Skip to content
The Pless Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Pless 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.

$320k
Granted FY2024still arriving
12
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$35k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0196% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Human Services$563kFood & Nutrition$178kHealth$165kHousing & Shelter$135kYouth Development$85kCrime & Legal$75kPhilanthropy$65kAnimals$45kOther$0
02FY2024 · 12 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$30,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ARIZONA ASSOCIATION FOR FOSTER & ADOPTIVE PARENTS$35,000
UNIFIED ARIZONA VERERANS$30,000
CHRISTIAN HOPE ASSN$30,000
COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF SOUTHERN AZ$30,000
ENGEDI REFUGE MINISTRIES$30,000
HARVEST COMPASSION CENTER$30,000
ARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER$30,000
PROJECT LINUS$25,000
KITCHEN ON THE STREET$20,000
WHATCOM COUNTY PREGNANCY CLINIC$20,000
VILLAGE OF THE VALLEY$20,000
LIVE AND LEARN$20,000
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 (FY17–24, $375k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PROJECT LINUS: $25k → 8%BLUE SKIES FOR CHILDREN: $10k → 12%THE ANGEL HEART PAJAMA PROJECT: $15k → 15%CASCADE CONNECTIONS: $5k → 12%ANIMALS AS NATURAL THERAPY: $30k → 12%THE ANGEL HEART PAJAMA PROJECT: $10k → 15%ANIMALS AS NATURAL THERAPY: $20k → 12%ANIMALS AS NATURAL THERAPY: $20k → 12%ONE SMALL STEP: $25k → 11%ARIZONA FRIENDS OF FOSTER CHILDREN: $25k → 11%ARIZONA ASSOCIATION FOR FOSTER & ADOPTIVE PARENTS: $35k → 11%ARIZONA FRIENDS OF FOSTER CHILDREN: $25k → 11%HONORING ARIZONA VETERANS: $5k → 11%VILLAGE OF THE VALLEY: $25k → 11%VILLAGE OF THE VALLEY: $20k → 11%VILLAGE OF THE VALLEY: $10k → 11%ARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER: $30k → 11%ARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER: $25k → 11%ARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER: $15k → 11%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.

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$983k · 20 repeat orgs$485k to everyone else

20 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

20
36

Total granted

$983k
$345k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-5%
+53%

Still filing today

80%
58%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 56% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $140k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesFood & NutritionHealthCrime & LegalPublic BenefitCommunity 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

  • VF
    VETERANS FIRST LIMITED
    3× · 2018–2023 · $75k · revenue +615%
  • AJ
    ARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER INC
    3× · 2019–2024 · $70k · revenue +91% · 31% of their budget
  • ANIMALS AS NATURAL THERAPY
    3× · 2017–2019 · $70k · revenue +13%

Funded once

  • OS
    ONE SMALL STEP INC CLOTHES CABIN
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue +6%
  • AJ
    APACHE JUNCTION REACHOUT INC
    one grant, 2023 · $25k · revenue -9%
  • HP
    HOME PORT LEARNING CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $20k
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
Arizona Food Bank Network

Develop solutions to end hunger through food banking, public policy and innovation.

Food & Nutrition
2
La Paloma Family Services Inc

We build relationships that enhance the development of skills, foster a sense of worth and enhance a belief in each child's individual potential.

—
3
Arizona Wins

Az wins is a coalition of organizations dedicated to achieving public policies that benefit working arizona families and advancing an inclusive, engaged, just and equitable state for all arizonans. in 2024 az wins substantially reduced its…

Civil Rights
4
Azcend

AZCEND nourishes minds and bodies so that neighbors in need experience a brighter future.

Human Services
5
United Food Bank

United Food Bank unites communities to alleviate hunger.

Food & Nutrition
6
Pro-Choice Arizona

Pro-Choice Arizona centers abolition and reproductive justice values to prioritize community needs. We advance reproductive equity, pregnancy and family justice, and abortion access for all folks living in Arizona through direct service…

Health
7
Foster 360

Foster360 equips former clients of the foster care system to break the cycle of homelessness and abuse.

Human Services
8
Southeastern Arizona Behavioral Health Services Inc

Our mission is continually to improve the quality of life for the people we serve in collaboration with our diverse communities in a respectful, caring, culturally sensitive manner. The organization provides behavioral health services for…

Health
9
Arizona Latin-American Medical Association
Unclassified
10
Cancer Support Community Arizona

CSCAZ uplifts and strengthens people impacted by cancer by providing support, fostering compassionate communities, and breaking down barriers to care.

Health
11
Against Abuse Inc

To provide services, support, and education to all who experience the effects of family dysfunction and/or violence, past and present.

Human Services
12
Justa Center Inc

A resource and day-center for seniors, age 55+, providing guidance and support on the PATH back to housing; and CARE supportive services to prevent a return to homelessness.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is House of Refuge Inc; the most unlike its peers is Therapeutic Riding of Tucson 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

43 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. 43 of the 61 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
13
Early backer (in before they grew)
42/43
Grantees still filing
28/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HARVEST COMPASSION CENTER: $85,000 · OtherHARVEST COMPASSION CENTERTMC FOUNDATION: $65,000 · OtherTMC FOUNDATIONENGEDI REFUGE: $35,000 · OtherENGEDI REFUGEChristian Hope Association: $30,000 · OtherChristian Hope AssociationAPACHE JUNCTION REACHOUT INC: $25,000 · OtherHOME PORT LEARNING CENTER: $20,000 · OtherAZ FRIENDS OF FOSTER CHILDREN FNDTN: $20,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipient: $20,000 · OtherTherapeutic Riding of Tucson Inc: $45,000 · OtherTherapeutic Riding of Tucson IncBRIGADOON SERVICE DOGS: $20,000 · Other+21 more: $155,000 · Other+21 moreARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER INC: $70,000 · Human ServicesARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER INCANIMALS AS NATURAL THERAPY: $70,000 · Human ServicesANIMALS AS NATURAL THERAPYVILLAGE OF THE VALLEY: $55,000 · Human ServicesVILLAGE OF THE VALLEYArizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation: $50,000 · Human ServicesArizona Friends of Foster Chil…Arizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents: $35,000 · Human ServicesArizona Association for Foster…PROJECT LINUS: $25,000 · Human ServicesPROJECT LINUSONE SMALL STEP INC CLOTHES CABIN: $25,000 · Human ServicesONE SMALL STEP INC CLOTHES CAB…ANGEL HEART PAJAMA PROJECT: $25,000 · Human ServicesANGEL HEART PAJAMA PROJECT+5 more: $35,000 · Human Services+5 moreWHATCOM COUNTY PREGNANCY CLINIC: $55,000 · HealthWHATCOM COU…TU NIDITO CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES INC: $45,000 · HealthTU NIDITO C…HONOR HOUSE: $30,000 · HealthHONOR HOUSEHUNKAPI PROGRAMS INC: $20,000 · HealthHUNKAPI PRO…ENGEDI REFUGE MINISTRIES: $100,000 · Crime & LegalENGEDI REF…New Pathways For Youth: $25,000 · Crime & LegalNew Pathwa…CHILD CRISIS ARIZONA: $10,000 · Crime & LegalCHILD CRIS…VETERANS FIRST LIMITED: $75,000 · Public BenefitUnified Arizona Veterans Inc: $30,000 · Public BenefitBE A LEADER FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Public BenefitCommunity Food Bank Inc: $50,000 · Food & NutritionKITCHEN ON THE STREET INC: $28,000 · Food & NutritionSAHUARITA FOOD BANK: $10,000 · Food & NutritionAlternatives to Hunger Bellingham Food Bank: $10,000 · Food & NutritionST MARY'S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE: $5,000 · Food & NutritionSUCCESS4KIDS: $40,000 · Youth DevelopmentLIVE AND LEARN PROGRAM: $20,000 · Youth Development
Other$520,000Human Services$390,000Health$150,000Crime & Legal$135,000Public Benefit$110,000Food & Nutrition$103,000Youth Development$60,000

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 budgetENGEDI REFUGE MINISTRIES: $100,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetVETERANS FIRST LIMITED: $75,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetARIZONA JUSTICE CENTER INC: $70,000 over 3y, 31% of budgetANIMALS AS NATURAL THERAPY: $70,000 over 3y, 6.1% of budgetVILLAGE OF THE VALLEY: $55,000 over 3y, 46% of budgetWHATCOM COUNTY PREGNANCY CLINIC: $55,000 over 3y, 2.9% of budgetCommunity Food Bank Inc: $50,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetArizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTherapeutic Riding of Tucson Inc: $45,000 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetTU NIDITO CHILDREN AND FAMILY SERVICES INC: $45,000 over 3y, 2.4% of budgetSUCCESS4KIDS: $40,000 over 2y, 93% of budgetArizona Association for Foster and Adoptive Parents: $35,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetChristian Hope Association: $30,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetHONOR HOUSE: $30,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetUnified Arizona Veterans Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 46% of budgetKITCHEN ON THE STREET INC: $28,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetNew Pathways For Youth: $25,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetPROJECT LINUS: $25,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetONE SMALL STEP INC CLOTHES CABIN: $25,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetANGEL HEART PAJAMA PROJECT: $25,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetAPACHE JUNCTION REACHOUT INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLIVE AND LEARN PROGRAM: $20,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetHUNKAPI PROGRAMS INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBRIGADOON SERVICE DOGS: $20,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetCATS MEOW: $15,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetSouthern AZ Research Science & Eng FDN: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetSkookum Kids: $10,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTempe Community Action Agency Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHILD CRISIS ARIZONA: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBLUE SKIES FOR CHILDREN: $10,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetAlternatives to Hunger Bellingham Food Bank: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTRAL ARIZONA DENTAL SOCIETY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetFLAGSTAFF FAMILY FOOD CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVINEYARD COMMUNITY CHARITIES: $8,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBE A LEADER FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNLIMITED POTENTIAL INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetIMPACT OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetST MARY'S FOOD BANK ALLIANCE: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHONORING AMERICAS VETERANS: $5,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetCASCADE CONNECTIONS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget100 CLUB OF ARIZONA: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHOUSE OF REFUGE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.2% 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.

Arizona Community Fou…Thunderbirds CharitiesThe Albertsons Compan…American Express Foun…The Diane and Bruce H…Community Foundation …Whatcom Community Fou…The Hs Lopez Family F…Phoenix Suns Charitie…The Foundation for Co…Arizona Food Bank Net…John F Long Foundatio…
Arizona Community FoundationAZ33.3× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Arizona Community Foundation · Thunderbirds Charities · The Albertsons Companies Foundation · American Express Foundation · The Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation · Community Foundation for Southern Arizona · Whatcom Community Foundation · The Hs Lopez Family Foundation · Phoenix Suns Charities Inc · The Foundation for Community and Health Advancement · Arizona Food Bank Network · John F Long Foundation 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 Pless Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Pless Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    19report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    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 Pless Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Pless 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 61 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 Pless’ 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