Skip to content

· Public charity

Strong City Baltimore Inc

Strong city baltimore takes a holistic approach to build and strengthening neighborhoods and people.

$412k
Granted FY2019
27
Grants FY2019
5
States reached
$100k
Largest
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 2019.

Community Improvement$162kHealth$136kHuman Services$91kYouth Development$70kEducation$57kArts & Culture$56kCrime & Legal$40kPhilanthropy$24kOther$0
02FY2019 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 27 grants below total $373,293, the rows itemized in this filing. The $412,268 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $38,975 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 · FY2019

  • Under $10k11 grants · $65k
  • $10k–50k14 grants · $145k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $164k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$3.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NIHNIAID$100,000
FUSION PARTNERSHIPS INC$63,500
BALTIMORE BAR FOUNDATION INC$12,500
PRO BONO RESOURCE CENTER OF MARYLAND INC$12,500
DENT EDUCATION INC$10,000
IT TAKES ONE INC$10,000
ROB'S BARBERSHIP COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC$10,000
MTM FOUNDATION$10,000
PROJECT PLASE INC$10,000
GREEN & HEALTHY HOMES INITIATIVE INC$10,000
PURPOSE DRIVEN JOURNEY INC$10,000
WELLNESS ALLY$10,000
FRACTURED ATLAS INC$10,000
CIVIC WORKS$10,000
SOCIAL GOOD FUND$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 (FY17–19, $66k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 85% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%ROB'S BARBERSHIP COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 6%CENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES: $38k → 19%THE FRANCISCAN CENTER OF BALTIMORE: $8k → 19%BELOVED COMMUNITY SERVICES CORPORATION: $10k → 19%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.

29%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$197k · 6 repeat orgs$475k to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2019, 2 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2019 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
16

Total granted

$197k
$192k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+64%
+216%

Still filing today

67%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2019, 22% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $283k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19
Human ServicesEducationArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementCrime & LegalRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
    2× · 2017–2018 · $28k · revenue +64%
  • HL
    HARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION
    2× · 2018–2019 · $12k · revenue +203%
  • CF
    CHILL FOUNDATION
    2× · 2018–2019 · $10k · revenue +57%

Funded once

  • CF
    CENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $38k · revenue +70%
  • EB
    EUBIE BLAKE NATIONAL JAZZ INSTITUTE & CULTURAL CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $25k · revenue +609%
  • WA
    WIDE ANGLE YOUTH MEDIA INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $20k · revenue +329%
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
Baltimore Corps Inc

To cultivate career advancement opportunities for local talent, facilitate talent acquisition for local employers, increase access to capital for local entrepreneurs' social ventures, and foster cross-sector collaboration to address city…

Employment
2
Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance Inc

Founded in 2001, gbca is a leading nonprofit provider of services to artists and cultural organizations in the region. (see schedule o)

Arts & Culture
3
Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore Foundation
—
4
Greater Baltimore Committee Inc

Greater Baltimore Committee, Inc. is a not-for-profit, civic-interest corporation comprised of business and professional organizations located within the Greater Baltimore Area. Its purpose is to provide a strong, unified and effective…

—
5
Baltimore Action Legal Team Inc

Baltimore Action Legal Team is dedicated to pursuing creative, community-driven solutions and movement-oriented lawyering to support the Baltimore community.

Human Services
6
Baltimore Community Lending Inc

The mission of baltimore community lending is supporting the revitalization and strengthening of underserved communities in the greater baltimore region through innovative financial solutions and collaborative resources designed to promote…

Community Improvement
7
Central Baltimore Partnership Inc

The mission of the central baltimore partnership cbp is to galvanize the renaissance of the neighborhoods of central baltimore, creating a diverse, equitable community where everyone can thrive. the organization pursues its mission by…

Community Improvement
8
Baltimore Civic Fund Inc

The baltimore civic fund works to connect government and philanthropy to improve residents' quality of life. our mission is to expand access to the critical assets, resources, and opportunities necessary to ensure the vitality of…

Philanthropy
9
Baltimore Development Corporation

The baltimore development corporation (bdc) is a non-profit organization that serves as the economic development agency for the city of baltimore. bdc's mission is to grow the city's economy in an inclusive, equitable manner by retaining,…

Community Improvement
10
Metropolitan Baltimore Council of Afl-Cio Unions

The council was organized for the purpose of providing its members with adequate representation in various union related matters.

—
11
Baltimore Area Health Education Center

To eliminate health disparities by educating and strengthening the health care workforce. bahec provides interdisciplinary education programs that bridge academic, healthcare, and community settings to transform the health of underserved…

Health
12
Baltimore Neighborhoods Inc

To advocate fair housing and improving tenant/landlord relations.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Baltimore Community Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Greater Mondawmin Coordinating Council 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

34 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. 34 of the 46 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)
17
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/34
Grantees still filing
29/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NIHNIA: $100,000 · OtherNIHNIABALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: $15,305 · OtherNEW GREENMOUNT WEST COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: $15,000 · OtherBALTIMORE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $13,750 · OtherHARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION: $12,019 · Other+18 more: $149,841 · Other+18 moreFUSION PARTNERSHIP INC: $116,752 · Community ImprovementFUSION PARTNERSHIP INCGREATER MONDAWMIN COORDINATING COUNCIL INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementGREATER MONDAWMIN COOR…CORNER COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $10,000 · Community ImprovementCORNER COMMUNITY CENTE…CENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES INC: $37,500 · Human ServicesCENTER FOR …BELOVED COMMUNITY SERVICES CORPORATION: $10,000 · Human ServicesBELOVED COM…ROBS BARBERSHOP COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Human ServicesROBS BARBER…FRANCISCAN CENTER INC: $8,333 · Human ServicesFRANCISCAN …BACK ON MY FEET: $5,600 · Human ServicesBACK ON MY …JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $28,000 · EducationJOHNS HOPKI…SOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $10,000 · EducationSOCIAL GOOD…CIVIC WORKS INC: $10,000 · EducationCIVIC WORKS…DENT EDUCATION INC: $10,000 · EducationDENT EDUCAT…ARTS EVERY DAY INC: $8,250 · EducationARTS EVERY …Savannah College of Art and DesignInc: $5,000 · EducationSavannah Co…EUBIE BLAKE NATIONAL JAZZ INSTITUTE & CULTURAL CENTER: $25,000 · Arts & CultureEUBIE BLA…WIDE ANGLE YOUTH MEDIA INC: $20,000 · Arts & CultureWIDE ANGL…FRACTURED ATLAS INC: $10,000 · Arts & CultureFRACTURED…ACCESS ART INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureACCESS AR…BALTIMORE BAR FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 · Crime & LegalPRO BONO RESOURCE CENTER OF MARYLAND INC: $12,500 · Crime & LegalFREESTATE JUSTICE INC: $5,000 · Crime & LegalCHILL FOUNDATION: $10,012 · Youth DevelopmentMTM FOUNDATION INC: $10,000 · Youth Development
Other$305,915Community Improvement$136,752Human Services$71,433Education$71,250Arts & Culture$60,000Crime & Legal$30,000Youth Development$20,012

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFUSION PARTNERSHIP INC: $116,752 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetCENTER FOR URBAN FAMILIES INC: $37,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: $28,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetEUBIE BLAKE NATIONAL JAZZ INSTITUTE & CULTURAL CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetWIDE ANGLE YOUTH MEDIA INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetBALTIMORE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $13,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBALTIMORE BAR FOUNDATION INC: $12,500 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetPRO BONO RESOURCE CENTER OF MARYLAND INC: $12,500 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION: $12,019 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHILL FOUNDATION: $10,012 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASSOCIATED BLACK CHARITIES INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetANEW INSPIRED CHANGE ORGANIZATION: $10,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetFRACTURED ATLAS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCIVIC WORKS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetROBS BARBERSHOP COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetDENT EDUCATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetGREEN & HEALTHY HOMES INITIATIVE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREATER MONDAWMIN COORDINATING COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetPROJECT PLASE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRANCISCAN CENTER INC: $8,333 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetARTS EVERY DAY INC: $8,250 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetBACK ON MY FEET: $5,600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE FIRST TEE OF GREATER BALTIMORE INC: $5,006 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBALTIMORE TREE TRUST INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetACCESS ART INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE COLLEGE FOUNDATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFREESTATE JUSTICE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetSavannah College of Art and DesignInc: $5,000 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.

The United Way of Central Maryland IncMD38.6× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The United Way of Central Maryland Inc · Baltimore Community Foundation Inc · The Abell Foundation Inc · Annie E Casey Foundation Inc · T Rowe Price Foundation · Fund for Educational Excellence Inc · The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc · France-Merrick Foundation Inc · T Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving Inc · Brown Advisory Charitable Foundation Inc · Robert W Deutsch Foundation · Baltimore Civic Fund 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 Strong City Baltimore Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Strong City Baltimore Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • Green & Healthy Homes Initiative Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Baltimore Tree Trust Inc: 100% of income from government
  • Civic Works Inc: 63% of income from government
  • Project Plase Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Center for Urban Families Inc: 36% of income from government
  • Baltimore Bar Foundation Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Johns Hopkins University: 12% of income from government
  • Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Arts Every Day Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Access Art Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Fusion Partnership Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Beloved Community Services Corporation: 3% of income from government
  • Wide Angle Youth Media Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Franciscan Center Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Chill Foundation: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
10report 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.

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 46 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 2019, released 2019. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Strong City Baltimore’s filings →

More from the funding graph