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The John W Laidlaw Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The John W Laidlaw Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$60k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$27k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Health$296kReligion$191kEducation$45kEnvironment$12kHuman Services$3kArts & Culture$2kHousing & Shelter$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $7k
  • $10k–50k2 grants · $53k
$500
Median grant
1
States reached
$371k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
PORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRIST$27,000
UNIVERSTITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA$25,968
LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE$5,500
AGAPE OF CENTRAL AL$500
MOBILE BAYKEEPER$300
MISSION OF HOPE$250
SALEM CHURCH OF CHRIST$240
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%ST BALDRICKS FOUNDATION: $1k → 14%ADVENTURES IN GOD'S CREATION CHURCH: $10k → 14%CAMPUS OUTREACH: $1k → 12%AGAPE OF CENTRAL AL: $1k → 18%BARTON ACADEMY FUND: $1k → 19%THE BULLOCK FOUNDATION: $1k → 8%ADVENTURES IN GOD'S CREATION CHURCH: $5k → 14%ADVENTURES IN GOD'S CREATION CHURCH: $5k → 14%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $54k → 14%BAPTIST PEDIATRIC GENETIC ENDOWMENT: $50k → 14%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $46k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $6k → 19%BAPTIST PEDIATRIC GENETIC ENDOWMENT: $25k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $6k → 19%WOLFSON'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $25k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $6k → 19%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATIONPATRON OF THE HEARTS: $11k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $5k → 19%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $5k → 19%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $5k → 19%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATIONPATRON OF THE HEARTS: $5k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $5k → 19%BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $5k → 14%LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE: $5k → 19%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF JACKSONVILLE: $3k → 14%MOBILE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $2k → 19%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF JACKSONVILLE: $3k → 14%PORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: $42k → 19%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF JACKSONVILLE: $3k → 14%PORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: $28k → 19%RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF JACKSONVILLE: $2k → 14%PORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: $27k → 19%WOLFSON'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $2k → 14%PORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: $20k → 19%WOLFSON'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $2k → 14%PORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: $10k → 19%UNIVERSTITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA: $26k → 19%MOBILE BOTANICAL GARDENS: $4k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA: $5k → 19%MOBILE BOTANICAL GARDENS: $3k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA: $3k → 19%MOBILE BOTANICAL GARDENS: $3k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA: $3k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA: $3k → 19%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA: $3k → 19%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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$544k · 15 repeat orgs$7k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +74% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

15 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

15
8

Total granted

$544k
$7k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+74%
0%

Still filing today

33%
63%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
HealthReligionHuman ServicesPhilanthropyEnvironmentArts & CultureOther
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

  • TL
    THE LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE A NONPROF CORPORATION
    8× · 2017–2025 · $42k · revenue +90%
  • RM
    RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF JACKSONVILLE INC
    4× · 2017–2020 · $11k · revenue +26%
  • HH
    HUBBARD HOUSE INC
    3× · 2017–2019 · $3k · revenue +74%

Funded once

  • MC
    MOBILE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
    one grant, 2024 · $2k · revenue -7%
  • CO
    CAMPUS OUTREACH
    one grant, 2023 · $1k
  • SB
    ST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2021 · $1k · revenue +23%
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
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mobile Inc

The Organization was formed to build, own and operate a Ronald McDonald House in Mobile, Alabama. The facility provides overnight lodging for children and their parents who travel long distances to Mobile area hospitals for various…

Human Services
2
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis Inc

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Memphis, Inc. sees a world where every family has what they need to ensure the best health outcomes for their children. They provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and…

Health
3
Methodist Children's Home

Methodist children's home equips children, youth, and families to flourish by offering hope through christian-centered relationships, services, and support.

Human Services
4
Mobile County Emergency Medical Services System

Provider of rural pre-hospital care, emergency medical education and training and medical dispatch communications

Health
5
The Ronald Mcdonald House of Galveston

Ronald mcdonald house is a home-away from home for the families of children who come to the medical facilities in galveston for diagnosis and treatment of serious and long-term illnesses. this type facility offers parents and their…

Health
6
Ronald Mcdonald House Charities Greater Houston Inc

The mission of the ronald mcdonald house of houston, inc. is to offer a home away from home and to provide care, compassion, and hope to families with seriously ill children being treated in texas medical center member institutions.

Health
7
Ronald Mcdonald House Alabama Inc

Ronald mcdonald house alabama, inc. provide essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare.

—
8
Covenant Academy of Mobile

Operation of a public charter school in Mobile Alabama.

Human Services
9
Moody Medical Research Institute
—
10
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Charlotte Inc

Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Charlotte (RMHC of GC) provides essential services that remove barriers, strengthen families, and promote healing when children need healthcare. Charlotte is recognized as a leading destination…

Human Services
11
The Children's Hospital of Alabama

The mission of Children's of Alabama is to provide the finest pediatric health services to all children in an environment that fosters excellence in research and medical education. Children's will be an advocate for all children and work…

Health
12
Ronald Mcdonald House Charities of Oregon and Southwest Washington

The organization provides a "home away from home" to families with seriously ill children, and supports initiatives to improve pediatric health.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Ronald Mcdonald House Charities of Jacksonville Inc; the most unlike its peers is Hubbard House 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

10 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. 10 of the 23 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)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
10/10
Grantees still filing
6/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATION: $165,045 · OtherBAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATIONPORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRIST: $126,450 · OtherPORT CITY CHURCH OF CHRISTBAPTIST PEDIATRIC GENETIC ENDOWMENT: $75,000 · OtherBAPTIST PEDIATRIC GENETIC ENDOWMENTUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMA: $40,968 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF SOUTH ALABAMAWOLFSON'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $28,000 · OtherWOLFSON'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITALADVENTURES IN GOD'S CREATION CHURCH: $19,800 · OtherBAPTIST HEALTH FOUNDATIONPATRON OF THE HEARTS: $17,000 · Other+7 more: $17,780 · OtherTHE LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE A NONPROF CORPORATION: $41,600 · ReligionRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF JACKSONVILLE INC: $11,000 · HealthBULLOCK FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · HealthMISSION OF HOPE MINISTRIES INC: $715 · Health+1 more: $200 · HealthHUBBARD HOUSE INC: $3,000 · Human ServicesMobile Baykeeper Inc: $1,800 · EnvironmentST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · PhilanthropyMOBILE OPERA INC: $250 · Arts & Culture
Other$490,043Religion$41,600Health$12,915Human Services$3,000Environment$1,800Philanthropy$1,000Arts & Culture$250

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 budgetTHE LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE A NONPROF CORPORATION: $41,600 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF JACKSONVILLE INC: $11,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetHUBBARD HOUSE INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMOBILE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMobile Baykeeper Inc: $1,800 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMISSION OF HOPE MINISTRIES INC: $715 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetMOBILE OPERA INC: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $200 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.

  • Who funds THE LIGHT OF THE VILLAGE A NONPROF CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES OF JACKSONVILLE INC ↗
  • Who funds HUBBARD HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds MOBILE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds Mobile Baykeeper Inc ↗
  • Who funds ST BALDRICK'S FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds BULLOCK FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MISSION OF HOPE MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds MOBILE OPERA INC ↗
  • Who funds ST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC ↗

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 Blackbaud Giving …The Bank of America C…Vanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Blackbaud Giving FundSC10.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 4 of 4Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Blackbaud Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · 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 John W Laidlaw Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The John W Laidlaw 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%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 42%
  • Hubbard House Inc: 42% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The John W Laidlaw Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The John W Laidlaw Foundation 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 from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 23 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

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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