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The Ceres Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ceres Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$7.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
64
Grants FY2024still arriving
9
States reached
$2.0M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$8.6MHuman Services$3.1MHousing & Shelter$2.6MYouth Development$2.4MEmployment$2.0MCrime & Legal$1.1MPhilanthropy$853kArts & Culture$590kOther$0
02FY2024 · 64 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k11 grants · $245k
  • $50k–250k49 grants · $4.7M
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.9M
$85,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$170M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THRIVE SCHOLARS$2,000,000
FRIENDSHIP SHELTER INC$360,000
SCHOOLHOUSE CONNECTION INC$275,000
COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC$250,000
FUTURE LINK INC$200,000
LIFT INC$200,000
STEM ADVANTAGE$200,000
MORE THAN WORDS INC$160,000
TECH FOUNDRY INC$150,000
CAPITAL PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION DBA SPARK THE JOURNEY$150,000
CORPORATION OF THE WASHINGTON LATIN SCHOOL$150,000
MONUMENT ACADEMY INC$150,000
NEW VILLAGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC$150,000
DC VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT$130,000
TALLER SAN JOSE HOPE BUILDERS$125,000
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 (FY20–24, $3.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 76% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HOPEWELL INC: $100k → 7%CHILDRENS FUND INC: $15k → 14%SIERRA HOUSE: $80k → 16%HOPEWELL INC: $75k → 7%SIERRA HOUSE: $80k → 16%FUTURE LINK INC: $200k → 8%HOPEWELL INC: $75k → 7%FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN INC: $100k → 14%SIERRA HOUSE: $70k → 16%FUTURE LINK INC: $200k → 8%FRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN INC: $100k → 14%SIERRA HOUSE: $50k → 16%FUTURE LINK INC: $100k → 8%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $300k → 17%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $100k → 14%SIERRA HOUSE: $25k → 16%FUTURE LINK INC: $100k → 8%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $250k → 17%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $50k → 14%FUTURE LINK INC: $100k → 8%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $250k → 17%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $40k → 14%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $250k → 17%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $40k → 14%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $120k → 17%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $100k → 17%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $40k → 14%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $100k → 17%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $100k → 17%COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCES AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $30k → 17%COVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $10k → 14%MANIFESTWORKS: $90k → 14%LOST ANGELS CHILDRENS PROJECT INC: $100k → 14%MANIFESTWORKS: $65k → 14%LOST ANGELS CHILDRENS PROJECT INC: $75k → 14%JOVENES INC: $100k → 14%JOVENES INC: $85k → 14%JOVENES INC: $60k → 14%JOVENES INC: $25k → 14%JOVENES INC: $10k → 14%YOUNG EISNER SCHOLARS: $75k → 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
IL
NY
MA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
NC
DC
MS
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 The Ceres Foundation Inc’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 26% of the giving stays in MA; by stated purpose, 34%.

The Ceres Foundation Inclessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
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.

95%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$20M · 56 repeat orgs$973k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against -2% for those funded once.

56 repeat relationships: 51 still active in FY2024, 5 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

56
14

Total granted

$20M
$513k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
-2%

Still filing today

89%
86%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 94% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $460k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHousing & ShelterYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureHealthOther
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
    THRIVE SCHOLARS
    5× · 2020–2024 · $4.6M · revenue +152%
  • CA
    COMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCE AND EDUCATION CENTER INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +143%
  • MA
    MONUMENT ACADEMY INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $700k · revenue +38%

Funded once

  • KP
    KID POWER INC
    one grant, 2020 · $100k
  • LF
    LA FAMILY HOUSING CORPORATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $70k · revenue +36%
  • SW
    SERVICE WORKERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP
    one grant, 2023 · $60k
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
Coop Careers Inc

Building a movement of diverse, upwardly mobile college grads overcoming underemployment through digital skills and peer connections.

Education
2
Kidworks Community Development Corp

Kidworks inspires purpose in youth, fuels their growth, and catalyzes their impact in the community and the world.

Human Services
3
Communities in Schools of Los Angeles Inc

To surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. we work with public school systems, establishing relationship with superintendents, principals, educators, and community partners to…

Youth Development
4
Youth Policy Institute Inc

Youth policy institute (ypi) transforms los angeles neighborhoods, reducing poverty by offering cradle to college & career services.

—
5
Enterprise for Youth

Enterprise for youth empowers under-resourced san francisco youths to reach their potential through transformative paid internship experiences supported by a community of employers, caring adults, and peers.

Youth Development
6
Los Angeles Conservation Corps

The la conservation corps creates equitable opportunities for young people to build resilience in themselves, their communities and the environment through a program of work, education and support.

Employment
7
Association of California School Administrators

The association serves its members by creating resources that enable california school administrators to develop and apply creative leadership and management skills and in turn, improve the educational process for all students.

—
8
Citizen Schools Inc

In fiscal year 2025, the agency operated an americorps maker fellowship, placing 7 americorps vista members at 6 different education focused organizations in ca, ma, and ny. americorps members worked on capacity building projects to expand…

Education
9
Springboard Collaborative

Springboard collaborative combines targeted student instruction with parent training in an incentivized system that closes the literacy gap, by transferring the summer from a barrier into a springboard for financially disadvantaged…

Human Services
10
Teenworks Inc

To empower teens to achieve excellence in college, career, and community.

Employment
11
Abilitypath

Empower people with special needs to achieve their full potential through innovative, inclusive programs and community partnerships.

Employment
12
Council for Court Excellence

Council for court excellence's (cce's) mission is to bring people together to conduct research, educate, and advocate to make d.c.'s unique legal systems more just, equitable, and accountable to the community.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hopewell Inc; the most unlike its peers is Friends of the Children Incorporated. 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

73 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. 73 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.

5
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
73/73
Grantees still filing
48/73
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THRIVE SCHOLARS: $4,610,000 · EducationTHRIVE SCHOLARSMONUMENT ACADEMY INC: $700,000 · EducationMONUMENT ACADEMY INCSCHOOLHOUSE CONNECTION: $670,000 · EducationSCHOOLHOUSE CONNECTIONAchievement Institute for STEM Scholars: $380,000 · EducationSPARK THE JOURNEY: $350,000 · Education+18 more: $3,275,000 · Education+18 moreCOMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCE AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $1,500,000 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITY ADOLESCENT…FUTURE LINK INC: $700,000 · Human ServicesFUTURE LINK INCSierra House Inc: $305,000 · Human ServicesSierra House IncCOVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $280,000 · Human ServicesCOVENANT HOUSE CALIF…JOVENES INC: $280,000 · Human ServicesJOVENES INCHOPEWELL INC: $250,000 · Human ServicesHOPEWELL INCFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN INCORPORATED: $200,000 · Human ServicesLost Angels Childrens Project Inc: $175,000 · Human ServicesMANIFESTWORKS: $155,000 · Human Services+3 more: $115,000 · Human ServicesCHILD ADVOCATES OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: $400,000 · OtherCHILD ADVOCATES OF SAN…TRIANGLE FAMILY SERVICES INC: $325,000 · OtherTRIANGLE FAMILY SERVIC…JOBS HAVE PRIORITY INC: $305,000 · OtherJOBS HAVE PRIORITY INCCAPITAL PARTNERS FOR EDUCATION DBA SPARK THE JOURNEY: $300,000 · OtherCAPITAL PARTNERS FOR E…MORE THAN WORDS INC: $270,000 · OtherMORE THAN WORDS INCCAROLINE FRIESS CENTER INC: $250,000 · OtherCAROLINE FRIESS CENTER…FUND FOR EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE INC: $150,000 · OtherLIFT INC: $300,000 · OtherLIFT INCORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $315,000 · OtherORANGEWOOD FOUNDATIONNEW DIRECTIONS FOR WOMEN INC: $150,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $175,000 · OtherCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $190,000 · Other+18 more: $1,280,000 · Other+18 moreVOLUNTEER LEGAL ADVOCATES: $560,000 · Housing & ShelterFRIENDSHIP SHELTER INC: $555,000 · Housing & ShelterSTEADFAST STANDING FIRM AGAINST YOUTH HOMELESSNESS: $150,000 · Housing & Shelter+3 more: $75,000 · Housing & ShelterStem Advantage: $600,000 · Youth DevelopmentKID POWER INC: $400,000 · Youth DevelopmentROCA INC: $150,000 · Youth DevelopmentBest Kids Inc: $120,000 · Youth DevelopmentCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $450,000 · PhilanthropyORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $400,000 · Philanthropy+1 more: $3,000 · PhilanthropySanctuary Art Center: $305,000 · Arts & CultureTHE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT: $155,000 · Arts & CultureFree Arts dba Free Arts for Abused Children: $25,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$9,985,000Human Services$3,960,000Other$4,410,000Housing & Shelter$1,340,000Youth Development$1,270,000Philanthropy$853,000Arts & Culture$485,000

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 budgetTHRIVE SCHOLARS: $4,610,000 over 5y, 11% of budgetCOMMUNITY ADOLESCENT RESOURCE AND EDUCATION CENTER INC: $1,500,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetMONUMENT ACADEMY INC: $700,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetFUTURE LINK INC: $700,000 over 5y, 22% of budgetSCHOOLHOUSE CONNECTION: $670,000 over 5y, 5.7% of budgetStem Advantage: $600,000 over 3y, 28% of budgetVOLUNTEER LEGAL ADVOCATES: $560,000 over 5y, 4.1% of budgetFRIENDSHIP SHELTER INC: $555,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetCALIFORNIA COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $450,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKID POWER INC: $400,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $400,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCHILD ADVOCATES OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY: $400,000 over 4y, 10% of budgetAchievement Institute for STEM Scholars: $380,000 over 5y, 48% of budgetSPARK THE JOURNEY: $350,000 over 3y, 6.5% of budgetTRIANGLE FAMILY SERVICES INC: $325,000 over 4y, 2.6% of budgetORANGEWOOD FOUNDATION: $315,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetSierra House Inc: $305,000 over 5y, 8.2% of budgetSanctuary Art Center: $305,000 over 5y, 20% of budgetLIFT INC: $300,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetNORTHWEST EDUCATION ACCESS: $285,000 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE CALIFORNIA: $280,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetJOVENES INC: $280,000 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetMORE THAN WORDS INC: $270,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetCORPORATION OF THE WASHINGTON LATIN SCHOOL: $250,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetHOPEWELL INC: $250,000 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetEASTSIDE COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL INC: $245,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetHarmony Project: $235,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetTALLER SAN JOSE HOPE BUILDERS: $225,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetPROPEL AMERICA: $225,000 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS ALLIANCE FOR EARLY COLLEGE INC: $225,000 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetTECH FOUNDRY INC: $220,000 over 2y, 9.7% of budgetYouth Guidance: $210,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE CHILDREN INCORPORATED: $200,000 over 2y, 65% of budgetCOLLEGE BOUND INC: $200,000 over 3y, 7.8% of budgetNEW VILLAGE CHARTER SCHOOL INC: $200,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetCOLLEGE TRIBE: $190,000 over 3y, 25% of budgetCASA OF LOS ANGELES: $190,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetSPRINGFIELD EMPOWERMENT ZONE PARTNERSHIP INC: $180,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetLost Angels Childrens Project Inc: $175,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $175,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDC PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL COOPERATIVE INC: $160,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetTHE WOODEN FLOOR FOR YOUTH MOVEMENT: $155,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetMANIFESTWORKS: $155,000 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetNEW DIRECTIONS FOR WOMEN INC: $150,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetSTEADFAST STANDING FIRM AGAINST YOUTH HOMELESSNESS: $150,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetROCA INC: $150,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetNEW DIRECTIONS FOR WOMEN FOUNDATION: $140,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetLA COCINA VA: $125,000 over 2y, 4.5% 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.

Greater Washington Co…The Morris and Gwendo…California Community …Weingart FoundationPhilip L Graham Fund …The Ralph M Parsons F…Orange County Communi…John Edward Fowler Me…Clark-Winchcole Found…The Annenberg Foundat…Liberty Hill Foundati…Crowell & Moring Foun…
Greater Washington Community FoundationDC30× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Greater Washington Community Foundation · The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation · California Community Foundation · Weingart Foundation · Philip L Graham Fund co Graham Holdings Company · The Ralph M Parsons Foundation · Orange County Community Foundation · John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation · Clark-Winchcole Foundation · The Annenberg Foundation · Liberty Hill Foundation · Crowell & Moring 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 Ceres Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ceres Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 24%
  • Hopewell Inc: 83% of income from government
  • Roca Inc: 78% of income from government
  • Edc 413WORKS Inc: 52% of income from government
  • More Than Words Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Tech Foundry Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Sierra House Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Community Adolescent Resource and Education Center Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
25report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
3rely 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.

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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Ceres’ 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