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Skillbuilders Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

Skillbuilders Fund

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$568k
Granted FY2024still arriving
21
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$266k
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 2024.

Environment$895kHuman Services$327kEmployment$246kArts & Culture$187kYouth Development$104kHousing & Shelter$70kEducation$69kFood & Nutrition$54kOther$0
02FY2024 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $18k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $284k
  • $250k+1 grant · $266k
$15,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$3.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WILDWOOD OUTDOOR EDUCATION CENTER$266,474
PAWSPERITY$30,000
AMETHYST PLACE$30,000
RIGHTFULLY SEWN$25,000
PHARMACY OF GRACE$25,000
MATTIE RHODES ART CENTER$20,000
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY KC$20,000
WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT NETWORK$20,000
GREAT JOBS KC$20,000
INTERURBAN ARTHOUSE$15,000
GIVING THE BASICS$15,000
KANSAS CITY BALLET$15,000
KC COMMUNITY GARDENS$15,000
UNION STATION KANSAS CITY$14,000
NORTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER$10,000
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, $162k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, 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%PAWSPERITY: $30k → 15%BELOVED ATLANTA: $4k → 13%THE FAMILY CONSERVANCY: $3k → 16%PAWSPERITY: $25k → 15%BELOVED ATLANTA: $3k → 13%THE FAMILY CONSERVANCY: $3k → 16%EPEC INC: $20k → 15%BELOVED ATLANTA: $3k → 13%EPEC INC: $20k → 15%EPEC INC: $15k → 15%EPEC INC: $15k → 15%BAREFOOT MISSION: $5k → 16%EPEC INC: $15k → 15%TRUE LIGHT FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER: $1k → 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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 23 repeat orgs$169k to everyone else

23 repeat relationships: 17 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
22

Total granted

$1.9M
$119k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+104%

Still filing today

78%
59%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $50k 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
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesEnvironmentEmploymentFood & NutritionOther
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

  • WO
    Wildwood Outdoor Education Center
    8× · 2017–2024 · $894k · revenue +156%
  • WE
    WOMENS EMPLOYMENT NETWORK
    8× · 2017–2024 · $141k · revenue +11%
  • PI
    PAWSPERITY INC
    7× · 2018–2024 · $140k · revenue +327%

Funded once

  • FRACTURED ATLAS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue +57%
  • CC
    COMMUNITY CAPITAL FUNDgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue +473%
  • GS
    GIRL SCOUTS
    one grant, 2017 · $15k
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
Kansas Legal Services Inc

Kansas legal services is devoted to helping low income kansans meet their basic needs through the provision of important legal and mediation services.

—
2
Kansas City Artists Coalition Inc

The kansas city atrtists coalition is a nonprofit organization that promotes visual arts awareness

Arts & Culture
3
Bike Share Kc

Bike share kc provides the greater kansas city area with a bike share system designed for transportation, recreation, and exercise.

Human Services
4
Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City

The mission of The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City is to educate and inspire our community by presenting and promoting appreciation for African-American culture through our stories.

Arts & Culture
5
Urban Neighborhood Initiative Inc

Unis mission is to partner with kansas citys urban core neighborhoods to bring business, government, and community organizations together to improve prosperity, health, safety & education in the community.

Community Improvement
6
Kansas Association of Community Action Programs Inc

Kacap supports community action agencies and other human services organizations in thier local, state and national efforts to end poverty.

Public Benefit
7
Kansas City Community Land Trust

Acquire and develop real estate to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing to low-income homeowners while working to ensure a culturally, ethnically, and economically diverse and stable community where generations can thrive in place.

Housing & Shelter
8
Kc Tenants

KC Tenants organizes to ensure that everyone in Kansas City has a safe, accessible, and truly affordable home.

Civil Rights
9
Kansas City Art Institute

The mission of KCAI is to educate artists and designers while honoring the distinct journeys of students. We forge a vibrant community that equips them to become leaders who leverage the creative process to transform the future.

Education
10
Community Action Inc

Helping people move from poverty towards prosperity.

Human Services
11
Chamber of Commerce of Greater Kansas City

Leading the way to the best kc region by convening innovative leaders, collaborating with like-minded organizations, advocating for positive change, and helping small businesses grow.

—
12
Our Spot Kc

To provide safe, accepting, and affirming programming, services and resources to empower our community.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Young Women On the Move; the most unlike its peers is Barefoot Mission 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

35 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. 35 of the 49 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)
16
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/35
Grantees still filing
26/35
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Wildwood Outdoor Education Center: $893,974 · EnvironmentWildwood Outdoor Education CenterKANSAS CITY COMMUNITY GARDENS INC: $50,000 · Environment+2 more: $1,500 · EnvironmentGIRLS ON THE RUN: $80,000 · OtherGIRLS ON THE RUNHABITAT FOR HUMANITY KC: $70,000 · OtherHABITAT FOR HUMANIT…MATTIE RHODES ART CENTER: $35,000 · OtherMATTIE RHODES ART C…GIVING THE BASICS INC: $30,000 · OtherGIVING THE BASICS I…NORTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER: $28,451 · OtherNORTHEAST COMMUNITY…PHARMACY OF GRACE INC: $25,000 · OtherPHARMACY OF GRACE I…GIRL SCOUTS: $15,000 · Other+15 more: $61,850 · Other+15 moreWOMENS EMPLOYMENT NETWORK: $141,000 · EmploymentWOMENS EMP…RIGHTFULLY SEWN INC: $40,000 · EmploymentRIGHTFULLY…PAWSPERITY INC: $140,000 · Human ServicesPAWSPERIT…BELOVED ATLANTA INC: $10,000 · Human ServicesBELOVED A…THE FAMILY CONSERVANCY: $5,500 · Human Services+2 more: $6,000 · Human ServicesINTERURBAN ARTHOUSE: $45,000 · Arts & CultureUNION STATION KANSAS CITY INC: $28,000 · Arts & CultureKANSAS CITY BALLET ASSOCIATION: $25,000 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCOMMUNITY CAPITAL FUND: $15,000 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $1,000 · Arts & CultureAmethyst Place Inc: $135,000 · HealthMINDDRIVE INCORPORATED: $30,000 · EducationTHE LAUNCHCODE FOUNDATION: $25,000 · EducationTHE SEWING LABS: $20,000 · EducationGREAT JOBS KC INC: $20,000 · EducationUMKC FOUNDATION: $8,000 · EducationKANSAS CITY GIRLS PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $7,000 · Education+3 more: $6,000 · Education
Environment$945,474Other$345,301Employment$181,000Human Services$161,500Arts & Culture$139,000Health$135,000Education$116,000

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 budgetWildwood Outdoor Education Center: $893,974 over 8y, 19% of budgetWOMENS EMPLOYMENT NETWORK: $141,000 over 8y, 2.1% of budgetPAWSPERITY INC: $140,000 over 7y, 1.9% of budgetAmethyst Place Inc: $135,000 over 8y, 0.8% of budgetKANSAS CITY COMMUNITY GARDENS INC: $50,000 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetINTERURBAN ARTHOUSE: $45,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetRIGHTFULLY SEWN INC: $40,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetGIVING THE BASICS INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMINDDRIVE INCORPORATED: $30,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetNORTHEAST COMMUNITY CENTER: $28,451 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetUNION STATION KANSAS CITY INC: $28,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetKANSAS CITY BALLET ASSOCIATION: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPHARMACY OF GRACE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LAUNCHCODE FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SEWING LABS: $20,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetGREAT JOBS KC INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY CAPITAL FUND: $15,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetLITERACY KANSAS CITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetUMKC FOUNDATION: $8,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKANSAS CITY GIRLS PREPARATORY ACADEMY: $7,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FAMILY CONSERVANCY: $5,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBAREFOOT MISSION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetTHE LEAN LAB INC LEAN LAB EDUCATION: $3,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetOPERATION BREAKTHROUGH INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHARVESTERS - THE COMMUNITY FOOD NETWORK: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCULTIVATE KANSAS CITY INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMIRACLE OF INNOCENCE INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFOR LOVE OF WATER: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMUSIC THEATRE KANSAS CITY INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTrue Light Family Resource Center: $1,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSCRAPS KC INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE EDUCATOR ACADEMY INC: $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.

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.

Greater Kansas City C…Oppenstein Brothers F…The H & R Block Found…Ewing Marion Kauffman…William T Kemper Foun…The Sunderland Founda…Marion and Henry Bloc…The Sherman Family Fo…The Francis Family Fo…Jewish Community Foun…Health Forward Founda…United Way of Greater…
Greater Kansas City Community FoundationMO45.6× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Kansas City Community Foundation · Oppenstein Brothers Foundation · The H & R Block Foundation · Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation · William T Kemper Foundation Commerce Bank Trustee · The Sunderland Foundation · Marion and Henry Bloch Family Foundation · The Sherman Family Foundation · The Francis Family Foundation · Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City · Health Forward Foundation · United Way of Greater Kansas City Inc

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 Skillbuilders Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Skillbuilders Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    17report 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Skillbuilders Fund?

    Find your warmest path to Skillbuilders Fund 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 49 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 Skillbuilders’ 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