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The Anonymous Fund at a glance

· Private foundation

The Anonymous Fund

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.

$521k
Granted FY2024still arriving
24
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$1.6MEducation$1.6MHuman Services$932kPhilanthropy$425kHealth$319kInternational$100kReligion$55kCommunity Improvement$43kOther$0
02FY2024 · 24 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k13 grants · $46k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $400k
$5,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$8.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAMARITAN'S PURSE$100,000
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO$100,000
CONE HEALTH PHILANTHROPY$100,000
EASTERN MUSIC FESTIVAL$50,000
THE SANTA FE OPERA$50,000
UNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO$25,000
NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF THE ARTS$10,000
FRIENDS FOR AN EARLIER BREAST CANCER TEST INC$10,000
NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION$10,000
GREENHILL CENTER FOR NC ART$10,000
DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE$5,000
THE GREENSBORO SYMPHONY$5,000
LENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER$5,000
SANTE FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL$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 (FY19–24, $27k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FAMILY SERVICE OF GREENSBORO FOUNDATION: $5k → 16%FAMILY SERVICE OF GREENSBORO FOUNDATION: $3k → 16%FAMILY SERVICES OF THE PIEDMONT: $1k → 16%FAMILY SERVICES OF THE PIEDMONT: $1k → 16%GUILFORD GREEN FOUNDATION: $15k → 16%GREENSBORO URBAN MINISTRY: $1k → 16%GREENSBORO URBAN MINISTRY: $1k → 16%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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.4M · 46 repeat orgs$484k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +27% for those funded once.

46 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2024, 26 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

46
21

Total granted

$4.4M
$373k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+27%

Still filing today

67%
43%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $111k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureHuman ServicesPhilanthropyEducationHealthCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • TS
    THE SANTA FE OPERA
    6× · 2019–2024 · $424k · revenue +38%
  • NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION
    5× · 2019–2024 · $140k · revenue +155%
  • UA
    UNITED ARTS COUNCIL OF GREENSBORO INC
    3× · 2019–2021 · $75k · revenue +9%

Funded once

  • TU
    THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO
    one grant, 2019 · $100k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NC GREENSBORO
    one grant, 2021 · $100k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF NC ASHEVILLE
    one grant, 2021 · $50k
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
Greensboro Opera Company

Greensboro opera is a community-based company dedicated to fostering the growth of opera and to presenting professional productions of the highest artistic caliber for the enjoyment, education, and enrichment of the triad region of north…

Arts & Culture
2
North Carolina Symphony Society Inc

To be north carolina's state orchestra, an orchestra achieving the highest level of artistic quality and performance standards, and embracing its dual legacies of statewide service and music education.

Arts & Culture
3
Greensboro Historical Museum Inc

Together with its diverse communities, the organization collects objects and stories, connects generations, and challenges people to explore our city's past, present and future. the museum sparks wonder through bold exhibitions and…

Arts & Culture
4
Chamber Music Raleigh Inc

To enrich and connect individuals in the greater raleigh community through intimate and exceptional chamber music experiences. we are committed to presenting world class artists performing music of the highest caliber, providing…

Arts & Culture
5
North Carolina Symphony Foundation

To receive and hold the endowment of the north carolina symphony society, inc. (the "society"), solicit additions to the endowment, safeguard assets, and expend funds for the exclusive use and benefit of the society.

Arts & Culture
6
The Arts Council of Fayetteville Cumberland County Inc

The arts council connects our communities, embraces diversity, promotes individual creativity, advances economic development, and fosters lifelong learning through the arts.

—
7
Museum of Arts and Design

To collect, display and interpret objects in craft art and design.

Arts & Culture
8
The Natural Science Center of Greensboro Inc Dba Greensboro Science Center

The mission of the center is inspiring curiosity and connecting communities through science and conservation. we accomplish this by providing ever-evolving experiences where exploration and imagination intersect, igniting a lifelong…

Arts & Culture
9
Carolina Art Association Dba Gibbes Museum of Art

The mission of the gibbes museum of art is to enhance lives through art by engaging people of every background and experience with art and artists of enduring quality; collect and preserve the art that touches charleston; and provide…

Arts & Culture
10
The Durham Museum

Provide relevant educational and entertaining opportunities within the region that exceed customer expectations, while preserving our community's vibrant cultural history.

Arts & Culture
11
Florence Griswold Museum Inc

The florence griswold museum seeks to promote a greater understanding of connecticut's contribution to american art and history through public exhibitions and educational programs.

Arts & Culture
12
Greenville Symphony Association

The greenville symphony is dedicated to providing educational and cultural opportunities for the citizens of greenville and surrounding communities through the presentation of live orchestral music.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro Inc; the most unlike its peers is Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation. 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

45 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. 45 of the 73 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)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
45/45
Grantees still filing
31/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CANTERBURY SCHOOL: $1,000,000 · OtherCANTERBURY SCHOOLFOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO - CFGG: $900,000 · OtherFOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO - CFGGUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO: $300,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBOROTHE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT GREENSBORO: $100,000 · OtherPENNYBYRN: $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NC GREENSBORO: $100,000 · Other+35 more: $493,000 · Other+35 moreTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $423,500 · Arts & CultureTHE SANTA FE OPERAEASTERN MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $255,000 · Arts & CultureEASTERN MUSIC FESTIVAL I…NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION: $140,000 · Arts & CultureNORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF…UNITED ARTS COUNCIL OF GREENSBORO INC: $75,000 · Arts & CultureUNITED ARTS COUNCIL OF G…NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $50,000 · Arts & Culture+15 more: $186,000 · Arts & Culture+15 moreCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $300,000 · PhilanthropyCOMMUNITY…UNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $100,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WA…GROWING UP NEW MEXICOINC: $20,000 · Philanthropy+2 more: $15,000 · PhilanthropyGUILFORD COLLEGE: $300,000 · EducationCHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $20,000 · EducationMOSES H CONE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL OPERATING CORPORATION: $123,990 · HealthFRIENDS FOR AN EARLIER BREAST CANCER TEST INC: $60,000 · HealthSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $100,000 · ReligionACTION GREENSBORO: $25,000 · Community ImprovementGREENSBORO DOWNTOWN PARKS INC: $4,000 · Community Improvement
Other$2,993,000Arts & Culture$1,129,500Philanthropy$435,000Education$320,000Health$183,990Religion$100,000Community Improvement$29,000

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 budgetTHE SANTA FE OPERA: $423,500 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $300,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetGUILFORD COLLEGE: $300,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetEASTERN MUSIC FESTIVAL INC: $255,000 over 6y, 2.1% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION: $140,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetMOSES H CONE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL OPERATING CORPORATION: $123,990 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC: $100,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED ARTS COUNCIL OF GREENSBORO INC: $75,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetFRIENDS FOR AN EARLIER BREAST CANCER TEST INC: $60,000 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetNATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES: $50,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGREEN HILL CENTER FOR NORTH CAROLINA ART: $35,500 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetSANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL LTD: $31,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE TRIAD HEALTH PROJECT: $30,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA FOLK FESTIVAL: $25,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetCAROLINA THEATRE OF GREENSBORO INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetACTION GREENSBORO: $25,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetGREENSBORO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $21,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $20,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGROWING UP NEW MEXICOINC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetGUILFORD GREEN FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 5.4% of budgetNEW GARDEN FRIENDS SCHOOL INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTRIAD STAGE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetDARE COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetLENSIC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER: $10,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetThe Historic Preservation Foundation of North Carolina Inc: $10,000 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetROANOKE ISLAND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATI: $9,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE OF GREENSBORO FOUNDATION INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetREYNOLDA HOUSE INC: $7,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA FOR COMMUNITY AND JUSTICE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGREENSBORO DOWNTOWN PARKS INC: $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetGEORGIA O'KEEFFE MUSEUM: $3,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMUSEUM OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION: $3,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetGREENSBORO URBAN MINISTRY: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY SERVICE OF THE PIEDMONT INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF ELIZABETH II INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetPenland School Of Craft: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE STUDIOS OF KEY WEST: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREENSBORO BEAUTIFUL INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPIEDMONT OPERA INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSITE SANTA FE: $1,000 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.

  • Who funds THE SANTA FE OPERA ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC ↗
  • Who funds GUILFORD COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds EASTERN MUSIC FESTIVAL INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM OF ART FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MOSES H CONE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL OPERATING CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds SAMARITAN'S PURSE ↗
  • Who funds UNITED WAY OF GREATER GREENSBORO INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED ARTS COUNCIL OF GREENSBORO INC ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS FOR AN EARLIER BREAST CANCER TEST INC ↗
  • Who funds NATIONAL TRUST FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES ↗
  • Who funds GREEN HILL CENTER FOR NORTH CAROLINA ART ↗
  • Who funds SANTA FE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL LTD ↗
  • Who funds THE TRIAD HEALTH PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds NORTH CAROLINA FOLK FESTIVAL ↗
  • Who funds CAROLINA THEATRE OF GREENSBORO INC ↗
  • Who funds ACTION GREENSBORO ↗
  • Who funds GREENSBORO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL FOUNDATION INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds GROWING UP NEW MEXICOINC ↗
  • Who funds GUILFORD GREEN FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds NEW GARDEN FRIENDS SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds TRIAD STAGE INC ↗
  • Who funds NORTH CAROLINA LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds DARE COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL 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.

Lincoln Financial Fou…Amg Charitable Gift F…The Cemala Foundation…Tannenbaum-Sternberge…Well-Spring Retiremen…Dawn S Chaney Foundat…The Edward M Armfield…Hillsdale FundGriffin Family Founda…The Hummel Family Fun…Community Foundation …The Joseph M Bryan Fo…
Lincoln Financial Foundation IncPA32.7× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Lincoln Financial Foundation Inc · Amg Charitable Gift Foundation · The Cemala Foundation Inc · Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation Inc · Well-Spring Retirement Community Inc · Dawn S Chaney Foundation · The Edward M Armfield Sr Foundation I · Hillsdale Fund · Griffin Family Foundation · The Hummel Family Fund Inc · Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro Inc · The Joseph M Bryan 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 The Anonymous Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Anonymous Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation Incorporated: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
14report 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.

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 73 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 Anonymous’ 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