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· Public charity

The Bargain Box

THE BARGAIN BOX's mission is to raise funds from the sale of donated merchandise and distribute the funds to various local charitable organizations.

$574k
Granted FY2025still arriving
33
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$43k
Largest
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Human Services$661kHealth$448kArts & Culture$364kEducation$326kFood & Nutrition$289kEnvironment$275kReligion$271kRecreation & Sports$226kOther$0
02FY2025 · 33 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 33 grants below total $509,600, the rows itemized in this filing. The $574,334 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $64,734 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $56k
  • $10k–50k26 grants · $454k
$12,608
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CHILDREN'S CENTER$42,500
HILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT$35,000
HOPEFUL HORIZONS$35,000
VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE HILTON HEAD ISLAND$30,000
COASTAL DISCOVERY MUSEUM$26,000
LOW COUNTRY LEGAL VOLUNTEERS$19,500
HILTON HEAD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA$19,000
HILTON HEAD ISLAND RECREATION ASSOCIATION$18,500
BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND$17,000
NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION$15,000
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN DAY SCHOOL$15,000
MEALS ON WHEELS$15,000
LOWCOUNTRY GULLAH FOUNDATION$15,000
SECOND HELPINGS$15,000
FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY$15,000
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 (FY17–25, $629k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $43k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $43k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $43k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $40k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $40k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $35k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $35k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $35k → 10%THE CHILDREN'S CENTER: $30k → 10%NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION: $15k → 10%NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION: $15k → 10%NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION: $12k → 10%NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION: $10k → 10%PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $8k → 10%NEIGHBORHOOD OUTREACH CONNECTION: $8k → 10%LOWCOUNTRY GULLAH FOUNDATION: $15k → 10%LOWCOUNTRY GULLAH FOUNDATION: $15k → 10%LOWCOUNTRY GULLAH FOUNDATION: $10k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $15k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $15k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $15k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $14k → 10%BLUFFTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN: $13k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $13k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $13k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $13k → 10%FAMILY PROMISE OF BEAUFORT COUNTY: $13k → 10%PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $8k → 10%PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $8k → 10%PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $8k → 10%BLUFFTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN: $8k → 10%PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $8k → 10%PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $7k → 10%BLUFFTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN: $5k → 10%PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $3k → 10%BLUFFTON COMMUNITY SOUP KITCHEN: $3k → 10%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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.9M · 52 repeat orgs$69k to everyone else

52 repeat relationships: 30 still active in FY2025, 22 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

52
11

Total granted

$3.9M
$54k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+110%

Still filing today

71%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 97% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $16k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesArts & CultureHealthEducationCrime & LegalEnvironmentOther
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

  • TC
    THE CHILDREN'S CENTER INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $343k · revenue +49%
  • HH
    HOPEFUL HORIZONS
    9× · 2017–2025 · $306k · revenue +42%
  • HH
    HILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $280k · revenue +8%

Funded once

  • TC
    TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY
    one grant, 2017 · $13k
  • TF
    TCL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2019 · $10k
  • HC
    H&H COALLITION - BACKPACK BUDDIES OF HILTON HEAD
    one grant, 2019 · $8k
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
Meals On Wheels Bluffton Hilton Head Inc

To deliver nutritious meals and reduce isolation for elderly, ill, disabled, and homebound individuals in bluffton and hilton head, on a temporary or long-term basis.

—
2
Good Friends of the Lowcountry

To provide emergency assistance to low income individuals and families in the lowcountry of south carolina.

Philanthropy
3
Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services Inc

Provide community healthcare services to the citizens in the low country of south carolina.

Health
4
Harvest Free Medical Clinic

Provide free medical care for those without resources to pay in the Charleston Tricounty area.

Health
5
House of Hope North Charleston

To reduce hunger and poverty in the Tri-County Area by providing individuals and families with food, clothing, shelter, resource and spiritual support while striving to employ, educate and empower.

Food & Nutrition
6
Lowcountry Veterans Home

Lowcountry Veterans Home provides transitional housing and individualized support for homeless veterans, working to restore stability, dignity, and independence. Through case management, peer support, transportation, and strong community…

Health
7
The Humane Society of Beaufort County

To prevent domestic animal overpopulation through spaying and neutering programs, to place animals into proper homes, to educate the public on responsible pet ownership, and assist at the animal shelter.

Animals
8
Community Kitchen Inc of Myrtle Beach

The mission is to feed the hungry and eliminate hunger in our community. last year, we fed over 101,000 adults in our general feeding program and nourished 32,644 children in our childrens hunger initiative program (chip). every person who…

Food & Nutrition
9
Hilton Head Heroes Inc

To provide one week dream vacations for families with terminally ill children on hilton head isalnd, sc

Philanthropy
10
Darlington County Habitat for Humanity Inc

To provide affordable housing for low-income families in darlington county, sc

Housing & Shelter
11
Hatteras Island Meals Inc

To eliminate food insecurity and to fight hunger by providing access to nutritional food and meals to those who need our services on Hatteras Island.

Food & Nutrition
12
Helping Hands of Goose Creek Inc

Helping Hands is a crisis food pantry providing groceries and resources to Lowcountry families facing food insecurity.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Bluffton Self Help Inc; the most unlike its peers is Thumbs Up 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

43 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. 43 of the 65 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)
18
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/43
Grantees still filing
34/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINIC: $240,000 · OtherTHE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINICBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE LOWCOUNTRY INC: $222,300 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE LOWCOUNTRY INCBLUFFTON SELF HELP INC: $92,000 · OtherBLUFFTON SELF HELP INCHH ISLAND REC CHALLENGE CAMP: $88,000 · OtherHH ISLAND REC CHALLENGE CAMPMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $86,000 · OtherFIRST PRESBYTERIAN DAY SCHOOL: $83,000 · OtherHILTON HEAD ISLAND RECREATION: $65,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $55,750 · OtherRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE COASTAL EMPIREINC: $55,000 · OtherBLUFFTON-JASPER COUNTY VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE INC: $60,000 · OtherTHE HUNGER COALITION OF THE LOWCOUNTRY: $60,000 · OtherHEROES ON HORSEBACK: $57,000 · Other+28 more: $459,500 · Other+28 moreTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $342,500 · Human ServicesTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER INCSECOND HELPINGS: $141,500 · Human ServicesSECOND HELPINGSFAMILY PROMISE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY: $109,000 · Human ServicesFAMILY PROMISE OF THE LOWC…MEMORY MATTERS: $107,792 · Human ServicesMEMORY MATTERSNeighborhood Outreach Connection: $102,500 · Human ServicesNeighborhood Outreach Conn…PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $49,500 · Human ServicesLowcountry Gullah Foundation: $40,000 · Human Services+3 more: $40,308 · Human ServicesCOASTAL DISCOVERY MUSEUM: $237,000 · Arts & CultureCOASTAL DISC…HILTON HEAD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $114,000 · Arts & CultureHILTON HEAD …ARTS CENTER OF COASTAL CAROLINA: $56,800 · Arts & CultureARTS CENTER …+2 more: $14,500 · Arts & CultureHILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC: $280,000 · EnvironmentHILTON HE…PORT ROYAL SOUND FOUNDATION: $40,000 · EnvironmentPORT ROYA…HOPEFUL HORIZONS: $305,500 · ReligionLOWCOUNTRY LEGAL VOLUNTEERS: $116,000 · Crime & LegalCHILD ABUSE PREVENTION ASSOCIATION: $95,500 · Crime & Legal+1 more: $2,500 · Crime & LegalFoundation for Educational Excellence: $81,000 · EducationHeroes of the Low Country: $41,750 · EducationBORN TO READ INC: $15,000 · Education+1 more: $4,500 · Education
Other$1,624,050Human Services$933,100Arts & Culture$422,300Environment$320,000Religion$305,500Crime & Legal$214,000Education$142,250

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetTHE CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $342,500 over 9y, 2.8% of budgetHOPEFUL HORIZONS: $305,500 over 9y, 1.1% of budgetHILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC: $280,000 over 9y, 1.3% of budgetTHE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINIC: $240,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetCOASTAL DISCOVERY MUSEUM: $237,000 over 9y, 2.3% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE LOWCOUNTRY INC: $222,300 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetSECOND HELPINGS: $141,500 over 9y, 2.2% of budgetLOWCOUNTRY LEGAL VOLUNTEERS: $116,000 over 9y, 4.4% of budgetHILTON HEAD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $114,000 over 9y, 0.8% of budgetFAMILY PROMISE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY: $109,000 over 8y, 3.8% of budgetMEMORY MATTERS: $107,792 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetNeighborhood Outreach Connection: $102,500 over 8y, 3.8% of budgetCHILD ABUSE PREVENTION ASSOCIATION: $95,500 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetBLUFFTON SELF HELP INC: $92,000 over 9y, 0.3% of budgetMEALS ON WHEELS INC: $86,000 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetFoundation for Educational Excellence: $81,000 over 9y, 74% of budgetHILTON HEAD ISLAND RECREATION: $65,500 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetTHE HUNGER COALITION OF THE LOWCOUNTRY: $60,000 over 6y, 7.9% of budgetBLUFFTON-JASPER COUNTY VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE INC: $60,000 over 6y, 2.6% of budgetHEROES ON HORSEBACK: $57,000 over 8y, 3.8% of budgetARTS CENTER OF COASTAL CAROLINA: $56,800 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE COASTAL EMPIREINC: $55,000 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetPROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE: $49,500 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetHeroes of the Low Country: $41,750 over 7y, 28% of budgetSANDALWOOD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY: $41,700 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetPORT ROYAL SOUND FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetLowcountry Gullah Foundation: $40,000 over 3y, 9.6% of budgetTHE LITERACY CENTER: $36,000 over 4y, 3.7% of budgetNAMI LOWCOUNTRY: $30,000 over 4y, 4.2% of budgetBluffton Community Soup Kitchen: $28,108 over 4y, 4.1% of budgetLOWCOUNTRY AUTISM FOUNDATION INC: $27,500 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetGOOD NEIGHBOR FREE MEDICAL CLINIC OF BEAUFORT: $19,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetBORN TO READ INC: $15,000 over 3y, 8.9% of budgetThumbs Up Inc: $12,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetHELP OF BEAUFORT: $11,000 over 3y, 2.7% of budgetMIRASOL HEALTH INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEAN ENSEMBLE THEATER: $5,500 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetTHE HERITAGE LIBRARY FOUNDATION INC: $4,500 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetBACKPACK BUDDIES OF GREATER BLUFFTON AND HARDEEVILLE: $2,775 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetHISTORIC MITCHELVILLE FREEDOM PARK INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCIRCLE OF HOPE MINISTRIES INC: $2,500 over 1y, 2.8% 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 CHILDREN'S CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPEFUL HORIZONS ↗
  • Who funds HILTON HEAD ISLAND DEEP WELL PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds THE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE CLINIC ↗
  • Who funds COASTAL DISCOVERY MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF THE LOWCOUNTRY INC ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HELPINGS ↗
  • Who funds LOWCOUNTRY LEGAL VOLUNTEERS ↗
  • Who funds HILTON HEAD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds FAMILY PROMISE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY ↗
  • Who funds MEMORY MATTERS ↗
  • Who funds Neighborhood Outreach Connection ↗
  • Who funds CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION ASSOCIATION ↗
  • Who funds BLUFFTON SELF HELP INC ↗
  • Who funds MEALS ON WHEELS INC ↗
  • Who funds Foundation for Educational Excellence ↗
  • Who funds HILTON HEAD ISLAND RECREATION ↗
  • Who funds THE HUNGER COALITION OF THE LOWCOUNTRY ↗
  • Who funds BLUFFTON-JASPER COUNTY VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE INC ↗
  • Who funds HEROES ON HORSEBACK ↗
  • Who funds ARTS CENTER OF COASTAL CAROLINA ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF THE COASTAL EMPIREINC ↗
  • Who funds PROGRAMS FOR EXCEPTIONAL PEOPLE ↗
  • Who funds Heroes of the Low Country ↗
  • Who funds SANDALWOOD COMMUNITY FOOD PANTRY ↗
  • Who funds PORT ROYAL SOUND FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Lowcountry Gullah Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE LITERACY CENTER ↗
  • Who funds NAMI LOWCOUNTRY ↗
  • Who funds Bluffton Community Soup Kitchen ↗
  • Who funds LOWCOUNTRY AUTISM FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds GOOD NEIGHBOR FREE MEDICAL CLINIC OF BEAUFORT ↗

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.

Community Foundation of the LowcountrySC87.6× affinity40 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation of the Lowcountry · Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina Inc · Heritage Classic Foundation · Wexford Foundation · The Berkeley Hall Charitable Foundation · The Church Mouse Thrift Shop Inc · Palmetto Electric Trust · United Way of the Lowcountry · Hilton Head Firefighters Association Inc · Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island-Sunset · The Watterson Family Foundation · Breedlove Foundation Im 020120186528

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
    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 The Bargain Box?

    Find your warmest path to The Bargain Box 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 65 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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