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The Bell Charitable Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Bell Charitable Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$591k
Granted FY2025still arriving
27
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$43k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0195% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2022 to 2025.

Philanthropy$3.1MYouth Development$244kHuman Services$242kHealth$205kEnvironment$190kCommunity Improvement$175kArts & Culture$96kEducation$86kOther$0
02FY2025 · 27 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$25,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
E KUPAKU KA AINA$42,500
HUI O HAU'ULA$35,000
GATEWAY COMMUNITY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC$30,000
TAKING ROOT$30,000
FREESTORE FOODBANK$25,000
3CDC$25,000
MISSION OF MARY$25,000
CINCINNATI RECYCLING AND REUSE HUB$25,000
DAYTON EQUITY CENTER$25,000
KAMP HAWAII$25,000
Individual grant recipient$25,000
DYNAMIC HEALING CENTER$25,000
DAYBREAK$25,000
MORTAR$25,000
RE-USE HAWAII$20,000
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 (FY22–25, $238k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PCS FOR PEOPLE: $24k → 17%LIFE LEARNING CENTER: $26k → 11%CHILDREN'S HOME OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY: $20k → 11%SAMARITAN CAR CARE CLINIC: $15k → 11%SAMARITAN CAR CARE CLINIC INC: $10k → 11%LIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES INC: $15k → 16%LANAKILA PACIFIC: $3k → 9%DAYBREAK: $25k → 16%WESLEY COMMUNITY SERVICES: $50k → 16%YWCA OF GREATER CINCINNATI: $20k → 16%BEECH ACRES PARENTING CENTER: $15k → 16%CINCINNATI ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND & VISUALLY IMPAIRED (CABVI): $15k → 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.

16%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$281k · 8 repeat orgs$1.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +23% since the first grant, against +17% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 25 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
46

Total granted

$281k
$908k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+17%

Still filing today

88%
78%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 6% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $556k went to new ones.

50%100%’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’22’23’24’25
Human ServicesCommunity ImprovementEnvironmentArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentHealthOther
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

  • PS
    PER SCHOLAS INC
    2× · 2022–2024 · $60k · revenue +26%
  • GH
    Glad House Inc
    2× · 2022–2024 · $40k · revenue +5%
  • SC
    SAMARITAN CAR CARE CLINIC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $25k · revenue +33%

Funded once

  • WC
    Wesley Community Services Organizationgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue +50%
  • GU
    GREEN UMBRELLA
    one grant, 2022 · $38k · revenue -63%
  • HO
    HOSPICE OF HILO DBA HAWAII CARE CHOICES
    one grant, 2023 · $30k
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
Strategies to End Homelessness Inc

Strategies to End Homelessness leads a coordinated community effort to end homelessness in Greater Cincinnati.

Human Services
2
FutureHeights Inc

FutureHeights seeks to inspire and facilitate collaboration and empowerment across our communities to ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for Cleveland Heights and University Heights.

Arts & Culture
3
World Affairs Council - Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky

The World Affairs Council, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, is the bridge that connects the world to one of America's most vibrant regions. Through Global education, International exchange, and cultural awareness initiatives, the council strengthens…

—
4
Ohio United Way

To strengthen the capacity of United Ways across Ohio and to advance the common good for Ohioans.

Philanthropy
5
Columbus Housing Initiative Inc

Stabilize neighborhoods through establishing financing, education, rehabilitation of existing housing and development of new housing

Housing & Shelter
6
Cincinnati Arts and Technology Center

Unlocking the self-worth and potential of at-risk teens through the transformative power of art, a first-class environment and a character-building culture. Equipping at-risk teens with skills, credentials and pathways to employment.…

—
7
Central Ohio Workers Center Inc

The Central Ohio Worker Center is a non-profit organization that educates, empowers, and advocates for and with low-wage and immigrant workers in Central Ohio.

Civil Rights
8
United Way of Greater Lima Inc

United Way improves lives by uniting the caring power of our community.

—
9
Cintrifuse

To empower Cincinnati entrepreneurs to launch bold, scalable startups; and we work to improve the odds of those startups growing into transformational companies.

Community Improvement
10
Cincinnati Usa Regional Chamber

To grow the vibrancy and economic prosperity of the cincinnati region.

—
11
The Home Ownership Center of Greater Cincinnati in

The home ownership center is a non-profit that has been serving the cincinnati metro area since 1973, and is a member of the neighbor works network.

Housing & Shelter
12
Cincinnati's Optimum Residential Environments Inc

Residential & Habilitative Svs. Provide residential and habilitative services to adults with developmental disabilities

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Citylink Center; the most unlike its peers is Hui O Hauula. 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

65 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 65 of the 81 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)
10
Early backer (in before they grew)
64/65
Grantees still filing
36/65
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3,012,402 · PhilanthropyHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION+1 more: $63,284 · PhilanthropyE KUPAKU KA AINA: $42,500 · OtherGlad House Inc: $40,000 · Other1N5: $30,000 · OtherHOSPICE OF HILO DBA HAWAII CARE CHOICES: $30,000 · OtherPER SCHOLAS INC: $60,000 · OtherPER SCHOLAS INCGATEWAY COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · OtherBack 2 Back Ministries Inc: $30,000 · Other+33 more: $632,398 · Other+33 moreWesley Community Services Organization: $50,000 · Human ServicesLife Learning Center Inc: $26,000 · Human ServicesSAMARITAN CAR CARE CLINIC: $25,000 · Human ServicesDAYBREAK INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesPCS FOR PEOPLE: $24,000 · Human ServicesChildren's Home of Northern Kentucky Inc: $20,000 · Human ServicesYWCA of Greater Cincinnati: $20,000 · Human ServicesBEECH ACRES: $15,000 · Human ServicesCincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $15,000 · Human ServicesLIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $15,000 · Human ServicesACCESSURF HAWAII INC: $11,720 · Human Services+1 more: $3,127 · Human ServicesHUI O HAUULA: $35,000 · Community ImprovementAvondale Development Corporation: $25,000 · Community ImprovementCINCINNATI CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT CORP: $25,000 · Community ImprovementThe Dayton Equity Center: $25,000 · Community ImprovementGROUNDWORK OHIO RIVER VALLEY INC: $25,000 · Community ImprovementUPTOWN CONSORTIUM INC: $20,000 · Community ImprovementCorporation for Findlay Market: $20,000 · Community ImprovementCITYLINK CENTER: $10,000 · Community ImprovementYour Store of the Queen City: $10,000 · Community ImprovementGREEN UMBRELLA: $38,475 · EnvironmentTaking Root Inc: $30,000 · EnvironmentCINCINNATI RECYCLING AND REUSE HUB: $25,000 · EnvironmentRE-USE HAWAII: $20,000 · EnvironmentBIG ISLAND RC&D: $17,778 · EnvironmentKeep Cincinnati Beautiful Inc: $13,516 · EnvironmentACADEMY FOR TECHNOLIGISTS EXTRAORDI: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentKAMP HAWAII INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentFound Village: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentCENTER FOR TOMORROW'S LEADERS: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $23,771 · Youth DevelopmentADULT FRIENDS FOR YOUTH: $10,000 · Youth DevelopmentVisionaries and Voices: $25,000 · Arts & CultureHawaii Science and Technology Museum: $25,000 · Arts & CultureCINCINNATI MUSIC & WELLNESS COALITION: $18,000 · Arts & CultureHumanity Hale: $10,000 · Arts & CultureCincinnati Institute of Fine Arts: $5,327 · Arts & CultureCINCINNATI OBSERVATORY CENTER: $5,000 · Arts & Culture
Philanthropy$3,075,686Other$894,898Human Services$249,847Community Improvement$195,000Environment$144,769Youth Development$133,771Arts & Culture$88,327

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 budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $3,012,402 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetUnited Way of Greater Cincinnati: $63,284 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPER SCHOLAS INC: $60,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWesley Community Services Organization: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetGlad House Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetGREEN UMBRELLA: $38,475 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetHUI O HAUULA: $35,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetBack 2 Back Ministries Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTaking Root Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 36% of budgetGATEWAY COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetTri-State Trails dba CROWN Cincinnati: $26,400 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetLife Learning Center Inc: $26,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetST MARY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAvondale Development Corporation: $25,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetCINCINNATI CANCER FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPURPLE MAIA FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVisionaries and Voices: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetACADEMY FOR TECHNOLIGISTS EXTRAORDI: $25,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetThe Dayton Equity Center: $25,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetSAMARITAN CAR CARE CLINIC: $25,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetDAYBREAK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetJoseph House Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetFound Village: $25,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetCENTER FOR TOMORROW'S LEADERS: $25,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetFREESTORE FOODBANK INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetGROUNDWORK OHIO RIVER VALLEY INC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetPALAMA SETTLEMENT: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetLA SOUPE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetPCS FOR PEOPLE: $24,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA: $23,771 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII LITERACY INC: $21,199 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetRE-USE HAWAII: $20,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetTHERAPEUTIC RIDING INSTITUTE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetUPTOWN CONSORTIUM INC: $20,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCincinnati Youth Collaborative: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetChildren's Home of Northern Kentucky Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCorporation for Findlay Market: $20,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetYWCA of Greater Cincinnati: $20,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSPECIAL OLYMPICS HAWAII INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetCINCINNATI MUSIC & WELLNESS COALITION: $18,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetBIG ISLAND RC&D: $17,778 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetWESTCARE OHIO INC: $15,768 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetBEECH ACRES: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLIGHTHOUSE YOUTH SERVICES: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKeep Cincinnati Beautiful Inc: $13,516 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetACCESSURF HAWAII INC: $11,720 over 1y, 1.7% 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.

The Greater Cincinnat…Carol Ann and Ralph V…John a Schroth Family…Millstone FundJohnson Charitable Gi…Elsa M Heisel Sule Ch…Interact for HealthUnited Way of Greater…Sutphin Family Founda…Charities Aid Foundat…Duke Energy FoundationJack J Smith Jr Chari…
The Greater Cincinnati FoundationOH51.3× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Greater Cincinnati Foundation · Carol Ann and Ralph V Haile Jr Foundation · John a Schroth Family Char Tr · Millstone Fund · Johnson Charitable Gift Fund · Elsa M Heisel Sule Charitable Trust 2005 · Interact for Health · United Way of Greater Cincinnati · Sutphin Family Foundation Ica · Charities Aid Foundation America · Duke Energy Foundation · Jack J Smith Jr Charitable Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    30report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely 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 The Bell Charitable Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Bell Charitable 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 81 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Bell’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