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The Estes Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Estes Family Foundation

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.

$58k
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$21k
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$142kPublic Safety & Disaster$101kReligion$28kHuman Services$26kEducation$19kArts & Culture$13kYouth Development$11kFood & Nutrition$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k14 grants · $26k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $31k
$2,500
Median grant
6
States reached
$195k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ONE GOAT INCORPORATED$21,400
CHRISTS CHURCH OF GOD INC$10,000
PRADER-WILLI SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF COLORADO$4,250
MAKE A WISH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC$2,500
HOPE STATION OPPORTUNITY AREA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL$2,500
CARLISLE HIGH SCHOOL BAND BOOSTERS INC$2,500
BIG BROTHERS-BIG SISTERS OF THE CAPITAL REGION INC$2,500
CARLISLE VICTORY CIRCLE$2,500
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH$2,000
DICKINSON COLLEGE$2,000
CARLISLE ARTS LEARNING CENTER INC$1,000
WHEATON COLLEGE$1,000
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH$1,000
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY$1,000
PROJECT SHARE OF CARLISLE$1,000
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 (FY17–24, $45k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 82% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%GREEN BERET FOUNDATION: $20k → 16%SOUTH METRO PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION: $17k → 12%HOPE STATION OPPORTUNITY AREA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: $3k → 8%HOPE STATION OPPORTUNITY AREA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: $3k → 8%HOPE STATION OPPORTUNITY AREA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: $1k → 8%PROJECT SHARE OF CARLISLE: $1k → 8%PROJECT SHARE OF CARLISLE: $1k → 8%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.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$282k · 11 repeat orgs$59k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +48% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
10

Total granted

$282k
$52k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+48%
+4%

Still filing today

64%
40%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $7k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationHuman ServicesHealthArts & CulturePublic Safety & DisasterOther
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
    PRADER-WILLI SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF COLORADO
    7× · 2017–2024 · $120k · revenue +48% · 33% of their budget
  • OG
    One Goat Incorporated
    4× · 2021–2024 · $84k · revenue +261%
  • MO
    MAKE-A-WISH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $20k · revenue +63%

Funded once

  • GB
    GREEN BERET FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $20k · revenue +119%
  • SM
    SOUTH METRO PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2019 · $17k · revenue -28%
  • JC
    JOURNEY CHURCH COLORADO
    one grant, 2020 · $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
President and Trustees of Bates College

Bates is a college of the liberal arts and sciences, and is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor, and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual, and access to…

Education
2
Carleton College

See schedule o.founded in 1866, carleton college is a private, coeducational liberal arts college of 2,007 students located in the historic river town of northfield, minnesota. nationally recognized as the nation's top college for…

Education
3
Barton College

Founded in 1902, barton college is a four-year, private, liberal arts college located in wilson, n.c. the barton experience focuses on academic excellence within a wide range of professional and liberal arts programs leading to…

Education
4
Boston Architectural College

The bac is committed to provide excellence in design education grounded in practice and accessible to diverse communities.

—
5
Westminster College

The mission of westminster college is to help students develop competencies, commitments, and characteristics which have distinguished human beings at their best. see continuation on schedule o.the liberal arts tradition is the foundation…

Education
6
Williams College

Williams College strives to achieve educational excellence by fostering a community of learning in collaboration with students, faculty, staff, devoted alumni and parents.

Education
7
Wilson College

Wilson college empowers students to be confident and critical thinkers, creative visionaries, effective communicators, honorable leaders, and agents of justice.

Education
8
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
9
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
10
Washington & Jefferson College

To graduate people of uncommon integrity, competence, and maturity, who are effective lifelong learners and responsible citizens, and who are prepared to contribute substantially to the world in which they live.

Education
11
Northeast College of Health Sciences

Northeast college of health sciences (the college) is committed to academic excellence, leadership, and professional best practices in the health sciences.

Education
12
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…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Make-a-Wish of New Hampshire Inc; the most unlike its peers is William Marsh Rice University. 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

18 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. 18 of the 26 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/18
Grantees still filing
13/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PRADER-WILLI SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF COLORADO: $119,800 · HealthPRADER-WILLI SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF COL…+1 more: $2,500 · HealthOne Goat Incorporated: $83,600 · Public Safety & DisasterOne Goat IncorporatedCHRISTS CHURCH OF GOD INC: $21,500 · OtherCHRISTS CHURCH OF GO…THE NAVIGATORS: $11,000 · OtherTHE NAVIGATORSCARLISLE VICTORY CIRCLE: $6,000 · OtherCARLISLE VICTORY CIR…BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF THE CAPITAL REGION: $5,500 · OtherBIG BROTHERS BIG SIS…CARLISLE HIGH SCHOOL BAND BOOSTERS INC: $5,500 · OtherCARLISLE HIGH SCHOOL…JOURNEY CHURCH COLORADO: $5,000 · OtherJOURNEY CHURCH COLOR…+6 more: $7,500 · Other+6 moreGREEN BERET FOUNDATION: $20,000 · Human ServicesGREEN BERET FOU…SOUTH METRO PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION INC: $17,400 · Human ServicesSOUTH METRO PRO…HOPE STATION OPPORTUNITY AREA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: $6,000 · Human ServicesHOPE STATION OP…PROJECT SHARE OF CARLISLE: $2,000 · Human ServicesMAKE-A-WISH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC: $19,500 · Arts & CultureUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $3,000 · EducationDICKINSON COLLEGE: $2,000 · EducationVALOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $2,000 · EducationNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $1,000 · EducationWheaton College: $1,000 · EducationWilliam Marsh Rice University: $500 · Education
Health$122,300Public Safety & Disaster$83,600Other$62,000Human Services$45,400Arts & Culture$19,500Education$9,500

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 budgetPRADER-WILLI SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF COLORADO: $119,800 over 7y, 33% of budgetOne Goat Incorporated: $83,600 over 4y, 10.0% of budgetGREEN BERET FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetMAKE-A-WISH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE INC: $19,500 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetSOUTH METRO PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS FOUNDATION INC: $17,400 over 1y, 6.0% of budgetHOPE STATION OPPORTUNITY AREA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL: $6,000 over 3y, 1.8% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF THE CAPITAL REGION: $5,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCARLISLE HIGH SCHOOL BAND BOOSTERS INC: $5,500 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $3,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWarriorNOW: $2,500 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetDICKINSON COLLEGE: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCARLISLE ARTS LEARNING CENTER INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPROJECT SHARE OF CARLISLE: $2,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVALOR CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWORLD ORPHANS: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWheaton College: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWilliam Marsh Rice University: $500 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.

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.

United Way of Carlisl…Partnership for Bette…American Endowment Fo…Natl Christian Charit…Vanguard Charitable E…Donor Advised Charita…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland CountyPA15.7× affinity5 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland County · Partnership for Better Health · American Endowment Foundation · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · 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 Estes Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Estes Family 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%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get 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 · 0–15%
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.

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 26 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 Estes Family’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