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Ralph C Sheldon Foundation Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Ralph C Sheldon Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
66
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$268k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Arts & Culture$5.8MEnvironment$3.2MEducation$2.2MYouth Development$1.9MHuman Services$1.7MHealth$1.4MPhilanthropy$1.1MCommunity Improvement$726kOther$0
02FY2025 · 66 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k31 grants · $49k
  • $10k–50k21 grants · $594k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.4M
  • $250k+1 grant · $268k
$15,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CHAUT LAKE & WATERSHED MGMT ALLIANCE$268,166
CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION$215,750
UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHAUT CO$155,300
YWCA$125,900
MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION IN CHAUT CO$125,500
NATIONAL COMEDY CENTER$102,000
YMCA$102,000
REG LENNA CENTER FOR THE ARTS$101,500
JAMESTOWN COMMUNITY LEARNING COUNCIL$100,500
JAMESTOWN COMMUNITY COLLEGE$100,000
CHAUTAUQUA STRIDERS$71,000
INFINITY PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM INC$65,250
PREVENTION WORKS$50,750
JAMESTOWN RENAISSANCE CORP$50,000
JAMESTOWN BOYS & GIRLS CLUB$47,250
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 (FY17–25, $401k) land where the poverty rate runs at 18%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%CENTAUR STRIDE: $45k → 18%CHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE: $103k → 18%CHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE: $52k → 18%CRECHE INC: $1k → 18%CRECHE INC: $1k → 18%CHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE: $800 → 18%CRECHE INC: $500 → 18%CHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE: $500 → 18%CHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE CARE: $250 → 18%YWCA OF JAMESTOWN: $74k → 18%ELIZABETH WARNER MARVIN COMMUNITY HOUSE: $35k → 18%THE RESOURCE CENTER: $25k → 18%FAMILY SERVICE OF THE CHAUTAUQUA REGION: $20k → 18%CHAUTAUQUA ADULT DAYCARE CENTER INC: $16k → 18%CHAUTAUQUA ADULT DAY CARE CENTERS INC: $15k → 18%ELIZABETH WARNER MARVIN COMMUNITY HOUSE: $11k → 18%CHAUTAUQUA ADULT DAY CARE CENTERS: $3k → 18%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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$19M · 106 repeat orgs$1.0M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

106 repeat relationships: 61 still active in FY2025, 45 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

106
52

Total granted

$19M
$936k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+13%

Still filing today

45%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $85k 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
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsHealthCommunity 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

  • CI
    CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +83%
  • CS
    CHAUTAUQUA STRIDERS INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $686k · revenue +45%
  • JC
    JAMESTOWN COMMUNITY LEARNING COUNCIL
    9× · 2017–2025 · $671k · revenue +144%

Funded once

  • CC
    CHAUTAUQUA CO LAND BANK CORP
    one grant, 2021 · $301k
  • UW
    UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $161k · revenue +25%
  • YW
    YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF JAMESTOWN
    one grant, 2017 · $74k · revenue +19%
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
Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce

To create a business environment in the region where our members can thrive.

Community Improvement
2
Chautauqua Home Rehabilitation & Improvement Corp

To improve the quality of housing stock and appearance of communities of chautauqua county and to improve the living conditions of the county's low-income residents.

Housing & Shelter
3
Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance Inc

The alliance was formed for the purpose of working in collaboration with lake and watershed-related organizations, municipalities, and other stakeholders in chautauqua county, ny, to promote and facilitate implementation of recommendations…

Environment
4
Northern York County Historical & Preservation Society
—
5
Mental Health Association in Chautauqua County Inc

The mental health association in chautauqua county commits to radical acceptance, empowerment, and advocacy for our community members who struggle with mental health and substance use.

Health
6
Ridgway Chautauqua Dba the New Sherbino Theater

The ridgway chautauqua is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit community-based organization focused on offering and supporting programs that promote lifelong learning, the arts, culture and community and that embody the chautauqua tradition. our…

Arts & Culture
7
Chautauqua County Land Bank Corporation

To reverse the trend of further deterioration of the County of Chautauqua's housing and commercial stock; control and modestly improve promising properties so that reputable buyers can be attracted.

Housing & Shelter
8
The Chautauqua Center Inc

To provide quality health care services by operating diagnostic and treatment facilities pursuant to article 28 of the public health law of new york state. the center operates clinics in dunkirk, new york, jamestown, new york, gowanda, new…

Health
9
Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation

To provide economic opportunity.

Community Improvement
10
Ontario County Historical Society

Provide various educational, cultural, and museum programs and services to area residents and tourists in order to promote an appreciation of ontario county, ny.

—
11
Maxwell Memorial Library

Public library service for the town of camillus, new york

—
12
Schuyler County Community Foundation
Philanthropy
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Chautauqua Region Community Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is American Scandinavian Heritage 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.
04the grantee network

81 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 81 of the 163 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
74/81
Grantees still filing
54/81
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CHAUT LAKE & WATERSHED MGMT ALLIANCE: $2,788,398 · OtherCHAUT LAKE & WATERSHED MGMT ALLIANCEREG LENNA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $2,173,946 · OtherREG LENNA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INCUNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHAUT CO: $1,276,200 · OtherUNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHAUT COJAMESTOWN COMMUNITY COLLEGE: $1,242,102 · OtherJAMESTOWN COMMUNITY COLLEGEMENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION IN CHAUT CO: $915,461 · OtherMENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION IN CHAUT COYMCA: $838,920 · OtherYMCAYWCA: $582,955 · Other+117 more: $4,743,651 · Other+117 moreCHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION: $1,254,650 · Arts & CultureCHAUTAUQUA …NATIONAL COMEDY CENTER INC: $585,250 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL CO…ROBERT H JACKSON CENTER INC: $101,450 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $71,075 · Arts & CultureJAMESTOWN COMMUNITY LEARNING COUNCIL: $670,500 · EducationJAMESTOWN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $429,440 · EducationJAMES PRENDERGAST LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $363,660 · Education+5 more: $63,500 · EducationCHAUTAUQUA STRIDERS INC: $685,500 · Youth DevelopmentTHE RELIEF ZONE INC: $179,500 · Youth Development+2 more: $600 · Youth DevelopmentJAMESTOWN RENAISSANCE CORPORATION: $383,000 · Community ImprovementJAMESTOWN CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $358,750 · Community Improvement+3 more: $47,700 · Community ImprovementCHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE: $156,050 · Human ServicesYOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF JAMESTOWN: $74,000 · Human ServicesELIZABETH WARNER MARVIN COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $45,574 · Human ServicesCentaur Stride Inc: $45,000 · Human ServicesCHAUTAUQUA ADULT DAY CARE CENTERS INC: $33,137 · Human ServicesCHAUTAUQUA COUNTY CHAPTER OF NYSARC INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY SERVICE OF THE CHAUTAUQUA REGION INC: $20,000 · Human Services+1 more: $3,690 · Human ServicesAUDUBON COMMUNITY NATURE CENTER: $185,612 · EnvironmentCHAUTAUQUA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC: $84,200 · EnvironmentCHAUTAUQUA RAILS TO TRAILS INC: $57,110 · Environment+2 more: $12,300 · Environment
Other$14,561,633Arts & Culture$2,012,425Education$1,527,100Youth Development$865,600Community Improvement$789,450Human Services$402,451Environment$339,222

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 budgetREG LENNA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC: $2,173,946 over 9y, 42% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION: $1,254,650 over 9y, 0.6% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA STRIDERS INC: $685,500 over 9y, 11% of budgetJAMESTOWN COMMUNITY LEARNING COUNCIL: $670,500 over 9y, 8.7% of budgetNATIONAL COMEDY CENTER INC: $585,250 over 6y, 9.2% of budgetJAMESTOWN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $429,440 over 7y, 5.3% of budgetJAMESTOWN RENAISSANCE CORPORATION: $383,000 over 9y, 21% of budgetJAMES PRENDERGAST LIBRARY ASSOCIATION: $363,660 over 9y, 9.6% of budgetJAMESTOWN CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $358,750 over 8y, 5.3% of budgetAUDUBON COMMUNITY NATURE CENTER: $185,612 over 9y, 3.9% of budgetFENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF JAMESTOWN NEW YORK: $184,300 over 9y, 13% of budgetTHE RELIEF ZONE INC: $179,500 over 9y, 8.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY INC: $160,500 over 1y, 11% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE: $156,050 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetROGER TORY PETERSON INSTITUTE OF NA: $128,050 over 9y, 3.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY HELPING HANDS INC: $106,615 over 7y, 4.0% of budgetROBERT H JACKSON CENTER INC: $101,450 over 9y, 7.1% of budgetJunior Achievement of Western New York: $86,000 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetHOUSING OPTIONS MADE EASY: $84,991 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC: $84,200 over 9y, 8.7% of budgetYOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF JAMESTOWN: $74,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetALLEGHENY HIGHLANDS COUNCIL INC: $70,768 over 9y, 10% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA REGION COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $66,050 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetPREVENTION WORKS INC: $55,250 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetEHS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetELIZABETH WARNER MARVIN COMMUNITY HOUSE INC: $45,574 over 2y, 19% of budgetCentaur Stride Inc: $45,000 over 1y, 43% of budgetJAMESTOWN BABE RUTH WORLD SERIES COMMITEE INC: $40,000 over 3y, 53% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA REGIONAL YOUTH BALLET INC: $35,050 over 5y, 11% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA ADULT DAY CARE CENTERS INC: $33,137 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetCASA OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY INC: $31,000 over 5y, 9.0% of budgetThe Research Foundation for The State University of New York: $29,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINTEGRITYFIRST INC: $27,011 over 2y, 11% of budgetLAKEWOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $26,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetMinerva Free Library: $25,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $25,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA COUNTY CHAPTER OF NYSARC INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWESTFIELD MEMORIAL HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetDREAM IT DO IT WESTERN NEW YORK INC: $22,750 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA BLIND ASSOCIATION INC: $21,290 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE OF THE CHAUTAUQUA REGION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetJAMESTOWN CONCERT ASSOCIATION INC: $19,750 over 3y, 19% of budgetBEMUS POINT FREE LIBRARY: $19,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetHEALTHY COMMUNITY ALLIANCE INC: $17,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCHAUTAUQUA OPPORTUNITIES INC: $16,700 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY MUSIC PROJECT: $16,240 over 7y, 9.9% of budgetLAKEWOOD MEMORIAL LIBRARY: $9,750 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetLITTLE THEATRE OF JAMESTOWN INC: $9,000 over 8y, 2.7% 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.

  • Who funds REG LENNA CENTER FOR THE ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds CHAUTAUQUA INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds CHAUTAUQUA STRIDERS INC ↗
  • Who funds JAMESTOWN COMMUNITY LEARNING COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL COMEDY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds JAMESTOWN COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds JAMESTOWN RENAISSANCE CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds JAMES PRENDERGAST LIBRARY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds JAMESTOWN CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds AUDUBON COMMUNITY NATURE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds FENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF JAMESTOWN NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds THE RELIEF ZONE INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds CHAUTAUQUA HOSPICE AND PALLIATIVE CARE ↗
  • Who funds ROGER TORY PETERSON INSTITUTE OF NA ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY HELPING HANDS INC ↗
  • Who funds ROBERT H JACKSON CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Junior Achievement of Western New York ↗
  • Who funds HOUSING OPTIONS MADE EASY ↗
  • Who funds CHAUTAUQUA LAKE ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF JAMESTOWN ↗
  • Who funds ALLEGHENY HIGHLANDS COUNCIL INC ↗

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.

Chautauqua Region Com…Reginald a & Elizabet…Carnahan-Jackson Foun…Community Foundation …Hultquist Foundation …Ttee Uw Jessie Smith …United Way of Souther…Holmberg Foundation I…The Western New York …Northern Chautauqua C…Chautauqua Region Eco…The Snow Family Found…
Chautauqua Region Community Foundation IncNY140.4× affinity66 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Chautauqua Region Community Foundation Inc · Reginald a & Elizabeth S Lenna Fdn Inc Dba Lenna Foundation · Carnahan-Jackson Foundation · Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Inc · Hultquist Foundation Inc · Ttee Uw Jessie Smith Darrah-Charita · United Way of Southern Chautauqua County Inc · Holmberg Foundation Inc · The Western New York Foundation · Northern Chautauqua Community Found · Chautauqua Region Economic Development Corporation · The Snow Family Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%4%15%34%60%funder's 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
    29report 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 Ralph C Sheldon Foundation Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Ralph C Sheldon 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 163 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 Ralph C Sheldon’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