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Teach a Man to Fish Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Teach a Man to Fish 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.

$8.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
11
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$8.1M
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.

Environment$24MHealth$4.1MEducation$2.6MYouth Development$1.5MInternational$1.3MPublic Benefit$983kPhilanthropy$823kHuman Services$445kOther$0
02FY2024 · 11 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $13k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $80k
  • $250k+2 grants · $8.4M
$10,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$144M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Walking Softer$8,065,650
WALKING SOFTER$300,000
ST MARY'S SCHOOL$20,100
WIND RIVER TRIBAL BUFFALO INITIATIVE$10,000
Great Old Broads for Wilderness$10,000
MIRACLES FOR KIDS INC$10,000
CLIMATE JUSTICE ALLIANCE$10,000
AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION$10,000
Hole Food Rescue Corp$10,000
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY$7,500
HOSPITAL OF ST JOHNS$5,000
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 (FY17–24, $1.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 86% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Mother's Grace: $10k → 11%STYLE SAVES: $3k → 15%DRESSMEMBER FOUNDATION: $7k → 13%CHALLENGE ASPEN: $10k → 6%Great Old Broads for Wilderness: $10k → 12%Hoping Hearts Foundation: $15k → 6%WILLOW INTERNATIONAL: $20k → 10%Great Old Broads for Wilderness: $10k → 12%International Network of Hearts: $10k → 11%Fish For Life Inc: $20k → 11%APOPO US INC: $5k → 14%Families in Rich Encounters: $2k → 10%Project Vesta (Far Away Projects): $50k → 10%ONE22 INC: $50k → 5%One22 RESOURCE CENTER: $40k → 5%ONE22 INC: $25k → 5%THE ORPHANED STAR FISH FOUNDATION: $325k → 17%Stars & Stripes Children's Foundation: $220k → 10%THE ORPHANED STARFISH FOUNDATION: $150k → 17%Orphaned Starfish Foundation: $10k → 17%ONE22 INC: $20k → 5%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $15k → 17%INNOCENCE PROJECT: $10k → 17%Innocence Project Inc: $10k → 17%Charity Water: $5k → 17%Fallen Firefighter Relief Fund: $3k → 10%Sima Studios: $50k → 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
MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
TN
NC
DC
HI
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 6% of Teach a Man to Fish Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Teach a Man to Fish Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 5.2% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

85%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$31M · 58 repeat orgs$5.6M to everyone else

58 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 54 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

58
159

Total granted

$31M
$5.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+38%

Still filing today

83%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $63k 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
EnvironmentHealthHuman ServicesEducationInternationalPhilanthropyOther
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

  • WS
    WALKING SOFTER
    4× · 2021–2024 · $22M · revenue +282% · 100% of their budget
  • PC
    PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2019 · $1.9M · revenue +57%
  • DI
    DEPLOYUS INC
    3× · 2020–2023 · $550k · revenue +672%

Funded once

  • MS
    MT SAINT JOSEPH COLLEGE
    one grant, 2018 · $536k
  • EC
    ECOLOGY CENTERgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $500k · revenue +103%
  • AQ
    Augies Quest to Cure ALS Inc
    one grant, 2021 · $275k · revenue -12%
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 Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
3
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
4
Friends of the Earth

Friends of the earth strives for a more healthy and just world by defendng the environment and human health while advancing social and economic justice by conducting research and education, transforming the economy so it protects the…

Environment
5
Climate Breakthrough Inc

To launch breakthrough climate mitigation efforts by identifying, supporting, and unleashing innovative leaders with transformative strategies.

Human Services
6
Environment Next Inc

Environment next supports individuals, nonprofits and businesses around the world on solutions to complex climate issues. we provide leadership, outreach and communication support, grants, and investments to empower leaders and their ideas…

Environment
7
Allosource

Inspired by the gift of donation from our communities, allosource responsibly provides innovative cellular and tissue allografts to advance patient healing.

Health
8
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
9
Climate Leadership Council Inc

To develop and promote a carbon dividends framework - based on carbon fees whose revenues are rebated to citizens through dividends - as the most cost-effective, equitable, and politically viable climate solution.

Environment
10
Waterorg

Water.org's goal is to bring safe water and sanitation to the world through access to small, affordable loans.

International
11
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
12
Climate Foundation

To research and develop healthy climate solutions comprising global food security, ecosystem regeneration and carbon balance in seas and soils.

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (See) Inc; the most unlike its peers is Walking Softer. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

173 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. 173 of the 231 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
46
Early backer (in before they grew)
170/173
Grantees still filing
115/173
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WALKING SOFTER: $21,947,514 · EnvironmentWALKING SOFTER+29 more: $2,300,500 · Environment+29 moreMT SAINT JOSEPH COLLEGE: $535,697 · OtherMT SAINT JOSEPH …MAPS: $440,000 · OtherMAPSIndividual grant recipient: $300,000 · OtherIndividual grant…MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH: $298,000 · OtherMOUNT SAINT JOSE…ONE DROP FOUNDATION: $250,000 · OtherHANDS TOGETHER MISSION HAITI: $250,000 · OtherPHILANTHROPIC IMPACT FUND: $250,000 · OtherCouncil on Strategic Risks: $200,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $200,000 · OtherStand Together Foundation: $350,000 · OtherStand Together F…+93 more: $2,412,473 · Other+93 moreTHE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 · EducationGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $450,000 · EducationUniversity of Santa Monica: $352,200 · EducationTHE CRAIG SCHOOL: $250,000 · EducationSCHOLARS' HOPE FOUNDATION: $225,000 · EducationLETTING EVERYONE ACHIEVE DREAMS: $100,000 · Education+12 more: $251,000 · EducationPROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,917,000 · PhilanthropyLEAD WITH LOVE INC: $100,000 · Philanthropy+8 more: $89,500 · PhilanthropyOrphaned Starfish Foundation Inc: $485,000 · Human ServicesSTARS AND STRIPES CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $220,000 · Human ServicesOne22 Inc: $135,000 · Human ServicesSIMA STUDIOS: $50,000 · Human ServicesFAR AWAY PROJECTS: $50,000 · Human Services+12 more: $162,000 · Human ServicesALS THERAPY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $360,000 · HealthAugies Quest to Cure ALS Inc: $275,000 · HealthDOLPHINS CYCLING CHALLENGE INC: $105,000 · HealthTHE AUTISM COMMUNITY IN ACTION: $65,000 · Health+17 more: $257,500 · HealthLIFE CAMPS INCORPORATED: $450,000 · Crime & Legal
Environment$24,248,014Other$5,486,170Education$2,628,200Philanthropy$2,106,500Human Services$1,102,000Health$1,062,500Crime & Legal$450,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetWALKING SOFTER: $21,947,514 over 4y, 100% of budgetTHE GEORGE W BUSH FOUNDATION: $1,000,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetDEPLOYUS INC: $550,000 over 3y, 12% of budgetECOLOGY CENTER: $500,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetOrphaned Starfish Foundation Inc: $485,000 over 3y, 25% of budgetGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $450,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetLIFE CAMPS INCORPORATED: $450,000 over 6y, 3.8% of budgetALS THERAPY DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $360,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetUniversity of Santa Monica: $352,200 over 4y, 9.6% of budgetStand Together Foundation: $350,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetAugies Quest to Cure ALS Inc: $275,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetPHILANTHROPIC IMPACT FUND: $250,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSCHOLARS' HOPE FOUNDATION: $225,000 over 2y, 49% of budgetSTARS AND STRIPES CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION: $220,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $210,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS INC: $150,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetOne22 Inc: $135,000 over 4y, 1.2% of budgetPROTECT OUR WINTERS: $120,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetJACKSON HOLE LAND TRUST: $120,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetUpcycled Food Foundation: $105,000 over 1y, 57% of budgetDOLPHINS CYCLING CHALLENGE INC: $105,000 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetLEAD WITH LOVE INC: $100,000 over 2y, 22% of budgetSEPSIS ALLIANCE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetTHE COUNCIL ON STRATEGIC RISKS: $100,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetSHAREWELL: $100,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetAMIGOS OF COSTA RICA INC: $75,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $75,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetJACKSON HOLE CENTER FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS INC: $70,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetTHE AUTISM COMMUNITY IN ACTION: $65,000 over 4y, 1.3% of budgetHole Food Rescue: $55,000 over 1y, 4.5% of budgetBOULDER FOOD RESCUE: $50,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSIMA STUDIOS: $50,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetPure Game: $50,000 over 3y, 6.9% of budgetWINGS OF HOPE: $50,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetST ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetFAR AWAY PROJECTS: $50,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetJACKSON HOLE CONSERVATION ALLIANCE: $50,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budget350ORG: $45,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Doug Coombs Foundation: $40,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetLINK GLOBAL: $40,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetASPEN CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetMONTCLAIR EARLY CHILDHOOD CORP MONTCLAIR COMMUNITY PRE-K: $35,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $35,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SURFRIDER FOUNDATION: $35,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAmazon Watch Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetKISS THE GROUND: $30,000 over 1y, 1.4% 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.

Orange County Communi…Community Foundation …Silicon Valley Commun…PatagoniaorgArgyros Family Founda…Samueli FoundationSpeyer Family Foundat…The David Rockefeller…Edwards Lifesciences …ImpactassetsincThe Devto Support Fou…Sempra Foundation
Orange County Community FoundationCA33.1× affinity20 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Orange County Community Foundation · Community Foundation of Jackson Hole · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Argyros Family Foundation · Samueli Foundation · Speyer Family Foundation · The David Rockefeller Fund Inc · Edwards Lifesciences Foundation · Impactassetsinc · The Devto Support Foundation · Sempra 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 Teach a Man to Fish Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Teach a Man to Fish Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 100%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Elizabeth W Murphey School Inc: 85% of income from government
  • Mobility International Usa: 33% of income from government
  • Als Therapy Development Foundation Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Shatterproof a Nonprofit Corporation: 2% of income from government
  • Winchester Hospital: 1% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
10get no government money at all
28report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Teach a Man to Fish Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Teach a Man to Fish 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 231 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 Teach a Man to Fish’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