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Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research Foundation

Pva research foundation inc., a non-profit organization founded in washington, dc in 1976, is controlled by the paralyzed veterans of america ("pva"), a national organization chartered by the u.s.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
5
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Science & Tech$2.9MHealth$2.0MEducation$1.4MRecreation & Sports$210k
02FY2025 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 5 grants below total $860,171, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,060,171 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $200,000 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$199,797
Median grant
4
States reached
$4.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS$200,000
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER$200,000
UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI$199,797
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO$150,000
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY$110,374
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 64% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%SPAULDING REHAB HOSPITALHARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: $150k → 10%CHILDRENS HOSPITAL AT BOSTON: $150k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN: $150k → 13%REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $200k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $150k → 11%DREXEL UNIVERSITY: $150k → 22%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $100k → 14%WINIFRED MASTERSON BURKE MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $150k → 9%RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE: $100k → 11%CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK: $150k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER: $200k → 14%FOUNDATION FOR ADVANCING VETERANS' HEALTH RESEARCH: $200k → 16%TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $249k → 22%UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: $250k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL RES: $150k → 16%YALE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 12%DUKE UNIVERSITY: $149k → 11%EMORY UNIVERSITY: $150k → 14%CRAIG HOSPITAL FOUNDATION: $150k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER: $200k → 10%CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION: $200k → 17%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $110k → 14%THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $200k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI: $150k → 18%HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL-SPAULDING REHABILITATION HOSPITAL: $100k → 10%TRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $150k → 16%REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $150k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $148k → 11%THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $150k → 22%SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH & EDUCATION: $148k → 14%UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER: $150k → 14%TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $150k → 22%NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY: $100k → 14%REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $150k → 11%UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $100k → 11%TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $145k → 22%CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY: $150k → 11%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

MN
IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
CT
CA
CO
NE
KY
KS
NC
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $200k on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 1 region. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

North America (Canada and Mexico)$200k · 100% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: RESEARCH

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

24%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 5 repeat orgs$4.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +23% for those funded once.

5 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
27

Total granted

$1.6M
$4.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+23%

Still filing today

60%
74%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 13% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $750k 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
EducationHealthRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • TM
    THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN INC
    2× · 2022–2023 · $300k · revenue +9%
  • UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
    2× · 2017–2021 · $250k · revenue +44%
  • Northwestern University
    2× · 2018–2025 · $210k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
    one grant, 2023 · $250k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
    one grant, 2024 · $200k
  • TU
    THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTE
    one grant, 2024 · $200k
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
Rush University Medical Center

The mission of Rush is to improve the health of the individuals and diverse communities we serve through the integration of outstanding patient care, education, research and community partnerships.

Health
2
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
3
Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University is an independent, research-oriented university with broadly based strengths in health, including medicine, nursing and dentistry; in engineering; in the arts and sciences; and in law, management and social…

Education
4
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
5
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
6
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
7
Cornell University

Education, research, medical services and other public services.

Education
8
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
9
University of Southern California

The central mission of the university of southern california is the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit. the principal means by which our mission is…

Education
10
Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

The trustees of the university of pennsylvania (the "university") sees itself as having a public service mission. in such regard, the university aims to provide a rich and diverse educational environment for its students; to pioneer…

Education
11
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
12
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northwestern University; the most unlike its peers is Winifred Masterson Burke Medical Research. 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

24 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. 24 of the 37 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)
24/24
Grantees still filing
20/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $544,820 · OtherTEXAS A&M UNIVERSITYMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATED: $250,000 · OtherMASS GENERAL BRIGHAM INCORPORATEDUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: $250,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAMUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: $200,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTATHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $200,000 · OtherTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTE: $200,000 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTEREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $200,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOUNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI: $199,797 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATICarnegie Mellon University: $150,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO: $150,000 · OtherBOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA: $150,000 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI: $149,997 · OtherREGENTS UNIV OF CALIFORNIA: $100,000 · OtherYALE UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · OtherTHE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN INC: $300,000 · EducationTHE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN…UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $249,913 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGHTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · EducationTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITYDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · EducationDREXEL UNIVERSITYEmory University: $150,000 · EducationEmory UniversityResearch Foundation of the City University of New York: $150,000 · EducationResearch Foundation of the City …DUKE UNIVERSITY: $148,899 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITYThe University of British Columbia: $147,503 · EducationThe University of British Columb…University of Miami: $100,000 · EducationUniversity of MiamiYale University: $100,000 · EducationYale UniversityUniversity of Louisville Research Foundation: $100,000 · EducationUniversity of Louisville Researc…Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $100,000 · EducationRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteCLEVELAND VA MEDICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $199,861 · HealthCLEVELAND VA MEDICAL RESE…FOUNDATION FOR ADVANCING VETERANS' HEALTH RESEARCH: $199,605 · HealthFOUNDATION FOR ADVANCING …Craig Hospital: $150,000 · HealthCraig HospitalUNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $150,000 · HealthUNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDI…Winifred Masterson Burke Medical Research: $150,000 · HealthWinifred Masterson Burke …UT SOUTHWESTERN HEALTH SYSTEMS: $150,000 · HealthUT SOUTHWESTERN HEALTH SY…Children's Hospital Corporation: $150,000 · HealthChildren's Hospital Corpo…UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA HEALTH SERVICES FOUNDATION PC: $149,988 · HealthUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA HEA…Southern California Institute for Research & Education: $148,390 · HealthSouthern California Insti…Northwestern University: $210,374 · Recreation & Sports
Other$2,994,614Education$1,846,315Health$1,447,844Recreation & Sports$210,374

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 budgetTHE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN INC: $300,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $249,913 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwestern University: $210,374 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCLEVELAND VA MEDICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $199,861 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR ADVANCING VETERANS' HEALTH RESEARCH: $199,605 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetCraig Hospital: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetWinifred Masterson Burke Medical Research: $150,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTHOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDREXEL UNIVERSITY: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEmory University: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUT SOUTHWESTERN HEALTH SYSTEMS: $150,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $150,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA HEALTH SERVICES FOUNDATION PC: $149,988 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $148,899 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSouthern California Institute for Research & Education: $148,390 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetUniversity of Miami: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYale University: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Louisville Research Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $100,000 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.

Beth Israel Deaconess…Cornell UniversityAmerican Cancer Socie…American Heart Associ…
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center IncMA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Inc · Cornell University · American Cancer Society Inc · American Heart Association 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 Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%3%6%10%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of 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 · 0–90%
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 Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research 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 37 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 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 Paralyzed Veterans of America Spinal Cord Research’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