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The Trunk Is Up Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Trunk Is Up Inc

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.

$253k
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$145k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$196kCivil Rights$120kHealth$115kAnimals$62kEducation$40kEnvironment$25kPublic Safety & Disaster$5kInternational$5kOther$0
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k7 grants · $108k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $195k
$15,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$6.3M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION$145,000
OZUAH FAMILY FOUNDATION$50,000
ANIMAL NATION$25,000
BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE$20,000
TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND$15,000
SHATTERPROOF$15,000
SMILE TRAIN$12,500
CAMP FIRE CONSERVATION FUND INC$10,000
KING SCHOOL$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 72% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%WOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INC: $15k → 9%OZUAH FAMILY FOUNDATION: $50k → 14%TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND: $40k → 17%COUNCIL FOR UNITY INC: $30k → 20%AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $145k → 14%PIVOT MINISTRIES: $3k → 9%COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE: $1k → 14%BEDFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT: $5k → 9%TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND: $15k → 17%COUNCIL FOR UNITY INC: $15k → 20%SHATTERPROOF: $15k → 9%BEDFORD HILLS FIRE DEPARTMENT: $3k → 9%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $10k → 17%COUNCIL FOR UNITY: $10k → 20%SHATTERPROOF: $10k → 9%BEDFORD HILLS FIRE DEPARTMENT: $3k → 9%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $10k → 17%COUNCIL FOR UNITY: $5k → 20%PEHT - PARTNERSHIP TO END HUMAN TRAFFICKING: $3k → 9%ANIMAL NATION: $25k → 9%MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $5k → 17%COUNCIL FOR UNITY INC: $5k → 20%KING SCHOOL: $10k → 9%ANIMAL NATION: $15k → 9%BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE: $20k → 17%KING SCHOOL: $5k → 9%CAMP FIRE CONSERVATION FUND INC: $10k → 9%SMILE TRAIN: $13k → 17%KING SCHOOL: $5k → 9%CAMP FIRE CONSERVATION FUND INC: $10k → 9%CYCLE FOR SURVIVAL: $10k → 17%GLOBAL PEHT CORPORATE: $3k → 9%CAMP FIRE CONSERVATION FUND INC: $5k → 9%ANIMAL NATION: $7k → 9%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.

73%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$317k · 9 repeat orgs$115k to everyone else

9 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

9
6

Total granted

$317k
$33k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-1%
+12%

Still filing today

89%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 48% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $83k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
AnimalsHealthEducationCivil RightsPublic Safety & DisasterOther
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

  • CF
    CAMP FIRE CONSERVATION FUND INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $25k · revenue +144%
  • KS
    KING SCHOOL INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $20k · revenue +18%
  • BH
    BEDFORD HILLS FIRE DEPARTMENT INC
    2× · 2021–2022 · $5k · revenue +142%

Funded once

  • WC
    WOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue +33%
  • 1V
    18BY VOTE INC
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue -99%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    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
American Flood Coalition Inc

To drive transformational adaptation to protect communities across the country from higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding.

Environment
2
Center for Conflict Resolution

The mission of the organization (ccr) shall be to work with individuals, communities, courts, and other institutions to manage and resolve conflict.

Crime & Legal
3
Moral Compass Federation Inc

Moral compass federation facilitates collaboration among multiple veteran-led nonprofit organizations, individuals, and businesses who came together during the fall of kabul, afghanistan to evacuate and resettle afghan allies who were in…

Public Benefit
4
The Water Research Foundation

The purpose of the water research foundation (wrf) is a definitive research organization to advance the science of all things water to better meet the evolving needs of its subscribers and the water sector. to engage exclusively in…

Environment
5
The Minnesota Camp Fire Foundation

Ensure camp fire minnesota's strong future. with nature as the catalyst, camp fire minnesota energizes youth to discover their spark so their futures glow brighter.

Youth Development
6
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
7
Institute for Conservation Leadership

To support healthy communities and a healthy earth, the institute for conservation leadership strengthens leaders, organizations, coalitions and networks.

Community Improvement
8
Connecticut Farmland Trust Inc

Protect Connecticuts farmland for agricultural use by purchasing and accepting donations of agricultural conservation easements

Food & Nutrition
9
National Taxpayers Union Foundation

National taxpayers union foundation (ntuf) provides crucial, impactful research and analysis showing americans how taxes, government spending, and regulations affect them. with our unique combination of policy expertise, outreach know-how,…

—
10
Ucsf Foundation Investment Company

The organization provides professional investment management services for endowed gifts and financial assets entrusted to the ucsf foundation.

Education
11
Council for Court Excellence

Council for court excellence's (cce's) mission is to bring people together to conduct research, educate, and advocate to make d.c.'s unique legal systems more just, equitable, and accountable to the community.

—
12
Climate Leadership Council Inc

To develop and promote a carbon dividends framework - based on carbon fees whose revenues are rebated to citizens through dividends - as the most cost-effective, equitable, and politically viable climate solution.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Inc; the most unlike its peers is 18BY Vote 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

15 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. 15 of the 20 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
8/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC: $55,000 · OtherTRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCAT…MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $50,000 · OtherMEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENT…OZUAH FAMILY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · OtherOZUAH FAMILY FOUNDATIONSMILE TRAIN INC: $12,500 · OtherSMILE TRAIN INC+5 more: $17,500 · Other+5 moreAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $145,000 · PhilanthropyAmalgamated Charitable Found…+1 more: $1,000 · PhilanthropyANIMAL NATION INC: $47,000 · AnimalsANIMAL NATION INCCAMP FIRE CONSERVATION FUND INC: $25,000 · AnimalsCAMP FIRE CONSERV…WOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INC: $15,000 · AnimalsWOLF CONSERVATION…Council for Unity Inc: $65,000 · Civil RightsCouncil for …SHATTERPROOF A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $25,000 · HealthSHATTERPR…MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $25,000 · HealthMEMORIAL …WILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $20,000 · EducationKING SCHOOL INC: $20,000 · EducationBEDFORD HILLS FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $5,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Other$185,000Philanthropy$146,000Animals$87,000Civil Rights$65,000Health$50,000Education$40,000Public Safety & Disaster$5,000

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 budgetAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $145,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCouncil for Unity Inc: $65,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetTRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC: $55,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetANIMAL NATION INC: $47,000 over 3y, 5.9% of budgetCAMP FIRE CONSERVATION FUND INC: $25,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetSHATTERPROOF A NONPROFIT CORPORATION: $25,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: $25,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKING SCHOOL INC: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWOLF CONSERVATION CENTER INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $12,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budget18BY VOTE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetBEDFORD HILLS FIRE DEPARTMENT INC: $5,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetPIVOT MINISTRIES INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC: $1,000 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.

Morgan Stanley Global…The Pfizer Foundation…Network for GoodNational Philanthropi…Vanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust IncIN10.6× affinity5 shared granteesties to 8 of 8Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Network for Good · National Philanthropic Trust · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Trunk Is Up Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Trunk Is Up Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Shatterproof a Nonprofit Corporation: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
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 Trunk Is Up Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Trunk Is Up 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 20 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 Trunk Is Up’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