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The Ward Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ward Foundation 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.

$23k
Granted FY2024still arriving
18
Grants FY2024still arriving
11
States reached
$5k
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, FY2021 to 2024.

Education$18kHuman Services$9kHealth$8kInternational$8kEnvironment$5kPublic Benefit$5kPhilanthropy$5kCrime & Legal$4kOther$0
02FY2024 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
11
States reached
$484k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE$5,000
STAYING PUT IN NEW CANAAN$5,000
Individual grant recipient$2,486
NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM$1,500
AMERICARES$1,040
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE RESEARCH$1,000
VISTA LIFE INNOVATIONS$1,000
NEW CANAAN HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC$1,000
MOOSE CHARITIES$1,000
DISABLED VETERANS NATIONAL FOUNDATION$1,000
JUDICIAL WATCH$500
EARLHAM COLLEGE$500
WAVENY CARE CENTER INC$500
NEW CANAAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$500
Individual grant recipient$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:

Its human-services grants (FY21–24, $6k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 8% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%COVENANT HOUSE: $500 → 17%STAYING PUT IN NEW CANAAN: $5k → 9%NEW CANAAN GROUP HOME INC: $500 → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
MI
NY
MA
SD
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
VA
MD
TN
DC
LA
GA
TX
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.

46%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$31k · 12 repeat orgs$36k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +9% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 4 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
26

Total granted

$31k
$23k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+9%

Still filing today

67%
54%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 39% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $14k went to new ones.

50%100%’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’21’22’23’24
InternationalHuman ServicesHealthPublic BenefitEducationCrime & LegalOther
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

  • JUDICIAL WATCH INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $3k · revenue +24%
  • WC
    WAVENY CARE CENTER INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $3k · revenue +32%
  • NC
    NEW CANAAN HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $2k · revenue +850%

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • FRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES
    one grant, 2023 · $5k · revenue -33%
  • NC
    NEW CANAAN LAND CONSERVATION TRUST INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $2k · revenue +141%
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
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
2
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
3
Western New England University

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…

Education
4
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
5
New York Genome Center Inc

Operate a state-of-the-art, world-class genomic research center that creates and uses advanced genomics to understand the genetic basis of disease. for more information, see schedule o.

Health
6
Cornell University

Education, research, medical services and other public services.

Education
7
International Life Sciences Institute

Ilsi is a global, nonprofit federation dedicated to generating and advancing emerging science and groundbreaking research to ensure foods are safe, nutritious and sustainable, and that they improve planetary and human health and well-being…

Science & Tech
8
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
9
Nuvance Health Medical Practice Ct Inc

Improve the health of every person in our community through the efficient delivery of excellent, innovative and compassionate care.

—
10
Albright College

As a diverse community of learners, we cultivate integrity, curiosity, connection and resilience.

Education
11
Bar Ilan University in Israel Inc

Biu produces students who excel in the sciences, humanities, law, engineering, business & the arts.

—
12
Neurology Associates of Stony Brook University Faculty Practice Corp

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Canaan Land Conservation Trust Inc; the most unlike its peers is The National World War Ii Museum 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

29 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. 29 of the 49 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/29
Grantees still filing
19/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE: $12,000 · OtherTHE INTERNATIONAL COLLEGEVISTA LIFE INNOVATIONS INC: $5,000 · OtherVISTA LIFE INNOVATIONS INCIndividual grant recipient: $5,000 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK FOUNDATION: $2,950 · OtherNATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK FOUNDATIONIndividual grant recipient: $2,486 · OtherIndividual grant recipientNEW CANAAN LAND CONSERVATION TRUST INC: $2,060 · OtherNEW CANAAN HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $1,750 · OtherTHE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM INC: $1,500 · OtherAMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE: $1,500 · Other+20 more: $8,849 · Other+20 moreFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $5,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF T…AMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $1,040 · InternationalAMERICARES F…Mercy Ships International: $1,000 · InternationalMercy Ships …International Rescue Committee INC: $500 · InternationalInternationa…+2 more: $410 · InternationalSTAYING PUT IN NEW CANAAN INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesSTAYING P…NEW CANAAN GROUP HOME INC: $500 · Human ServicesNEW CANAA…COVENANT HOUSE: $500 · Human ServicesCOVENANT …+1 more: $100 · Human ServicesWAVENY CARE CENTER INC: $2,500 · HealthLewy Body Dementia Association Inc: $1,024 · Health+1 more: $105 · HealthNEW CANAAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,623 · PhilanthropyMOOSE CHARITIES INC: $1,000 · PhilanthropyJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $2,500 · Public BenefitDISABLED VETERANS NATIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,000 · Public BenefitEarlham College Inc: $1,500 · EducationHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $1,400 · EducationKENT SCHOOL: $500 · Education
Other$43,095International$7,950Human Services$6,100Health$3,629Philanthropy$3,623Public Benefit$3,500Education$3,400

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 budgetVISTA LIFE INNOVATIONS INC: $5,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSTAYING PUT IN NEW CANAAN INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW CANAAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION INC: $2,623 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $2,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWAVENY CARE CENTER INC: $2,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetNEW CANAAN LAND CONSERVATION TRUST INC: $2,060 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNEW CANAAN HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION INC: $1,750 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetTHE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM INC: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEarlham College Inc: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN LAW INSTITUTE: $1,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $1,400 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $1,040 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLewy Body Dementia Association Inc: $1,024 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMercy Ships International: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMOOSE CHARITIES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISABLED VETERANS NATIONAL FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAVALLETTE VOLUNTEER FIRST AID SQUAD INC: $1,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNew Canaan Nature Center Association Inc: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEW CANAAN GROUP HOME INC: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCOVENANT HOUSE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKENT SCHOOL: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPERATION SMILE INC: $260 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSMILE TRAIN INC: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC: $150 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetJAR OF HOPE: $105 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBRIDGEPORT RESCUE MISSION INC: $100 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.

Hobbs Family Charitab…Half Moon FoundationJim and Dede Bartlett…New Canaan Community …The a James Bach and …The Morris Family Fou…MLE Foundation IncJeniam FoundationThe Richard & Barbara…Fairfield County's Co…The Pfizer Foundation…The Ayco Charitable F…
Hobbs Family Charitable TrustCT17.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Hobbs Family Charitable Trust · Half Moon Foundation · Jim and Dede Bartlett Foundation · New Canaan Community Foundation Inc · The a James Bach and Vona Hopkins Foundation Inc · The Morris Family Foundation · MLE Foundation Inc · Jeniam Foundation · The Richard & Barbara Whitcomb Foundatio · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · The Ayco 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 Ward Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Ward Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 80%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 33%
  • Vista Life Innovations Inc: 33% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
8get 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 · 0–90%
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 Ward Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to The Ward 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 49 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 Ward’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