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· Private foundation

Pathfinder Foundation Inc

Its FY2023 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$1.3M
Granted FY2023
45
Grants FY2023
5
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2020–2023.

Environment$2.1MEducation$1.9MArts & Culture$300kRecreation & Sports$300kHuman Services$250kCommunity Improvement$210kPhilanthropy$160kAnimals$130kOther$0
02FY2023 · 45 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k13 grants · $70k
  • $10k–50k29 grants · $630k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $600k
$15,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$30M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL CONSERVATION LEAGUE INC$200,000
LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC$200,000
THE BAYLOR SCHOOL$200,000
OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC$30,000
CHARLESTON JUNIOR GOLF FOUNDATION$30,000
LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC$30,000
COASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC$30,000
NATURE CONSERVANCY$30,000
TRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED$30,000
POLLY BOYD SCHOLARSHIP FUND$30,000
YEAMANS HALL CLUB FOUNDATION INC$30,000
SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER$30,000
CHARLESTON PROMISE NEIGHBORHOOD$25,000
SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL CONSERVATION LEAGUE INC$25,000
HISTORIC CHARLESTON FOUNDATION$25,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–23, $185k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Your grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%EAST COOPER COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $25k → 12%EAST COOPER COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $25k → 12%EAST COOPER COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $20k → 12%EAST COOPER COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $20k → 12%OPERATION HOME INC: $10k → 12%OPERATION HOME INC: $10k → 12%OPERATION HOME INC: $5k → 12%OPERATION HOME INC: $5k → 12%LANDMARKS FOR FAMILIES INC: $5k → 12%CHARLESTON ORPHAN HOUSE INC: $4k → 12%CHARLESTON ORPHAN HOUSE INC: $4k → 12%CHARLESTON ORPHAN HOUSE INC: $4k → 12%WINGS FOR KIDS: $10k → 12%WINGS FOR KIDS: $10k → 12%WINGS FOR KIDS: $10k → 12%WINGS FOR KIDS: $5k → 12%FLORENCE CRITTENTON PROGRAMS OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC: $5k → 12%FLORENCE CRITTENTON PROGRAMS OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC: $4k → 12%FLORENCE CRITTENTON PROGRAMS OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC: $2k → 12%FLORENCE CRITTENTON PROGRAMS OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC: $2k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$5.4M · 45 repeat orgs$105k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +81% since the first grant, against -3% for the ones you funded once.

45 repeat relationships — 39 still active in FY2023, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

45
7

Total granted

$5.4M
$85k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+81%
-3%

Still filing today

96%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $20k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23
EducationEnvironmentCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesRecreation & SportsArts & CultureOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • BS
    BAYLOR SCHOOL
    4× · 2020–2023 · $1.3M · revenue +46%
  • SC
    South Carolina Coastal Conservation League Inc
    4× · 2020–2023 · $910k · revenue +134%
  • LL
    LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC
    4× · 2020–2023 · $515k · revenue +804%

Funded once

  • PS
    PORTER-GAUD SCHOOL
    one grant, 2020 · $25k
  • TE
    THE ENTERPRISE CENTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $20k · revenue +233%
  • Teach for America Inc
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -3%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
South Carolina Public Interest Foundation
Crime & Legal
2
Center for Heirs' Property Preservation

(See Schedule O)

Crime & Legal
3
The Carolina Trust
Philanthropy
4
The Charleston Museum

To educate Charleston area residents and visitors about the natural and cultural history of the South Carolina Lowcountry through collections, exhibitions, preservation, conservation, research and related programming.

Arts & Culture
5
Community Foundation of the Lowcountry

The Community Foundation's mission is strengthening community by connecting people, resources, and needs.

Philanthropy
6
South Carolina Council On Competitiveness

The south carolina council on competitiveness is a nonpartisan, business-led non-profit organization committed to advancing the long term competitiveness of south carolina through actionable research, support of industry clusters and…

Community Improvement
7
Conestee Foundation Inc

Through responsible stewardship of our unique ecological resource, we provide inclusive opportunities for meaningful connection, discovery, and education in nature.

Environment
8
Leadership South Carolina

To provide South Carolinians an opportunity to advance their leadership skills while broadening their understanding of issues and opportunities facing the State.

Education
9
Sc Chamber of Commerce

Enhancing the quality of life for all south carolinians, achieving global competiteveness and ultimately increasing prosperity for sc citizens.

—
10
Children's Trust of South Carolina

To strengthen families, organizations, and communities to prevent child abuse and neglect.

Human Services
11
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.

—
12
South Carolina Business & Industry Political Education Committee

Promoting and protecting the free private and competitive enterprise system through research and education.

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Lowcountry Land Trust Inc and the most unlike its peers is Yeamans Hall Club 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.

Your grantees are a median of 30 years old; the field is 12. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number26%0%<5yr16%10%5–10yr18%20%10–20yr14%34%20–35yr11%20%35–55yr15%17%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value26%0%<5yr16%3%5–10yr18%9%10–20yr14%18%20–35yr11%37%35–55yr15%34%55yr+

The field is 26% startups (under 5 years old) — 0% of your grantees by number, and just 0% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close — 0.0% lost their exemption, against 14% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/55
the rest of the field
14%
779/5,469

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

54 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 54 of the 56 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
53/54
Grantees still filing
39/54
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

South Carolina Coastal Conservation League Inc — $910,000 · EnvironmentSouth Carolina Coastal Conservation L…LOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC — $515,000 · EnvironmentLOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INCOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC — $90,000 · EnvironmentDucks Unlimited Inc — $65,000 · Environment+5 more — $250,000 · Environment+5 moreBAYLOR SCHOOL — $1,275,000 · EducationBAYLOR SCHOOLTRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC — $140,000 · EducationTRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION…SKYUKA HALL — $135,000 · EducationSKYUKA HALLThe Charleston Promise Neighborhood — $110,000 · EducationThe Charleston Promise Neighborhood+8 more — $140,000 · Education+8 morePOLLY BOYD SCHOLARSHIP FUND — $145,000 · OtherPOLLY BOYD SCHOLARSH…SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER — $115,000 · OtherSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENT…NATURE CONSERVANCY - CHARLESTON SATELITE OFFICE — $110,000 · OtherNATURE CONSERVANCY -…HISTORIC CHARLESTON FOUNDATION — $110,000 · OtherHISTORIC CHARLESTON …The Preservation Society of Charleston Inc — $75,000 · OtherThe Preservation Soc…LORD BERKELEY CONSERVATION TRUST — $55,000 · OtherLORD BERKELEY CONSER…COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF THE CHARLESTON AREA INC — $45,000 · OtherSC BATTLEGROUND PRESERVATION TRUST — $40,000 · OtherSouth Carolina Aquarium — $130,000 · OtherSouth Carolina Aquar…+9 more — $190,000 · Other+9 moreSUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE — $105,000 · Community ImprovementMETANOIA — $95,000 · Community ImprovementLowcountry Local First — $90,000 · Community ImprovementTHE ENTERPRISE CENTER INC — $20,000 · Community Improvement+1 more — $5,000 · Community ImprovementFIRST TEE GREATER CHARLESTON — $115,000 · Recreation & SportsCharleston Moves — $110,000 · Recreation & SportsKIDS ON POINT INC — $45,000 · Recreation & SportsThe Village Green of Cashiers Inc — $10,000 · Recreation & SportsEast Cooper Community Outreach — $90,000 · Human ServicesWINGS FOR KIDS — $35,000 · Human ServicesOPERATION HOME INC — $30,000 · Human ServicesLandmarks for Families Inc — $17,000 · Human ServicesFlorence Crittenton Programs of South Carolina Inc — $13,000 · Human ServicesYEAMANS HALL CLUB FOUNDATION INC — $80,000 · PhilanthropyCOASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC — $80,000 · Philanthropy+1 more — $5,000 · Philanthropy
Environment$1,830,000Education$1,800,000Other$1,015,000Community Improvement$315,000Recreation & Sports$280,000Human Services$185,000Philanthropy$165,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetBAYLOR SCHOOL — $1,275,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetSouth Carolina Coastal Conservation League Inc — $910,000 over 4y, 5.5% of budgetLOWCOUNTRY LAND TRUST INC — $515,000 over 4y, 7.8% of budgetPOLLY BOYD SCHOLARSHIP FUND — $145,000 over 4y, 28% of budgetTRIDENT TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC — $140,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetSKYUKA HALL — $135,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetSouth Carolina Aquarium — $130,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFIRST TEE GREATER CHARLESTON — $115,000 over 4y, 2.3% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER — $115,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHISTORIC CHARLESTON FOUNDATION — $110,000 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetThe Charleston Promise Neighborhood — $110,000 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetCharleston Moves — $110,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetSUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTE — $105,000 over 4y, 9.0% of budgetMETANOIA — $95,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetLowcountry Local First — $90,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetOPEN SPACE INSTITUTE INC — $90,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetEast Cooper Community Outreach — $90,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetYEAMANS HALL CLUB FOUNDATION INC — $80,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetCOASTAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTH CAROLINA INC — $80,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Preservation Society of Charleston Inc — $75,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc — $65,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Charleston Parks Conservancy — $60,000 over 4y, 1.8% of budgetUniversity of South Carolina Educational Foundation — $55,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetLORD BERKELEY CONSERVATION TRUST — $55,000 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetCHARLESTON WATERKEEPER — $55,000 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetGreen Heart Project Inc — $55,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetSOUTH CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL LAW PROJECT INC — $55,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetKIDS ON POINT INC — $45,000 over 4y, 2.4% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF THE CHARLESTON AREA INC — $45,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetSC BATTLEGROUND PRESERVATION TRUST — $40,000 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetWINGS FOR KIDS — $35,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetOPERATION HOME INC — $30,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetLOUIE'S KIDS INC — $30,000 over 4y, 63% of budgetINTERNATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM — $30,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY — $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDogwood Alliance Inc — $25,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE ENTERPRISE CENTER INC — $20,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetDEE NORTON LOWCOUNTRY CHILDREN'S CENTER — $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetYO ART INC — $20,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetLandmarks for Families Inc — $17,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Battlefield Trust — $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCommunities in Schools of South Carolina — $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMONTESSORI ELEMENTARY AT HIGHLAND PARK — $15,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCOLLEGE OF CHARLESTON FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPREP PUBLIC SCHOOLS — $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetFlorence Crittenton Programs of South Carolina Inc — $13,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCOLAB — $10,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTeach for America Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Coastal Community Fou…The Joanna FoundationHenry & Sylvia Yaschi…Post and Courier Foun…Sisters of Charity Fo…Dominion Energy Chari…Gaylord and Dorothy D…Guffey Family Foundat…Trident United WayElhapa Foundation IncCentral Carolina Comm…Td Charitable Foundat…
Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina IncSC56.4× affinity26 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina Inc · The Joanna Foundation · Henry & Sylvia Yaschik Foundation Inc · Post and Courier Foundation · Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina · Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation · Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation · Guffey Family Foundation · Trident United Way · Elhapa Foundation Inc · Central Carolina Community Foundation · Td Charitable Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Pathfinder Foundation Inc funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    21report 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

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Pathfinder Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Pathfinder Foundation Inc 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 56 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph

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    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
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