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Spellissy Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Spellissy Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$60k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
7
States reached
$10k
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.

Animals$130kArts & Culture$64kEnvironment$41kCivil Rights$23kFood & Nutrition$22kScience & Tech$17kPublic Benefit$4kEmployment$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k11 grants · $50k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$5,000
Median grant
7
States reached
$360k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS$10,000
SCHOODIC INSTITUTE$7,000
MANOMET INC$5,000
CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY$5,000
FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM$5,000
STEWARDS OF THE GEORGIA COAST$5,000
MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY$5,000
NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY$5,000
GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE$4,000
WILD WHATCOM$4,000
GREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION FOUNDATIO$2,500
UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA SCH OF VET MED$2,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 67% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%DELAWARE VALLEY LEGACY FUND: $3k → 22%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 16%GREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION FOUNDATIO: $3k → 11%BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $4k → 9%STEWARDS OF THE GEORGIA COAST: $5k → 14%MATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION: $4k → 12%MID-COAST HUMANE: $5k → 7%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 9%MEGUNTICOOK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION: $3k → 11%SCHOODIC INSTITUTE: $7k → 11%AVIAN HAVEN: $9k → 13%AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION: $4k → 15%UNIV OF PENNSYLVANIA SCH OF VET MED: $3k → 22%CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY: $5k → 16%BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $4k → 9%MATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION: $4k → 12%GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $5k → 7%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 9%MEGUNTICOOK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION: $3k → 11%SCHOODIC INSTITUTE: $5k → 11%AVIAN HAVEN: $5k → 13%PHILABUNDANCE: $15k → 22%CORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY: $5k → 16%BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $4k → 9%MATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION: $4k → 12%GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $4k → 7%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 9%MEGUNTICOOK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION: $3k → 11%SCHOODIC INSTITUTE: $5k → 11%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 16%MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 7%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 9%MEGUNTICOOK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION: $3k → 11%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 16%MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 7%NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 9%MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 7%MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 7%MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 7%OWL'S HEAD TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM: $5k → 11%MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 7%OWL'S HEAD TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM: $5k → 11%MAINE AUDUBON SOCIETY: $5k → 7%BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS: $10k → 11%BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS: $10k → 11%BAY CHAMBER CONCERTS: $10k → 11%FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM: $5k → 11%FARNSWORTH ART MUSEUM: $5k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ME
VT
WA
IL
NY
MA
PA
UT
CO
DC
AL
GA
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$265k · 17 repeat orgs$44k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +0% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
7

Total granted

$265k
$30k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+0%

Still filing today

76%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 77% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k 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
EnvironmentAnimalsArts & CultureEducationCivil RightsCrime & LegalOther
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

  • MA
    Maine Audubon Society
    8× · 2017–2024 · $38k · revenue +200%
  • TO
    The Owls Head Transportation Museum
    6× · 2017–2022 · $20k · revenue +122%
  • SI
    SCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
    3× · 2022–2024 · $17k · revenue +51%

Funded once

  • Philabundance
    one grant, 2020 · $15k · revenue +0%
  • MH
    MIDCOAST HUMANEgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue +81%
  • II
    Island Institute
    one grant, 2023 · $3k · revenue -3%
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
The Quebec-Labrador Foundation Inc

The program mission of the quebec-labrador foundation u.s. is defined by a regional component (new england and eastern canada), and an international component, which ties our regional model to a global conservation network. qlf's program…

Philanthropy
2
Massachusetts Audubon Society Inc

To protect the nature of massachusetts for people and for wildlife through education, land conservation, advocacy, scientific research, and habitat stewardship/restoration.

Environment
3
Wetlands Foundation
Environment
4
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
5
Lloyd Center for the Environment Inc

The mission of the center is to instill a life-long respect and affection for nature in all people through research and education; to advance a scientific and public understanding of our coastal ecosystems and the need to protect them; and…

Environment
6
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
—
7
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
8
Ocean Conservancy

Ocean conservancy unites science, people, and policy to protect our ocean, today and for generations to come.

Environment
9
American Littoral Society

Promote the study and conservation of marine life and its habitat, defend the coast from harm, and empower others to do the same.

Environment
10
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
11
New Jersey Audubon Society

The new jersey audubon society is a privately supported, not-for-profit, statewide membership organization. (see schedule o for details).

Environment
12
New Jersey Conservation Foundation

Recognizing that a healthy environment is critical to the well-being and survival of all living things, new jersey conservation foundation is devoted to preserving land and protecting natural resources throughout new jersey's (continued on…

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Manomet Inc; the most unlike its peers is The William a Farnsworth Library and Art Museum 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

22 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. 22 of the 28 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/22
Grantees still filing
16/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Maine Audubon Society: $37,500 · EnvironmentMaine Audubon SocietySCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: $17,000 · EnvironmentSCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NA…NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $15,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INCMANOMET INC: $14,000 · EnvironmentMANOMET INC+1 more: $1,500 · EnvironmentNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY: $25,000 · OtherNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETYMEGUNTICOOK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION: $11,500 · OtherMEGUNTICOOK WATERSHED ASSOCIA…AMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATION: $10,500 · OtherAMERICAN CHESTNUT FOUNDATIONCORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGY: $10,000 · OtherCORNELL LAB OF ORNITHOLOGYSTEWARDS OF THE GEORGIA COAST: $5,000 · OtherSTEWARDS OF THE GEORGIA COASTTHE BIDEN FOUNDATION: $4,000 · OtherWILD WHATCOM: $4,000 · Other+5 more: $10,500 · Other+5 moreBAY CHAMBER CONCERTS INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureBAY CHAMBER CONCERTS I…The Owls Head Transportation Museum: $20,000 · Arts & CultureThe Owls Head Transpor…THE WILLIAM A FARNSWORTH LIBRARY AND ART MUSEUM INC: $12,500 · Arts & CultureTHE WILLIAM A FARNSWOR…AVIAN HAVEN: $14,000 · AnimalsAVIAN HAVENBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $12,000 · AnimalsBEST FRIENDS AN…GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $9,000 · AnimalsGULF OF MAINE R…MIDCOAST HUMANE: $5,000 · AnimalsMIDCOAST HUMANEGREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $2,500 · AnimalsGREAT PLAINS CO…Philabundance: $15,000 · Food & NutritionMATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION: $12,000 · Civil RightsSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $10,750 · Crime & Legal
Environment$85,000Other$80,500Arts & Culture$62,500Animals$42,500Food & Nutrition$15,000Civil Rights$12,000Crime & Legal$10,750

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 budgetMaine Audubon Society: $37,500 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetBAY CHAMBER CONCERTS INC: $30,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetThe Owls Head Transportation Museum: $20,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetSCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: $17,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPhilabundance: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMANOMET INC: $14,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAVIAN HAVEN: $14,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetTHE WILLIAM A FARNSWORTH LIBRARY AND ART MUSEUM INC: $12,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetBEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY: $12,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMATTHEW SHEPARD FOUNDATION: $12,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetMEGUNTICOOK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION: $11,500 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $10,750 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $9,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMIDCOAST HUMANE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWILD WHATCOM: $4,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BIDEN FOUNDATION: $4,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetIsland Institute: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREAT PLAINS CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDELAWARE VALLEY LEGACY FUND: $2,500 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetSMASHSMARD INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR COASTAL STUDIES INC: $1,500 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.

Maine Community Found…The Nature ConservancyAmica Companies Found…Raymond James Charita…American Endowment Fo…The Bank of America C…Paypal Charitable Giv…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …American Online Givin…
Maine Community Foundation IncME18.8× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · The Nature Conservancy · Amica Companies Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · American Endowment Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Spellissy Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Spellissy Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 26%
  • Center for Coastal Studies Inc: 26% of income from government
  • Manomet Inc: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
1report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Spellissy Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Spellissy 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 28 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 Spellissy’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