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The Lemmon Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Lemmon Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$97k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$30k
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.

Animals$400kEnvironment$196kHuman Services$15kHealth$11kEducation$10kPhilanthropy$5kArts & Culture$5kCrime & Legal$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $80k
$5,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Lady Freethinker$30,000
Wild Earth Allies$25,000
Center for Humane Economy$15,000
Sea Turtle Conservancy$10,000
Central Texas Pig Rescue$5,000
West Newton Cinema Foundation$5,000
Compassion Works International$4,000
Compassion in World Farming$2,000
Wildlife in Crisis$500
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 (FY22–25, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Inga Foundation: $10k → 13%Compassion in World Farming: $2k → 17%Compassion in World Farming: $2k → 17%Compassion in World Farming: $500 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

NY
MA
NV
IN
CT
CA
UT
CO
KY
VA
MD
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.
$539k · 20 repeat orgs$109k to everyone else

20 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 12 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
17

Total granted

$539k
$104k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+25%
+35%

Still filing today

90%
47%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k 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
AnimalsEnvironmentCivil RightsHuman ServicesArts & 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

  • WE
    Wild Earth Allies Inc
    9× · 2017–2025 · $175k · revenue +129%
  • LF
    LADY FREETHINKER
    3× · 2023–2025 · $62k · revenue +12%
  • WC
    WILDLIFE CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL
    2× · 2019–2021 · $40k · revenue +190%

Funded once

  • DO
    Defenders of Wildlifegraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $20k · revenue +35%
  • IF
    International Fund Animal Wlfr
    one grant, 2023 · $15k
  • AU
    Asian University for Woman Support
    one grant, 2018 · $10k
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
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
2
Humane World for Animals International

HUMANE WORLD FOR ANIMALS INTERNATIONAL, FKA HUMANE SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL (HSI), works around the globe to promote the human-animal bond, rescue and protect dogs and cats, improve farm animal welfare, protect wildlife, promote animal-free…

Animals
3
Forever Wild Wildlife Rescue
Animals
4
Asia Wild

Asia Wild is committed to rescuing and protecting the welfare of animals worldwide. They support small, locally-focused organizations that tirelessly combat numerous issues that threaten wildlife survival, including poaching, abuse,…

Animals
5
World Animal Foundation Inc

Animal conservation

—
6
Wild Welfare Us

To end the suffering of captive wild animals around the world, by uniting the world's leading animal welfare organizations and captive wildlife facilities in providing expert, practical, and sustainable solutions to improve animal welfare.

Animals
7
Animal Outlook Inc

Animal outlook is a national animal protection organization working to end the abuse of farmed animals using a variety of strategies, including investigations, legal advocacy, corporate and food system reform, and vegan outreach.

Animals
8
International Primate Protection League

Protecting the world's remaining primates by monitoring and exposing illegal trade, supporting a worldwide network of overseas sanctuaries and ngo's, publicising the plight of abused primates, and operating a sanctuary for resued gibbons.

Animals
9
Animal Wellness Action

To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. enacting good laws depends upon electing good lawmakers, and we remind voters which candidates care about and support animal issues.

Human Services
10
Wild Souls Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation
Animals
11
Humane World Action Fund

To pass animal protection laws, educate the public, and support humane candidates for office.

Animals
12
Global Wildlife Foundation

Funding innovative veterinary research and supporting organizations dedicated to preserving and protecting wildlife for future generations.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Mercy for Animals Inc; the most unlike its peers is Kindred Spirits Santuary 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

27 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. 27 of the 38 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
20/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Wild Earth Allies Inc: $175,000 · EnvironmentWild Earth Allies IncWILDLIFE CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $40,000 · EnvironmentWILDLIFE CONSERVATION INTERNATIONALGREEN FORESTS WORK INC: $13,000 · EnvironmentGREEN FORESTS WORK INCCENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY INC: $34,000 · AnimalsCENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY IN…American Bird Conservancy: $30,000 · AnimalsAmerican Bird ConservancyORANG UTAN REPUBLIK FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · AnimalsORANG UTAN REPUBLIK FOUNDATION…WORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION: $22,000 · AnimalsWORLD ANIMAL PROTECTIONDefenders of Wildlife: $20,000 · AnimalsDefenders of WildlifeCENTRAL TEXAS PIG RESCUE: $9,000 · AnimalsCOMPASSIONWORKS INTERNATIONAL: $6,500 · Animals+8 more: $24,500 · Animals+8 moreORANGUTAN FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL: $24,000 · OtherORANGUTAN FOUNDATIO…Dream Catcher Farm Horse Sanctuary: $15,890 · OtherDream Catcher Farm …International Fund Animal Wlfr: $15,000 · OtherInternational Fund …National Butterfly Center: $12,688 · OtherNational Butterfly …Asian University for Woman Support: $10,000 · OtherAsian University fo…North American Primate Sanctuary: $10,000 · OtherNorth American Prim…Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: $8,000 · OtherSheldrick Wildlife …Individual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherSchwab haritable Gift Fund: $5,000 · OtherUrnoya Khula Wildlife Center: $4,000 · Other+2 more: $1,500 · OtherLADY FREETHINKER: $62,000 · Civil RightsLADY FREETH…+1 more: $1,000 · Civil RightsSea Turtle Conservancy: $31,500 · InternationalINGA FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Human ServicesCompassion in World Farming Inc: $4,500 · Human ServicesWild Earth Society Incorporated: $8,000 · Arts & CultureWEST NEWTON CINEMA FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · Arts & CulturePhysicians Committee for Responsible Med: $10,500 · Health
Environment$228,000Animals$176,000Other$111,078Civil Rights$63,000International$31,500Human Services$14,500Arts & Culture$13,000Health$10,500

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWild Earth Allies Inc: $175,000 over 9y, 0.7% of budgetLADY FREETHINKER: $62,000 over 3y, 1.4% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL: $40,000 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetCENTER FOR A HUMANE ECONOMY INC: $34,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetSea Turtle Conservancy: $31,500 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetAmerican Bird Conservancy: $30,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetORANG UTAN REPUBLIK FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetORANGUTAN FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL: $24,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetWORLD ANIMAL PROTECTION: $22,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDefenders of Wildlife: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGREEN FORESTS WORK INC: $13,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetPhysicians Committee for Responsible Med: $10,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINGA FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetCENTRAL TEXAS PIG RESCUE: $9,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetWild Earth Society Incorporated: $8,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOMPASSIONWORKS INTERNATIONAL: $6,500 over 3y, 4.2% of budgetFARM SANCTUARY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCompassion in World Farming Inc: $4,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetFull Circle Farm Sanctuary Inc: $4,500 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetKINDRED SPIRITS SANTUARY INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetGENTLE GIANTS DRAFT HORSE RESCUE SOCIETY LTD: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILDLIFE IN CRISIS INC: $1,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMERCY FOR ANIMALS INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLuvin Arms: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF CHILDREN INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

PC Fund for Animals C…Give Lively Foundatio…Seb Charitable FundChubb Charitable Foun…National Fish and Wil…American Express Foun…Vanguard Charitable E…The Pfizer Foundation…The Bank of America C…AbbVie FoundationPaypal Charitable Giv…National Philanthropi…
PC Fund for Animals Charitable TrWY22× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: PC Fund for Animals Charitable Tr · Give Lively Foundation Inc · Seb Charitable Fund · Chubb Charitable Foundation · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · American Express Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · AbbVie Foundation · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust

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 Lemmon Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Lemmon Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 54%
  • Friends of Children Inc: 54% of income from government
  • Sea Turtle Conservancy: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Lemmon Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Lemmon 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 38 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

Play a game based on Lemmon’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