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The Warden Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Warden Foundation

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.

$221k
Granted FY2021
32
Grants FY2021
12
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

80% of The Warden Foundation’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 5 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2021, the last year The Warden Foundation named its own grantees at scale: 26 organizations, $221k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

8
’17
5
’18
9
’19
13
’20
26
’21
7
’22
4
’23
5
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Philanthropy$638kHealth$412kEducation$77kPublic Benefit$51kArts & Culture$33kCivil Rights$24kHuman Services$22kRecreation & Sports$20kOther$0
02FY2021 · 32 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2021

  • Under $10k23 grants · $91k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $130k
$5,000
Median grant
12
States reached
$4.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
THE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION$25,000
CHILDRENS HOSPITAL PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION$25,000
SHADY SIDE ACADEMY$20,000
PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC$10,000
WWP INC - WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC$10,000
YOUNG AMERICA'S FOUNDATION$10,000
TURNING POINT USA INC$10,000
CAPE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE INC$10,000
THE CHUCK NOLL FOUNDATION FOR BRAIN INJURY RESEARC$10,000
NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION$7,500
PITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC$7,500
St JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITALALSAC - MOUN$5,000
NAMI NATIONAL$5,000
STEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION$5,000
MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER INC$5,000
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 (FY17–22, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 88% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%FIORENZAS FOOD FOR FRIENDS F4 INC: $1k → 22%F4 FOUNDATION TIM FRIDAY CHARITY EVENT: $250 → 10%TRUMBALL FAMILY FITNESS: $250 → 16%LIGHT OF LIFE MINISTRIES INC: $500 → 11%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
WI
NY
MA
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
KS
TN
NC
DC
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.

76%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$551k · 19 repeat orgs$170k to everyone else

19 repeat relationships: 16 still active in FY2021, 3 since wound down; 22 grantees were first funded in FY2021 (too recent to call). Read against FY2021, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

19
23

Total granted

$551k
$73k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+45%
+86%

Still filing today

84%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 87% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $6k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthEducationHuman ServicesPublic BenefitArts & CulturePhilanthropyOther
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

  • CN
    CHUCK NOLL FOUNDATION FOR BRAIN INJURY RESEARCH
    4× · 2021–2024 · $100k · revenue +269%
  • CH
    CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2021 · $45k · revenue +135%
  • TP
    TURNING POINT USA INC
    2× · 2020–2021 · $35k · revenue +190%

Funded once

  • CF
    CARON FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2018 · $40k
  • SC
    STEEL CITY SQUASH INCgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +552%
  • WI
    WWP INC - WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k
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
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…

—
2
Stony Brook Urology University Faculty Practice Corporation

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

Health
3
Stony Brook Internists University Faculty Practice Corporation

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

Health
4
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
5
Personal Care Products Council Foundation Inc

The foundation is set up to deliver one program - look good feel better. the mission of this nationwide program is to improve the quality of life of women, men, and teens undergoing cancer treatment by offering advice on how to cope with…

Health
6
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
7
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.

—
8
Stony Brook Surgical Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

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

Health
9
Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States Inc

The fsmb serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best…

Health
10
The Rand Corporation

Help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis.

Public Benefit
11
Stony Brook Orthopedic Associates University Faculty Practice Corporation

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

Health
12
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Heritage Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Caring 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

51 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. 51 of the 66 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)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
48/51
Grantees still filing
33/51
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $589,000 · Community ImprovementFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUNDCLEVELAND CLINIC: $125,000 · OtherCLEVELAND CLINICTHE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATION: $100,000 · OtherTHE CLEVELAND CLINIC FOUNDATIONCARON FOUNDATION: $40,000 · OtherCARON FOUNDATIONTURNING POINT USA INC: $35,000 · OtherTURNING POINT USA INCYoung America's Foundation: $20,000 · Other+32 more: $69,625 · Other+32 moreCHUCK NOLL FOUNDATION FOR BRAIN INJURY RESEARCH: $100,144 · EducationCHUCK NOLL FOUND…Cornell University: $28,000 · EducationCornell Universi…SHADY SIDE ACADEMY: $25,350 · EducationSHADY SIDE ACADE…STEEL CITY SQUASH INC: $10,000 · EducationSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationThe Mel Douglass Fund: $7,000 · Education+3 more: $11,143 · Education+3 moreCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $45,450 · HealthCAPE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE INC: $10,000 · HealthA CALL TO CARE INC: $10,000 · HealthCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $7,200 · HealthNAMI National: $5,000 · Health+6 more: $3,450 · HealthPITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC: $18,350 · Arts & CultureMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $6,000 · Arts & CultureMANCHESTER CRAFTSMEN'S GUILD: $5,000 · Arts & CultureJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $10,200 · Public BenefitTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Public BenefitCATO INSTITUTE: $1,000 · Public BenefitDucks Unlimited Inc: $6,500 · EnvironmentWHITETAILS UNLIMITED INC: $6,500 · Environment
Community Improvement$589,000Other$389,625Education$191,637Health$81,100Arts & Culture$29,350Public Benefit$16,200Environment$13,000

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 budgetFIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND: $589,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHUCK NOLL FOUNDATION FOR BRAIN INJURY RESEARCH: $100,144 over 4y, 2.9% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $45,450 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTURNING POINT USA INC: $35,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCornell University: $28,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSHADY SIDE ACADEMY: $25,350 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetYoung America's Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetPITTSBURGH BALLET THEATRE INC: $18,350 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetJUDICIAL WATCH INC: $10,200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSTEEL CITY SQUASH INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetSTEPHEN SILLER TUNNEL TO TOWERS FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCAPE VOLUNTEERS IN MEDICINE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetWOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetA CALL TO CARE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetROBIN HOOD FOUNDATION: $7,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION: $7,200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetThe Mel Douglass Fund: $7,000 over 6y, 1.8% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc: $6,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetWHITETAILS UNLIMITED INC: $6,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTUSCULUM UNIVERSITY: $6,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMANCHESTER CRAFTSMEN'S GUILD: $5,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSTEEL CITY ROWING CORPORATION: $5,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetTHE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAMI National: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetADVENTURES IN TRAINING WITH A PURPOSE: $4,143 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGUN OWNERS FOUNDATION: $3,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPROJECT VERITAS: $3,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAmerica First Legal Foundation: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNG LIFE: $1,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCATO INSTITUTE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCaring Foundation: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFIORENZA'S FOOD FOR FRIENDS (F4)INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetALLIANCE FOR THE GREAT LAKES: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSEMPER FI & AMERICA'S FUND: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSTEELERS CHARITIES: $800 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetChristian Aid Ministries: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPAN-MASSACHUSETTS CHALLENGE INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRESCUE MISSION OF MAHONING VALLEY: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetYOUNGSTOWN AREA JEWISH FEDERATION: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLIGHT OF LIFE MINISTRIES INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY: $250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUMBULL FAMILY FITNESS: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetF4 FOUNDATION: $250 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLUPUS FOUNDATION OF PENNSYLVANIA INC: $200 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetTHE MICHAEL J FOX FOUNDATION FOR PARKINSON'S RESEARCH: $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.

Richard King Mellon F…The Pittsburgh Founda…The Grable FoundationThe United Way of Sou…Youngstown Fdn GeneralSnee-Reinhardt Charit…Charities Aid Foundat…The Bank of America C…American Endowment Fo…Vanguard Charitable E…National Philanthropi…Natl Christian Charit…
Richard King Mellon FoundationPA19.5× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Richard King Mellon Foundation · The Pittsburgh Foundation · The Grable Foundation · The United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania · Youngstown Fdn General · Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation · Charities Aid Foundation America · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Endowment Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · National Philanthropic Trust · Natl Christian Charitable Fdn 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 Warden Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Warden Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%8%15%22%30%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get 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 · 0–30%
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 66 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 2021, released 2021. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Warden’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