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Shaffer Family Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Shaffer Family Charitable Trust

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.

$610k
Granted FY2024still arriving
15
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0183% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$3.1MEducation$478kHuman Services$427kHousing & Shelter$325kHealth$224kReligion$138kFood & Nutrition$135kYouth Development$125kOther$0
02FY2024 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $20k
  • $10k–50k8 grants · $165k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $175k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$7.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNITED WAY OF GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY$250,000
JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY$125,000
ST LUKE'S HOSPITAL$50,000
NEW BETHANY MINISTRIES$35,000
COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY$25,000
HISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
Individual grant recipient$20,000
THE CHILDREN'S HOME OF EASTON$20,000
BISHOP'S ANNUAL APPEAL$15,000
EASTER SEALS EASTERN PA$10,000
ALLENTOWN SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION$7,500
MILLER-KEYSTONE BLOOD CENTER$5,250
Individual grant recipient$5,000
STEPHEN'S PLACE$2,000
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 (FY17–24, $224k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PROJECT OF EASTON: $20k → 11%PROJECT OF EASTON: $20k → 11%PROJECT OF EASTON: $20k → 11%PROJECT OF EASTON: $20k → 11%PROJECT OF EASTON: $20k → 11%THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $5k → 11%THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $5k → 11%THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN & CHILDREN: $3k → 11%HISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY: $25k → 11%HISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY: $25k → 11%HISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY: $20k → 11%HISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY: $20k → 11%LEHIGH VALLEY CHILDREN'S CENTERS: $5k → 11%LEHIGH VALLEY CHILDREN'S CENTERS: $5k → 11%SHANTHI PROJECT: $6k → 11%SHANTHI PROJECT: $6k → 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.
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.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.3M · 31 repeat orgs$115k to everyone else

31 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 17 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

31
13

Total granted

$4.3M
$115k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+179%

Still filing today

58%
38%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesArts & CultureFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentCrime & LegalHealthOther
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

  • NB
    NEW BETHANY INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $280k · revenue +28%
  • CI
    COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $175k · revenue +118%
  • SL
    ST LUKE'S HOSPITAL OF BETHLEHEM PA
    3× · 2022–2024 · $150k · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • AR
    AMERICAN RED CROSS
    one grant, 2017 · $33k
  • CB
    CONGREGATION BRITH SHOLOM
    one grant, 2017 · $15k
  • LV
    LEHIGH VALLEY PUBLIC MEDIA
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
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
Lehigh Valley Physician Group

Establish and maintain a medical group consisting of clinicians employed by lehigh valley health network. this medical group will fulfill the charitable mission of promoting community health through health education, injury prevention, and…

Health
2
Lehigh Valley Hospital

Our mission is to heal, comfort and care for the people of our community by providing advanced and compassionate health care of superior quality and value, supported by education and research.

Health
3
Elwyn of Pennsylvania and Delaware

Elwyn makes life better for people with developmental and behavioral health challenges.

Human Services
4
Lehigh Valley Hospital - Pocono

Our mission is who we are and what we do: to provide world class care close to home. our vision is what we aim for to best serve our community: to build a healthier community.

Health
5
Lehigh Valley Hospital-Hazleton

We heal, comfort and care for the people of our community by providing advanced and compassionate health care of superior quality and value, supported by education and clinical research.

Health
6
Highmark Health Group

Working as an integrated system within highmark health, employees at all of ahn's care sites, including hospitals, health + wellness pavilions, primary and specialty care offices and more, are committed to improving health and promoting…

—
7
Literacy Council of Lanc-Leb Lva

Our mission is success through lifelong learning and learning for life. our vision is for adults to have the skills to transform their lives, sustain their families and strengthen their communities.

Education
8
Philhaven

Philhaven promotes hope, healing and wholeness through the provision of behavioral resources.

Health
9
Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley Inc

The mission of the community action committee of the lehigh valley is to improve the quality of life in the lehigh valley by building a community in which all people have access to economic opportunity, the ability to pursue that…

—
10
Via of the Lehigh Valley Inc

To help people reach their full potential through a rewarding career, meaningful relationships, and an enriching community life. Via creates pathways to success through vocation, inclusion, and advocacy.

Human Services
11
Latin American Community Center Inc

To empower the latino community through education, advocacy, partnerships and exceptional services

Human Services
12
Drexel University

Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Children's Home of Easton Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association. 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

27 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. 27 of the 46 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/27
Grantees still filing
22/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNITED WAY OF GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY: $2,130,000 · OtherUNITED WAY OF GREATER LEHIGH VALLEYNEW BETHANY INC: $280,000 · OtherNEW BETHANY INCCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA INC: $175,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $160,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $140,000 · Other+27 more: $906,640 · Other+27 moreJEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $1,000,000 · PhilanthropyJEWISH FEDERATION O…TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $300,000 · Education+1 more: $2,500 · EducationPROJECT OF EASTON INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesHISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY: $90,000 · Human ServicesTHIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN: $12,500 · Human ServicesSHANTHI PROJECT: $11,000 · Human ServicesLEHIGH VALLEY CHILDREN'S CENTERS INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesST LUKE'S HOSPITAL OF BETHLEHEM PA: $150,000 · HealthHCSC - BLOOD CENTER: $24,250 · HealthMEALS ON WHEELS OF THE GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY INC: $120,000 · Food & NutritionALLENTOWN AREA ECUMENICAL FOOD BANK: $10,000 · Food & NutritionBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ALLENTOWN INC: $35,000 · Youth DevelopmentMINSI TRAILS COUNCIL #502 BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $30,000 · Youth Development
Other$3,791,640Philanthropy$1,000,000Education$302,500Human Services$223,500Health$174,250Food & Nutrition$130,000Youth Development$65,000

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 budgetJEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY: $1,000,000 over 8y, 4.1% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $300,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNEW BETHANY INC: $280,000 over 8y, 1.8% of budgetCOMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA INC: $175,000 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetST LUKE'S HOSPITAL OF BETHLEHEM PA: $150,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF THE GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY INC: $120,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetPROJECT OF EASTON INC: $100,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S HOME OF EASTON INC: $100,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetHISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY: $90,000 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetALLENTOWN SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC: $42,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ALLENTOWN INC: $35,000 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS PENNSYLVANIA INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMINSI TRAILS COUNCIL #502 BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA: $30,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetHCSC - BLOOD CENTER: $24,250 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LEHIGH CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetSTEPHENS PLACE: $14,000 over 7y, 1.8% of budgetTHIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN: $12,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSHANTHI PROJECT: $11,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetLEHIGH VALLEY CHILDREN'S CENTERS INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetALLENTOWN AREA ECUMENICAL FOOD BANK: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetFUND TO BENEFIT CHILDREN AND YOUTH INC: $7,500 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetHAWK MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY ASSOCIATION: $7,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMOSSER VILLAGE FAMILY CENTER: $6,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS OF LEHIGH COUNTY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTHE DA VINCI DISCOVERY CENTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVICES FOR CHILDREN INC: $2,500 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.

  • Who funds JEWISH FEDERATION OF THE LEHIGH VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds NEW BETHANY INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA INC ↗
  • Who funds ST LUKE'S HOSPITAL OF BETHLEHEM PA ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS OF THE GREATER LEHIGH VALLEY INC ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT OF EASTON INC ↗
  • Who funds THE CHILDREN'S HOME OF EASTON INC ↗
  • Who funds HISPANIC CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY ↗
  • Who funds ALLENTOWN SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ALLENTOWN INC ↗
  • Who funds SPECIAL OLYMPICS PENNSYLVANIA INC ↗
  • Who funds MINSI TRAILS COUNCIL #502 BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds HCSC - BLOOD CENTER ↗
  • Who funds THE LEHIGH CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES ↗
  • Who funds STEPHENS PLACE ↗
  • Who funds THIRD STREET ALLIANCE FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds SHANTHI PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds LEHIGH VALLEY CHILDREN'S CENTERS INC ↗
  • Who funds ALLENTOWN AREA ECUMENICAL FOOD BANK ↗
  • Who funds FUND TO BENEFIT CHILDREN AND YOUTH INC ↗
  • Who funds HAWK MOUNTAIN SANCTUARY ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds MOSSER VILLAGE FAMILY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS OF LEHIGH COUNTY 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.

Lehigh Valley Communi…United Way of the Gre…Air Products Foundati…Ross J Born and Wendy…Sylvia Perkin Perpetu…The Century Fund TrustHarry C Trexler EstatePpl FoundationMartin Guitar Charita…Frederick H Bedford J…The Donald B and Doro…Julius & Katheryn Hom…
Lehigh Valley Community FoundationPA51.1× affinity22 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lehigh Valley Community Foundation · United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley · Air Products Foundation · Ross J Born and Wendy G Born Charitable Trust · Sylvia Perkin Perpetual Charitable Trust · The Century Fund Trust · Harry C Trexler Estate · Ppl Foundation · Martin Guitar Charitable Foundation · Frederick H Bedford Jr & Margaret S Bedford Charitable Foundation · The Donald B and Dorothy L Stabler Foundation · Julius & Katheryn Hommer 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 Shaffer Family Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shaffer Family Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 46 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 Shaffer Family’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