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The Reading 1 Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Reading 1 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.

$199k
Granted FY2025still arriving
7
Grants FY2025still arriving
3
States reached
$80k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its 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, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$545kArts & Culture$169kEnvironment$108kAnimals$70kHealth$38kReligion$18kScience & Tech$10k
02FY2025 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $8k
  • $10k–50k4 grants · $60k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $131k
$20,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$3.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LAUREL SCHOOL$80,000
CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART$51,000
HOPEWELL$20,000
CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY$20,000
UCHICAGO SPACE PROGRAM$10,000
THE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL$10,000
FAIRMOUNT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH$7,500
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 (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 93% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%SHADY SIDE ACADEMY: $25k → 11%THE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL: $20k → 14%SOUTHERN METHODIST UNIVERSITY: $5k → 14%HOPEWELL: $20k → 6%NATURE CENTER AT SHAKER LAKES: $35k → 17%UCHICAGO SPACE PROGRAM: $10k → 14%THE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL: $10k → 14%HOPEWELL: $10k → 6%NATURE CENTER AT SHAKER LAKES: $35k → 17%THE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL: $5k → 14%HOPEWELL: $5k → 6%NATURE CENTER AT SHAKER LAKES: $30k → 17%HOPEWELL: $3k → 6%NATURE CENTER AT SHAKER LAKES: $8k → 17%CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $50k → 17%CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $20k → 17%THE FIREFIGHTERS MUSEUM ON THE RIVER: $5k → 17%FAIRMOUNT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $8k → 17%LUTHERAN METROPOLITAN MINISTRY: $10k → 17%LAUREL SCHOOL: $180k → 17%LAUREL SCHOOL: $125k → 17%LAUREL SCHOOL: $80k → 17%LAUREL SCHOOL: $40k → 17%LAUREL SCHOOL: $30k → 17%FRIENDS OF BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS: $5k → 17%CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $51k → 17%CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $38k → 17%CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $35k → 17%CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $20k → 17%CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $20k → 17%UNIVERSITY CIRCLE INC: $9k → 17%CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $5k → 17%WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5k → 17%CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $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 grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$855k · 7 repeat orgs$102k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
8

Total granted

$855k
$84k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+19%

Still filing today

100%
88%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $18k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationEnvironmentHealthReligionAnimalsArts & CultureOther
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

  • LS
    LAUREL SCHOOL
    6× · 2020–2025 · $455k · revenue +36%
  • TC
    THE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART
    6× · 2020–2025 · $144k · revenue +34%
  • SL
    SHAKER LAKES REGIONAL NATURE CENTER DBA NATURE CENTER AT SHAKER LAKES
    6× · 2020–2025 · $108k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • SS
    SHADY SIDE ACADEMY
    4× · 2022–2025 · $25k · revenue +19%
  • CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITYgraduated
    5× · 2021–2025 · $20k · revenue +34%
  • LM
    LUTHERAN METROPOLITAN MINISTRY
    5× · 2020–2024 · $10k · revenue -22%
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
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
2
Point Park University

Provides innovative education in a dynamic urban setting. dedicated to academic excellence and community engagement,we prepare students of diverse backgrounds with the knowledge, skill,and experience to lead meaningful lives as informed…

—
3
The Central European University

Ceu is committed to promoting the values of open society and self-reflective critical thinking. it aims at excellence in the mastery of established knowledge, courage to pursue the creation of new knowledge in the humanities, the social…

International
4
John Carroll University

As a jesuit catholic university committed to academic rigor, inclusive excellence, and care for the whole person, john carroll university inspires individuals of intellect and character to learn, lead and serve in the community and…

Education
5
Hathaway Brown School

The school is dedicated to excellence in the education of girls. our true mission, as reflected in our motto "non scholae sed vitae discimus," is learning & preparation for life.

Education
6
Lewis & Clark College

Lewis & clark is a premier private higher education institution offering an exceptional education in an inclusive environment. by fostering critical thinking, innovation, creativity, civic engagement, and leadership, both inside and…

Education
7
Capital University

Capital university transforms lives by empowering an inclusive community of learners through engaging academic, co-curricular, and professional experiences.

Education
8
Trustees of Clark University

Clark university's mission is to educate undergraduate and graduate students to be imaginative and contributing citizens of the world, and to advance the frontiers of knowledge and understanding through rigorous scholarship and creative…

Education
9
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
10
Wesleyan University

Wesleyan university is dedicated to providing an education in liberal arts by building a diverse, energetic community of students, faculty, and staff who value independence of mind and generosity of spirit. see additional description in…

Education
11
The College of Wooster

The college of wooster is a community of independent minds, working together to prepare students to become leaders of character and influence in an interdependent global community. (continued on schedule o)we engage motivated students in a…

Education
12
Otterbein University

Otterbein University is an inclusive community dedicated to educating the whole person in the context of humane values. Our mission is to prepare graduates to think deeply and broadly, to engage locally and globally, and to advance their…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Cleveland Institute of Art; the most unlike its peers is Heights Youth Club 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

22 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)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
21/22
Grantees still filing
18/22
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LAUREL SCHOOL: $455,000 · EducationLAUREL SCHOOLTHE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $144,000 · EducationTHE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ARTSHADY SIDE ACADEMY: $25,000 · Education+4 more: $36,000 · Education+4 moreSHAKER LAKES REGIONAL NATURE CENTER DBA NATURE CENTER AT SHAKER LAKES: $107,500 · EnvironmentSHAKER LAKES…CLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $70,000 · AnimalsTHE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL: $35,000 · OtherUCHICAGO SPACE PROGRAM: $10,000 · OtherFAIRMOUNT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: $7,500 · OtherTHE FIREFIGHTERS MUSEUM ON THE RIVER: $5,000 · OtherHOPEWELL: $37,500 · HealthLUTHERAN METROPOLITAN MINISTRY: $10,000 · ReligionUNIVERSITY CIRCLE INCORPORATED: $9,000 · Community ImprovementWESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 · Arts & Culture
Education$660,000Environment$107,500Animals$70,000Other$57,500Health$37,500Religion$10,000Community Improvement$9,000Arts & Culture$5,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLAUREL SCHOOL: $455,000 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetTHE CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART: $144,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSHAKER LAKES REGIONAL NATURE CENTER DBA NATURE CENTER AT SHAKER LAKES: $107,500 over 6y, 1.9% of budgetCLEVELAND ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $70,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetHOPEWELL: $37,500 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WILLOWS COMMUNITY SCHOOL: $35,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSHADY SIDE ACADEMY: $25,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetCASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetLUTHERAN METROPOLITAN MINISTRY: $10,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY CIRCLE INCORPORATED: $9,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF MUSIC: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFRIENDS OF BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS: $5,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSouthern Methodist University: $5,000 over 5y, 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.

The Cleveland Foundat…The Louise H & David …A Malachi Mixon III &…The Kelvin & Eleanor …Emma R Fox Char Trust…Jewish Federation of …Jane and Jon Outcalt …Richard Horvitz and E…Third Federal Foundat…The Lozick Family Fou…The George Gund Found…Dominion Energy Chari…
The Cleveland FoundationOH23.2× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Cleveland Foundation · The Louise H & David S Ingalls Fdn · A Malachi Mixon III & Barbara W Mixon Foundation · The Kelvin & Eleanor Smith Foundation · Emma R Fox Char Trust Mut Fds · Jewish Federation of Cleveland · Jane and Jon Outcalt Foundation · Richard Horvitz and Erica Hartman-Horvitz Foundation · Third Federal Foundation · The Lozick Family Foundation · The George Gund Foundation · Dominion Energy Charitable 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 Reading 1 Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Reading 1 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%6%13%19%25%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–25%
    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 17 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 Reading 1’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