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Skylight Charitable Trust at a glance

· Private foundation

Skylight 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.

$7.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
15
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$1.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2024.

Health$8.3MPhilanthropy$5.8MHousing & Shelter$225kArts & Culture$200kHuman Services$100k
02FY2024 · 15 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $50k–250k3 grants · $485k
  • $250k+12 grants · $7.0M
$377,167
Median grant
5
States reached
$106M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION$1,000,000
WATERTOWN AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$1,000,000
WATERTOWN AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$1,000,000
WATERTOWN AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$700,000
AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION$625,000
CUREPSP INC$550,000
CMT RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC$550,000
AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION$377,167
AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION$357,356
CMT RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC$300,000
MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSONS RESEARCH$250,000
CUREPSP INC$250,000
UNVERSITY OF ARIZONA FOUNDATION$234,822
AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION$150,000
WATERTOWN AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$100,000
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 (FY22–22, $100k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%DREAM CENTERS OF MICHIGAN: $100k → 8%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

MN
WI
MI
NY
PA
CA
AZ
GA
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 46% of Skylight Charitable Trust’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Skylight Charitable Trustlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

75%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$6.7M · 4 repeat orgs$2.2M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +99% since the first grant, against -34% for those funded once.

4 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

4
8

Total granted

$6.7M
$1.9M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+99%
-34%

Still filing today

100%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $235k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24
HealthArts & CultureHuman ServicesOther
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

  • AB
    AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION
    3× · 2022–2024 · $3.7M · revenue +32% · 40% of their budget
  • CR
    CMT Research Foundation Inc
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.4M · revenue +99%
  • CI
    CUREPSP INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +108%

Funded once

  • AB
    AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $625k
  • CA
    CHARCOT-MARIE-TOOTH ASSOCIATION
    one grant, 2022 · $500k · revenue -34%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2023 · $225k
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
Cure Cmd

Cure CMDs mission is to advance research toward treatments for the congenital muscular dystrophies and empower those living with CMD through engagement and support of our community.

Health
2
Brain Research Foundation

The foundation is committed to supporting neuroscience research that leads to advances in understanding of brain function and treatment of brain-related disorders.

Health
3
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
4
Clinical Neurological Society of America Inc

The mission of the cnsa is to support and enhance the study, acquisition, dissemination, and application of knowledge concerning neurology in all of its phases: biological, clinical, and social.

Health
5
Complex Disorders Alliance Inc

To accelerate scientific discoveries that will lead to breakthrough diagnostics, therapeutics and cures for people living with neuroimmune axis disorders.

Philanthropy
6
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

To cure cf and provide all people with cf the opportunity to lead long, fulfilling lives by funding research and drug development, partnering with the cf community, and advancing high-quality, specialized care.

Health
7
Alzheimer's Disease Research Foundation

To fund research with the highest probability of preventing, slowing or reversing alzheimer's disease. all overhead expenses are paid by the board of directors, trustees and core group of other donors, allowing 100% of general donations to…

Health
8
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Inc

To create and lead alliances and public-private partnerships that advance breakthrough biomedical discoveries and improve the quality of people's lives

Health
9
National Ataxia Foundation Incorporated

The National Ataxia Foundation's mission is to accelerate the development of treatments and a cure while working to improve the lives of those living with Ataxia.

—
10
Morton Cure Paralysis Fund

The Morton Cure Paralysis Fund MCPF is a nonprofit organization committed to finding a cure for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury and other disorders of the central nervous system. MCPF is also a community of people that provides…

Health
11
Parkinson's Foundation Inc

Make life better for people with parkinson's disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure.

Health
12
Open Medicine Foundation

Funds collaborative medical research and education for multi-system chronic complex diseases.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Brain Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Lebanon Historical Society Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

12 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. 12 of the 16 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.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
7/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION: $3,709,523 · HealthAMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATIONCMT Research Foundation Inc: $1,450,000 · HealthCMT Research Foundation IncCUREPSP INC: $1,150,000 · HealthCUREPSP INCCHARCOT-MARIE-TOOTH ASSOCIATION: $500,000 · HealthCHARCOT-MARIE-TOOTH ASSOCIATIONTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $350,000 · Health+2 more: $200,000 · HealthWATERTOWN AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $4,841,000 · PhilanthropyWATERTOWN AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONCOMERICA CHARITABLE TRUST: $500,000 · PhilanthropyCOMERICA CHARITABLE TRUSTARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $450,000 · PhilanthropyARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONAMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION: $625,000 · OtherAMERICAN …UNVERSITY OF ARIZONA FOUNDATION: $234,822 · OtherUNVERSITY…Individual grant recipient: $224,664 · OtherIndividua…CMT RESEARCH FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · OtherCMT RESEA…Lebanon Historical Society Inc: $200,000 · Arts & CultureDream Centers of Michigan: $100,000 · Human Services
Health$7,359,523Philanthropy$5,791,000Other$1,184,486Arts & Culture$200,000Human Services$100,000

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 budgetWATERTOWN AREA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $4,841,000 over 3y, 89% of budgetAMERICAN BRAIN FOUNDATION: $3,709,523 over 3y, 40% of budgetCMT Research Foundation Inc: $1,450,000 over 3y, 18% of budgetCUREPSP INC: $1,150,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetCHARCOT-MARIE-TOOTH ASSOCIATION: $500,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetCOMERICA CHARITABLE TRUST: $500,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetARIZONA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $450,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $350,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLebanon Historical Society Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 39% of budgetDEMENTIA SOCIETY INC: $100,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetDream Centers of Michigan: $100,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetThe Bluefield Project to Cure Frontotemporal Dementia: $100,000 over 1y, 3.5% 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.

National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…
National Philanthropic TrustPA9.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 1 of 1Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving 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 Skylight Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Skylight Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%23%51%90%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
    3report 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.

    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 16 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 Skylight’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