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Sunlight Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sunlight Foundation

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.

$414k
Granted FY2024still arriving
22
Grants FY2024still arriving
14
States reached
$150k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0188% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$786kReligion$326kPhilanthropy$280kInternational$175kEnvironment$97kHealth$90kYouth Development$82kCivil Rights$34kOther$0
02FY2024 · 22 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k14 grants · $78k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $106k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $230k
$8,400
Median grant
14
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Baylor University$150,000
Schwab Charitable Fund$80,000
Cotton Tree Foundation$31,000
United Methodist World Misssion$20,000
Mexican Indian Training Center$20,000
Youth Serving Christ$15,000
Moody Aviation$10,000
Samaritans Purse$10,000
Individual grant recipient$9,600
Coalition for Outreach$8,400
Individual grant recipient$8,400
Missionary Flights International$8,400
S4CA$6,000
Young Life$6,000
Mission Aviation Fellowship$5,600
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 90% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%Coalition for Outreach: $8k → 11%Baylor University: $150k → 16%Missionary Ventures: $11k → 13%University of Wisconsin Foundation: $6k → 10%Cotton Tree Foundation: $31k → 4%Timber Ridge Environmental Center: $48k → 14%ETSU Foundation: $10k → 14%Samaritans Purse: $10k → 21%TEAM USA: $8k → 10%TEAM USA: $7k → 7%Moody Aviation: $10k → 14%Al Hayat: $10k → 9%Mexican Indian Training Center: $20k → 22%Coalition for Outreach: $8k → 11%Baylor University: $135k → 16%Missionary Ventures: $11k → 13%Cotton Tree Foundation: $30k → 4%Timber Ridge Environmental Ctr: $48k → 14%ETSU Foundation: $10k → 14%TEAM USA: $8k → 10%Moody Aviation: $10k → 14%Al Hayat: $10k → 9%Mexican Indian Training Center: $20k → 22%Coalition for Outreach: $8k → 11%Baylor University: $121k → 16%Missionay Ventures: $11k → 13%Cotton Tree Foundation: $25k → 4%2100 Foundation: $36k → 14%ETSU Foundation: $10k → 14%TEAM USA: $8k → 10%Moody Aviation: $10k → 14%Al Hayat: $7k → 9%Mexican Indian Training Center Inc: $20k → 22%Coalition for Outreach: $8k → 11%Baylor University: $110k → 16%Cotton Tree Foundation: $8k → 4%Woodmont Baptist Church: $22k → 14%ETSU foundation: $10k → 14%TEAM USA: $8k → 10%Moody Aviation: $10k → 14%Mexican Indian Training Center: $20k → 22%Coolition for Christian Outreach: $7k → 11%Baylor University: $110k → 16%Woodmont Baptist Church: $16k → 14%Moody Aviation: $10k → 14%Mexican Indian Training Center: $20k → 22%Woodmont Baptist Church: $15k → 14%Woodmont Baptist Church: $10k → 14%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
ID
MN
IL
WI
NY
IN
PA
CA
NE
VA
AZ
AR
TN
NC
LA
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 25 repeat orgs$131k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

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

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
10

Total granted

$1.6M
$98k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+16%

Still filing today

32%
30%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $34k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationInternationalYouth DevelopmentReligionOther
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

  • BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $626k · revenue +24%
  • MI
    MEXICAN INDIAN TRAINING CENTER INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $100k · revenue +83%
  • ET
    EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $45k · revenue +20%

Funded once

  • 2F
    2100 Foundation
    one grant, 2022 · $36k
  • Vanderbilt Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $23k · revenue +65%
  • MV
    Missionay Ventures
    one grant, 2022 · $11k
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
Taylor University

The mission of Taylor University is to develop servant-leaders marked with a passion to minister Christ's redemptive love, grace, and truth to a world in need.

Education
2
Southern Wesleyan University

Southern wesleyan university is a christ-centered, student-focused learning community devoted to transforming lives by challenging students to be dedicated scholars and servant-leaders who impact the world for christ.

Education
3
Evangel University

Evangel is a comprehensive christian university that is committed to excellence in educating and equipping students to become spirit empowered servants of god who will impact the church and society globally.

Education
4
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
5
California Baptist University

A private institution of higher education, offering both undergraduate and graduate courses to students.

Education
6
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
7
University of Northwestern - St Paul

See schedule o. founded in 1902, university of northwestern - st. paul is a nondenominational christian university that integrates the educational philosophy of "faith, learning and living" through two focuses: higher education and media.…

Education
8
Graceland University

See schedule othe primary mission of graceland university is to be a learning community, where students develop their potential for meaningful and productive lives through intellectual, physical, social and spiritual growth. this mission…

Education
9
Mid-America Reformed Seminary

Mid-america reformed seminary seeks to serve the church by preparing students for gospel ministry as pastors, or those whose service to the church may be enhanced by theological education.

—
10
Pacific School of Religion

Pacific school of religion prepares a diverse cadre of spiritually rooted leaders with the vision, resilience, and skill to create a world where all can thrive. grounded in the rigorous study and faithful practice of progressive christian…

Education
11
Wisconsin Christian Campus Ministries Inc

Our mission is to advance the gospel of jesus christ through the next generation by engaging the lost and discipling believers on college campuses.

Religion
12
St Mary's University

St. marys university, as a catholic marianist university, fosters the formation of people in faith and educates leaders for the common good through community, integrated liberal arts and professional education, and academic excellence.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is World Vision Inc; the most unlike its peers is Tree Foundation 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

15 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. 15 of the 41 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/15
Grantees still filing
12/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TIMBER RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER: $96,000 · OtherTIMBER RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL CENTERVanderbilt Medical Center Dev: $90,000 · OtherVanderbilt Medical Center DevWOODMONT BAPTIST CHURCH: $68,000 · OtherWOODMONT BAPTIST CHURCHMISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIP: $61,000 · OtherMISSION AVIATION FELLOWSHIPMoody Aviation: $50,000 · OtherMoody AviationYouth Serving Christ: $43,000 · OtherYouth Serving ChristIndividual grant recipient: $40,950 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMissionary Flights International: $40,600 · OtherMissionary Flights International2100 Foundation: $36,000 · OtherCoalition for Outreach: $33,600 · OtherMESA GLOBAL: $28,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $26,400 · Other+17 more: $136,850 · Other+17 moreBAYLOR UNIVERSITY: $626,025 · EducationBAYLOR UNIVERSITYEAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $45,000 · EducationEAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATI…UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Education+1 more: $23,000 · EducationDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $280,000 · PhilanthropyDONOR ADVISED C…MEXICAN INDIAN TRAINING CENTER INC: $100,000 · InternationalMEXICAN INDI…TREE FOUNDATION INC: $94,000 · InternationalTREE FOUNDAT…S4CA INC: $24,000 · InternationalS4CA INC+1 more: $1,936 · InternationalYOUNG LIFE: $31,500 · Youth DevelopmentLaunch Ministry: $5,000 · Youth DevelopmentSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $10,000 · Religion
Other$750,400Education$719,025Philanthropy$280,000International$219,936Youth Development$36,500Religion$10,000

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 budgetBAYLOR UNIVERSITY: $626,025 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $280,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMEXICAN INDIAN TRAINING CENTER INC: $100,000 over 5y, 4.4% of budgetEAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $45,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $31,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetS4CA INC: $24,000 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetVanderbilt University: $23,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMISSION SAFETY INTERNATIONAL INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetCOALITION FOR CHRISTIAN OUTREACH: $7,350 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLaunch Ministry: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWORLD VISION INC: $1,936 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMERCY MULTIPLIED AMERICA 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.

  • Who funds BAYLOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ↗
  • Who funds MEXICAN INDIAN TRAINING CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds TREE FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds S4CA INC ↗
  • Who funds Vanderbilt University ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds MISSION SAFETY INTERNATIONAL INC ↗
  • Who funds COALITION FOR CHRISTIAN OUTREACH ↗
  • Who funds Launch Ministry ↗
  • Who funds WORLD VISION INC ↗
  • Who funds MERCY MULTIPLIED AMERICA INC ↗

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.

Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Natl Christian Charitable Fdn IncGA10.8× affinity7 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get 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 · 0–25%
    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 41 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 Sunlight’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