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The Low Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Low Family 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.

$775k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
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, FY2018 to 2024.

International$2.4MHealth$350kArts & Culture$280kYouth Development$200kEnvironment$149kEducation$115kReligion$100kPublic Benefit$90kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $75k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $200k
  • $250k+2 grants · $500k
$50,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$19M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$250,000
MENTORS INTERNATIONAL$250,000
BLUE RIBBON COALITION$50,000
WORLDWIDE CHILD RELIEF FOUNDATION$50,000
THE RACHEL COVEY FOUNDATION$50,000
DAVIS EDUCATION FOUNDATION$50,000
CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION$25,000
CROHNS AND COLITIS FOUNDATION$25,000
YOUTHLINC$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 (FY18–21, $45k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%THE RESCUE FUND: $35k → 10%LITTLE LAMBS FOUNDATION FOR KIDS: $10k → 12%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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 11 repeat orgs$389k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +102% since the first grant, against +46% for those funded once.

11 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

11
8

Total granted

$3.3M
$314k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+102%
+46%

Still filing today

73%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $75k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
InternationalHealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureEnvironmentPublic BenefitOther
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

  • MI
    Mentors International
    6× · 2019–2024 · $715k · revenue +288%
  • OR
    OUR RESCUE
    3× · 2018–2020 · $280k · revenue +102%
  • CF
    CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION
    6× · 2018–2024 · $275k · revenue +29%

Funded once

  • TC
    THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
    one grant, 2018 · $100k
  • OS
    ORPHANAGE SUPPORT SERVICES ORGANIZATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $50k · revenue +243%
  • EF
    Eastman Family Recovery Foundation
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · 79% of their budget
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
Joy International

JOY International is dedicated to the prevention of child trafficking and to the freedom, healing, and empowerment of trafficked children, teens, and young adults worldwide.

Human Services
2
Hope's Promise Inc

To strengthen families through ethical, christ-centered foster care, adoption, and global orphan care.

Human Services
3
Rainbird Foundation Inc

Our mission is to build a global movement for the end of child abuse, empowering people around the world to develop partnerships, unify, organize, and mobilize effectively to end violations against children.

Crime & Legal
4
Hope for the Fatherless

HFTF serves orphaned and vulnerable children in Ethiopia, and its mission is to see every child thriving in a loving family. HFTF accomplishes this through five primary initiatives: in-country adoption training and placement, family…

International
5
World Forgotten Children Foundation
Philanthropy
6
Mukti International

Mukti is a Sanskrit word that means "freedom from oppression and exploitation". Our goal is to see women and children find pathways to freedom. We partner with organizations around Asia that are on the frontlines helping to rescue and…

Crime & Legal
7
World Family Foundation
Philanthropy
8
A Better Chance International Rescue
—
9
Deliver Rescuing Children At Risk

Finding forever homes for children

Human Services
10
New Hope for Adopted International Kids

Help struggling families and children who have been adopted from international families in other countries work to adjust to their new life and bring some into other families

Human Services
11
Wholives Inc

Wholives provides sustainable clean water and economic development programs through community ownership and self-reliance programs. we have a mission to end fgm and child slavery abuses. we implement our anti-bullying and anti-suicide…

International
12
Born Free Foundation
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Crohn's & Colitis Foundation Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Rescue Fund. 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

16 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. 16 of the 21 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/16
Grantees still filing
10/16
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Individual grant recipient: $1,250,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientDavis Education Foundation: $115,000 · OtherDavis Education FoundationTHE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS: $100,000 · OtherTHE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS+5 more: $134,000 · Other+5 moreMentors International: $715,000 · InternationalMentors InternationalYOUTHLINC: $215,000 · InternationalYOUTHLINCORPHANAGE SUPPORT SERVICES ORGANIZATION: $50,000 · InternationalPathways To Prosperity Inc: $50,000 · InternationalCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $275,000 · HealthCYSTIC FIBROSIS …The Rachel Covey Foundation: $200,000 · HealthThe Rachel Covey…Eastman Family Recovery Foundation: $50,000 · HealthEastman Family R…CROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 · HealthOUR RESCUE: $280,000 · Arts & CultureBLUE RIBBON COALITION INC: $130,000 · EnvironmentWILD OPS: $90,000 · Public BenefitThe Rescue Fund: $35,000 · Human ServicesLittle Lambs Foundation for Kids Inc: $10,000 · Human Services
Other$1,599,000International$1,030,000Health$550,000Arts & Culture$280,000Environment$130,000Public Benefit$90,000Human Services$45,000

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 budgetMentors International: $715,000 over 6y, 5.7% of budgetOUR RESCUE: $280,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $275,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetYOUTHLINC: $215,000 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetThe Rachel Covey Foundation: $200,000 over 4y, 6.0% of budgetBLUE RIBBON COALITION INC: $130,000 over 3y, 8.4% of budgetDavis Education Foundation: $115,000 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetWILD OPS: $90,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetPathways To Prosperity Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetEastman Family Recovery Foundation: $50,000 over 1y, 79% of budgetWORLD JOY INC: $50,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetThe Rescue Fund: $35,000 over 1y, 21% of budgetCROHN'S & COLITIS FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE LIVING PLANET INC: $14,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLittle Lambs Foundation for Kids Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% 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.

Sorenson Legacy Found…Larry H Miller and Ga…George S and Dolores …University ImpactTexas Instruments Fou…Raymond James Charita…American Endowment Fo…Network for GoodThe Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…
Sorenson Legacy FoundationUT19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Sorenson Legacy Foundation · Larry H Miller and Gail Miller Family Foundation · George S and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation · University Impact · Texas Instruments Foundation · Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund · American Endowment Foundation · Network for Good · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s 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 · 0–5%
    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 Low Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Low Family 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 21 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 Low Family’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