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Plinth

· Private foundation

The Foundation for Church Growth

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$56k
Granted FY2024still arriving
6
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$47k
Largest
01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20172024.

Religion$213kEducation$31kInternational$17kCivil Rights$11kHuman Services$6kYouth Development$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k5 grants · $9k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $47k
$1,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$523k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE BRANCH CHURCH$47,000
CHRISTIAN RELIEF FUND$5,000
FIRST LIBERTY INSTITUTE$1,000
NAMIKANGO MISSION$1,000
MARKETPLACE CHAPLAINS$1,000
BILLY GRAHAM EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION$1,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY18–21, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%CITY SQUARE: $2k → 14%CITY SQUARE: $2k → 14%CITY SQUARE: $2k → 14%CITY SQUARE: $1k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$248k · 14 repeat orgs$5k to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +72% since the first grant, against +51% for the ones you funded once.

14 repeat relationships — 6 still active in FY2024, 8 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
4

Total granted

$248k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+72%
+51%

Still filing today

57%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
ReligionInternationalCivil RightsHuman ServicesEducationOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • MM
    Marketplace Ministries Inc
    7× · 2018–2024 · $21k · revenue +72%
  • TC
    THE CHRISTIAN RELIEF FUND
    6× · 2019–2024 · $15k · revenue +49%
  • LC
    Lifeline Chaplaincy Inc
    6× · 2018–2023 · $14k · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • OB
    OLIVE BRANCH MINISTRIES INTERNATIONALgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $2k · revenue +51%
  • OB
    OLIVE BRANCH MINISTRIES INC
    one grant, 2021 · $1k
  • LC
    LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2022 · $1k · revenue +18%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Christianity Today International

Christianity Today is a global community inspired by evangelical conviction to advance the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God. Our mission is to elevate the storytellers and sages of the global church.

Religion
2
Biglife International Inc

Biglife international inc. empowers believers worldwide to reach and disciple their own people for jesus christ.

Recreation & Sports
3
Christian Mission for the United Nations Community

Christian Mission for the United Nations Community is a ministry aimed at leading the head of every nation and other top leaders to faith in Jesus Christ and helping them to walk in dependence upon God as they discharge the…

4
Dallas International University

As a christian university, we provide education and research opportunities preparing global leaders to partner with local communities.

Education
5
Christian Healthcare Ministries Inc

To glorify god, show christian love, and experience god's presence as christians share each other's medical bills.

Religion
6
Christian Leaders for Africa Inc

Christian leaders from africa promotes christian theological training & education of local leaders in kenya and throughout africa. it invests in undergraduate, masters, and phd scholarships, faculty support for african professors and…

Religion
7
Christian Leadership Alliance

Christian leadership alliance exists to equip and unite leaders called to transform the world for christ.

8
Lifeway Mission International

Provide humanitarian aid and christian discipleship.

Human Services
9
Financial Planning Ministry

Financial planning ministry, inc. (fpm) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to assisting in the performance of the functions of christian churches by serving their financial needs.

Health
10
Lou Engle Ministries

Advancing the kingdom of god through prayer,preaching and teaching.

Religion
11
Reformed University Inc

Provide education in theology, divinity, religious education, ministerial training, business and organizational leadership.

Education
12
Global Media Outreach

Leveraging technology to invite all people to know jesus christ as savior and grow in a personal relationship with him.

Religion

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Marketplace Ministries Inc and the most unlike its peers is Lifeline Chaplaincy 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

11 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 11 of the 19 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
9/11
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

THE BRANCH CHURCH INC — $136,900 · OtherTHE BRANCH CHURCH INCABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY — $30,000 · OtherABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITYFARMERS BRANCH CHURCH OF CHRIST INC — $21,500 · OtherFARMERS BRANCH CHURCH OF CHRIST INC+6 more — $15,850 · Other+6 moreMarketplace Ministries Inc — $21,000 · ReligionMarketplace Mini…Lifeline Chaplaincy Inc — $13,500 · ReligionLifeline Chaplai…MISSIONS RESOURCE NETWORK — $4,000 · ReligionMISSIONS RESOURC…OLIVE BRANCH MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL — $2,000 · ReligionTHE CHRISTIAN RELIEF FUND — $15,000 · InternationalTHE CHRIS…NAMIKANGO MISSION (US) INCORPORATED — $6,000 · InternationalNAMIKANGO…CHANGE A LIFE MINISTRY — $3,500 · InternationalCHANGE A …FIRST LIBERTY INSTITUTE — $7,000 · Civil RightsCITYSQUARE — $5,500 · Human ServicesLUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY — $1,000 · Education
Other$204,250Religion$40,500International$24,500Civil Rights$7,000Human Services$5,500Education$1,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY — $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMarketplace Ministries Inc — $21,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CHRISTIAN RELIEF FUND — $15,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetLifeline Chaplaincy Inc — $13,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetFIRST LIBERTY INSTITUTE — $7,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetNAMIKANGO MISSION (US) INCORPORATED — $6,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCITYSQUARE — $5,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMISSIONS RESOURCE NETWORK — $4,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCHANGE A LIFE MINISTRY — $3,500 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetOLIVE BRANCH MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL — $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY — $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
  • Who funds Marketplace Ministries Inc
  • Who funds THE CHRISTIAN RELIEF FUND
  • Who funds Lifeline Chaplaincy Inc
  • Who funds FIRST LIBERTY INSTITUTE
  • Who funds NAMIKANGO MISSION (US) INCORPORATED
  • Who funds CITYSQUARE
  • Who funds MISSIONS RESOURCE NETWORK
  • Who funds CHANGE A LIFE MINISTRY
  • Who funds OLIVE BRANCH MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL
  • Who funds LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Servant FoundationKS17.6× affinity7 shared granteesties to 10 of 10Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Servant Foundation · The Signatry Charitable Trust · Communities Foundation of Texas Inc · Shell USA Company Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization The Foundation for Church Growth funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s 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 · 0–20%
    typical government reliance, FY2025

    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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Foundation for Church Growth?

    Find your warmest path to The Foundation for Church Growth 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 19 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

    Generated from your IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    More from the funding graph