Skip to content
Ryan Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Ryan Charitable Trust

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$10k
Granted FY2021
2
Grants FY2021
2
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0189% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2021.

Education$1.2MArts & Culture$210kInternational$75kYouth Development$25kHuman Services$15kOther$0
02FY2021 · 2 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$85k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HOMELESS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION$5,000
RADNOR HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FUND$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 (FY21–21, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 13%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 13%HOMELESS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $5k → 12%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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 12 repeat orgs$40k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +18% since the first grant, against +1% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2021, 11 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
3

Total granted

$1.6M
$35k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+1%

Still filing today

58%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2021, 50% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21
EducationArts & CultureInternationalHuman ServicesOther
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

  • SS
    SHIPLEY SCHOOL
    3× · 2017–2019 · $170k · revenue +18%
  • WA
    WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA
    2× · 2017–2018 · $75k · revenue +85%
  • PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION
    2× · 2018–2019 · $50k · revenue +59%

Funded once

  • TD
    THE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue +1%
  • EU
    EASTERN UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +83%
  • Teach for America Inc
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue -3%
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 Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
2
Mastery Charter High School

All students learn the academic and personal skills they need to be truly prepared for postsecondary success and able to pursue their dreams.

Education
3
Delaware Valley University

See schedule o.we are inspired by the ideals of our founder who, in 1896, emphasized respect for all people and ideas, who honored knowledge with practice, progress and the common good. our historical commitment to experiential learning…

—
4
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
5
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
6
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
7
Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School

We engage a diverse community of learners in a collaborative educational experience, preparing them for college success and a lifetime of meaningful engagement with the broader world.

—
8
Wheaton College

Wheaton college provides a transformative liberal arts education, combining theory and practice, for intellectually curious students within a collaborative and vibrant extended community and network that values and strives to create an…

Education
9
Pidc Development Management Corporation

Pidc dmc administers and coordinates various development projects for the city and other not-for-profit entities.

Community Improvement
10
Widener University

Empowering our community of learners to discover and create better futures.

Education
11
Elysian Charter School of Hoboken

The elysian charter school offers an academic program to help children discover their talents.

Education
12
Rollins College

Education and Public Service Mission: Rollins College educates students for global citizenship and responsible leadership, empowering graduates to pursue meaningful lives and productive careers. We are committed to liberal arts ethos and…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools; the most unlike its peers is Radnor High School Scholarship Fund. 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

11 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. 11 of the 16 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HARVARD COLLEGE: $801,082 · OtherHARVARD COLLEGEBENCHMARK SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FUND: $135,225 · OtherBENCHMARK SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FUNDIndividual grant recipient: $100,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $75,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient+2 more: $35,000 · OtherNANTUCKET DREAMLAND FOUNDATION INC: $160,000 · Arts & CultureNANTUCKET DREAML…PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $50,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA ORC…THE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureTHE DREAMYARD PR…SHIPLEY SCHOOL: $170,000 · EducationSHIPLEY SCHOO…BUSINESS LEADERSHIP ORGANIZED FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: $10,000 · EducationTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education: $10,000 · Education+2 more: $10,000 · EducationWORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA: $75,000 · InternationalHOMELESS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY INC: $5,000 · Human Services
Other$1,146,307Arts & Culture$235,000Education$200,000International$75,000Human Services$5,000

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 budgetSHIPLEY SCHOOL: $170,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNANTUCKET DREAMLAND FOUNDATION INC: $160,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetWORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA: $75,000 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetPHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION: $50,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRadnor High School Scholarship Fund: $25,000 over 5y, 2.7% of budgetTHE DREAMYARD PROJECT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBUSINESS LEADERSHIP ORGANIZED FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTemple University - Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMELESS CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION OF INDIAN RIVER COUNTY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% 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.

Hamilton Family Found…The Ayco Charitable F…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…The Pfizer Foundation…American Endowment Fo…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Hamilton Family FoundationPA13.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hamilton Family Foundation · The Ayco Charitable Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Ryan Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ryan Charitable Trust. 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%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 4%
  • Nantucket Dreamland Foundation Inc: 4% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 16 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2021, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Ryan’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