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The Spray Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Spray Foundation Inc

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.

$3.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
32
Grants FY2025still arriving
14
States reached
$685k
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 2025.

Health$38MHuman Services$22MEnvironment$3.0MFood & Nutrition$1.8MRecreation & Sports$1.3MEducation$1.2MArts & Culture$600kInternational$468kOther$0
02FY2025 · 32 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k5 grants · $135k
  • $50k–250k25 grants · $2.2M
  • $250k+2 grants · $995k
$50,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$14M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MELMARK CHARITABLE FOUNDATION$685,000
LAUREL HOUSE$310,000
ATLANTA SPEECH SCHOOL$230,000
AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST$200,000
FLAMENCO VIVO CARLOTA SANTANA$150,000
EARTHJUSTICE$150,000
TRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY$150,000
WOOD RIVER LAND TRUST$150,000
Individual grant recipient$125,000
WEST SIDE CAMPAIGN AGAINST HUNGER$100,000
SPUR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$100,000
PATH TO COLLEGE FELLOWSHIP$75,000
MOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION$50,000
THE FORMATION PROJECT$50,000
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVES$50,000
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 (FY18–25, $930k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 89% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION: $100k → 17%WOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION: $100k → 17%SPUR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $100k → 7%CHRIS 180: $100k → 14%CHRIS 180: $100k → 14%LENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $100k → 17%MEALS ON WHEELS ATLANTA: $65k → 13%MEALS ON WHEELS ATLANTA: $50k → 13%CHILDREN'S RESTORATION NETWORK: $25k → 13%CHILDREN'S RESTORATION NETWORK: $10k → 13%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $100k → 17%CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $80k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

ID
NY
MA
OR
PA
CT
CA
KY
AZ
TN
NC
SC
DC
AL
GA
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.

67%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$46M · 42 repeat orgs$23M to everyone else

42 repeat relationships: 25 still active in FY2025, 17 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

42
14

Total granted

$46M
$22M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+20%

Still filing today

71%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $340k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EnvironmentHuman ServicesEducationFood & NutritionHealthRecreation & SportsOther
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

  • LH
    LAUREL HOUSE INC
    8× · 2018–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +28%
  • AF
    AMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST
    8× · 2018–2025 · $1.2M · revenue +229%
  • TB
    TOWN BRANCH PARK INC
    4× · 2019–2022 · $1.2M · revenue +4%

Funded once

  • MP
    MELMARK PA ADULT SERVICES
    one grant, 2020 · $21M
  • DM
    DEKALB MEDICAL CENTER
    one grant, 2019 · $285k
  • TA
    THE ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN INC
    one grant, 2024 · $275k · revenue 0%
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
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
3
Fresh Energy

Shape and drive bold policy solutions to achieve equitable carbon-neutral economies.

Environment
4
Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Southern coalition for social justice partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities across the south to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights. through an intersectional and…

Crime & Legal
5
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
6
The Commons Inc

To partner with individuals and organizations to access, organize, and share data that inspires action that restores our environment.

—
7
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
8
Watttime Corporation

To raise awareness about the potential to reduce environmental harm by shifting electricity use to particular times; to encourage the development and spread of common protocols for this practice.

Science & Tech
9
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
10
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
11
Conservation Law Foundation Inc

Conservation law foundation, inc. (clf) protects new england's environment for the benefit of all people and future generations. we use the law, science, and markets to create solutions that preserve and restore our natural resources,…

Environment
12
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits

Our mission is to create thriving communities by helping nonprofits succeed. our work revolves around four primary areas of focus.1. we are a hub for social innovation 2. we are a capacity accelerator for organizations and their people3.…

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is West Side Center for Community Life; the most unlike its peers is Covenant House Georgia 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

48 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. 48 of the 63 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
45/48
Grantees still filing
23/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE MELMARK CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $34,592,269 · OtherTHE MELMARK CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONMELMARK PA ADULT SERVICES: $21,058,790 · OtherMELMARK PA ADULT SERVICES+32 more: $5,549,000 · Other+32 moreAMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST: $1,200,001 · Food & NutritionBLAINE COUNTY HUNGER COALITION INC: $750,000 · Food & NutritionSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $87,500 · Food & Nutrition+1 more: $30,000 · Food & NutritionEARTHJUSTICE: $819,500 · EnvironmentWOOD RIVER LAND TRUST CO: $300,000 · EnvironmentTHE ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $275,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentKENTUCKY RESOURCES COUNCIL INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentCLIMATE JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $87,500 · EnvironmentHIGHLANDER RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER INC: $87,500 · Environment+1 more: $30,000 · EnvironmentTRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY: $332,000 · EducationDEKALB MEDICAL CENTER: $285,000 · EducationAtlanta Speech School Inc: $230,000 · EducationEmory University: $200,000 · EducationWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $175,000 · Education+1 more: $25,000 · EducationTOWN BRANCH PARK INC: $1,175,000 · Recreation & Sports+1 more: $35,000 · Recreation & SportsWOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesCHRIS 180 INC: $200,000 · Human ServicesTHE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $180,000 · Human ServicesMeals on Wheels Atlanta Inc: $115,000 · Human ServicesTHE FORMATION PROJECT: $100,000 · Human ServicesSPUR COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesLENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesChildren's Restoration Network: $35,000 · Human ServicesWEST SIDE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY LIFE: $355,000 · Youth Development
Other$61,200,059Food & Nutrition$2,067,501Environment$1,799,500Education$1,247,000Recreation & Sports$1,210,000Human Services$1,030,000Youth Development$355,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLAUREL HOUSE INC: $1,640,000 over 8y, 12% of budgetAMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST: $1,200,001 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetTOWN BRANCH PARK INC: $1,175,000 over 4y, 8.6% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $819,500 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetBLAINE COUNTY HUNGER COALITION INC: $750,000 over 2y, 9.4% of budgetWEST SIDE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY LIFE: $355,000 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetTRANSYLVANIA UNIVERSITY: $332,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetWOOD RIVER LAND TRUST CO: $300,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetTHE ATLANTA BOTANICAL GARDEN INC: $275,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAtlanta Speech School Inc: $230,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetWOMEN'S REFUGEE COMMISSION INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetEmory University: $200,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCHRIS 180 INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: $180,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $175,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetANDEE'S ARMY: $150,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetTHE GOOD SAMARITAN HEALTH CENTER INC: $140,000 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetDEMOCRACY NOW PRODUCTIONS INC: $116,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetMeals on Wheels Atlanta Inc: $115,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetTHE FORMATION PROJECT: $100,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetLENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetEblen Charities Inc: $100,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKENTUCKY RESOURCES COUNCIL INC: $100,000 over 2y, 7.9% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $97,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCLIMATE JUSTICE ALLIANCE: $87,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSOUL FIRE FARM INSTITUTE INC: $87,500 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetTHOUSAND CURRENTS: $87,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetHIGHLANDER RESEARCH & EDUCATION CENTER INC: $87,500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH STAR FUND INC: $87,500 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY INC: $87,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE GIVING KITCHEN INITIATIVE INC: $85,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetATLANTA CHILDREN'S SHELTER INCORPORATED: $82,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetMOUNTAIN ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INC: $75,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetNOLI CDC CORPORATION: $55,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetTHE WORKING WORLD INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE GEORGIA INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFOSTER CARE SUPPORT FOUNDATION INC: $40,000 over 2y, 2.4% of budgetSAVE THE CHIMPS INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetAgape Community Center: $35,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetChildren's Restoration Network: $35,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetBLUEGRASS LAND CONSERVANCY INC: $30,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetREAL FOOD CT: $30,000 over 1y, 30% of budgetThe Frick Collection: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WINDWARD SCHOOL: $25,000 over 1y, 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.

Blue Grass Community …Elhapa Foundation IncThe Community Foundat…ImpactassetsincMorgan Stanley Global…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Natl Christian Charit…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…The Bank of America C…The Pfizer Foundation…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…
Blue Grass Community Foundation IncKY19.4× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Blue Grass Community Foundation Inc · Elhapa Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Inc · Impactassetsinc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 68%
  • Laurel House Inc: 68% of income from government
  • Real Food Ct: 17% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
10report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
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 Spray Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Spray Foundation Inc 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 63 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 Spray’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