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Sam and Mary Lawrence Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sam and Mary Lawrence Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$108k
Granted FY2024still arriving
22
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$26k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0192% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Environment$94kPublic Benefit$38kRecreation & Sports$26kInternational$22kArts & Culture$19kEducation$17kCivil Rights$13kHealth$6kOther$0
02FY2024 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k20 grants · $72k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $36k
$5,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$1.9M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
KEEPERS OF BAKER ISLAND$25,500
AMERICAN INDEPENDENT RADIO (CO AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION)$10,000
OUR CHILDREN'S TRUST$7,500
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE$7,500
MOVEMENT VOTER PROJECT$5,000
CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY$5,000
FEEL GOOD ACTION$5,000
AMERICARES$5,000
COMPASSION AND CHOICES$5,000
WHEN WE ALL VOTE$5,000
BLACK VOTERS MATTER$5,000
Individual grant recipient$5,000
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL$2,500
EARTHJUSTICE$2,500
NORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION$2,500
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 (FY20–20, $750) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Freedom of the Press Foundation: $750 → 10%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

AK
ME
NH
WA
ID
MN
IL
NY
MA
OR
PA
CT
CA
CO
KY
VA
MD
NC
DC
LA
AL
GA
FL
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.

18%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$45k · 19 repeat orgs$210k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +11% for those funded once.

19 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
87

Total granted

$45k
$122k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+11%

Still filing today

63%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 19% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $88k 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
EnvironmentCivil RightsArts & CultureEducationInternationalPublic BenefitOther
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

  • EL
    Environmental Law Institute
    3× · 2020–2024 · $11k · revenue +10%
  • AMERICARES FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $7k · revenue +19%
  • FO
    Friends of Acadia
    2× · 2022–2024 · $5k · revenue +88%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $15k · revenue +11%
  • NP
    National Philanthropic Fund
    one grant, 2022 · $10k
  • NEW GEORGIA PROJECT INC
    one grant, 2020 · $5k · revenue -93%
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
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
2
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
3
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
4
Eastern National

Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.

Recreation & Sports
5
Cdp North America Inc

Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…

Environment
6
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators

The national caucus of environmental legislators empowers a nonpartisan network of legislative champions to protect, conserve, and improve the natural and human environment.

Education
7
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
8
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
9
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
10
The Commons Inc

To partner with individuals and organizations to access, organize, and share data that inspires action that restores our environment.

—
11
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Advance science, engineering, and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all. the world's largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its science family of journals,…

Science & Tech
12
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is League of Conservation Voters Inc; the most unlike its peers is National Geographic Society. 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

55 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. 55 of the 125 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
55/55
Grantees still filing
34/55
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

KEEPERS OF BAKER ISLAND: $25,500 · OtherKEEPERS OF BAKER ISLANDNational Philanthropic Fund: $10,000 · OtherNational Philanthropic FundTHE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION: $10,000 · OtherTHE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FOUNDATIONLSU COASTAL ROOTS VIA PAYNE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION OFF OF SPONSORED RESEARCH: $5,000 · OtherMAINE ENVORINMENTAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherMOVEMENT VOTER PROJECT: $5,000 · OtherREEFKEEPER BELIZE VIA LAW OF THE WILD: $5,000 · OtherWHEN WE ALL VOTE: $5,000 · OtherBLACK VOTERS MATTER: $5,000 · Other+75 more: $50,807 · Other+75 moreEnvironmental Law Institute: $10,500 · EnvironmentEnvironmental Law InstituteOUR CHILDREN'S TRUST: $7,500 · EnvironmentOUR CHILDREN'S TRUSTCOLORADO ALLIANCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentCOLORADO ALLIANCE FOR ENVIRONM…ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS OF NROTH CAROLINA: $5,000 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS OF NRO…HERRING GUT COASTAL SCIENCE CENTER: $5,000 · EnvironmentHERRING GUT COASTAL SCIENCE CE…Feel Good Action: $5,000 · EnvironmentFeel Good ActionKENTUCKY ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: $5,000 · EnvironmentKENTUCKY ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIR…FRIENDS OF ALASKA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES: $5,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF ALASKA NATIONAL WIL…SALMON VALLEY STEWARDSHIP INC: $5,000 · EnvironmentSALMON VALLEY STEWARDSHIP INCFriends of Acadia: $4,500 · EnvironmentFriends of AcadiaSightline Institute: $3,346 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICE: $2,500 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $2,500 · EnvironmentNORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCA: $2,500 · Environment+3 more: $1,400 · EnvironmentUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $15,249 · EducationCHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK: $2,500 · Education+3 more: $400 · EducationNEW GEORGIA PROJECT INC: $5,250 · Civil RightsCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $5,000 · Civil RightsCOMMON POWER: $2,500 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 · Civil RightsLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS INC: $2,000 · Civil Rights+2 more: $600 · Civil RightsAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,000 · InternationalCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $2,000 · InternationalTHE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: $5,500 · Public Benefit+1 more: $100 · Public BenefitAMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureTHE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI: $600 · Arts & CultureOLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC: $300 · Arts & CultureIN SERIES INC: $150 · Arts & CultureNATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA AND CHORALE OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY INC: $150 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $50 · Arts & Culture
Other$131,307Environment$69,746Education$18,149Civil Rights$17,850International$11,000Public Benefit$5,600Arts & Culture$3,750

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $15,249 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEnvironmental Law Institute: $10,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOUR CHILDREN'S TRUST: $7,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: $5,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetNEW GEORGIA PROJECT INC: $5,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOLORADO ALLIANCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATORS OF NROTH CAROLINA: $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetHERRING GUT COASTAL SCIENCE CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetFeel Good Action: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKENTUCKY ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF ALASKA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES: $5,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetSALMON VALLEY STEWARDSHIP INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetFriends of Acadia: $4,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSightline Institute: $3,346 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN & NATURE NETWORK: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN JOURNALISM PROJECT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCA: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law: $2,050 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOOPERATIVE FOR ASSISTANCE AND RELIEF EVERYWHERE INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GROUNDTRUTH PROJECT INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGENERATION CITIZEN INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFeeding America: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetA CLIMATE TO THRIVE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE WORKS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: $750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI: $600 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOLNEY THEATRE CORPORATION INC: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION INC: $260 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMaine Coast Heritage Trust: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMount Desert Land and Garden Preserve: $250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE POTOMAC CONSERVANCY INC: $150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA AND CHORALE OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY INC: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHarbor House Community Service Center: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBETHESDA-CHEVY CHASE RESCUE SQUAD INC: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEATH WITH DIGNITY NATIONAL CENTER: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF DEERFIELD ACADEMY: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFCNL EDUCATION FUND: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHEVY CHASE HISTORICAL SOCIETY LTD: $80 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetACTBLUE CHARITIES INC: $50 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.

Cornelia Cogswell Ros…Maine Community Found…Janet Stone Jones Fou…E Newbold & Margaret …Fore River FoundationColket Family Foundat…The San Francisco Fou…Seattle FoundationT Rowe Price Program …Tides FoundationThe Robert Wood Johns…The Chicago Community…
Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation IncDE15.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 10 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Cornelia Cogswell Rossi Foundation Inc · Maine Community Foundation Inc · Janet Stone Jones Foundation · E Newbold & Margaret Dupont Smith F Foundation (Dba Thornedge Fdn) · Fore River Foundation · Colket Family Foundation · The San Francisco Foundation · Seattle Foundation · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc · Tides Foundation · The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation · The Chicago Community Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Dolphin Research Center Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Olney Theatre Corporation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get no government money at all
6report 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.

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 125 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 Sam and Mary Lawrence’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