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The Palmer Family Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Palmer Family Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$288k
Granted FY2025still arriving
64
Grants FY2025still arriving
16
States reached
$50k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0189% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Religion$443kInternational$345kEducation$200kHuman Services$168kYouth Development$147kFood & Nutrition$44kEmployment$40kHousing & Shelter$39kOther$0
02FY2025 · 64 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k60 grants · $208k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $30k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
$3,000
Median grant
16
States reached
$4.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SOUTHERN STAIRS$50,000
HEART CHANGE MINISTRIES$10,000
NATIONAL CHRISITAN FOUNDATION$10,000
BRIGHT HOPE INTERNATIONAL$10,000
BETHEL CHURCH$9,000
YOUNG LIFE$9,000
THE ADVANCEMENT CENTER FOR WASHINGTON TWSP SCHOOLS AND NORTH CENTRAL ALUMNI$9,000
OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL$7,500
GOODWILL FOUNDATION OF CENTRAL & SOUTHERN INDIANA$6,500
JUSTICE VENTURES INTERNATIONAL$6,000
HOPE INTERNATIONAL$6,000
PLANT WITH PURPOSE$6,000
CMF INTERNATIONAL$6,000
Individual grant recipient$6,000
Individual grant recipient$5,500
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 (FY17–25, $209k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%MIDWEST FOOD BANK: $3k → 5%MIDWEST FOOD BANK: $3k → 5%MIDWEST FOOD BANK: $2k → 5%MIDWEST FOOD BANK: $2k → 5%THE COOPER HOUSE: $2k → 5%HEART CHANGE MINISTRIES: $37k → 16%HEART CHANGE MINISTRIES: $24k → 16%HEART CHANGE MINISTRIES: $13k → 16%HEART CHANGE MINISTRIES: $13k → 16%HEART CHANGE MINISTRIES: $10k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $9k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $7k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $7k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $6k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $6k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $4k → 16%OUTREACH OF INDIANAPOLIS: $3k → 16%100 BLACK MEN OF INDIANAPOLIS: $1k → 16%SHEPHERD COMMUNITY CENTER: $1k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $7k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $6k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $6k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $6k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $4k → 16%WHEELER MISSION: $4k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS: $2k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS: $2k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS: $1k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS: $1k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS: $1k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS: $1k → 16%YMCA OF GREATER INDIANAPOLIS: $275 → 16%RENEWING COMMUNITIES: $8k → 16%RENEWING COMMUNITIES: $6k → 16%FAMILY HOPE: $4k → 16%FAMILY HOPE: $3k → 16%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

WA
IL
MI
NY
OR
IN
OH
PA
CA
CO
NE
MO
VA
MD
AZ
AR
TN
NC
DC
OK
MS
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.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 95 repeat orgs$182k to everyone else

95 repeat relationships: 53 still active in FY2025, 42 since wound down; 11 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

95
67

Total granted

$1.7M
$145k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+40%

Still filing today

63%
49%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $38k 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
EducationReligionInternationalHuman ServicesHealthPhilanthropyOther
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

  • EU
    EMPART USA
    4× · 2017–2020 · $118k · revenue +10%
  • E
    Edify
    8× · 2018–2025 · $52k · revenue +133%
  • HOPE INTERNATIONAL
    7× · 2019–2025 · $42k · revenue +114%

Funded once

  • E
    EMPART
    one grant, 2021 · $23k
  • WT
    WALK THRU THE BIBLE MINISTRIES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · revenue +55%
  • JA
    JOHN AND VERA MAE PERKINS FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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
Central Indiana Corporate Partnership Inc

Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…

Community Improvement
2
International Leadership Institute

The international leadership institute (ili) changes history by accelerating the spread of the gospel through training and mobilizing leaders of leaders to reach their nations. ili accomplishes this purpose through cutting edge leadership…

Religion
3
Dallas International University

As a christian university, we provide education and research opportunities preparing global leaders to partner with local communities.

Education
4
Leadership Indianapolis Inc

Educate, Inspire, Connect and Mobilize Community Leaders to serve and strengthen greater Indianapolis.

Public Benefit
5
Christianity Today International

Christianity Today is a global community inspired by evangelical conviction to advance the stories and ideas of the kingdom of God. Our mission is to elevate the storytellers and sages of the global church.

Religion
6
Biglife International Inc

Biglife international inc. empowers believers worldwide to reach and disciple their own people for jesus christ.

Recreation & Sports
7
Youth for Christ International Ministries

As part of the body of Christ, to see that every young person in every people group in every nation has the opportunity to make an informed decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ and become a part of the local church.

Religion
8
Enroll Indy Inc

Enroll indy helps families choose schools that meet their children's needs by providing a one-stop enrollment process, school information that is relevant and easy to understand, and data to inform school improvement in indianapolis,…

Education
9
Covenant Christian Schools of Indianapolis Inc

The school's objective is to provide an excellent, christ-centered education, equipping students for a life of scholarship, leadership, and service.

Education
10
Global Outreach International Inc

To get the good news to every nation this generation by showing and sharing god's love by providing opportunities and supporting christian missionaries in over fifty seven countries around the world.

International
11
University Family Physicians Inc

Engage actively and continuously in medical research, education and training in the practice of medicine in conjunction with the department of family medicine of the indiana university school of medicine and indiana university…

—
12
Corus International Inc

TO MANAGE AN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, HEALTH, AND RELIEF FOCUSED FAMILY OF ORGANIZATIONS HELPING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES LIFT THEMSELVES OUT OF POVERTY, SUPPORT WELL-BEING OF INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES, AND PROVIDE…

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Bright Hope International; the most unlike its peers is Renewing Communities 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

107 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. 107 of the 176 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
106/107
Grantees still filing
77/107
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOUTHERN STAIRS: $110,000 · OtherSOUTHERN STAIRSIndividual grant recipient: $63,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientIndividual grant recipient: $57,500 · OtherIndividual grant recipientHEART CHANGE MINISTRY: $57,000 · OtherHEART CHANGE MINISTRYYOUTH WITH A MISSION: $45,000 · OtherNATIONAL CHRISITAN FOUNDATION: $42,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $35,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY CARING AND SHARING: $32,800 · Other+96 more: $525,225 · Other+96 moreEdify: $52,000 · InternationalEdifyHOPE INTERNATIONAL: $41,700 · InternationalHOPE INTERNATI…OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL INC D/B/A OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL-US: $30,000 · InternationalOPPORTUNITY IN…FLORESTA USA INCORPORATED: $20,000 · InternationalFLORESTA USA I…Redeem International: $19,500 · InternationalRedeem Interna…JUSTICE VENTURES INTERNATIONAL: $16,000 · InternationalJUSTICE VENTUR…INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: $15,000 · InternationalINTERNATIONAL …LOVE JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL: $12,000 · International+8 more: $30,500 · International+8 moreEMPART USA: $118,000 · ReligionEMPART USATOM ELLSWORTH MINISTRIES INC: $12,500 · ReligionTOM ELLSWORT…BRIGHT HOPE INTERNATIONAL: $10,000 · ReligionKALEO: $9,000 · ReligionKanakuk Ministries: $9,000 · ReligionTHE REFUGE COMMUNITY OUTREACH LLC: $8,000 · Religion+12 more: $44,100 · Religion+12 moreHEART CHANGE MINISTRIES INC: $96,000 · Human ServicesHEART CHANGE…Shepherd Community Inc: $39,250 · Human ServicesShepherd Com…WHEELER MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $30,800 · Human ServicesWHEELER MISS…RENEWING COMMUNITIES INC: $13,500 · Human ServicesRENEWING COM…MIDWEST FOOD BANK NFP: $9,500 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Indianapolis: $7,275 · Human ServicesFAMILY HOPE INC: $7,000 · Human Services+3 more: $5,500 · Human ServicesWASHINGTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $36,500 · EducationWASHINGTON…Butler University: $26,500 · EducationButler Uni…Elevate Indianapolis Inc: $22,500 · EducationElevate In…THE MIND TRUST INC: $16,500 · EducationTHE MIND T…Marian University: $14,000 · EducationMarian Uni…Indiana University Foundation: $13,000 · EducationIndiana Un…+14 more: $38,350 · Education+14 moreGOODWILL LEGACY GROUP FOUNDATION INC: $29,000 · EmploymentUR Chicago Alliance: $9,500 · EmploymentJANUS DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES: $6,000 · EmploymentTEENWORKS INC: $2,000 · Employment+1 more: $1,000 · EmploymentYOUNG LIFE: $41,205 · Youth DevelopmentFELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ATHLETES: $2,000 · Youth DevelopmentSTARFISH INC: $1,500 · Youth Development
Other$967,525International$236,700Religion$210,600Human Services$208,825Education$167,350Employment$47,500Youth Development$44,705

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 budgetEMPART USA: $118,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetHEART CHANGE MINISTRIES INC: $96,000 over 5y, 1.6% of budgetEdify: $52,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE INTERNATIONAL: $41,700 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $41,205 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetShepherd Community Inc: $39,250 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetWASHINGTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC: $36,500 over 5y, 0.9% of budgetCOMMUNITY CARING AND SHARING: $32,800 over 6y, 12% of budgetWHEELER MISSION MINISTRIES INC: $30,800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetOPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL INC D/B/A OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL-US: $30,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetGOODWILL LEGACY GROUP FOUNDATION INC: $29,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetButler University: $26,500 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSAGAMORE INSTITUTE INC: $22,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetElevate Indianapolis Inc: $22,500 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetFLORESTA USA INCORPORATED: $20,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetRedeem International: $19,500 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetLUMITY: $17,500 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCAMPTOWN INC: $17,500 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetTHE MIND TRUST INC: $16,500 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetJUSTICE VENTURES INTERNATIONAL: $16,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetINTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION: $15,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMarian University: $14,000 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetRENEWING COMMUNITIES INC: $13,500 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetIndiana University Foundation: $13,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTOM ELLSWORTH MINISTRIES INC: $12,500 over 4y, 9.3% of budgetLOVE JUSTICE INTERNATIONAL: $12,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetST MARY'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL: $10,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetBRIGHT HOPE INTERNATIONAL: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUR Chicago Alliance: $9,500 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetMIDWEST FOOD BANK NFP: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetKALEO: $9,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetKanakuk Ministries: $9,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTHE REFUGE COMMUNITY OUTREACH LLC: $8,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetYoung Men's Christian Association of Greater Indianapolis: $7,275 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFAMILY HOPE INC: $7,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetUNITE INDY INC: $6,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetLIFESONG FOR ORPHANS INC: $6,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetJANUS DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES: $6,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWALK THRU THE BIBLE MINISTRIES INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGRIT AND GRACE PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetSimple Charity Inc: $5,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetKIDS ACROSS AMERICA: $5,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBEN'S RANCH FOUNDATION INC: $4,800 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetUNITED WAY OF CENTRAL INDIANA INC: $4,700 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGE2RWANDA INC: $4,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE CONSERVATION LAW CENTER INC: $4,450 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetINDIANAPOLIS THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $4,250 over 6y, 0.1% 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 EMPART USA ↗
  • Who funds HEART CHANGE MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds Edify ↗
  • Who funds HOPE INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds YOUNG LIFE ↗
  • Who funds Shepherd Community Inc ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY CARING AND SHARING ↗
  • Who funds WHEELER MISSION MINISTRIES INC ↗
  • Who funds OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL INC D/B/A OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL-US ↗
  • Who funds GOODWILL LEGACY GROUP FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds Butler University ↗
  • Who funds SAGAMORE INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds Elevate Indianapolis Inc ↗
  • Who funds FLORESTA USA INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds Redeem International ↗
  • Who funds LUMITY ↗
  • Who funds CAMPTOWN INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MIND TRUST INC ↗
  • Who funds JUSTICE VENTURES INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE MISSION ↗
  • Who funds Marian University ↗
  • Who funds RENEWING COMMUNITIES 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.

The Indianapolis Foun…Central Indiana Commu…Lilly Endowment IncNicholas H Noyes Jr M…United Way of Central…Lumina Foundation for…Hamilton County Commu…Nina Mason Pulliam Ch…Maurer Family Foundat…Richard M Fairbanks F…The Brave Heart Found…Hoover Family Foundat…
The Indianapolis Foundation IncIN59.3× affinity30 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Indianapolis Foundation Inc · Central Indiana Community Foundation Inc · Lilly Endowment Inc · Nicholas H Noyes Jr Memorial Foundation · United Way of Central Indiana Inc · Lumina Foundation for Education Inc · Hamilton County Community Foundation Inc · Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust · Maurer Family Foundation Inc · Richard M Fairbanks Foundation Inc · The Brave Heart Foundation Inc · Hoover 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 Palmer Family Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Palmer Family 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%15%30%45%60%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    2get no government money at all
    28report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–60%
    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 Palmer Family Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Palmer 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 176 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 Palmer 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