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The Linton Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Linton 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
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$15k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0190% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$202kEnvironment$111kYouth Development$60kRecreation & Sports$58kReligion$52kEducation$40kCommunity Improvement$1kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $11k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $86k
$10,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$557k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$15,000
BUFFALO OLMSTEAD PARKS CONSERVANCY$15,000
ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORP$15,000
BAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH$11,000
BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA$10,000
BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS$10,000
UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO FOUNDATION INC$10,000
BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA$5,000
Individual grant recipient$4,625
EAST AURORA KIWANIS FOUNDATION$1,000
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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, 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%UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 13%UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO FOUNDATION INC: $10k → 13%UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO FOUNDATION INC: $5k → 13%UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO FOUNDATION INC: $5k → 13%UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO FOUNDATION INC: $5k → 13%UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO FOUNDATION INC: $5k → 13%BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $10k → 13%BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $5k → 13%BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $5k → 13%BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $5k → 13%BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $5k → 13%BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $5k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS: $21k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS: $21k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS: $20k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS: $20k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS: $20k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS: $10k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $15k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $12k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10k → 13%BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10k → 13%BUFFALO OLMSTEAD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $15k → 13%BUFFALO OLMSTEAD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $12k → 13%BUFFALO OLMSTEAD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $10k → 13%BUFFALO OLMSTEAD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $10k → 13%BUFFALO OLMSTEAD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $5k → 13%BUFFALO OLMSTEAD PARKS CONSERVANCY: $5k → 13%EAST AURORA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $20k → 13%ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORP: $15k → 13%ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORP: $15k → 13%ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORP: $15k → 13%ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORP: $15k → 13%BAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH: $11k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA: $10k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA: $10k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA: $10k → 13%BAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH: $10k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA: $10k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA: $10k → 13%ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORP: $10k → 13%BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA: $10k → 13%ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORP: $10k → 13%BAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH: $9k → 13%BAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH: $8k → 13%BAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH: $8k → 13%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.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$543k · 10 repeat orgs$3k to everyone else

10 repeat relationships: 9 still active in FY2025, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
2

Total granted

$543k
$2k

Still filing today

60%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 99% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • RC
    ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $80k · revenue +94%
  • BE
    BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $67k · revenue +63%
  • BA
    BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $60k · revenue +106%

Funded once

  • BN
    BUFFALO NAVAL & SERVICEMEN'S PARK
    one grant, 2021 · $1k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $500
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
04the grantee network

7 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. 7 of the 13 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
7/7
Grantees still filing
7/7
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENS: $111,260 · OtherBUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY BOTANICAL GARDENSROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATION: $80,000 · OtherROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATIONBUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $67,000 · OtherBUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETYBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA INC: $60,000 · OtherBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA INCBAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH: $51,000 · OtherBAKER MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCHBUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA: $35,000 · OtherBUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRAIndividual grant recipient: $21,175 · OtherAURORA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $20,400 · Other+2 more: $1,500 · OtherBUFFALO OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY INC: $57,000 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO OLM…University at Buffalo Foundation Inc: $40,000 · EducationEAST AURORA KIWANIS FOUNDATION INC: $1,000 · Community Improvement
Other$447,335Arts & Culture$57,000Education$40,000Community Improvement$1,000

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 budgetROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATION: $80,000 over 6y, 2.2% of budgetBUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $67,000 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA INC: $60,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetBUFFALO OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY INC: $57,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetUniversity at Buffalo Foundation Inc: $40,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetAURORA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $20,400 over 4y, 23% 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 ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF EAST AURORA INC ↗
  • Who funds BUFFALO OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY INC ↗
  • Who funds University at Buffalo Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds AURORA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds EAST AURORA KIWANIS FOUNDATION 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.

Community Foundation …American Online Givin…Amazonsmile Foundation
Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo IncNY13.4× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · 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 Linton Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Linton Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%3%5%8%10%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–10%
    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 13 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 Linton’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