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The Lily Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Lily 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.

$963k
Granted FY2024still arriving
23
Grants FY2024still arriving
4
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Education$1.2MArts & Culture$723kHealth$578kHuman Services$542kFood & Nutrition$325kCrime & Legal$325kInternational$151kRecreation & Sports$125kOther$0
02FY2024 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $25k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $238k
  • $50k–250k7 grants · $450k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$30,000
Median grant
4
States reached
$8.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ANTHONY WAYNE THEATER$250,000
HELPUSADOPTORG$100,000
GERMANTOWN ACADEMY$100,000
WOMEN'S LAW PROJECT PHILADELPHIA$50,000
RIVERBEND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER$50,000
PHILABUNDANCE$50,000
A BETTER CHANCE$50,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SE PENNSYLVANIA$50,000
THEATRE HORIZON$37,760
PETER'S PLACE$35,000
HEDGEROW THEATRE$30,000
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA FOUNDATION$30,000
CHESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK$25,000
THE FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS$25,000
FREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION$25,000
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 (FY20–24, $337k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 60% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: $25k → 6%HELPUSADOPTORG: $100k → 17%THE FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: $25k → 6%HELPUSADOPTORG: $20k → 17%THE FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: $25k → 6%HELPUSADOPTORG: $20k → 17%THE FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: $25k → 6%HELPUSADOPTORG: $20k → 17%CHESTER COUNTY FUND FOR WOMEN & GIRLS: $25k → 6%HELPUSADOPTORG: $15k → 17%RYAN'S CASE FOR SMILES: $10k → 6%WOMEN AGAINST ABUSE: $20k → 22%REDEEMED FOR A CAUSE OUTREACH: $2k → 22%DELAWARE VALLEY FAIRNESS PROJECT: $5k → 22%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

ME
WA
MN
NY
OH
PA
NJ
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.5M · 25 repeat orgs$655k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +34% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

25 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2024, 10 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
15

Total granted

$3.5M
$305k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+34%
+8%

Still filing today

80%
87%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $350k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationArts & CultureHuman ServicesFood & NutritionYouth DevelopmentInternationalOther
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

  • TP
    THE PUBLIC SCHOOL OF GERMANTOWN
    3× · 2022–2024 · $300k · revenue +4%
  • Philabundance
    5× · 2020–2024 · $250k · revenue +0%
  • HI
    HELPUSADOPTORG INC
    5× · 2020–2024 · $175k · revenue +506%

Funded once

  • TA
    THE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOLgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue +34%
  • ML
    MAIN LINE MEALS ON WHEELS INC
    one grant, 2020 · $50k · revenue +7%
  • PM
    PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART
    one grant, 2022 · $50k · revenue +8%
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
The Philadelphia School

The philadelphia school educates children for a future that is impossible to know but not impossible to shape. learn here. go anywhere.

—
2
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…

—
3
Philadelphia Performing Arts a String Theory Charter School

Charter school providing students a content rich, adademically rigerous core knowledge education with a well-defined, sequential curriculum in a safe, orderly disiplined and caring environment.

Education
4
Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania

The trustees of the university of pennsylvania (the "university") sees itself as having a public service mission. in such regard, the university aims to provide a rich and diverse educational environment for its students; to pioneer…

Education
5
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
6
Philadelphia Theatre Company

Philadelphia theatre company is a vital civic institution dedicated to the creation of extraordinary theatrical experiences that reflect the essential issues and ideas of our time, and which foster connection, understanding, and…

Arts & Culture
7
Philadelphia Contemporary

We connect the people and places of philadelphia through art and partnership. the organization is a free-standing platform that endeavors to show forward-thinking, high-quality contemporary visual and performance art in the city. the…

Human Services
8
Wilson College

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

Education
9
The Ellis School

An independent college preparatory school for girls from age three through twelfth grade.

Education
10
Women's Project & Productions Inc

Wp theater is the nation's oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing, and promoting the work of women+ at every stage of their careers. for over four decades we have served as leaders of a global movement…

Arts & Culture
11
Play On Philly

Play on philly provides underserved children in philadelphia, a transformative music education experience that develops and inspires the behaviors and personal skills needed for a successful life.

Arts & Culture
12
The Philadelphia Education Fund

The mission of the philadelphia education fund (pef) is to create equitable access to opportunities for students by providing resources and expertise that build paths to college and career success. pef focuses on philadelphia public school…

Youth Development
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Days for Girls International. 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

40 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 40 of the 48 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)
40/40
Grantees still filing
29/40
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE WOODLYNDE SCHOOL CORPORATION: $500,000 · EducationTHE WOODLYNDE SCHOOL CORPORATIONTHE PUBLIC SCHOOL OF GERMANTOWN: $300,000 · EducationTHE PUBLIC SCHOOL OF GERMANTOWNNURTURING MINDS INC: $135,000 · EducationNURTURING MINDS INCCOMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL: $110,000 · EducationCOMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP SCHOOLTHE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOL: $50,000 · Education+6 more: $106,850 · Education+6 moreA BETTER CHANCE: $300,000 · OtherA BETTER CHANCEPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SE PENNSYLVANIA: $250,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SE PENNSYLVANIAFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $200,000 · OtherFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATIONWOMEN'S LAW PROJECT PHILADELPHIA: $175,000 · OtherWOMEN'S LAW PROJECT PHILADELPHIAPHILADELPHIA OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOL: $97,500 · OtherPHILADELPHIA OUTWARD BOUND SCHOOLMAIN LINE MEALS ON WHEELS INC: $50,000 · OtherHARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION: $120,000 · OtherHARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORAT…RIVERBEND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER: $75,000 · OtherCAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 · Other+9 more: $108,500 · Other+9 moreANTHONY WAYNE THEATER: $250,000 · Arts & CultureANTHONY WAYNE …THEATRE HORIZON INC: $137,760 · Arts & CultureTHEATRE HORIZO…PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 · Arts & CulturePHILADELPHIA M…HEDGEROW THEATRE INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureHEDGEROW THEAT…+4 more: $45,000 · Arts & Culture+4 moreHELPUSADOPTORG INC: $175,000 · Human ServicesHELPUSADO…THE FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: $125,000 · Human ServicesTHE FUND …WOMEN AGAINST ABUSE INC: $30,000 · Human ServicesWOMEN AGA…+3 more: $16,700 · Human ServicesPhilabundance: $250,000 · Food & NutritionCHESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK: $25,000 · Food & NutritionPETER'S PLACE: $200,000 · Youth DevelopmentB INSPIRED PHILADELPHIA INC: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentDomestic Abuse Project Inc: $150,000 · Crime & Legal
Education$1,201,850Other$1,431,000Arts & Culture$512,760Human Services$346,700Food & Nutrition$275,000Youth Development$225,000Crime & Legal$150,000

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 budgetTHE WOODLYNDE SCHOOL CORPORATION: $500,000 over 2y, 3.7% of budgetTHE PUBLIC SCHOOL OF GERMANTOWN: $300,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetPhilabundance: $250,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetPETER'S PLACE: $200,000 over 5y, 5.0% of budgetFREE LIBRARY OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetHELPUSADOPTORG INC: $175,000 over 5y, 1.3% of budgetDomestic Abuse Project Inc: $150,000 over 2y, 4.9% of budgetTHEATRE HORIZON INC: $137,760 over 5y, 3.1% of budgetNURTURING MINDS INC: $135,000 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetTHE FUND FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS: $125,000 over 5y, 4.0% of budgetHARLEM LACROSSE AND LEADERSHIP CORPORATION: $120,000 over 3y, 1.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL: $110,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetRIVERBEND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER: $75,000 over 2y, 3.0% of budgetCAPE ELEUTHERA FOUNDATION INC: $55,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetTHE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOL: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMAIN LINE MEALS ON WHEELS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetPHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP: $40,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetHEDGEROW THEATRE INC: $30,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetWOMEN AGAINST ABUSE INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetUniversity of South Florida Foundation Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOSEPH'S HOUSE OF CAMDEN LLC: $25,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCHESTER COUNTY FOOD BANK: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetB INSPIRED PHILADELPHIA INC: $25,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetBOCA GRANDE WOMAN'S CLUB INC: $25,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetCHESTER COUNTY POPS ORCHESTRA: $15,000 over 3y, 9.5% of budgetEckerd College: $12,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetORANGE COUNTY NY ARTS COUNCIL INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budget1LOVE4ANIMALS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPLAYPENN INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetRYAN'S CASE FOR SMILES: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRESOLVE PHILADELPHIA INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFACETIME THEATRE INC: $10,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetDays For Girls International: $6,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetDelaware Valley Fairness Project: $5,200 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCHILDREN'S CRISIS TREATMENT CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWHITEMARSH BOAT CLUB: $4,850 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetREDEEMED FOR A CAUSE OUTREACH: $1,500 over 1y, 12% 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.

The Philadelphia Foun…Henry Dolfinger 2 Tru…The Barra Foundation …The William Penn Foun…Wsfs Cares FoundationWyncote FoundationClaneil Foundation IncConnelly FoundationUnited Way of Greater…The Pfizer Foundation…Powell Family Foundat…E Murdoch Family Foun…
The Philadelphia FoundationPA29.5× affinity13 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Philadelphia Foundation · Henry Dolfinger 2 Trust Uw · The Barra Foundation Inc · The William Penn Foundation · Wsfs Cares Foundation · Wyncote Foundation · Claneil Foundation Inc · Connelly Foundation · United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Powell Family Foundation Richard S Powell Family Division · E Murdoch Family 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 Lily Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Lily Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →median 32%
  • Joseph's House of Camden Llc: 32% of income from government
  • Eckerd College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
11report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
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 Lily Foundation?

Find your warmest path to The Lily 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 48 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 Lily’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