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The Brackthorn Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Brackthorn 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.

$21k
Granted FY2025still arriving
17
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$6k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Arts & Culture$39kCrime & Legal$20kEducation$16kPublic Benefit$8kHealth$7kPhilanthropy$5kSocial Science$3kInternational$2kOther$0
02FY2025 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$500
Median grant
8
States reached
$151k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERCA$5,500
INSTITIUTE FOR JUSTICE$4,000
PROMISE2KIDS$2,000
LOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY$1,500
NATIVE ARTS & CULTURES FOUNDATION$1,500
PAWS CHICAGO$1,500
Individual grant recipient$1,000
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS FOUNDATION$1,000
WOODLAND PATTERN BOOK CENTER$500
POETS HOUSE$500
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY$500
GRAYWOLF PRESS$500
Individual grant recipient$250
Individual grant recipient$250
KEY WEST WOMENS CLUB$250
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 (FY17–20, $1k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 27% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%LUSTGARTEN FOUNDATION FOR PANCREATIC RESEARCH: $1k → 6%SARAH'S INN: $270 → 14%SARAH'S INN: $100 → 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

MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
IN
RI
CA
VA
TN
TX
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.

69%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$93k · 15 repeat orgs$43k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +83% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 10 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
22

Total granted

$93k
$36k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+83%
+31%

Still filing today

80%
41%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 67% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k 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
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesPhilanthropyCivil RightsAnimalsOther
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

  • IF
    INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE
    5× · 2017–2025 · $24k · revenue +57%
  • PS
    POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA
    8× · 2017–2025 · $10k · revenue +83%
  • SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
    3× · 2017–2025 · $8k · revenue +45%

Funded once

  • GC
    GOSHEN CANCER CARE
    one grant, 2018 · $5k
  • JJ
    JIM & JULIE BOEHEIM FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2017 · $5k
  • R
    RAVINIA
    one grant, 2019 · $5k
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
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
2
The Paris Review Foundation Inc

The mission of the organization is to foster the development of creative individuals as writers and artists and to promote public appreciation of excellence in the literary and graphic arts by publishing a magazine containing fiction,…

Education
3
Women's Project & Productions Inc

Wp theater is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of women+ at every stage of their careers. for over four decades we have served as leaders of a global movement…

Arts & Culture
4
Artpace Inc (Audit)

Artpace san antonio is a nonprofit residency program which supports texas, national, and international artists in the creation of new art. see schedule o for continuation.

Arts & Culture
5
The Poetry Foundation
Arts & Culture
6
The Asia Society

The society is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization which connects people and institutions in asia and the world to build understanding, address challenges and maximize opportunities.

International
7
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
8
Milkweed Editions Inc

To identify, nurture and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it.

Arts & Culture
9
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
10
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Inc
—
11
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
12
The Academy of American Poets Inc

To encourage, stimulate, and foster the production of american poetry by providing fellowships for poets of proven merit, by granting scholarships, awards and prizes for poetic achievement, and by other such means as the board of directors…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Poets House Inc; the most unlike its peers is Key West Womans Club. 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

25 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. 25 of the 47 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)
8
Early backer (in before they grew)
25/25
Grantees still filing
19/25
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LOOKING GLASS THEATRE: $14,925 · OtherLOOKING GLASS THEATREIndividual grant recipient: $9,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientGOSHEN CANCER CARE: $5,000 · OtherGOSHEN CANCER CAREJIM & JULIE BOEHEIM FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherJIM & JULIE BOEHEIM FOUNDATIONRAVINIA: $5,000 · OtherRAVINIANORTHWESTERN PRITZKER LAW SCHOOL: $3,000 · Other2800: $2,000 · OtherPROMISE2KIDS: $2,000 · Other+18 more: $9,893 · Other+18 moreSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: $8,000 · EducationSYRACUSE UNIVERSITYAMERICAN FRIENDS OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY LONDON INC: $6,800 · EducationAMERICAN FRIENDS OF T…Francis W Parker School: $5,000 · EducationFrancis W Parker Scho…THE REASON FOUNDATION: $4,500 · EducationTHE REASON FOUNDATIONUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $1,000 · Education+1 more: $300 · EducationPOETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $9,750 · Arts & CulturePOETRY SOCIETY OF AM…GRAYWOLF PRESS: $3,500 · Arts & CultureGRAYWOLF PRESSNATIVE ARTS AND CULTURES FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 · Arts & CultureNATIVE ARTS AND CULT…THE ATLAS SOCIETY LTD: $2,500 · Arts & CultureTHE ATLAS SOCIETY LT…WOODLAND PATTERN INC: $1,500 · Arts & CultureWOODLAND PATTERN INCLOOKINGGLASS THEATRE COMPANY: $1,500 · Arts & CultureLOOKINGGLASS THEATRE…PING Providing Instruments For The Next Generation: $1,350 · Arts & CulturePING Providing Instr…+3 more: $1,200 · Arts & CultureINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $24,000 · Civil RightsINSTITUTE FOR JUSTIC…PAWS CHICAGO: $2,550 · AnimalsILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE: $1,500 · Public BenefitMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Human ServicesSARAH'S INN: $370 · Human Services
Other$56,318Education$25,600Arts & Culture$24,300Civil Rights$24,000Animals$2,550Public Benefit$1,500Human Services$1,370

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 budgetINSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE: $24,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetPOETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA: $9,750 over 8y, 0.5% of budgetSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: $8,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFrancis W Parker School: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE REASON FOUNDATION: $4,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetGRAYWOLF PRESS: $3,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetNATIVE ARTS AND CULTURES FOUNDATION INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPAWS CHICAGO: $2,550 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE ATLAS SOCIETY LTD: $2,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWOODLAND PATTERN INC: $1,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Illinois Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARC LUSTGARTEN PANCREATIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES OF NEWPORT COUNTY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBLOOD CANCER UNITED INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCPS LIVES NFP: $500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSARAH'S INN: $370 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $300 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKEY WEST WOMANS CLUB: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetC21 Womens Ensemble: $200 over 1y, 0.5% 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 Chicago Community…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
The Chicago Community TrustIL11.6× affinity4 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Chicago Community Trust · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile 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 Brackthorn Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Brackthorn Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
2report 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 47 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 Brackthorn’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