· Private foundation
The Palmer 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.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2025
- $10k–50k2 grants · $45k
- $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
- $250k+2 grants · $800k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| ROCKY MOUNTAIN PLANNED PARENTHOOD | $500,000 |
| SUNDANCE INSTITUTE | $300,000 |
| NATIONAL GAY PILOTS ASSOC | $50,000 |
| DISCOVERY SPACE | $30,000 |
| WORLD WILDLIFE FUND | $15,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY20–21, $150k) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +60% since the first grant, against -12% for those funded once.
7 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 5% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $850k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- DSDISCOVERY SPACE OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA INC6× · 2019–2025 · $235k · revenue +62%
- HFHOUSING FAMILIES INC2× · 2020–2021 · $150k · revenue +444%
- MRMolalla River Academy3× · 2019–2021 · $113k · revenue +60%
Funded once
- PSPENNSYLVANIS STATE UNIVERSITYone grant, 2020 · $1.0M
- UBUNIVERSITY BAPIST BRETHREN CHURCHone grant, 2021 · $250k
- WAWSU ADVANCE FUNDone grant, 2024 · $125k
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.
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.
The mission is "to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it." the academy implements its mission through understanding the diversity of life; developing and applying science to protect the environment; and informing…
Western new england university, a comprehensive private institution with a tradition of excellence in teaching and scholarship and a commitment to service, awards undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degrees in various departments from…
Gsa serves an international community of scientists who use genetics to make new discoveries and improve lives. we advance biological research by supporting professional development of scientists, by communicating advances and fostering…
The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."
Inspiring communities to save wildlife for future generations.
Riverbend's purpose is to foster an awareness, appreciation, and understanding of our total environment through educational programming. by growing both the love of nature and environmental literacy, we aim to inspire action that…
Phipps' mission is to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants, to advance sustainability and promote human and environmental well-being through action and research, and to celebrate its historic glasshouse.
Lake erie nature & science center educates and inspires each of us to understand, appreciate, and take responsibility for our natural world. serving more than 100,000 people each year with animal exhibits and programs, planetarium shows,…
The mission of lowell observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach…
The museum's mission statement is "turn on the science: inspire learning. inform policy. improve lives."
The wildlife society's mission is to inspire, empower, and enable wildlife professionals to sustain wildlife populations and habitats through science-based management and conservation.
Girl scouting builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.
How this is measured
10 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. 10 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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 CENTRE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE ↗
- Who funds ROCKY MOUNTAIN PLANNED PARENTHOOD INC ↗
- Who funds DISCOVERY SPACE OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA INC ↗
- Who funds HOUSING FAMILIES INC ↗
- Who funds Molalla River Academy ↗
- Who funds NATIONAL GAY PILOTS ASSOCIATION ↗
- Who funds West Morris Area YMCA ↗
- Who funds WORLD WILDLIFE FUND INC ↗
- Who funds CENTRE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY ↗
- Who funds GIRL SCOUTS IN THE HEART OF PA ↗
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.
Open a dossier: Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Palmer Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Palmer Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
- Housing Families Inc: 12% of income from government
- Molalla River Academy: 2% of income from government
- West Morris Area Ymca: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The Palmer Foundation?
Find your warmest path to The Palmer 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.
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