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Sharp Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sharp Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$145k
Granted FY2025still arriving
61
Grants FY2025still arriving
13
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$458kArts & Culture$316kHealth$163kEnvironment$160kHuman Services$110kReligion$75kYouth Development$52kPhilanthropy$50kOther$0
02FY2025 · 61 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k55 grants · $80k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $66k
$1,000
Median grant
13
States reached
$3.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION$15,000
BOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FOUNDATION INC$10,500
THE ISLAND SCHOOL$10,000
IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER$10,000
COMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING$10,000
FRIENDS OF BOCA GRANDE$10,000
ST GEORGES SCHOOL$8,500
Individual grant recipient$5,250
THE VOYAGE FOUNDATION$5,000
NORTH CAROLINA VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION$5,000
SYNERGY HOUSES$5,000
SICANGU COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT$5,000
CARING HEARTS FOR CANINES$3,500
STROUD WATER RESEARCH CENTER$3,000
DELAWARE WILD LANDS INC$2,250
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 (FY18–25, $38k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 29% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ADOLESCENT CONSULTATION SERVICES INC: $10k → 8%THE CHILDREN'S ROOM: $5k → 8%THE CHILDREN'S ROOM: $5k → 8%THE CHRIS WILSON FOUNDATION: $1k → 19%COMMUNITY SERVINGS: $10k → 16%LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA: $250 → 6%LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA: $250 → 6%LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA: $250 → 6%LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA: $250 → 6%LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA: $250 → 6%LA COMUNIDAD HISPANA: $250 → 6%PO MAR LIN FIRE COMPANY: $1k → 6%PO MAR LIN FIRE COMPANY: $1k → 6%PO MAR LIN FIRE COMPANY: $1k → 6%PO MAR LIN FIRE COMPANY: $1k → 6%PO MAR LIN FIRE COMPANY: $1k → 6%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

NH
WA
ND
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
SD
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
NE
MO
VA
MD
DE
KS
TN
NC
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.

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.0M · 73 repeat orgs$501k to everyone else

73 repeat relationships: 50 still active in FY2025, 23 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

73
45

Total granted

$1.0M
$461k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+11%
+19%

Still filing today

64%
76%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $40k 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
EducationHealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEnvironmentOther
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

  • HO
    HISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $266k · revenue +222%
  • UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE
    2× · 2023–2025 · $46k · revenue +11%
  • BG
    BOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FNDTN INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $42k · revenue +170%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • AS
    ASHEVILLE SCHOOL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $50k · revenue +25%
  • BG
    BOCA GRANDE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
    one grant, 2024 · $50k
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
Wilson College

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

Education
2
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
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
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
5
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

The western pennsylvania conservancy protects and restores exceptional places to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas for the benefit of present and future generations. the conservancy…

Environment
6
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.

—
7
The Waldorf School Inc

The waldorf school of lexington nurtures each child's curiosity, ingenuity, and love of learning so that they can meet the future with wonder, confidence, and resilience.

Education
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
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.

—
10
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
11
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.

—
12
Saint Anselm College

Saint anselm is a catholic, benedictine college providing all of its students a distinctive liberal arts education that incorporates opportunities for professional and career preparation. it does so in a learning community that encourages…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Jewish Family & Children's Service Inc; the most unlike its peers is Pischel Hildegarde T Endowment 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

85 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. 85 of the 129 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
85/85
Grantees still filing
62/85
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON: $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTONBOCA GRANDE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: $50,000 · OtherBOCA GRANDE UNITED METHODIST CHURCHUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $46,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF DELAWAREGICIA: $42,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE- COLLEGE OF EARTH OCEAN: $35,000 · OtherST GEORGES SCHOOL: $34,200 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF DELAWARE INC: $31,500 · OtherDELAWARE WILD LANDS INC: $29,000 · OtherCHRISTIANA CARE HOSPITAL SYSTEM: $28,000 · Other+84 more: $416,575 · Other+84 moreHISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION: $266,475 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDAT…Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art: $20,300 · Arts & CultureBrandywine Conservancy …ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureARTISTS FOR HUMANITY IN…+4 more: $14,250 · Arts & CultureASHEVILLE SCHOOL INC: $50,000 · EducationASHEVILLE S…TOWER HILL SCHOOL ASSOCIATION: $33,000 · EducationTOWER HILL …826 BOSTON INC: $25,000 · Education826 BOSTON …NORTH CAROLINA VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · EducationNORTH CAROL…THE ISLAND SCHOOL INC: $10,000 · EducationTHE ISLAND …+11 more: $18,550 · Education+11 moreBOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FNDTN INC: $41,500 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING CORP: $40,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHESTER COUNTY: $5,000 · PhilanthropyLIFETIME WELLS INTERNATIONAL: $4,000 · PhilanthropyIRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC: $40,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $15,000 · EnvironmentWild Earth Allies Inc: $4,000 · EnvironmentCHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 · Environment+2 more: $1,100 · EnvironmentSTROUD WATER RESEARCH CENTER: $55,175 · Science & TechSALT LAKE CITY ROTARY FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Community ImprovementSicangu Community Development Corporation: $15,000 · Community Improvement
Other$812,275Arts & Culture$321,025Education$151,550Philanthropy$90,500Environment$64,100Science & Tech$55,175Community Improvement$40,000

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 budgetHISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION: $266,475 over 9y, 4.3% of budgetSTROUD WATER RESEARCH CENTER: $55,175 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetASHEVILLE SCHOOL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: $46,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FNDTN INC: $41,500 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetIRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetCOMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING CORP: $40,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetTOWER HILL SCHOOL ASSOCIATION: $33,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF DELAWARE INC: $31,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetDELAWARE WILD LANDS INC: $29,000 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetSALT LAKE CITY ROTARY FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetPISCHEL HILDEGARDE T ENDOWMENT FUND: $25,000 over 1y, 60% of budget826 BOSTON INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetBrandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art: $20,300 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetARTISTS FOR HUMANITY INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetWOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSicangu Community Development Corporation: $15,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE GOW SCHOOL: $12,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM INC: $12,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetThe Childrens Room Center for Grieving Children: $10,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVINGS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ISLAND SCHOOL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetADOLESCENT CONSULTATION SERVICES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetJOHANN FUST LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $9,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetEleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation Inc: $8,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCaring Hearts for Canines: $8,000 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetFirst State Squash Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetINTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPO-MAR-LIN FIRE COMPANY: $5,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetThe Synergy Foundation Incorporated: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN CHESTER COUNTY: $5,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetUTAH FOOD BANK: $4,810 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREDERICKSBURG REGIONAL FOOD BANK: $4,810 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPalm Beach County Food Bank Inc: $4,810 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFAIR HILL INTERNATIONAL INC: $4,785 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetWild Earth Allies Inc: $4,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetLIFETIME WELLS INTERNATIONAL: $4,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetCOEUR ACADEMY: $4,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetCHESAPEAKE BAY FOUNDATION INC: $4,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ODESSA FIRE COMPANY INC: $3,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetHEATHER'S WAY: $3,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetTHE TATNALL SCHOOL INC: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPennys Flight Foundation Inc: $2,800 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDELAWARE MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE INC: $2,800 over 6y, 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 HISTORIC ODESSA FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds STROUD WATER RESEARCH CENTER ↗
  • Who funds ASHEVILLE SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE ↗
  • Who funds BOCA GRANDE HEALTH CLINIC FNDTN INC ↗
  • Who funds IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY EDUCATION BUILDING CORP ↗
  • Who funds TOWER HILL SCHOOL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF DELAWARE INC ↗
  • Who funds DELAWARE WILD LANDS INC ↗
  • Who funds SALT LAKE CITY ROTARY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PISCHEL HILDEGARDE T ENDOWMENT FUND ↗
  • Who funds 826 BOSTON INC ↗
  • Who funds Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art ↗
  • Who funds ARTISTS FOR HUMANITY INC ↗
  • Who funds WOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTH CAROLINA VETERINARY MEDICAL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Sicangu Community Development Corporation ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF RESERVATIONS ↗
  • Who funds THE GOW SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds CHRISTIANA CARE HEALTH SYSTEM INC ↗
  • Who funds PLANNED PARENTHOOD LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN'S SERVICE INC ↗
  • Who funds The Childrens Room Center for Grieving Children ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY SERVINGS INC ↗
  • Who funds THE ISLAND SCHOOL 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.

Delaware Community Fo…Longwood Foundation I…Wa Speakman Family Fo…Nor' Easter Foundatio…Rencourt Foundation I…Welfare Foundation IncBrown Advisory Charit…Fair Play FoundationWakefield Family Fund…Marmot FoundationChester County Commun…Kookaburra Foundation
Delaware Community Foundation IncDE29.6× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Delaware Community Foundation Inc · Longwood Foundation Inc · Wa Speakman Family Foundation · Nor' Easter Foundation Inc · Rencourt Foundation Inc · Welfare Foundation Inc · Brown Advisory Charitable Foundation Inc · Fair Play Foundation · Wakefield Family Fund Inc · Marmot Foundation · Chester County Community Foundation · Kookaburra 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 Sharp Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sharp Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 130%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Community Education Building Corp: 64% of income from government
  • The Odessa Fire Company Inc: 55% of income from government
  • Christiana Care Health System Inc: 43% of income from government
  • Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware Inc: 33% of income from government
  • University of Delaware: 30% of income from government
  • Paul's Place Inc: 29% of income from government
  • International Institute of New England Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Food Bank Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Community Servings Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Women's Lunch Place Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Delaware Theatre Company: 8% of income from government
  • First State Squash Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts Inc: 3% of income from government
  • 826 Boston Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Chesapeake Bay Foundation Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Digital Harbor Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • Delaware Museum of Nature and Science Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Artists for Humanity Inc: 2% of income from government
  • The Trustees of Reservations: 2% of income from government
  • Health Care for the Homeless Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Jewish Family & Children's Service Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Nemours Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Palm Beach County Food Bank Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Historic Odessa Foundation: 0% of income from government
  • Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Tower Hill School Association: 0% of income from government
  • The Fessenden School: 0% of income from government
  • The Tatnall School Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
13get no government money at all
13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
3rely 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 Sharp Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Sharp 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 129 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 Sharp’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