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The Footholds Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Footholds 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.

$12k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0183% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2024.

International$15kEnvironment$5kHealth$5kReligion$5kPhilanthropy$4kArts & Culture$2kOther$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$96k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNICEF$5,227
DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS$5,000
HEALTHY HARLEM BABIES$2,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $5k → 13%WOMEN WHO CREATE: $4k → 13%UNICEF: $5k → 17%1 BETTER: $2k → 13%ST JUDE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $2k → 17%DONATE LIFE AMERICA: $1k → 22%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $5k → 17%DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS: $5k → 17%CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER: $2k → 17%HEALTHY HARLEM BABIES: $2k → 17%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 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
International Society for Stem Cell Rese

The international society for stem cell research is an independent, nonprofit organization. the mission is to promote excellence in stem cell research and applications to human health.

Health
2
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
3
United Way Worldwide

To improve lives by mobilizing caring power of communities around the world to advance common good.

Philanthropy
4
American Academy of Neurology

The Academy's mission is to enhance member career fulfillment and promote brain health for all.

Community Improvement
5
Society for Vascular Surgery

To improve the prevention, diagnosis, and management of patients withvascular disease by promoting clinical and basic research; providingcontinuing education; developing post-graduate training; advocating onbehalf of members; promoting the…

—
6
Society for Neuroscience

Sfn's mission is to: 1. advance the understanding of the brain and the nervous system by bringing together scientists of all segments of neuroscience, by facilitating the integration of research directed at all levels of biological…

Health
7
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

—
8
United States Pharmacopeial Convention

Usp's mission is to improve global health through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods.

Health
9
World Wildlife Fund Inc

Wwf's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on earth. (continued on schedule o)

Environment
10
Materials Research Society

The materials research society (mrs) is an organization of materials researchers worldwide that promotes communication for the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life.

Community Improvement
11
International Society of Nephrology

The international society of nephrology is a professional organization dedicated to advancing worldwide kidney health.

Health
12
American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine

To empower and cultivate a global multidisciplinary community engaged in the use of medical ultrasound through raising awareness, education, sharing information, and research.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United States Fund for Unicef; the most unlike its peers is Women Who Create 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

8 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. 8 of the 11 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
7/8
Grantees still filing
7/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $10,000 · InternationalMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INCUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $5,227 · InternationalUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEFScripture Union: $5,000 · OtherScripture UnionHEALTHY HARLEM BABIES: $2,000 · OtherHEALTHY HARLEM BABIESIndividual grant recipient: $2,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient1 BETTER: $2,000 · Other1 BETTERDONATE LIFE AMERICA: $1,000 · OtherDONATE LIFE AMERICANATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL ARBOR…WOMEN WHO CREATE INC: $3,746 · PhilanthropyWOMEN WHO …The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc: $2,150 · Arts & CultureST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,000 · Health
International$15,227Other$12,000Environment$5,000Philanthropy$3,746Arts & Culture$2,150Health$2,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES USA INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $5,227 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetScripture Union: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetThe Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Inc: $2,150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDONATE LIFE AMERICA: $1,000 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Footholds Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Footholds Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 11 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 Footholds’ 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