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Sword and Spoon Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Sword and Spoon 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.

$65k
Granted FY2024still arriving
8
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0191% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Religion$249kEducation$119kArts & Culture$107kPublic Benefit$100kInternational$70kYouth Development$57kCommunity Improvement$25kHealth$23kOther$0
02FY2024 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k4 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $53k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$617k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AUSTIN CENTER FOR FAITH WORK$20,000
TRINITY GRACE CHURCH$13,000
ARENA HALL FOUNDATION$10,000
SWORD & SPOON WORKSHOP INC$10,000
BETHEL AME CHURCH$5,000
Individual grant recipient$2,500
LEADERSHIP TRANSFORMATIONS$2,500
WORLDVISION INC$1,900
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 (FY17–17, $21k) land where the poverty rate runs at 21%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GLEN DOHERTY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION: $500 → 10%THINK OF US: $20k → 22%PATRICK'S PROMISE FOUNDATION: $600 → 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

ME
VT
WA
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
CT
CA
VA
MD
TN
DC
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.

64%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$488k · 16 repeat orgs$270k to everyone else

16 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
38

Total granted

$488k
$225k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+58%

Still filing today

69%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 28% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $46k 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
EducationReligionPhilanthropyArts & CultureHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • PI
    PIONEER INSTITUTE INC
    2× · 2017–2019 · $93k · revenue +117%
  • CT
    Christianity Today International
    3× · 2020–2023 · $71k · revenue +128%
  • LT
    Leadership Transformation Inc
    5× · 2017–2024 · $53k · revenue +49%

Funded once

  • SU
    STAND UP REPUBLIC FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2022 · $30k · revenue 0%
  • NB
    NEW BEGINNINGS COMMUNITY CHURCH
    one grant, 2019 · $22k
  • WF
    WINCHESTER FIELD DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
    one grant, 2018 · $20k
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
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
2
Wentworth Institute of Technology Inc

Wentworth institute of technology is a nationally recognized private coeducational and residential university of higher education with a mission to empower, inspire and innovate through experiential learning with a core purpose of career…

Education
3
Bibleproject

Bibleproject's mission is to help people experience the bible as a unified story that leads to jesus. this is achieved by creating biblical videos to be regularly released on a newly-created youtube channel. (continued on schedule o.)each…

Religion
4
Center of Theological Inquiry

The Center of Theological Inquiry is an independent research institution with an international visiting scholar program which convenes researchers in an ideal setting for interdisciplinary inquiries where theology casts light on global…

Religion
5
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
6
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

The quincy institute promotes ideas that move u.s. foreign policy away from endless war and toward vigorous diplomacy in the pursuit of international peace. qi's staff and non-resident experts expose the costs and consequences of…

Community Improvement
7
Roger Williams University

At Roger Williams University, students are prepared to be thinkers and doers ready to solve challenging problems with innovative solutions. RWU offers robust offerings of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across eight…

Education
8
Activate Global Inc

Activate empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. activate partners with u.s. based funders, research institutions, and other pillars of the hard technology community to help entrepreneurial…

Environment
9
Trinity University

Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

Education
10
Biglife International Inc

Biglife international inc. empowers believers worldwide to reach and disciple their own people for jesus christ.

Recreation & Sports
11
Reformed University Inc

Provide education in theology, divinity, religious education, ministerial training, business and organizational leadership.

Education
12
International Leadership Institute

The international leadership institute (ili) changes history by accelerating the spread of the gospel through training and mobilizing leaders of leaders to reach their nations. ili accomplishes this purpose through cutting edge leadership…

Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Think of Us; the most unlike its peers is Kataluma 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

37 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. 37 of the 60 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)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
33/37
Grantees still filing
27/37
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AND Campaign Inc: $50,000 · OtherAND Campaign IncBETHEL AME CHURCH: $45,000 · OtherBETHEL AME CHURCHSTAND UP REPUBLIC FOUNDATION INC: $29,941 · OtherSTAND UP REPUBLIC FOUNDATION INCNEW BEGINNINGS COMMUNITY CHURCH: $22,000 · OtherNEW BEGINNINGS COMMUNITY CHURCHWINCHESTER FIELD DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL: $20,000 · OtherWINCHESTER FIELD DEVELOPMENT COUNCILAUSTIN CENTER FOR FAITH WORK: $20,000 · OtherAUSTIN CENTER FOR FAITH WORKPOLYMATH INNOVATIONS LLC: $17,500 · OtherINTERVARSITY CHRISTIAN: $13,500 · OtherTRINITY GRACE CHURCH: $13,000 · OtherTHE BASEBALL INC: $12,500 · Other+26 more: $108,559 · Other+26 moreChristianity Today International: $71,200 · ReligionChristianity Today …Leadership Transformation Inc: $52,500 · ReligionLeadership Transfor…InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA: $10,500 · ReligionInterVarsity Christ…Praxis Inc: $5,000 · Religion+1 more: $1,000 · ReligionPIONEER INSTITUTE INC: $92,750 · EducationPIONEER INSTITUT…Arena Hall: $10,000 · EducationArena HallBowdoin College: $7,000 · EducationBowdoin CollegeBELMONT HILL SCHOOL INC: $4,230 · Education+2 more: $5,510 · EducationSWORD & SPOON WORKSHOP INC: $102,490 · Arts & CultureSWORD & SPOON …+2 more: $4,500 · Arts & CultureWORLD VISION INC: $57,039 · InternationalWORLD VIS…Global Impact: $13,000 · InternationalGlobal Im…+1 more: $250 · InternationalTHINK OF US: $20,000 · Human Services+2 more: $1,100 · Human ServicesNATIONAL CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION INC: $8,100 · PhilanthropyRodman For Kids Inc: $5,806 · PhilanthropyTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $3,100 · PhilanthropyWINCHESTER FOUNDATION FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE INC: $1,500 · Philanthropy
Other$352,000Religion$140,200Education$119,490Arts & Culture$106,990International$70,289Human Services$21,100Philanthropy$18,506

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 budgetSWORD & SPOON WORKSHOP INC: $102,490 over 3y, 100% of budgetChristianity Today International: $71,200 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetWORLD VISION INC: $57,039 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetLeadership Transformation Inc: $52,500 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetSTAND UP REPUBLIC FOUNDATION INC: $29,941 over 1y, 15% of budgetTHINK OF US: $20,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetGlobal Impact: $13,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BASEBALL INC: $12,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetInterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSA: $10,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTeneo Inc: $10,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetArena Hall: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKATALUMA INC: $9,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetBowdoin College: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRodman For Kids Inc: $5,806 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPraxis Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AXIOM PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetBELMONT HILL SCHOOL INC: $4,230 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE PHILANTHROPY ROUNDTABLE: $3,100 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBridgewater State University Foundation: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWILDFLOWER INC: $2,510 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBOSTON ARTS ACADEMY FOUNDATION INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGOOD SPORTS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRestore Life USA Inc: $2,080 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEW CITY ARTS INITIATIVE: $2,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetHABITAT FOR HUMANITY METROWEST- GREATER WORCESTER INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPATRICKS PROMISE FOUNDATION: $600 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetGLEN DOHERTY MEMORIAL FOUNDATION INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWINCHESTER YOUTH BASEBALL & SOFTBALL INC: $300 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBest Buddies International Inc: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE COD CHILD DEVELOPMENT INC: $250 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.

Boston Foundation IncServant FoundationSilicon Valley Commun…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Vanguard Charitable E…Natl Christian Charit…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…Morgan Stanley Global…Donor Advised Charita…Network for GoodFidelity Investments …
Boston Foundation IncMA11.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Servant Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Network for Good · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift 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 Sword and Spoon Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sword and Spoon Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Best Buddies International Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Bridgewater State University Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • The Baseball Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Habitat for Humanity Metrowest- Greater Worcester Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Arts Academy Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get 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 · 0–30%
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 Sword and Spoon Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Sword and Spoon 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 60 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 Sword and Spoon’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