Skip to content
Strong Refuge Charitable Trust at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Community foundation

Strong Refuge Charitable Trust

To provide funding to charities in fulfillment of the exempt purposes of national christian charitable foundation, inc.

$1.1M
Granted FY2023
25
Grants FY2023
11
States reached
$225k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

83% of Strong Refuge Charitable Trust’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 4 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Strong Refuge Charitable Trust named its own grantees at scale: 22 organizations, $1M. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

0
’20
8
’21
19
’22
22
’23
4
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$2.7MReligion$1.9MEducation$260kInternational$186kHuman Services$130kRecreation & Sports$125kCrime & Legal$100kHousing & Shelter$100kOther$0
02FY2023 · 25 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • $10k–50k15 grants · $260k
  • $50k–250k10 grants · $889k
$25,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$6.2M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC$225,000
THE MAJESTY FOUNDATION$100,000
THE SEND$100,000
OPEN HOUSE MINISTRIES$100,000
CHILDREN IN CHRIST$100,000
GRACE CHAPEL$63,500
GREATER PORTLAND FCA$50,000
KINDRED PARTNERS$50,000
LUIS PALAU ASSOCIATION$50,000
MENDING THE SOUL MINISTRIES$50,000
FOR OTHERS COLLECTIVE$30,000
ALPHA USA$30,000
LIFESTYLE CHRISTIANITY$25,000
PRACTICING THE WAY$25,000
DARE 2 SHARE MINISTRIES$25,000
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 (FY22–23, $125k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 80% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%HAPPY HOME FOR THE HANDICAPPED: $25k → 8%FRIENDS OF THE GOOD SAMARITANS INC: $10k → 18%ANANTHI FRIENDS OF THE GOOD SAMARITANS: $10k → 18%FOR OTHERS COLLECTIVE: $50k → 13%FOR OTHERS COLLECTIVE: $30k → 13%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

WA
IL
MI
OR
CA
CO
KY
MD
TN
OK
GA
TX
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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$2.3M · 16 repeat orgs$523k to everyone else

16 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2023, 1 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
5

Total granted

$2.3M
$122k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+36%

Still filing today

75%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 37% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $86k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
ReligionHuman ServicesEducationHealthYouth DevelopmentHousing & ShelterOther
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

  • T
    TheSend
    3× · 2021–2023 · $600k · revenue +12%
  • FO
    FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES
    3× · 2022–2024 · $125k · revenue +32%
  • KINDRED PARTNERS
    3× · 2021–2023 · $100k · revenue +17%

Funded once

  • GG
    GENEROUS GIVING INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $27k · revenue +36%
  • DO
    DOOR OF HOPE CHURCH
    one grant, 2022 · $25k
  • HH
    HAPPY HOME FOR THE HANDICAPPED INC
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -42%
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
Asia Us Impact

Religious

Religion
2
Explore God Network
—
3
Follow Him Media Inc
Religion
4
For the Gospel Ministries

Support local churches, leaders, and christians from around the world through online content that strengthens and affirms their life in christ. committed to using every means possible to reach every age and life stage with the gospel…

Religion
5
International Impact Ministries in
Religion
6
Connect the World

The purpose of the organization is to share the passionate love of god the father throughout the world, his salvation through his son, the lord jesus christ, and to lead people to an experience with the holy spirit and his power. our…

Religion
7
Face to Faith Ministry

Our mission is to make disciples of jesus christ by engaging indigenous pastors around the world. our vision is to train pastors and their congregants to share the gospel in a friendly, non-denominational approach across all ethnicities,…

Religion
8
Transform Ministries
—
9
Encounter Church

Church

Religion
10
Far Reaching Ministries

Far Reaching Ministries (FRM) was founded to carry the Gospel Jesus Christ to the world with discipleship as our primary objective. We plant and edify evangelical churches, found Bible schools, gather intimate small groups, and sustain…

International
11
Jessica Yoon Ministries

Spread the Christianity

Religion
12
Christian Mission for the United Nations Community

Christian Mission for the United Nations Community is a ministry aimed at leading the head of every nation and other top leaders to faith in Jesus Christ and helping them to walk in dependence upon God as they discharge the…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fellowship Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Luis Palau Association. 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

27 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. 27 of the 31 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/27
Grantees still filing
17/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC: $2,665,000 · PhilanthropyNATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INCTheSend: $600,000 · ReligionTheSendChildren of Character Inc: $400,000 · ReligionChildren of Character IncKINDRED PARTNERS: $100,000 · ReligionKINDRED PARTNERSTHE MAJESTY FOUNDATION: $100,000 · ReligionTHE MAJESTY FOUNDATIONLuis Palau Association: $100,000 · ReligionLuis Palau AssociationAlpha USA: $85,000 · ReligionAlpha USACOMPASSION TO ACTION INC: $80,000 · Religion+6 more: $112,120 · Religion+6 moreGRACE CHAPEL: $188,500 · OtherGRACE CHAP…PRACTICING THE WAY: $125,000 · OtherPRACTICING…INTERNATIONAL GENEROSITY: $75,975 · OtherINTERNATIO…LIFESTYLE CHRISTIANITY INC: $50,000 · OtherLIFESTYLE …Dare 2 Share Ministries: $50,000 · OtherDare 2 Sha…DOOR OF HOPE CHURCH: $25,000 · OtherFELLOWSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $20,250 · OtherVERATHON ACADEMY INC: $250,000 · EducationIAMPEOPLEORG: $10,000 · EducationFOR OTHERS COLLECTIVE INC: $80,000 · Human ServicesHAPPY HOME FOR THE HANDICAPPED INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesIntentional Parents International: $25,000 · Human ServicesFriends of the Good Samaritans Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $125,000 · Youth DevelopmentADVOCATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $55,000 · HealthMENDING THE SOUL MINISTRIES INC: $50,000 · HealthOPEN HOUSE MINISTRIES: $100,000 · Housing & Shelter
Philanthropy$2,665,000Religion$1,577,120Other$534,725Education$260,000Human Services$150,000Youth Development$125,000Health$105,000Housing & Shelter$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 budgetNATL CHRISTIAN CHARITABLE FDN INC: $2,665,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTheSend: $600,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetChildren of Character Inc: $400,000 over 3y, 23% of budgetVERATHON ACADEMY INC: $250,000 over 2y, 43% of budgetFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $125,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetKINDRED PARTNERS: $100,000 over 3y, 6.4% of budgetTHE MAJESTY FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetOPEN HOUSE MINISTRIES: $100,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetLuis Palau Association: $100,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetAlpha USA: $85,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetFOR OTHERS COLLECTIVE INC: $80,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetADVOCATE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $55,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMENDING THE SOUL MINISTRIES INC: $50,000 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetDare 2 Share Ministries: $50,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetGENEROUS GIVING INC: $27,120 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHAPPY HOME FOR THE HANDICAPPED INC: $25,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetIntentional Parents International: $25,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetFELLOWSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $20,250 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetREID SAUNDERS EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetRELENTLESS HOPE MINISTRIES: $20,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetFriends of the Good Samaritans Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetIAMPEOPLEORG: $10,000 over 1y, 44% of budgetINTO THE DEEP: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetEQUIPNET: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

Servant FoundationNatl Christian Charit…M J Murdock Charitabl…Christian Community F…International Generos…The Maclellan Foundat…The Signatry Charitab…Vanguard Charitable E…American Endowment Fo…Renaissance Charitabl…National Philanthropi…Raymond James Charita…
Servant FoundationKS19× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Servant Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · Christian Community Foundation Inc · International Generosity Foundation Trust · The Maclellan Foundation Inc · The Signatry Charitable Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Endowment Foundation · Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund

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 Refuge Charitable Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Strong Refuge Charitable Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 42%
  • Kindred Partners: 42% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get 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 · 0–50%
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 31 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Strong Refuge’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