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Shirley's Way Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Shirley's Way Inc

Shirleys Way is a dedicated non-profit organization that actively raises funds to provide assistance to individuals who are courageously battling cancer.

$4.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
54
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$150k
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, FY2023 to 2024.

Education$497kRecreation & Sports$364kHuman Services$205kReligion$179kHealth$179kPhilanthropy$151kYouth Development$87kPublic Safety & Disaster$61kOther$0
02FY2024 · 54 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 54 grants below total $1,758,808, the rows itemized in this filing. The $4,875,960 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $3,117,152 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k36 grants · $676k
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.0M
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$6.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VALLEY SPORTS LITTLE LEAGUE INC$150,000
BOARD OF EDUCATION OF JEFFERSON COUNTY KENTUCKY$133,950
I WOULD RATHER BE READING$110,500
HOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL$80,400
ST PAUL CATHOLIC CHURCH$78,280
ADDIE AND BAYLOR KIRCHGESSNER FOUNDATION$77,000
PRP SOCCER BOOSTER CLUB INC$75,000
EXODUS FAMILY MINISTRIES$65,000
BILL AND VICKI MILLER FOUNDATION INC$63,500
THE PRISONERS HOPE$60,000
KOSAIR CHARITIES COMMITTEE$55,000
ELEVATE LOUISVILLE$50,000
JACOB'S LADDER OUTREACH$50,000
LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE FOUNDATION$48,878
FAIRDALE YOUTH BASEBALL$45,000
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 (FY23–24, $309k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 81% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%MEADE ASSOCIATION FOR REMARKABLE CITIZENS: $10k → 12%JACOB'S LADDER OUTREACH: $50k → 9%SETH'S SQUAD INC: $8k → 9%THE PRISONERS HOPE: $60k → 15%CHILDHOOD CANCER FAMILY FUND: $25k → 15%EXODUS FAMILY MINISTRIES: $65k → 15%EXODUS FAMILY MINISTRIES: $10k → 15%SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY IMINISTRIES: $30k → 15%THE HOPE BUSS INC: $10k → 15%SYCAMORE FARM KY INC: $25k → 15%SOUTHWEST CENTER FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED INC: $6k → 15%OPERATION SANTA AND COMMUNITY EVENTS: $10k → 15%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.

30%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$568k · 8 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 46 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
4

Total granted

$568k
$41k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+3%

Still filing today

63%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 27% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.3M went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24
Human ServicesEducationPhilanthropyRecreation & SportsAnimalsHealthOther
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

  • IW
    I Would Rather Be Reading
    2× · 2023–2024 · $119k · revenue +73%
  • SF
    SOUTHWEST FAMILY MINISTRIES INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $75k · revenue +13%
  • LM
    LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $61k · revenue +19%

Funded once

  • CC
    Childhood Cancer Family Fund
    one grant, 2023 · $25k
  • HC
    Highland Commerce Guild Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $6k · revenue +3%
  • ES
    Ethanalmighty S Blessings Inc
    one grant, 2023 · $5k
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
Kentucky Social Welfare Foundation
—
2
Kentucky Saving Them Together Inc
Animals
3
Faith Mountain Mission of Kentucky Inc
Youth Development
4
Lift Up Lexington Inc

Operation Secret Santa delivers Christmas magic by meeting families exactly where they are; right at their doorstep. Our mission is to remove all barriers to access by providing gifts food and essential support directly to households…

Human Services
5
Cinderellas Closet of Northern Kentucky
—
6
Down Syndrome Support Group of South Central Kentucky Inc

The mission of the organization is to be a local advocate for the value, acceptance and inclusion of people in south central kentucky with down syndrome

Human Services
7
Kentucky Special Parent Involvement Network Inc

To empower and support individuals with disabilities and their families to effectively advocate for and access needed information, resources and support networks in order to enhance the quality of their lives.

Education
8
Community Patient Safety Coalition of Southwestern Indiana Kentucky

.

—
9
West Louisville Community Ministries Inc

Providing emergency assistance to needy individuals.

Human Services
10
Kids Chance of Kentucky Inc

Provide educational scholarships to children of kentucky workers who have been seriously or fatally injured in work related accidents.

Education
11
Kids Kottage Learning Center Inc
Human Services
12
Baby Health Services Inc

Provide free quality health care for the uninsured children of central kentucky.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Whas Crusade for Children Inc; the most unlike its peers is Charleys Rainbow 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

38 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. 38 of the 58 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/38
Grantees still filing
15/38
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

JEFFERSON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $171,000 · OtherJEFFERSON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLSLITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL INC: $150,000 · OtherLITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL INCST PAUL SCHOOL: $84,280 · OtherST PAUL SCHOOLHOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOL: $80,400 · OtherHOLY CROSS HIGH SCHOOLPRP SOCCER BOOSTER CLUB: $75,000 · OtherPRP SOCCER BOOSTER CLUBBILL AND VICKI MILLER FOUNDATION INC: $63,500 · OtherBILL AND VICKI MILLER FOUNDATION INCFAIRDALE YOUTH BASEBALL: $45,000 · OtherBEECHMONT YOUTH SPORTS INC: $40,000 · OtherTHE WHAS CRUSADE FOR CHILDREN INC: $40,000 · Other+24 more: $345,000 · Other+24 moreSOUTHWEST FAMILY MINISTRIES INC: $75,000 · Human ServicesSOUTHWEST FAMILY MI…THE PRISONERS HOPE INC: $60,000 · Human ServicesTHE PRISONERS HOPE …Jacobs Ladder Outreach Corporation: $50,000 · Human ServicesJacobs Ladder Outre…Southwest Community Ministries: $30,000 · Human ServicesSouthwest Community…Childhood Cancer Family Fund: $25,000 · Human ServicesChildhood Cancer Fa…SYCAMORE FARM KY INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesSYCAMORE FARM KY IN…+6 more: $53,500 · Human Services+6 moreI Would Rather Be Reading: $118,900 · EducationI Would Rat…ELEVATE LOUISVILLE INC: $50,000 · EducationELEVATE LOU…MAESTROS INC: $15,000 · EducationMAESTROS IN…FRIENDS SCHOOL INC: $8,000 · EducationDUPONT MANUAL BASEBALL BOOSTERS INC: $7,000 · EducationADDIE AND BAYLOR KIRCHGESSNER FOUNDATION INC: $77,000 · PhilanthropyLESLEY & RHYAN PRATHER FOUNDATION CORPORATION: $20,300 · PhilanthropyCHARLEYS RAINBOW INC: $10,000 · PhilanthropyKOSAIR CHARITIES COMMITTEE INC: $55,000 · HealthNORTON HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · HealthLOUISVILLE METRO POLICE FOUNDATION INC: $61,478 · Crime & LegalPRAIRIE VILLAGE BASEBALL-SOFTBALL INC: $22,000 · Recreation & SportsSOUTHWEST COMMUNITY FESTIVAL & PARADE COMMITTEE INC: $11,000 · Recreation & Sports
Other$1,094,180Human Services$318,500Education$198,900Philanthropy$107,300Health$80,000Crime & Legal$61,478Recreation & Sports$33,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetI Would Rather Be Reading: $118,900 over 2y, 9.9% of budgetADDIE AND BAYLOR KIRCHGESSNER FOUNDATION INC: $77,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetSOUTHWEST FAMILY MINISTRIES INC: $75,000 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetLOUISVILLE METRO POLICE FOUNDATION INC: $61,478 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetTHE PRISONERS HOPE INC: $60,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetKOSAIR CHARITIES COMMITTEE INC: $55,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetJacobs Ladder Outreach Corporation: $50,000 over 1y, 22% of budgetELEVATE LOUISVILLE INC: $50,000 over 1y, 25% of budgetTHE WHAS CRUSADE FOR CHILDREN INC: $40,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSouthwest Community Ministries: $30,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY CONNECTIONS GROUP INCORPORATED: $25,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetNORTON HEALTHCARE FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSYCAMORE FARM KY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetPRAIRIE VILLAGE BASEBALL-SOFTBALL INC: $22,000 over 2y, 6.4% of budgetLESLEY & RHYAN PRATHER FOUNDATION CORPORATION: $20,300 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetPEACE EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.8% of budgetGOOD HEALTH IDEAS INC DBA COLON CANCER PREVENTION PROJECT: $20,000 over 1y, 8.8% of budgetDUPONT MANUAL HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: $20,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetCAMP QUALITY USA INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetMAESTROS INC: $15,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetFEEDING AMERICA KENTUCKY'S HEARTLAND INC: $13,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTHWEST COMMUNITY FESTIVAL & PARADE COMMITTEE INC: $11,000 over 1y, 18% of budgetOPERATION SANTA & COMMUNITY EVENTS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetMEADE ASSOCIATION FOR REMARKABLE CITIZENS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetThe Hope Buss Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetSHAMROCK FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetSECOND CHANCES WILDLIFE CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetFRIENDS SCHOOL INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetDUPONT MANUAL BASEBALL BOOSTERS INC: $7,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetSOUTHWEST CENTER FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED: $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOPTIONS UNLIMITED INC: $6,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHighland Commerce Guild Inc: $5,500 over 1y, 11% 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.

The Community Foundat…The Community Foundat…The Community Foundat…Metro United Way IncHonorable Order of Ke…The Gheens Foundation…LG&E and Ku Foundatio…Uofl Health-Louisvill…Kosair Charities Comm…Cralle Foundation IncRepublic Bank Foundat…Mightycause Charitabl…
The Community Foundation of Louisville IncKY49× affinity24 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Louisville Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Corporate Depository Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Depository Inc · Metro United Way Inc · Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels Inc · The Gheens Foundation Inc · LG&E and Ku Foundation Inc · Uofl Health-Louisville Inc · Kosair Charities Committee Inc · Cralle Foundation Inc · Republic Bank Foundation Inc · Mightycause Charitable 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 Shirley's Way Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Shirley's Way Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%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 · 0–5%
    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 Shirley's Way Inc?

    Find your warmest path to Shirley's Way 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 58 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 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 Shirley's Way’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