greater Kansas City C…Muriel McBrien Kauffm…The Shumaker Family F…Hallmark Corporate Fo…Aetna Foundation IncArthur J Gallagher Fo…Edward Jones Foundati…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Pfizer Foundation…The Blackbaud Giving …Charities Aid Foundat…Natl Christian Charit…
Greater Kansas City Community FoundationMO19× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Kansas City Community Foundation · Muriel McBrien Kauffman Family Foundation · The Shumaker Family Foundation · Hallmark Corporate Foundation · Aetna Foundation Inc · Arthur J Gallagher Foundation · Edward Jones Foundation · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Charities Aid Foundation America · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn 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 McCarthy Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from McCarthy Family 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%6%13%19%25%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 · 0–25%
    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 McCarthy Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to McCarthy Family 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 26 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 McCarthy Family’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