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The Little Flower Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Little Flower 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.

$20k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2021 to 2025.

Health$30kEducation$22kHuman Services$8kArts & Culture$3kYouth Development$1kAnimals$500
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $10k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$474k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC$10,000
COMMUNITY ADVOCATES INC$5,000
MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC$2,500
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION$2,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY21–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 87% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $3k → 10%LAKELAND ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY INC: $500 → 10%PARENTING NETWORK INC: $3k → 17%ST JUDE CHILDRENS RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $250 → 17%CIRCLE OF SISTERHOOD FOUNDATION INC: $5k → 12%SETON HALL UNIVERSITY: $3k → 16%LIFE ENRICHMENT CENTER OF NORFOLK: $3k → 19%MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC: $3k → 17%SAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $10k → 17%SAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $10k → 17%SAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $5k → 17%SAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $5k → 17%UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $3k → 17%UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $3k → 17%UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $2k → 17%COMMUNITY ADVOCATES INC: $5k → 17%BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER MILWAUKEE INC: $1k → 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.
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 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
Saint Xavier University

Saint xavier university, a catholic institution inspired by the heritage of the sisters of mercy, educates persons to search for truth, think critically, communicate effectively and serve wisely and compassionately in support of human…

Education
2
Mount Mary University Inc

Mount mary university, an urban catholic university for women sponsored by the school sisters of notre dame, provides an environment for the development of the whole person. the university encourages leadership, integrity, and a deep sense…

—
3
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

University of the sciences prepares students to become leaders, innovators, and skilled practitioners in the sciences, the health professions, and related disciplines. we deliver excellence in teaching, research, and service through a safe…

—
4
University of New Haven

The University of New Haven is a student-centered comprehensive university with an emphasis on excellence in liberal arts and professional education. Our mission is to prepare our students to lead purposeful and fulfilling lives in a…

Education
5
Manhattanville University

To educate students to be ethical and socially responsible leaders in a global community.

Education
6
Benedictine University

Benedictine University is an inclusive academic community dedicated to teaching and learning, scholarship and service, truth and justice, as inspired by the Catholic intellectual tradition, the social teaching of the Church, and the…

Education
7
South Shore Charter School

The mission of south shore charter school is to cultivate students the tenacity, integrity, and curiosity needed to become innovative and socially responsible leaders, ready to face and solve the ever-changing challenges facing our…

Education
8
Trinity University

Trinity university is an independent co-educational university whose mission is excellence in the interrelated areas of teaching, research and services.

Education
9
University of St Thomas

We are the University of St. Thomas, the Catholic University in the heart of Houston. We are committed to the Catholic intellectual tradition and the dialogue between faith and reason. By pursuing excellence in teaching, scholarship and…

Education
10
Mount Saint Mary's University Inc

As a catholic university, mount st. mary's graduates ethical leaders who are inspired by a passion for learning and lead lives of significance in service to god and others.

Education
11
President-Board of Trustees Santa Clara College

Scu is a catholic and jesuit institution that makes student learning its central focus, promotes faculty and staff learning in its various forms, and exhibits organizational learning.

Education
12
Loyola University of Chicago

We are chicago's jesuit, catholic university - a diverse community seeking god in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Circle of Sisterhood Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is Life Enrichment Center of Norfolk. 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

13 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.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
9/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $30,000 · HealthSAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC+1 more: $250 · HealthTHE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $6,500 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE…CIRCLE OF SISTERHOOD FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 · EducationCIRCLE OF SISTERHOOD FOUNDATION IN…Life Enrichment Center of Norfolk: $2,500 · EducationLife Enrichment Center of NorfolkSouthern Methodist University: $2,500 · EducationSouthern Methodist UniversityVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $2,500 · EducationVILLANOVA UNIVERSITYCOMMUNITY ADVOCATES INC: $5,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY ADV…SETON HALL UNIVERSITY: $2,500 · OtherSETON HALL UN…THE PARENTING NETWORK INC: $2,500 · Crime & LegalMILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC: $2,500 · Arts & CultureBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER MILWAUKEE INC: $1,000 · Youth DevelopmentLAKELAND ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY INC: $500 · Animals
Health$30,250Education$19,000Other$7,500Crime & Legal$2,500Arts & Culture$2,500Youth Development$1,000Animals$500

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 budgetSAINT FRANCIS CHILDRENS CENTER INC: $30,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MILWAUKEE CORPORATION: $6,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCIRCLE OF SISTERHOOD FOUNDATION INC: $5,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetTHE PARENTING NETWORK INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSETON HALL UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLife Enrichment Center of Norfolk: $2,500 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF GREATER MILWAUKEE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAKELAND ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetST JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL INC: $250 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.

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.

Baird Foundation IncUnited Way of Greater…Herbert H Kohl Charit…American Endowment Fo…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Baird Foundation IncWI13.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Baird Foundation Inc · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · American Endowment Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Little Flower Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Little Flower Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Seton Hall University: 1% of 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, 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

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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