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MJD Starfish Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

MJD Starfish 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.

$500k
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$200k
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Health$829kPhilanthropy$479kInternational$300kEducation$212kYouth Development$71kCrime & Legal$50kFood & Nutrition$36kHuman Services$28kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k8 grants · $39k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $162k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $300k
$10,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$8.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Children's Medical Center Foundatio$200,000
The Commit Partnership$50,000
Lift for Life Foundation Inc$50,000
Comunities Foundation of Texas$40,500
The Commit Partnership$25,000
Grant Halliburton Foundation$25,000
American Friends of Natal Inc$25,000
Lift for Life Foundation Inc$16,000
North Texas Food Bank$10,000
Greenlight Fund Inc$10,000
Project Unity$10,000
Jonathan's Place$7,500
Hope's Door New Beginning Center$7,500
Camp John Marc$5,000
June Shelton School Evaluation Cent$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:

Its human-services grants (FY23–24, $18k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 43% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 10%Armed Services YMCA of the USA: $3k → 7%Hope's Door New Beginning Center: $8k → 5%Jonathan's Place: $8k → 14%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

NY
MA
NV
CO
MO
VA
TN
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 9% of MJD Starfish Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

MJD Starfish Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 9 repeat orgs$110k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 6 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
8

Total granted

$1.5M
$36k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+3%
+8%

Still filing today

67%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $74k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationInternationalPhilanthropyHealthCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • LF
    LIFT FOR LIFE ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $100k · revenue +40%
  • NT
    NORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK
    2× · 2022–2024 · $25k · revenue +28%
  • GF
    GREENLIGHT FUND INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $20k · revenue +3%

Funded once

  • CP
    Colorado Parks and Recreation Association
    one grant, 2022 · $10k · revenue +2%
  • TF
    THE FIT AND FOOD CONNECTION
    one grant, 2021 · $6k · revenue 0%
  • NF
    NASHVILLE FOOD PROJECT INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $5k · revenue +35%
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
Shield of Faith Missions

Sof is called to empower warriors to find purpose, be resilient, and live well. we develop and provide customized treatment plans for veterans through our national network of partners.

Religion
2
Feeding Texas

To lead a unified effort for a hunger-free texas.

Community Improvement
3
Usvets - Texas

The successful transition of u.s. military veterans and their families through the provision of housing, counseling, career development and comprehensive support.

Human Services
4
Texas Trees Foundation

The mission of texas trees foundation is to improve the health of cities and people through the transformative power of trees.

—
5
Nashville Public Radio

Nashville public radio's mission is to be the most trusted & independent nashville voice, connecting our communities through non-partisan journalism, compelling storytelling, civil conversation and music discovery.

Arts & Culture
6
National Domestic Violence Hotline

The national domestic violence hotline provides crisis intervention, saftey planning, resources, information, and referrals to those affected by relationship abuse.

Human Services
7
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation

Through philanthropy, empower current and future food and nutrition practitioners to optimize global health.

Health
8
Tuesday's Children

Tuesday's children provides healing and resilience for military families of the fallen and families affected by 9/11, turning pain into purpose while honoring their legacies. we exist to help families of the fallen and the 9/11 community…

Public Safety & Disaster
9
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
10
Family and Child Guidance Center

Our mission is to provide quality mental health services to children and adults in low income families who are impacted by severe and persistent mental illness, emotional disturbances, child abuse and neglect, high-risk behaviors and…

Health
11
Nurses for Newborns

Nurses for newborns (the organization) is a not-for-profit missouri corporation whose purpose is to provide home-based services to promote the health, safety, and well-being of babies and their families. the organization has two branches…

Human Services
12
Feeding San Diego

On a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. through direct service and community partnerships, feeding san diego provides more than 26 million meals each year to children, families,…

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Communities Foundation of Texas Inc; the most unlike its peers is A Sisters Legacy. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

23 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. 23 of the 28 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
23/23
Grantees still filing
11/23
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Childrens' Medical Center Foundatio: $800,000 · OtherChildrens' Medical Center FoundatioThe Commit Partnership: $300,000 · OtherThe Commit PartnershipChildren's Advocacy Center Collin C: $50,000 · Other+12 more: $74,500 · Other+12 moreCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $478,500 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS …SHELTON LANDMARK FOUNDATION: $118,000 · PhilanthropySHELTON LANDMARK FOUNDATION+1 more: $2,500 · PhilanthropyLIFT FOR LIFE ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · EducationGRANT HALLIBURTON FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · EducationJUNE SHELTON SCHOOL AND EVALUATION CENTER: $5,000 · EducationAMERICAN FRIENDS OF NATAL INC: $50,000 · InternationalWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $20,000 · InternationalGREENLIGHT FUND INC: $20,000 · Community ImprovementKID NET FOUNDATION JONATHANS PLACE: $7,500 · Human ServicesHOPE'S DOOR NEW BEGINNING CENTER: $7,500 · Human ServicesARMED SERVICES YMCA OF THE USA: $2,500 · Human ServicesColorado Parks and Recreation Association: $10,000 · Environment
Other$1,224,500Philanthropy$599,000Education$130,000International$70,000Community Improvement$20,000Human Services$17,500Environment$10,000

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 budgetCOMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC: $478,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSHELTON LANDMARK FOUNDATION: $118,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetLIFT FOR LIFE ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF NATAL INC: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetGRANT HALLIBURTON FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetNORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREENLIGHT FUND INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetColorado Parks and Recreation Association: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetKID NET FOUNDATION JONATHANS PLACE: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE'S DOOR NEW BEGINNING CENTER: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FIT AND FOOD CONNECTION: $6,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetMI ESCUELITA PRESCHOOL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNASHVILLE FOOD PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHISTLE FARMS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJUNE SHELTON SCHOOL AND EVALUATION CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSHILOH PLACE MCKINNEY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetARMED SERVICES YMCA OF THE USA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget22KILL: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMERGING VETS AND PLAYERS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetK9S FOR WARRIORS 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.

Communities Foundatio…Texas Instruments Fou…Charities Aid Foundat…Celanese FoundationThe Blackbaud Giving …Enterprise Holdings F…The Bank of America C…Natl Christian Charit…American Online Givin…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
Communities Foundation of Texas IncTX21.8× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · Texas Instruments Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · Celanese Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · Enterprise Holdings Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 MJD Starfish Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from MJD Starfish Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • K9S for Warriors Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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 · 0–30%
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 28 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on MJD Starfish’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