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Pharos Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Pharos Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.2M
Granted FY2024still arriving
30
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$400k
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, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$11MPublic Benefit$3.7MPhilanthropy$1.4MHuman Services$1.3MYouth Development$420kCommunity Improvement$350kArts & Culture$274kHealth$240kOther$0
02FY2024 · 30 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k9 grants · $39k
  • $10k–50k16 grants · $235k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $305k
  • $250k+2 grants · $662k
$10,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$32M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY FOUNDAT$400,000
ALL IN EDUCATION$262,000
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION$200,000
MONTCLAIR FOUNDATION INC$55,000
COMMON SENSE INSTITUTE$50,000
MENTAL HEALTH & RECOVERY SERVICES$25,000
TETON YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES$25,000
HOOVER INSTITUTION$25,000
MAYO CLINIC$15,000
VELA EDUCATION FUND$15,000
CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER$15,000
GRAND TETON MUSIC FESTIVAL$15,000
BE A LEADER FOUNDATION$15,000
NEW PATHWAYS FOR YOUTH$15,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA - PHOENIX$10,000
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 (FY20–24, $560k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%INSTITUTO DEL PROGRESSO LATINO: $15k → 14%ALIENTO EDUCATION FUND: $5k → 11%ONE 22 INC: $20k → 5%ALIENTO EDUCATION FUND: $250k → 11%ONE 22 INC: $20k → 5%ALIENTO EDUCATION FUND: $150k → 11%ALIENTO EDUCATION FUND: $50k → 11%CHICANOS POR LA CAUSA: $10k → 11%FRESH START WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $40k → 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

WA
MN
IL
NY
OR
WY
OH
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NM
SC
DC
TX
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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 40 repeat orgs$3.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +54% since the first grant, against +34% for those funded once.

40 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2024, 22 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

40
42

Total granted

$14M
$3.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+54%
+34%

Still filing today

80%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $530k 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
EducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyHuman ServicesHealthCrime & LegalOther
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

  • TP
    TURNING POINT USA INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $1.9M · revenue +190%
  • THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2024 · $1.7M · revenue +32%
  • AL
    ARIZONA LEADS
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +38% · 69% of their budget

Funded once

  • TO
    THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $500k · revenue +54%
  • CE
    CITY EDUCATION PARTNERS (SAN ANTONI
    one grant, 2023 · $500k
  • SJ
    SAN JOAQUIN A PLUS INC
    one grant, 2023 · $500k · revenue -34%
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
The Peak School

The peak school seeks to ignite a passion for learning, to develop students of diverse talents and backgrounds who think critically and act with integrity, and to graduate compassionate, confident, capable students who will embrace their…

Education
2
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
3
International School of Arizona

Our mission is to provide a progressive international education and advanced multilingual academics in a safe, diverse, and nurturing environment. our innovative and individualized approach to learning prepares highly motivated students…

Education
4
Augustana College

Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…

Education
5
Silicon Schools Fund Inc

The mission of the silicon schools fund is to improve education through supporting the launch of excellent new schools, improving academic instruction in existing schools, and by funding some of the boldest innovations in education…

Education
6
Partnership for Public Service Inc

Making our government work better is a daunting task, and we are a small organization seeking to transform a government that employs millions of civilians and manages trillions of dollars in taxpayer revenue needed to protect public…

Employment
7
Lodestar Charitable Foundation

To perform the functions of, or to carry out the purposes of the arizona community foundation, an az nonprofit corporation, so long as the arizona community foundation, inc. remains a qualified organization.

—
8
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
9
American Charter Schools Foundation

The american charter schools foundation mission is to promote choice and competition in public education for all students, including those with special needs, and to help them pursue their individual academic goals.

Education
10
Foreign Policy Research Institute

The foreign policy research institute (frpi) is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the united states. we educate…

International
11
Pahara Institute Inc

Pahara institute strengthens and sustains values-driven leaders who are transforming public education so that every child is prepared to lead a free and fulfilling life.

—
12
National Association of Independent Schools Inc

As the largest association of independent schools, nais co-creates the future of education by uniting and empowering our community. we do this through thought leadership, research, creation and curation of resources, and direct…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Arizona Leads; the most unlike its peers is Phoenix Animal Care Coalition PACC911. 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

70 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. 70 of the 97 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
15
Early backer (in before they grew)
69/70
Grantees still filing
53/70
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TURNING POINT USA INC: $1,850,000 · OtherTURNING POINT USA INCPHOENIX UNION HIGH SCHOOL DIST 210: $1,275,000 · OtherPHOENIX UNION HIGH SCHOOL DIST 210ALL IN EDUCATION: $778,000 · OtherALL IN EDUCATIONKIPP NEW JERSEY: $750,000 · OtherKIPP NEW JERSEYCITY EDUCATION PARTNERS (SAN ANTONI: $500,000 · OtherCITY EDUCATION PARTNERS (SAN ANTONIPHOENIX CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: $350,000 · Other+45 more: $1,440,880 · Other+45 moreCITY FUND: $3,500,000 · PhilanthropyCITY FUNDGREATER PHOENIX CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $650,000 · PhilanthropyGREATER PHOENIX CHAMBER FOUND…ARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $637,833 · PhilanthropyARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION+6 more: $103,311 · PhilanthropyARIZONA LEADS: $1,002,500 · EducationARIZONA LEADSTHE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION: $500,000 · EducationTHE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D…SAN JOAQUIN A PLUS INC: $500,000 · EducationSAN JOAQUIN A PLUS INCACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC: $430,000 · EducationACHIEVEMENT FIRST INCNORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $400,000 · EducationNORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVER…ARIZONA LATINO LEADERS IN EDUCATION: $352,084 · EducationARIZONA LATINO LEADERS …VISTA COLLEGE PREPARATORY INC: $250,000 · EducationVISTA COLLEGE PREPARATO…+8 more: $427,000 · Education+8 moreTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $1,725,680 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAG…BE A LEADER FOUNDATION: $67,500 · Public Benefit+2 more: $26,000 · Public BenefitAliento Education Fund: $455,000 · Human ServicesFRESH START WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $40,000 · Human ServicesOne22 Inc: $40,000 · Human Services+2 more: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE CENTER FOR EDUCATION REFORM: $325,000 · Arts & CultureGRAND TETON MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $60,000 · Arts & CultureCentral Arts Alliance: $50,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMON SENSE MEDIA: $35,000 · Arts & Culture+5 more: $28,500 · Arts & CultureTETON YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $55,000 · HealthSt John's Health Foundation: $50,000 · HealthPalmetto Promise Institute: $40,000 · HealthHomeless Prenatal Program Inc: $5,000 · Health
Other$6,943,880Philanthropy$4,891,144Education$3,861,584Public Benefit$1,819,180Human Services$560,000Arts & Culture$498,500Health$150,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCITY FUND: $3,500,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC: $1,850,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $1,725,680 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetARIZONA LEADS: $1,002,500 over 3y, 69% of budgetGREATER PHOENIX CHAMBER FOUNDATION: $650,000 over 3y, 33% of budgetARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $637,833 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION: $500,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetSAN JOAQUIN A PLUS INC: $500,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetAliento Education Fund: $455,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetACHIEVEMENT FIRST INC: $430,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetNORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetARIZONA LATINO LEADERS IN EDUCATION: $352,084 over 2y, 53% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR EDUCATION REFORM: $325,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetVISTA COLLEGE PREPARATORY INC: $250,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE VALLEY INC: $225,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetPHOENIX PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $120,000 over 3y, 27% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $105,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetNew Pathways For Youth: $100,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetKENT SCHOOL: $90,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMontclair Foundation Inc: $85,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S LEARNING CENTER INC: $75,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetBE A LEADER FOUNDATION: $67,500 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetGRAND TETON MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $60,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTETON YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: $55,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetDESERT BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $50,600 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMON SENSE INSTITUTE: $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCentral Arts Alliance: $50,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF JACKSON HOLE: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFREEDOMWORKS FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetJACKSON HOLE CLASSICAL ACADEMY INC: $40,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFRESH START WOMEN'S FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetOne22 Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPalmetto Promise Institute: $40,000 over 3y, 4.3% of budgetCOMMON SENSE MEDIA: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDRESS FOR SUCCESS WORLDWIDE: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetPROTECT OUR WATER JACKSON HOLE INC: $27,500 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetREAD BETTER BE BETTER: $25,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetMENTAL HEALTH & RECOVERY SERVICES OF JACKSON HOLE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetMANHATTAN INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBEHIND THE BOOK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetPacific Research Institute For Public Policy: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCONTIGO IMMIGRANT JUSTICE: $20,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetEDUCATION FORWARD ARIZONA: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTEEWINOT INSTITUTE: $20,000 over 2y, 6.2% of budgetSANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR LATINO PROGRESS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetVELA EDUCATION FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetST MARY'S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE: $15,000 over 2y, 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.

Arizona Community Fou…Burton Family Foundat…Virginia G Piper Char…Thunderbirds CharitiesCommunity Foundation …Nina Mason Pulliam Ch…John F Long Foundatio…Helios Education Foun…The Diane and Bruce H…Ellis Center for Educ…Garcia Family Foundat…Valley of the Sun Uni…
Arizona Community FoundationAZ29.1× affinity15 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Arizona Community Foundation · Burton Family Foundation · Virginia G Piper Charitable Trust · Thunderbirds Charities · Community Foundation of Jackson Hole · Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust · John F Long Foundation Inc · Helios Education Foundation · The Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation · Ellis Center for Educational Excellence · Garcia Family Foundation · Valley of the Sun United Way

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • The Montclair Art Museum: 11% of income from government
  • Montclair Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Achievement First Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
22report 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 Pharos Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Pharos 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 97 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 Pharos’ 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