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The Ward Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The Ward 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.

$1.0M
Granted FY2025still arriving
34
Grants FY2025still arriving
15
States reached
$158k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.

International$2.4MEducation$769kHealth$375kYouth Development$268kRecreation & Sports$228kHuman Services$189kCrime & Legal$130kArts & Culture$96kOther$0
02FY2025 · 34 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $17k
  • $10k–50k19 grants · $490k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $502k
$20,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MAIA$157,819
THE SPARKS FOUNDATION$110,000
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$103,839
AMIGOS DE SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION$80,250
MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER$50,000
BOYS HOPE GIRLS HOPE NETWORK$46,170
SHE'S THE FIRST$38,896
LIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP$36,000
PLANTING SEEDS INTERNATIONAL$35,000
LIMITLESS HORIZONS$30,000
CREMOS NORTE$30,000
BARD EARLY COLLEGE$25,000
COLLEGE BEYOND$25,000
THE POPULATION COUNCIL$25,000
SUCCESS AT THURGOOD MARSHALL$25,000
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 (FY19–25, $439k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 35% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SHE'S THE FIRST: $39k → 17%HUMAN OUTREACH PROJECT: $1k → 8%THE EVERGREEN ROTARY FOUNDATION: $19k → 7%NORTH COAST COMMUNITY HOMES: $1k → 17%MAYA HEALTH ALLIANCE: $60k → 9%CREMOS NORTE: $35k → 7%SHE'S THE FIRST: $20k → 17%PERONIA ADOLESCENTE: $20k → 12%THE EVERGREEN ROTARY FOUNDATION: $15k → 7%MAYA HEALTH ALLIANCE: $30k → 9%CREMOS NORTE: $31k → 7%SHES'S THE FIRST: $20k → 17%PERONIA ADOLESCENTE: $20k → 12%THE EVERGREEN ROTARY FOUNDATION: $10k → 7%MAYA HEALTH ALLIANCE: $25k → 9%CREMOS NORTE: $30k → 7%SHES'S THE FIRST: $20k → 17%PERONIA ADOLESCENTE: $11k → 12%THE EVERGREEN ROTARY FOUNDATION: $5k → 7%CREMOS NORTE: $25k → 7%NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA: $500 → 14%NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA: $500 → 14%NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA: $500 → 14%NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA: $500 → 14%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

ME
VT
WA
IL
NY
OR
OH
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
MO
VA
KS
NC
DC
LA
AL
GA
TX
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.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.2M · 41 repeat orgs$155k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +28% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

41 repeat relationships: 28 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

41
9

Total granted

$4.2M
$87k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+4%

Still filing today

78%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 92% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $68k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalHuman ServicesEducationArts & CulturePhilanthropyHealthOther
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

  • M
    MAIA
    7× · 2019–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +14%
  • LO
    LIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP
    5× · 2021–2025 · $148k · revenue +288%
  • WJ
    Womens Justice Initiative Inc
    4× · 2021–2024 · $130k · revenue +99%

Funded once

  • CA
    CHILD AID
    one grant, 2021 · $25k · revenue -14%
  • NA
    NU ALPHA LAMBDA EDUCATIONAL AND CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2022 · $20k
  • TG
    TEACHERS2TEACHERS GLOBAL
    one grant, 2019 · $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
Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation

Partners In Health (PIH) is a non-profit, global health organization that fights social injustice by bringing the benefits of modern medical science first and foremost to the most vulnerable communities worldwide. In Haiti, Malawi, Rwanda,…

Health
2
Health Poverty Action Usa

Health Poverty Action USA acts in solidarity with health workers, activists & communities worldwide to improve health & challenge the causes of poverty. We do this in 3 distinct ways: 1. We approach health as an issue of social justice. We…

International
3
She-Can Global Inc

The world is grappling with complex problems, including climate change, war, poverty, and ongoing human rights violations. These issues disproportionately impact women, particularly in developing countries. In nations recovering from…

Education
4
Connectedconectando Educacion

To improve access, quality and relevance of education for youth in rural central america.

Philanthropy
5
The International Institute On Race Equality and Human Rights

The international institute on race, equality and human rights contributes to the promotion and defense of human rights, through training, technical assistance, advocacy, and strategic litigation conducted at the regional and international…

International
6
Global Pediatric Alliance

Global Pediatric Alliance's mission is to promote grassroots empowerment and community-based healthcare to reduce maternal and infant mortality, and improve the lives of women and children in poor, rural areas in Latin America.

Arts & Culture
7
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
8
The Advocates for Human Rights

To promote and protect human rights in the United States and around the world.

International
9
Speak Up for the Poor

Speak Up exists to transform the world on behalf of the poor. Our mission is to create a new reality for girls in poverty. We work toward this goal through educational programs support of safe homes and practical legal work.

International
10
Global Glow
Youth Development
11
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
12
Washington Office On Latin America

To advance human rights and social justice in the americas.

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Global Fund for Children; the most unlike its peers is The Sparks Foundation. 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, 2017–2025.

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. 43 of the 56 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)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/43
Grantees still filing
32/43
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MAIA: $1,300,455 · InternationalMAIATHE SPARKS FOUNDATION: $230,270 · InternationalTHE SPARKS FOUNDATION+8 more: $189,070 · International+8 moreMD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER: $350,000 · OtherMD ANDERSON CANCER CENTERBARD EARLY COLLEGE: $145,000 · OtherBARD EARLY COLLEGEWINGS GUATEMALA: $136,155 · OtherWINGS GUATEMALASUCCESS AT THURGOOD MARSHALL: $75,000 · OtherSUCCESS AT THURGOOD MARSHA…BOYS HOPE GIRLS HOPE NETWORK: $69,170 · OtherBOYS HOPE GIRLS HOPE NETWO…NATUN: $50,730 · OtherGLOBAL FUND FOR CHILDREN: $40,000 · Other+17 more: $202,133 · Other+17 moreLIMITLESS HORIZONS IXIL INC: $375,800 · EducationLIMITLESS HORIZONS I…LIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP: $147,500 · EducationLIVE OAK WILDERNESS …Womens Justice Initiative Inc: $130,000 · EducationWomens Justice Initi…AMIGOS DE SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION: $95,250 · EducationAMIGOS DE SANTA CRUZ…Be Loud Studios: $40,000 · EducationLouisiana Association of Public Charter: $40,000 · Education+1 more: $2,500 · EducationCreamos Norte: $120,500 · Human ServicesCreamos No…Wuqu Kawoq SA: $115,000 · Human ServicesWuqu Kawoq…SHE'S THE FIRST INC: $98,896 · Human ServicesSHE'S THE …Peronia Adolescente: $51,690 · Human ServicesPeronia Ad…Evergreen Rotary Foundation Inc: $48,500 · Human ServicesEvergreen …+3 more: $4,000 · Human ServicesINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $143,338 · PhilanthropyPlanting Seeds International: $95,000 · PhilanthropyCOLLEGE BEYOND INC: $50,000 · PhilanthropyPOMONA IMPACT FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyFriends of Suenos: $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentunCommon Construction Inc: $40,000 · Youth Development18TH WARD: $80,000 · Recreation & Sports
International$1,719,795Other$1,068,188Education$831,050Human Services$438,586Philanthropy$308,338Youth Development$95,000Recreation & Sports$80,000

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 budgetMAIA: $1,300,455 over 7y, 14% of budgetLIMITLESS HORIZONS IXIL INC: $375,800 over 5y, 13% of budgetTHE SPARKS FOUNDATION: $230,270 over 2y, 22% of budgetLIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP: $147,500 over 5y, 3.8% of budgetINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $143,338 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetWomens Justice Initiative Inc: $130,000 over 4y, 3.2% of budgetCreamos Norte: $120,500 over 4y, 7.1% of budgetWuqu Kawoq SA: $115,000 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetSHE'S THE FIRST INC: $98,896 over 4y, 2.0% of budgetAMIGOS DE SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION: $95,250 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetPlanting Seeds International: $95,000 over 3y, 9.8% of budget18TH WARD: $80,000 over 4y, 3.3% of budgetFriends of Suenos: $55,000 over 3y, 14% of budgetPeronia Adolescente: $51,690 over 3y, 49% of budgetTHE FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCOLLEGE BEYOND INC: $50,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetEvergreen Rotary Foundation Inc: $48,500 over 4y, 4.4% of budgetANTIGUA INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $41,500 over 4y, 4.5% of budgetunCommon Construction Inc: $40,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetBe Loud Studios: $40,000 over 2y, 4.8% of budgetGLOBAL FUND FOR CHILDREN: $40,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLouisiana Association of Public Charter: $40,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetNATIK ESPERANZA: $34,270 over 2y, 9.3% of budgetCHILD AID: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: $20,200 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetBRIGHT SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF: $20,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetPOMONA IMPACT FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetPHILANTHROPIECE FOUNDATION: $16,233 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOOD BANK GREATER NEW ORLEANS AND ACADIANA: $13,100 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CARTER CENTER INC: $10,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFIRSTLINE SCHOOLS INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMPASSION & CHOICES: $2,300 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $2,300 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $2,100 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION: $2,100 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL: $2,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNORTH COAST COMMUNITY HOMES INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHUMAN OUTREACH PROJECT: $1,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetSafe Passage: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTrust Women Foundation Inc: $300 over 3y, 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.

  • Who funds MAIA ↗
  • Who funds LIMITLESS HORIZONS IXIL INC ↗
  • Who funds THE SPARKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds LIVE OAK WILDERNESS CAMP ↗
  • Who funds INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Womens Justice Initiative Inc ↗
  • Who funds Creamos Norte ↗
  • Who funds Wuqu Kawoq SA ↗
  • Who funds SHE'S THE FIRST INC ↗
  • Who funds AMIGOS DE SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Planting Seeds International ↗
  • Who funds 18TH WARD ↗
  • Who funds Friends of Suenos ↗
  • Who funds Peronia Adolescente ↗
  • Who funds THE FRIENDSHIP BRIDGE ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE BEYOND INC ↗
  • Who funds Evergreen Rotary Foundation Inc ↗
  • Who funds ANTIGUA INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds unCommon Construction Inc ↗
  • Who funds Be Loud Studios ↗
  • Who funds GLOBAL FUND FOR CHILDREN ↗
  • Who funds Louisiana Association of Public Charter ↗
  • Who funds NATIK ESPERANZA ↗
  • Who funds CHILD AID ↗
  • Who funds THE POPULATION COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ↗
  • Who funds BRIGHT SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF ↗
  • Who funds POMONA IMPACT FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds PHILANTHROPIECE FOUNDATION ↗

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 loosely connected circle, clustered around a few shared anchors.

Luis Von Ahn Foundati…The Greater New Orlea…The Gpoa FoundationBaptist Community Min…Pro Bono Publico Foun…Together Women RiseGoldring Family Found…The Tinker Foundation…New Orleans Community…The Denver FoundationLinda Vista FoundationThe Summit Charitable…
Luis Von Ahn FoundationPA28.5× affinity11 shared granteesties to 5 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Luis Von Ahn Foundation · The Greater New Orleans Foundation · The Gpoa Foundation · Baptist Community Ministries · Pro Bono Publico Foundation · Together Women Rise · Goldring Family Foundation · The Tinker Foundation Inc · New Orleans Community Support Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Linda Vista Foundation · The Summit Charitable 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 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 · 50%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    5get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
    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 56 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 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